Simple Creamy Carrot Soup

I love soup. I don't think soup should only be eaten when it is cold. In light of Easter yesterday I thought this recipe was perfect. Ok carrots don't really have anything to do with Easter, more the Easter bunny, but since I am a huge fan of Easter egg hunts I think that carrots do have a place in Easter! This soup definitely has a carrot flavor. If you aren't a hug fan of carrots, then this soup might not be for you. If you do enjoy carrots then this soup is definitely worth a try. The flavor is unique, but I love the carrot and rosemary combo. I am also pretty excited about how healthy this soup is!

Simple Creamy Carrot Soup

Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds peeled carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 sprig of fresh thyme
1 sprig of fresh rosemary
32 ounces chicken broth
2 strips precooked bacon
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

Directions
Place oil in large pot over medium heat. Add carrots, onions, garlic, thyme and rosemary. Cook for 15 minutes, until carrots are fork tender. Remove herb sprigs and transfer carrots and vegetables to blender (I used our Kitchen Aid blender). Puree, using the soup button if you have one. Add chicken broth and continue to puree. Transfer to large saucepan over medium heat and add bacon strips. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce. Simmer until ready to serve.

Makes 6 servings

Recipe Source: Picky Palate

Mama Mondola's Chicken Soup

I hope all of you had a fabulous Christmas and New Years! As one of my new years goals I have decided to eat less sugar. For me this means that for the month of January I have decided to cut out all cane sugar from my diet. In case you haven't noticed my dessert section is my largest section on this blog. That is because I LOVE desserts. I would say almost all of them contain cane sugar. This is going to be a fun challenge for me. I'm not saying I won't post desserts. I will just have to be more creative in using honey, agave, and xylitol.

Well to start off this no sugar month I decided to post this delicious soup. One of my husband's and my favorite restaurants is Carrabbas. My husband always gets this soup. It is hearty and full of flavor. He decided a while back that he wanted to make it. We have made it a few times since then and absolutely love it. This is a big recipe so be prepared. We honestly didn't have a pot big enough to hold the whole soup so we used less (a lot less) water. The flavor is still amazing it is just slightly more like a stew than a soup.

MAMA MANDOLA'S CHICKEN SOUP (MINESTRA DI POLLO)
From Carrabba's
Makes 1 1/2 Gallons

5 celery ribs
4 medium carrots, peeled
1 large yellow onion
2 medium potatoes, peeled
1 large green bell pepper
1(14-ounce) can imported Italian plum tomatoes
1(5-pound) hen, washed and cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
6 quarts water (for soup) or 6-8 cups water for stew
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Dice celery, carrots, onion, potatoes and bell pepper into 1/4-inch pieces. Chop tomatoes; reserve all juice.

Place vegetables, tomatoes with their juice, chicken pieces, parsley and garlic in a 10-quart stockpot. Add water. Season with salt and pepper. This can also be done in a crock pot (my personal preference)

Slowly bring soup to a boil over low heat. Skim off foam that rises to the surface; may have to skim 2 or 3 times. Partially cover pot and simmer 2 hours.

When soup is finished, remove chicken pieces with a slotted spoon. Let cool.

Meanwhile, mash vegetables in the bottom of the pot with the back side of a large cooking spoon or a potato masher.

When chicken has cooled enough to handle, remove skin and bones and return meat to soup.

Notes: Soup is best served the day after it is made. Refrigerate and remove fat that solidifies on the surface of the soup. Serve soup with rice or small, stubby pasta such as pastina, tubetti or small elbow macaroni. For better flavor, cook the rice or pasta in the soup when reheating. Add freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, if desired.

Individual Chicken (Or Turkey) Pot Pies

Every year I get a turkey from work for Thanksgiving. It is actually a really good turkey. The problem is that we usually get it the day before Thanksgiving, and we have already made plans to eat another turkey. So what do I do with my turkey? Well it stays in my freezer until it's almost time to get another one. Then I remember a wonderful holiday called Canadian Thanksgiving. They celebrate Thanksgiving about a month before we do. It is a great excuse to get with my Canadian friends and eat a delicious turkey with all sorts of other great foods. Now what do I do with all my millions of pounds of left over turkey? I make these chicken pot pies, but with turkey! I made them 2 different ways. One involves more crust, and one involves less. You can choose how you want yours.

Individual Chicken (or Turkey) Pot Pies

1 ½ pounds chicken (about three medium-size chicken breasts) cooked and shredded
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup potatoes cut into small cubes
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion , chopped fine (about 1 cup)
3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced (about 1 cup)
2-3 stalks celery, chopped (about ½ cup)
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
½ cup flour
1 cup milk
3/4 cup frozen peas
Pie Crust - about enough for 2 pies

Place chicken broth and potatoes in a large pot. Cook on medium high until potatoes are tender. Time varies depending on how large your potato pieces are. Pour the broth and potatoes through a fine-mesh strainer into a liquid measuring cup and reserve broth. Place potatoes in a large bowl. Add shredded chicken to bowl and set aside. Return the pot to the stove top (no need to wash if you used it to cook the chicken).

Heat the olive oil in the now-empty pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 5 minutes. While the vegetables are cooking, shred the chicken into small bite-size pieces. Transfer the cooked vegetables to the bowl with the chicken; set aside.

Over medium heat melt the butter in the empty pot. Stir in the flour and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in the reserved chicken broth and milk. Bring to a simmer and stir occasionally until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes, taking care not to burn the bottom. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Remove from the heat and stir the chicken, vegetables and peas into the sauce.

There are 2 options on how to make your individual pie:

Option # 1 - Less crust option:

Roll out pie crust to desired thickness. Place ramekins on dough and cut out circles to fit ramekins. Scoop filling into each individual ramekin. Place dough circle on top of each filled ramekin. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until top is golden brown. Cool slightly before serving.

Option # 2 - More crust option:

Roll out pie crust to desired thickness. Cut out a large circle, big enough to be able to fit into a jumbo muffin tin(I used a bowl and traced it with my knife). Place one circle into each jumbo muffin spot. Press down gently on each dough circle to get it to take the form of the muffin tin. Scoop approximately 1/3 cup of filling mixture into each spot. Cut out a smaller circle and place it on top of each individual pie. Press slightly with fingers to get edges to seal. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. To make them easier to remove from muffin tins you could line them with tin foil prior to placing dough in tins. This option you could also freeze and use later. You could bake them prior to freezing, or you could freeze them with dough still raw. Whichever you prefer.

 This recipe made enough for me to do 4 ramekins and 6 jumbo muffin tins with a little bit of filling left over.

Zucchini Casserole

I first need to mention that every time I remember that we are already into September I want to cry. Just a little bit. Summer has just flown by! It really has been a great summer. It always seems that just as I am getting used to it being summer it is gone. Oh well. I will say that I am really excited to see all the pretty fall colors that are sure to be popping up soon.

As you may know our zucchini plant has done quite well this year. It really did take over our garden. We have been able to make lots of yummy foods and still give some away. It has been great. Here is another Zucchini recipe that really is one of my favorites! This casserole is full of flavor and really could almost be eaten as the main dish but I usually serve it as  a side. We had this at a family get together and I just knew that I had to have the recipe. We have had it several times since and I have loved it every time.

Zucchini Casserole

Ingredients:

7 cups zucchini thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz sour cream
1 cup shredded carrots
2 cups seasoned stuffing mix
1/4 cup butter melted

Directions:
In a large pot cook zucchini and onion in boiling salted water for 5-10 minutes. Drain well. In a large bowl combine soup and sour cream. stir in shredded carrots. fold in zucchini mixture. Toss stuffing mix with melted butter. Spread 1/2 stuffing mixture in a 12X7 baking dish (9X13 works too if you don't have a 12X7). Spoon zucchini mixture on top of stuffing. Sprinkle the rest of the stiffing mixture on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until heated through.

Honey Sweetened Whole Grain Carrot Cake

It was my sister-in-law's birthday at the end of last month and we decided to surprise her with a little family surprise party. I was put in charge of making the cake. This is never a problem because I love any excuse to make a dessert! My sister-in-law is much healthier than I am, and really enjoys using whole grains in everything and not using refined sugar. Since this was her party I decided to make a cake that would be to her liking. When I found this recipe I knew it was perfect for her cake. The only thing I didn't know is whether or not it would taste good. I also like eating healthy things, but they have to taste good! I made a little mini cake to test it out. To my surprise it actually was really good. We even took it over to some friends house and they all liked it too! The only picture I have of it is before we cut it. I decided we shouldn't cut it until the birthday girl got to see it, so sorry for no inside pictures.

Note: This recipe makes 1 8X8 pan. I actually doubled it and divided it between 3 round cake pans. I'm sure the doubled recipe would also work great in a 9X13 pan. I also doubled the frosting. For my 3 layer cake it was enough, but there was no extra and I wish I could have put a little more in between the layers. Also if you are not a huge fan of coconut flavor you can use butter instead of the oil in the frosting. I am not a huge fan of coconut and didn't mind the frosting, but it was getting pretty close to the line of too much for me.

Honey Sweetened Whole Grain Carrot Cake

Ingredients
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of coconut oil
1/4 cup of honey (I added a few extra tbs for good luck)
2 tablespoons of lemon or orange juice
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of vanilla
3 ounces of whole wheat flour, by weight
3 ounces of whole grain oat flour, by weight
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 cups of shredded carrots (use your food processor shredding disc)
1/4 cup of chopped walnuts (optional- I opted out)
Directions
Heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 x 8 baking dish and set aside.
You want your coconut oil to be in a liquid form for this recipe. That happens at 76 degrees F. If your oil is not warm enough to be liquid, heat it until it is. Be careful not to let it get hot, as it will prematurely cook the eggs in the next step.
Put the coconut oil, honey, orange juice, eggs and vanilla extract into the work bowl of your favorite food processor fitted with a multipurpose blade. Process for two minutes.
Meanwhile, combine the whole wheat flour, whole grain oat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice in a large bowl. Whisk to combine well. Add the shredded carrots and walnuts. Stir well.
Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir until just barely combined. Too much stirring will result in a tough carrot cake. Transfer to the greased baking dish. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 to 45 minutes.

Honey Sweetened Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients
8 ounces of cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup of coconut oil, at room temperature
2 tablespoons of honey

Directions
Beat all three ingredients together until well creamed. You can do this with a stand mixer, hand mixer or with a wooden spoon. I wouldn't recommend the last one unless you are using it as part of your exercise program!

Recipe Source: Heather Krasovec