Chicken Gnocchi Soup

For my dear Heather; and to my in-laws, who conceded that, despite it not being centered around steak (Mitchell), this was a pretty darn good meal.

Olive Garden, Anyone? This soup tends to get rave reviews whenever i make it for friends or family.

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 Medium onion, finely diced
• a few cloves minced garlic (or add powdered later)
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup of celery, finely diced... i like to include the leaves
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cups half & half (substitute milk for part if desired)
• Chicken broth as desired (at least 4-6 cups)
• 2-3 carrots, shredded
• about 3/4 cup spinach, julienne cut*
• 1 Package Potato Gnocchi**
• cooked chicken, shredded or diced

Spices to taste:

• a little pepper and salt
• powdered garlic/garlic salt?
• Herbs de Provence really makes it. (original recipe asked for rosemary, but this is even better)

*(julienne cut = bunch the leaves together, then cut in tiny thin strips)

**(depending on how dry they are, I like to either soak the gnocchi in broth before adding them, or add them to the soup earlier...be sure they aren't stuck together when you put them in!)

Melt the butter in a good size soup/stock pot. Add the celery and onion (and garlic?) and allow to simmer/brown until soft. Add flour to make a rue. Slowly add and stir in the cream. Add the broth, bring it up to heat til it bubbles slightly, add carrot. cover if necessary. Gnocchi can be added now if it needs to be softened/moistened. Add spices to taste, and finally add the chicken and spinach once the gnocchi seem soft & moist through. You may add more broth or spices if you feel it is needed. The soup will probably gain more flavor, creaminess/thickness (and gnocchi's will soften) as it sits.

Serve up with Olive Garden Breadsticks... What, you don't have the recipe? Ah, dang it, me neither.

Mexican chicken & rice soup

For Dane Camp ("This soup is AMAZING!") and Katlincita (who shares my love for mexican food, and especially with limes).

This is a soup inspired by some of the tasty "caldos" that I have enjoyed. It's pretty much your basic chicken soup, but with a few differences to give it a "Mexican" style flair (in my opinion)...

Cook the chicken--boil and/or simmer it together with some chopped carrots, celery, onion, spices, etc to give it flavor (and this will be the base for the soup).

Tips: If you wish to follow Mexican "caldo" style more closely, you would generally chop the components much more coarsely (large pieces of chicken, carrot, etc) and the chicken would be cooked on the bone & with the skin if at all possible. Because I am not authentically Mexican (debatable... just kidding), I prefer to chop the veggies to bite-size, and to remove the bones & skin from the chicken, AFTER it is cooked in the broth (so we keep the flavor from the bone & skin) & shred the chicken to bite size. The taste remains, and the soup has a little less fat and is not so messy to eat. It is, however, a little more work and mess for the cook to remove, sort, & shred the chicken... but the end result is worth it (and remember: the tastiest Mexican cooking takes time and a little effort!). (tip: pour the soup through a strainer--broth into a pot/container, then shred & sort what is left in the strainer.) Two vegetables that I might add toward the end would be cabbage or zucchini/squash.

After the chicken is cooked & you have saved the broth, shred the chicken as desired. Add in spices & vegetables to taste if you have not done so already.

now come the few touches that take this soup from average to memorable.

1. Tomato Rice

2. Lime juice

For the rice--cook some ordinary white rice. You will use broth (bullion is fine) to cook it instead of plain water, to give it its own "Mexican rice" flavor to contribute to the soup. It's best to use A. tomato bullion B. chicken bullion with tomato flavor or C. chicken broth/bullion with diced tomatoes or tomato juice added.

When the soup and rice are finished (and the limes are sliced), serve this way: scoop some rice into a bowl, ladle the soup over the top as desired, and squeeze as much lime juice as you like over the top. To me, this irresistible little tang is the best part!!!

Pretty simple! Now all you need are some tortillas on the side... ;)

four years later

Mexico spring break trip, April 2011

This morning it is overcast & hazy, which means that at the Casa it was one of those mornings where the fog draped over the mountains like a thick blanket & hung on the fences with the clothes.

Funny to think that where I sit, on the balcony at Las Tres Palmas, is the same as when i wrote of my conviction to explore the idea of missions and overseas ministry, 4 years ago--something that would shape my future greatly & even in part lead me past things that weren't for me and bring me together with the man who will soon be my husband.

Especially once we begin our married life with our beautiful quilt, & dishes, & my kitchenaid mixer, & all such lovely eartly trappings, it will get harder to want to leave it all behind...

Let me not forget the things that are worth a thousand times more joy than the prettiest house.

Best granola ever

For Scott, since he says this recipe played a part in convincing him to marry me.

From a recipe from a friend of a friend. If you buy your ingredients right, you'll save a lot compared to buying granola at the store... not to mention it's quite healthy, and it's sooo good!

Dry ingredients (blend together first)

• 6 cups quick oats*
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
• 3/4 cup wheat germ
• 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds (maybe a little less if you're not that into them)
• 1/2 cup dry milk

Wet ingredients

• 2/3 cup oil
• 2/3 cup honey
• 2 Tablespoons water
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Optional (add after baking)

• 1 cup raisins
• 1 cup pecans

Mix together dry ingredients evenly, then add wet ingredients (works best if mixed a little first). Grease two pans (or use parchment paper) and bake at 300* until golden brown, about 25 min. Stir as needed to avoid burning.  Let cool, then store and eat! (note: it will clump up a little as it cools).

*I just tried this using part old fashioned oats instead of only quick, and it was good. :)

Zuppa Toscana

For Dad.

Dad's birthday is coming up, so I'm making his favorite soup from Olive Garden...Or at least my interpretation.

• 1.5 lb Italian sausage (sliced or crumbled, preferably seasoned)
• A few tablespoons chopped bacon or bacon bits
• butter or olive oil
• One large onion, finely diced
• garlic (powder or fresh)--1-2 tsp?
• ~7 (14.5oz) cans chicken broth
• 1 cup Half & Half
• 3 large potatoes, sliced in quarters
• several leafs of kale, chopped

Heat/brown the sausage. Add fennel seeds, red pepper, or other seasonings only if desired (if sausage isn't already seasoned--mine had some red pepper and more spicy stuff). Add in bacon, set aside.

In a soup pot, saute the onion in olive oil or butter. Add the garlic.

Add chicken broth, bring to a light boil. Add potatoes. Once potatoes are soft, turn down the heat some and add the half & half. Once this is heated & mixed, finally add in kale & the sausage (my opinion, the kale is better once soft...it has really great nutritional value, too).

Enjoy!

...or in Dad's case, add lots of hot sauce and keep a napkin handy to dry your sweating head. ;)

Hope -> Where?

Yet THIS I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. (In this and this alone will I trust! ...Because it is the ONLY thing worth trusting.)

Not Jobs, not weddings,

not plans, not planners,

not money, not insurance,

not houses, not dreams...

not politicians or laws or government

not people (not even husbands, or family)

not health, or degrees.

Not even a hotel or dinner reservation is 100% certain... really.

I only know this to be 100% trustworthy: Jesus Christ; his promise of salvation and sanctification; the holy and true Word of the Lord.

God asks us, dares us to test us in his promises. It's like a taunt from a loving and loyal friend--"You just SEE if i won't come through for you."

Gotta do it. What can I lose? If I only trust in him to give me the faith and courage to do the culturally, humanly unthinkable.

Not because I'M great, but because it's a chance for him to show that HE's great. After all...how many chances do we really allow him?

May this be one of MANY in my life.