Yesterday I scoured recipes online trying to find the perfect turkey noodle soup to use my homemade stock in and leftover turkey in. I have never made turkey noodle soup before. Probably because I had never roasted a turkey before, so therefore never had leftovers. The requirements for the soup were high as Jim does not eat brothy soups (he really is not picky -there are few things he dislikes and turkey and brothy soups just happen to be two of them!). I really only found one recipe that would work, but I modified it a lot - adding ingredients and changing the methodology. The original recipe I found is here.
This is my recipe, and I must say it is delicious. It was the best turkey noodle soup I have ever had!
Homemade Creamy Turkey Noodle Soup Ingredients: 30 oz. chicken or turkey stock 1 C. chopped celery 1 C. chopped carrots 1/2 yellow onion- chopped 2 teaspoons salt 1 tsp. thyme 1/2 tsp. basil 1/4 tsp. rosemary (heaping) 1/4 tsp. rubbed sage (heaping) 1/4 tsp. fennel seeds (heaping) 4 bay leaves 1 tablespoon celery seed 2 teaspoons garlic powder 2 tablespoons lemon pepper 2 teaspoons black pepper (or to taste) 3 cups shredded turkey 1/2 cup butter 2/3 cup flour 4 cups milk 5 ounces cream cheese 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese 8 ounces wide egg noodles
Method: 1. Pour stock in large soup kettle or dutch oven, add chopped vegetables and bring to a boil. Simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
2. Add salt, thyme, basil, rosemary, sage, fennel, bay leaves, celery seed, garlic powder, lemon pepper, and black pepper, and shredded turkey.
2. Place butter in a large saucepan melt butter over medium low heat. Whisk in flour until smooth and not lumpy. Whisk in milk and continue whisking until thick and creamy.
3. Carefully pour the thickened rue into the stock with the veggies, spices, and turkey. Stir and allow the soup to thicken.
4. Meanwhile cook the egg noodles according to package directions. Cook the noodles to al dente (I cooked mine for nine minutes.)
5. Drain the noodles.
6. Add the cream cheese to the soup in cubes. Cook and stir until the cream cheese is incorporated.
7. Stir in noodles.
8. Stir in Parmesan cheese.
And because I am so thankful for you readers, I am also going to share one of my tried and true easy bread machine recipes. Before I was into making wheat bread, I always made this recipe. I still make it now and again, because we all love it. When I make it, it takes me right back to my little yellow kitchen in my third apartment sans children. I love the memories that recipes evoke. It is also the closest recipe to Jim's Grandmom's famous bread. I have her actual recipe, but this recipe always tastes more like it than her actual recipe. This yields a light fluffy bread that most children really like.
Honey Buttermilk Bread
Ingredients: 2 teaspoons yeast 3 cups bread flour 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 3/4 cup buttermilk 3 teaspoons butter 3 tablespoons honey 1/2 cup water
Method: Put all ingredients in bread machine, in order suggested by bread machine manufacturer. Choose basic or white bread and light or medium crust setting (I use light with this recipe and my machine).
Could not get easier than that, right?!
This is how Jim enjoys his bread - slathered with butter and homemade strawberry jelly or honey.
Enjoy friends! Let me know if you try these recipes. Happy Saturday. Now I am off to join my family on the floor as they play "dinosaurs". {grin} Please keep praying for Cadi she continues to have a 103 degree fever this morning, but Scotty has been fever free for two days now! He is just run down and still needing to gain back his normal amount of energy. Subscribe in a reader
If you love pesto and Alfredo than you cannot go wrong with this. Make sure you eat nothing all day long before having this as the calories will carry you for a week! {wink}
Then make some Alfredo. Here is my {decadent} recipe. It is actually one of the recipes I created on my own.
My Alfredo Sauce Ingredients: 1/2 C. butter 3-4 cloves garlic - minced 2 oz. cream cheese 1 C. heavy whipping cream 1 C. milk 2 C. grated Parmesan cheese 2 oz. grated Asagio cheese 1 egg yolk fresh grated nutmeg salt and pepper
Method: Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garlic and let simmer for a few moments. Stir in cream cheese until smooth. Slowly add heavy whipping cream and milk stirring constantly.Stir in cheeses until smooth. Remove 1/2 cup of hot sauce and beat in egg yolk to the sauce. Then slowly pour back into saucepan and cook until thickened. Grate nutmeg into sauce and stir in salt and pepper to taste.
Before removing my sauce from the stove I stirred in the fresh pesto that I had made. I did not have fettuccine on hand, so I used whole wheat spaghetti noodles. This was a huge hit for our family! It would also be yummy with some fresh tomatoes stirred in or served with grilled chicken or shrimp.
Please let me know if you give my recipe for Pesto Alfredo a try! (But don't blame me if your shorts do not button the next morning.) And as always feel free to share a favorite recipe in the comments.
First - before you read another word - check out these amazing t-shirtsmy brother and sister-in-law are selling to raise funds in order to bring home their Ethiopian babies! (Yes, Jamesy is going to have Ethiopian cousins!! {squeal})
Second - while my friend JO and I were having one of our marathon conversations the other day we started talking about our go-to summer recipes. Mine is pesto. Hers is Tabouli. I had heard of it, but I had never eaten it or made it. She told me what was in it, and I decided we had to try it! Yesterday my mom brought me a ton of fresh chocolate mint, so today I threw it together for dinner. It smells amazing! Joanna uses toasted pine nut couscous made by Near East, and so did I. I believe she also puts cucumbers in her salad. I did not today, because I did not have any on hand.
What is your summer go-to recipe? Share below in the comments with us!
Third - my sister shared with me a website that sells absolutely adorable {modest} tankinis and swim suits. I do not think I can reconcile buying one at this time. {bummer} (Unless I return that Land's End one from two years ago..... Is that ethical? Probably not.) But I had to pass this site along. They do have clearanced items! Check out Lime Ricki Swimwear(I am not getting paid or receiving anything for sharing this. I just thought my readers would love the swimwear as much as I do!)
Lastly - I am taking a brief blogging time out. I will definitely be back next Wednesday for Wedded Wednesday, but probably not before then. Cadi finished kindergarten on Friday, and we are officially on Summer Break! Although everything is more relaxed now, it will still take us time to acclimate to a different routine. Plus today is over 90 degrees, my kind of weather, and I want to spend every moment under the sun!
Wouldn't you with this cutie pie??! I cannot resist!
We typically do our grocery shopping together on our family day (Monday). Yesterday I could not resist the basil plant that was begging to jump into our cart. We all LOVE fresh basil pesto. For the amount that we eat during the summer, I should really plant some. I guess what I bought is plantable. But I have a terrible black thumb. Ack. We will probably continue to support our local famer's market!
Here is the pesto recipe that I make to please our taste. Pesto is usually made according to preference and taste, but if you have never made it, try my recipe as a starting point!
Here is what you need:
fresh basil leaves
almonds (or pinenuts or walnuts or just about any other nut!) - crushed
garlic cloves
olive oil
parmesan cheese (or romano) - grated
asiago cheese (I don't always use it. But I had it on hand.)
salt (I prefer sea salt)
pepper
Step One:
Crush 1/2 Cup of almonds and then dry toast them over medium heat in a skillet - stirring so that they do not burn. You want them golden brown.
(Mine got a touch dark because I am in the process of potty training my middle boy, and we had to make several potty runs while these were toasting!)
Step Two:
Place two cups of packed fresh basil leaves in a food processor (or blender - I use this with success) and add toasted almonds on top.
Pulse for several moments.
Step Three:
Slowly add 3/4 Cup of olive oil to the basil and almonds. Pulse. Occassionally scrape the sides with a spatula. Pulse until well blended and smooth. Add three cloves of garlic - minced and pulse until blended in.
Step Four:
Add the 1/2 C grated cheese (I also added one slice of asiagio - I just crumbled it) and pulse again until blended. Then add a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper.
And you will end up with perfect pesto! We love pesto best served over warm whole wheat pasta - or as a cold summer pasta salad.
This will store for about a day sealed tightly in the fridge. To keep it from browning pour a slight layer of olive oil over the top before sealing.
(Alternately titled: The Post in Which I Make up for not Blogging in a Week.)
Palooza: An exaggerated event.
Yup, that is what has been going on here - an exaggerated "event" of using all of my apples up! Jim has been away a lot this week, Cadi has been sick, and Scotty is a cute little ball of perpetual motion. So to keep myself sane, I pulled out my recipe cards and started peeling apples. That was my therapy for the week, and it worked!
I thought some of my readers might be looking to use up some apples or just wanting some new fall recipes, so I decided to share.
Roasted Applesauce Last year I made applesauce for the first time. It was just a small batch that we ate right away. It was part of Cadi's preschool curriculum. A recipe was included in her curriculum, but I wanted something a bit more complex. I searched the internet until I found one, and it was delicious! After I made the applesauce a friend of mine, one of the GREATEST prayer warriors in our adoption (!), Kathy, asked if I had ever roasted my applesauce. She sent me a recipe, and I vowed to try it this year.
**If you enjoy trying new recipes, you will want to follow her new cooking/baking blog! I always know that anything Kathy makes will be excellent! I have used several of her recipes in the past, and I have never been disappointed!**
Somehow I lost last years roasted applesauce recipe, but I found this one. I decided to use his roasting method but my recipe from last year, and the results were perfect - not too sweet, perfectly spiced, caramelized apple goodness! I prefer my applesauce chunky. I am not a big fan of pudding and jellos because of their lack of substance. However, if you prefer a smooth applesauce simply put it through your Foley Food Mill after roasting it.
1.Gather your apples - you will need 4lbs (which is approximately 12 apples). As you can see I did not use the apples we picked. I used the "seconds" or "dropped apples" that we purchased. This is what my mom always did growing up. If there was a really rotten spot I just cut it out.
2.Wash, peel, core, and slice your apples. Place them in a deep roasting pan. Add 1/2 C. cider, a 1/2 C. water, 4 strips of lemon peel, 3-4 T. lemon juice, one cinnamon stick, 1/4 C. dark brown sugar, up to 1/4 C. white sugar (I used 1/8 C), 1/2 tsp. salt, and grated nutmeg to your taste.
Put the roasting pan in a 400 degree preheated oven uncovered. Roast for 1-2 hours depending on how dark and caramelized you prefer - stirring often. I roasted my first batch for about 1.5 hours and my second and third batch for about 2 hours.
This was the first batch.
I was surprised how little 3 batches made! I froze 5 Quart bags of sauce, and I will no doubt be making more again soon.
Click here for the printable recipe. (I do not remember which website I found the recipe on for this sauce, but it is NOT original to me.)
Apple Crisp I also made apple crisp this week. I am picky about my apple crisp, and I really think this is the BEST apple crisp recipe ever. Yes, it is sweet and totally unhealthy, but you only have it one time of year! Right??? This recipe was originally a Taste of Home recipe. Click here for the printable recipe.
Mile High Apple Pie The last apple recipe I made this week was apple pie. I LOVE apple pie especially when paired with some extra sharp cheese. I actually love fruit pie period. Although I am not really a pastry lover besides pie. I guess I just do not enjoy the taste of lard! Ha! And to that end I searched for a lot of years for the perfect crust recipe - using no crisco and only butter. I finally found it last Spring. Sometimes I use whole wheat flour with good results. This pie was made with all purpose, though. Here is the printable recipe for my crust. This also happens to be the easiest pie crust that I have ever worked with.
The secret to getting a mile high or deep dish apple pie is to cook your apples down before putting them in your crust to bake. If you do not they will cook down in your pie and your crust will end up caving in.
Here are my apples gently cooking. Be sure to watch them. You do not want them to turn into sauce!
And the final product! Can you smell it? MMMMM....
If you think the only thing I have been doing during my blogging break was baking, well you'd be wrong.
We had a very belated birthday party for Cadi in which my mom decorated and made this awesome Arthur cake! My daughter's first crush is on an aardvark - hmmm.
My children have been fascinated with the new gold fish that my parents gave her for her birthday. The fish has had several name changes from Dorthy, to Annie, to Julianna. I am not sure what the name is today. {grin}
I have been taking care of a sick little girl. She is on the mend, but she still in not 100%. We did take her to the doctor's as I feared she may have an ear infection that I just was not curing with my homeopathic remedies. She doesn't, but she was put on allergy meds. for a bit. We will see what happens.
We took Friday and Monday off from school because of Cadi, but then jumped right back into our unit on apples! Scotty has loved joining in, too. We are actually having so much fun with How to Bake an Apple Pie and See the World that I am going to "row" it for a third week. There are just so many activities and learning opportunities that can be pulled from this book. If you have not read it with your children I highly recommend it!
And for the first time I let Scotty use paint. I am probably crazy, but it was a really fun memory. And the clean up is done now. {wink}
We also received a very exciting email packet from our agency titled "Welcome to Travel!".
No, this was not our court date, but it was filled with our itinerary and packing instructions and all kinds of exciting things! This hopefully means our court date is in the very near future!!
Oh, and I did bake yummy Starbucks-like pumpkin scones for our Sunday school class. I found the recipe here (it was the 3rd post down).
Phew... were you able to stick with me?! Well, that should do it for a bit. Hope you are all well.
Oh wait!! Thank you so much to all of you who have recently donated to our adoption fund. You are such an incredible blessing. We now only lack $5000 TOTAL for our adoption expenses!!! Can you believe it?! God is GREAT!
We've been staying busy-tieing loose ends together so that we can send in our paperwork and check to initiate our home study. I think it really is going to happen this week!!
We enjoyed our family day yesterday. We switched the children's rooms around. We gave Cadi my old bed from when I was a child (now we can use her room as a guest room if we ever need to), and Scotty now has Cadi's twin. {gasp} He is really not a baby anymore.
It works well for our family to switch our children from a crib to a bed earlier rather than later. I know this does not work for every family, and please do not think I am advocating that everyone should do things my way. I really do not ever mean to come across that way. We do the bed thing early, but the potty training thing we do much later than others. We are all just trying to do what is best for our children and family, right? {grin}
We moved Cadi into a twin bed shortly before she turned two. So with Scotty heading rapidly towards his second birthday {gasp}. It was time. I will admit Mommy was not ready, and shed a lot of tears. However, Scotty has now taken two naps and slept at night in his new bed and acts as if it is nothing new. He was sitting up in bed waiting for Mommy this morning. Our only concern is our stairway out in the hall with Scotty, so like Cadi, we put a gate across his doorway when he is in bed. I still use the baby monitor on him, so I can hear him if he gets up. But honestly my children are excellent sleepers, and I can probably count on one hand the times they have woken in the night since they were infants. It just doesn't happen here. I know, I know, I am in for it with my third! {grin} I have already been told that numerous times.
So this is Scotty's big boy room. All of the decor - down to the sheets were given to us by a friend. We feel so blessed, and I adore how his room looks.
Scotty is so proud of his new bed. We taught him how to say "army", and he walks around yelling "army, army". So cute.
And this is Cadi's room with her "new" bed. We rearranged her room a bit, and I think it looks bigger than before. It is a struggle to know the best set up for their tiny rooms. We have future (really, really future) renovation plans for the upstairs that will give the boys a big room to share with a closet, and will expand Cadi's room to include a closet.
(Scotty was helping me out here and wearing Daddy's hat!)
Cadi's bed set and canopy were given to her by the same friend that gave us Scotty's decor.
Yesterday we also went to a farmer's market and once again stocked up on produce. I cannot get over how much cheaper it is to buy this way rather than the grocery store. I adore it when my kitchen is stocked with fresh fruits and veggies. That is what I always crave, and my children are the same way. We are working on altering Jim's cravings in the evenings from ice cream to fruit. Ha! Poor guy.
For lunch today I threw together the yummiest avocado salad. It's not really a recipe, but here is what I did.
I cut up a cucumber, sliced red onions, minced a fresh garlic clove, and diced avocados. I mixed the cucumber, onions and garlic together sprinkled on a little sea salt and some pepper. I then added the avocados carefully and stirred in some dill weed and a vinaigrette. If I wasn't crunched for time I would have added tomatoes and peppers, too. I also think feta sprinkled on top would be amazing. And if my herb garden was ready I would have picked fresh dill to use instead of dill weed. Oh wait a minute - that would mean I had to have planted an herb garden! Whoops!
Then my husband got the great idea to take this avocado salad and use it as a filling on a whole wheat wrap. mmmm. Yes it was as yummy as it looks! I think I may add some chickpeas to the wrap next time - smashed a bit.
Jim has a softball game tonight that we hope to attend if the rain holds off. I am contemplaing making some pesto tonight with the fresh basil I purchased yesterday. Besides that we are enjoying summer and each other! How about you?
This post could also alternately be titled I Love my Best Friend's Biscuits! Ha! {grin}
And I really do. My best friend Bethany (if she had a blog I would point you there, but she doesn't) gave me a recipe for the most brilliant, buttery biscuits I have ever bitten.
(Okay, I will stop with the alliteration. I am feeling silly!)
They are seriously amazing and terribly unhealthy, but that has not stopped me from baking them over and over. {sigh} Her secret is to keep the butter in large chunks when mixing the dough; that way the biscuits will bake with those lovely, buttery, flaky layers that we all look for in a great biscuit. I have discovered that the less I work the dough, the lighter and flakier my biscuits turn out. I have made this recipe for both sweet and savory recipes - from chicken and biscuits to strawberries and whipped cream over biscuits. However, my favorite way to eat these is warm out of the oven with honey drizzled on top. Mmmmm. Bethany also tells me that adding some garlic and cheddar cheese into the dough will turn these into biscuits similar to the cheddar bay ones served at Red Lobster. If you are interested in this great (and easy) recipe click here.
Thank you for all of the interest and encouragement shown regarding my blog hop Momentous Monday. I am really excited for it to kick off next Monday. Please spread the word on your blog and if you are going to join feel free to add the button to your sidebar. (You can get the code for the button by scrolling to the bottom of my left hand sidebar.)
And speaking of buttons thanks for grabbing my new A Moment Cherished blog button! It makes me smile to read your blog and see my little button featured there. {grin}
We are getting back into the swing of things this week after all being sick with the stomach bug last. It rained this morning, but now it has cleared off and is a bit humid even. Cadi and I had a great morning doing school. She impresses me so with her reading and her love for learning. What a little blessing she is. Our video camera died a few years back. There is so much I wish I could capture - Cadi reading, Scotty's cute little walk and sweet words, etc. Maybe someday. My still camera is pretty great at capturing moments right now. {grin}
I hope you have a blessed Tuesday. Your comments are such a blessing to me - thank you for taking the time to read my words and encourage my heart.
PS ~Welcome to all of the visitors from Lynette's blog! I am so glad to have you here as a guest at A Moment Cherished. Feel free to have a cup of coffee with me and look around. I love to meet other passionate mommies! I am starting a new blog hop that you can read all about below. And I would so love to have you join us. You have brightened my day by visiting - thanks! {grin}
There is something so sweet about working side-by-side in my kitchen with my daughter. What started out, admittedly, as more damage-control than anything, has developed into this beautiful harmonious "kitchen dance" between the two of us. I seldom bake by myself anymore, and I really do prefer to have her little body next to mine
mimicking
learning
growing. . . .
doing our "kitchen dance". She is the true Cadence in my kitchen.
The steps keep evolving as she grows, but for this moment they look something like this:
I measure the flour.
She dumps it in the bowl.
I set out the ingredients.
She counts the measurements.
I give her an egg.
She cracks it. (She is seriously an expert at cracking eggs.)
I pour.
She stirs.
I love the rhythm we have fallen into. I love the memories we are making. I love the sweet treats that I am teaching her to bake for the ones she loves.
Like this one.
Banana Bunt Cake.
I love feeding my family healthy, nutritious foods, but I also enjoy balancing that with a few sweet baked goods. This is one of them. To get my recipe click here.
When we first started our "kitchen dance" it was clumsy, messy, and we were both unsure. Back then my two year old partner was just as eager to please as she is now, but the eagerness displayed itself more in ways like flour spilled on the floor, the chocolate chip bag dumped on the counter, or egg shells stirred into our batter. I wasn't a good teacher at first. I had to grow into my patience and my graciousness with this sweet little wannabe sous chef. But looking back, it was so worth it, to take the time, to allow her to learn the basic steps of our "kitchen dance". Not even a clean kitchen floor can replace those first sloppy moments working side- by- side together.
She is already practicing the steps on her own - just waiting for the day when she will lead and be the Cadence in her kitchen.
But for now I will cling to her apron strings a bit longer. Neither of us have mastered the steps to our final "kitchen dance", and thankfully we have time ahead of us.
(These photos are a few weeks old. There is no baking going on in our home today, as we all have the stomach bug. Praying we are at the end of it!)
This blog is my story - well God's story - of how He is taking a scared, shy girl on the adventure of a life time. He is writing a story over me that I didn't ask for, but it is more breath taking that I could have imagined. This is where I pen my story - all for God's glory. You are welcome here. The ending of this story will be a surprise for us both.
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