Vegetable Stock

Today, I decided to try my hand at making vegetable stock. I received 5 ears of com this week and undertook to cut the kernelsfrom the cobs. Ihad read, somewhere, that the stripped cobs can be used to make vegetable stock. I also had some leftoveronion which I chunked up to add to the cobs. When I looked at the rest of my produce stock, I found carrots, radishes, and roasted garlic, as well as a blend of fresh herbs (thyme, sage & rosemary). I decided this blend would make a lovely stock.

 Slow-cooker Vegetable Stock

•  5 corn cobs*, stripped of kernels
•  1/3 large sweet onion*, cut in chunks
•  2 large late carrots*, cleaned and cut in chunks
•  6 radishes*, cut in half
•  6 cloves roasted garlic
•  1 bunch fresh herbs (thyme, sage, rosemary)
•  kosher salt
•  Water

 Place all vegetables and herbs into slow-cooker. Add water to cover. Cover and cook 3-4 hours on HIGH. Adjust seasoning. Cook 10-15 minutes longer to blend flavors. Drain stock into a bowl; draining through a sieve or colander. Cool and freeze for later use.

*CSA ingredients

Fall Soup

Between my CSA share and my husband's cousin, I ended up with a variety of winter squashes. I decided with the recent change in weather, Squash Soup would be a comforting change. As I usually do, I hit the internet for ideas and found a recipe for Roasted Squash Soup that uses several types of winter squash. Since Ihad butternut, acorn and spaghetti squash, I decided to use this recipe as a basis for my version.

 Roasted Winter Squash Soup
Adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/roasted-squash-soup/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=roasted%20squash%20soup&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

• 1 1/2 pounds butternut squash*, halved and seeded
• 1 acorn squash*, halved and seeded
• 1/2 small spaghetti squash*, halved and seeded
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion*, chopped
• 6 cloves roasted garlic*, minced
• 1 teaspoon ginger powder
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 2 Gala apples* - peeled, cored and chopped
• 2/3 cup white wine
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup water
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper, or to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Place the squash, cut side down, on baking sheets and roast for 45 minutes, or until flesh is soft. Scoop out the flesh into a large bowl.
3. In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, heat the oil. Saute the onion, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in the garlic, ginger and curry powder and cook 1 minute. Add the apples and sherry and simmer for 10 minutes, or until apples soften.
4. Puree batches of the squash flesh and broth in a food processor or blender. Transfer the squash puree to a large saucepan. Puree the apple/sherry mixture and stir into pureed squash.
5. Heat over medium heat and season with salt, pepper and cayenne, to taste. 

 *CSA ingredients

Potatoes and Leeks

This weekend, I went to a birthday party for my husband's aunt's 90th birthday. While there, his cousin, Rene, offered everyone squash and leeks. I managed to come away with 2 large, beautiful leeks, 2 acorn squash and 1 small spaghetti squash. Since we got potatoes in the last share, I decided to try my hand at potato leek soup. Now, I usually spend a lot of time searching recipes and making a gameplan, but this morning I was in a hurry, so I just threw things in my Crockpot and went to work. I will admit I had some anxiety, and there are some things I would do differently next time, but overall, I ended up with a very tasty soup.

 Potato Leek Soup with Cheddar and Bacon

•  2 large leeks
•  8 small potatoes* 
• 3 medium carrots*
•  32 oz chicken stock
•  2 cups water
• 1 sprig sage
•  1/2 1b bacon
•  2 cups shredded cheese (I used extra sharp white cheddar)

 Trim the leek (use only light green/white part). Cut in half lengthwise and wash out sand. Thinly slice the leeks. Add to the Crockpot.

 Peel and chunk the potatoes; add to the Crockpot. Peel the carrots and cut to 1-inch pieces; add to the Crockpot. Pour chicken stock and water over the vegetables. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.

Cool soup slightly and blend,using an immersion blenderor regular blender, until chunky. Return to Crockpot, add cooked, crumbled bacon, cheese and sage. Cook until cheese is melted and sage has flavored the soup. Remove sage and adjust seasoning (salt and pepper) if needed.

Note: while this soup turned out very tasty, you could probably double the potatoes and carrots and have a much heartier soup. Also, I prefer sharp cheeses in these types of soups, but you could just as easily use mild cheddar or Swiss if you prefer.

* CSA ingredients

Eggplant

We actually seem to have gotten more eggplant this year than last.  If you have followed my blog, you know that I love ratatouille, however, because of my dietary needs due to gastric surgery, that is no longer a dish that I can enjoy as an entree.  So I have been trying to find ways to use eggplant in dishes that are higher in protein and more appropriate for my dietary needs.

As I was perusing eggplant recipes, there seemed to be a theme of tomato based eggplant stew recipes.  Many with beef, a couple just vegetarian, and even a couple that had chickpeas in them.  The one combination that I DO like is eggplant and lamb.  I have loved moussaka since I was a child, but that type of casserole seems to be difficult for me these days.  However, I did have some ground lamb in my refrigerator and decided to take all of the eggplant stew recipe ideas, but use lamb and garbanzo beans for my protein.  I am happy to say that I was able to share this lovely stew with my mom who had come to visit for the night.  It was kind of neat to have the stew fresh with crostata and boursin cheese on the side and then to be able to send some of the stew home with her so Dad could enjoy some too.  The recipe that became the base of the stew will be referenced below:

Eggplant Stew with Lamb and Garbanzo Beans
Adapted from: http://teriskitchen.com/soups/eggplant-b.html

• About 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion*, chopped
• 1 red pepper*, chopped
• 2 medium rainbow carrots*, chopped
• 8 oz button mushrooms, coarsely chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves*, minced
• 2 medium eggplants* 1/2" dice (I used one purple and one white)
• 2 cans (28-oz) whole tomatoes in juice, hand-crushed
• 1 can (28-ounces) crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups homemade chicken stock*
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon dried marjoram leaves
• 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 lb ground lamb, sauteed
• 1 (15-oz) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• Freshly grated Romano cheese

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add onion, pepper and carrots, stir and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add mushrooms and garlic, toss and cook about 2 minutes.  Add eggplant, tomatoes, stock, water and spices.  Heat to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Saute lamb in a skillet, drain and add to the stew.  Rinse and drain the garbanzo beans and add to the stew.  Cover and cook about 30 minutes, or until eggplant is cooked through.  Adjust seasoning as needed.  Serve with fresh Romano cheese.

*CSA ingredients

Halfway

Tonight, I stopped at Walmart to try and find a couple things and decided it was time to try on a pair of jeans. I have this habit of putting these things off because I can't see the changes as well as everyone else. I am proud to say I was easily able to put on a pair of size 26 jeans!

This is remarkable because before the surgery, I was wearing size 36! I also want to note that on top I have gone from a men's size 2X (women 4X/5X ) to a ladies L(14/16). To be perfectly honest, I had lost faith that I would ever see those sizes again. It just makes it all worth it. I am now officially halfway to goal. I can't wait to see what the second half brings!

Minestrone

I will be the first to admit that despite my Italian heritage, I have never dabbled in trying to make a minestrone.  However, I ended up with many of the ingredients to do just that with this past week's CSA, so I decided to play around and see if I could manage to do the soup justice.  Let me first mention here that I love making soups in my Crockpot.  It just makes life easier because I don't have to watch it and stir it every few minutes, etc.  So, while this is a minestrone-like soup, I wouldn't call is a real minestrone.  I am not sure than most people would know the difference, so in the end I could probably call it minestrone, but I do feel a little strange putting it out there as such.  You can be the judge.  Oh, yeah, and there is one other thing.  The recipes all call for carrots, which I did not have.  I did, however, have golden beets, so I chose to substitute those for the carrots.  It seemed to have worked, although, again, normally, you do not have beets in a minestrone.

Crockpot Vegetable "Minestrone"

• 2 cups chopped cabbage*
• 1 bunch Swiss chard*, stems and leaves chopped
• 6 Roma tomatoes*, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 3 golden beets*, quartered and sliced
• 1/2 medium Cousa zucchini*,  cut in thirds and sliced
• 4 cups chicken stock*
• 1 (15-oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15-oz) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 Tbsp dried basil
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Fresh grated parmesan cheese

Place all ingredients, except parmesan, into crock of Crockpot.  Cook on HIGH for 1 hour, then reduce heat to LOW and cook for 6-8 hours or until cabbage is tender.  Adjust seasoning.  Serve sprinkled with fresh parmesan.

*CSA ingredients 

Using Up Summer Produce

One of the advantages of moving is that you can get a really good look at what is in your freezer.  Yes, I am one of those people who puts things in the freezer and forgets about it.  In the move, I discovered that I had an uncured smoked ham hock.  I also had bags of homemade chicken stock.  So, I again decided that I needed to make a soup.  The nice thing about the end of summer is that we get quite a hodgepodge of produce.  I have been trying to decide what to do with certain items: zucchini, the excess of tomatoes, a pattypan squash, etc.  So, last night, I put the stock, the ham hock, and some of this produce into the crockpot and made a vegetable soup.  Please note, this soup will work with whatever produce you might have available, however, if you would like to use Swiss chard, spinach, kale or beet greens in place of the collard greens, save them until the last hour of cooking.  Collard Greens require longer cooking than the other greens. 

"Potluck" Crockpot Vegetable Soup

• 4 cups homemade chicken stock*
• 1 large uncured, smoked ham hock*
• 1 medium pattypan squash*, cut into 8 wedges and then sliced thin
• 1 medium zucchini squash*, cut in quarters lengthwise and then sliced thin
• 2 medium slicing tomatoes*, diced
• 2 cups fresh corn kernels* (from approx 2 cobs)
• 1 Tbsp dried marjoram
• 1 tsp dried thyme 
• 1 Tbsp dried basil
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 1 small bunch collard greens*, stems removed and cut to bite-sized pieces

Place all ingredients in crock of Crockpot.  Cook on HIGH for 1 hour.  Reduce heat to LOW and cook 6-8 hours or until vegetables are cooked.  Remove ham hock; cool.  Pull meat from ham hock and shred; return to Crockpot.  Heat through.  Adjust seasoning as needed.

*CSA ingredients

A Different Beet Soup

I've been trying to decide what to do with all the beets we've gotten over the last few weeks. I was looking for something different this time and in searching for recipes, kept running across recipes for spicy beet soups. Since we received a variety of hot peppers last week, I decided to give one a try. The jalapeno and cumin gave the soup a nice smoky taste, sort of like I roasted the beets instead of boiled them.

Spicy Beet Soup
 Adapted from: http://www.newcoventgardensoup.com/members-soups/olympic-spicy-beetroot-and-carrot-soup

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 lb beets*
• 1 medium onion*
• 1 jalapeno*
• 1 large carrot*
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp ground ginger
• 2 cups homemade chicken stock*
• kosher salt, to taste

Trim stems and carefully wash beets. Cover with water and boil 20-30 minutes until fork tender. Cool and peel; cut into large chunks and place in blender.

 Finely dice onion and jalapeno; dice carrot. Heat olive oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Saute vegetables in oil 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add stock, cumin, ginger and salt, if needed,  to pot; boil for 10 min or until carrots are tender. Pour into blender. Puree until smooth.

*CSA ingredients

Chorizo and Corn

I have the most amazing smell in my apartment right now! I had thawed a pound of local chorizo this week. I also had six ears of corn I needed to use. So, as I usually do, I  Googled recipes with these ingredients. There are a lot of ideas out there from frittatas to soup. I finally decided on a chorizo and black bean soup made with a beer base. I just happen to have a partial 6-pack of Oktoberfest in the refrigerator and thought that would make an interesting base. I have to say it was interesting starting this today because I am still unpacking my kitchen. It was an adventure going through bags and boxes to find everything I needed. There were some ingredients I didn't have, so , I just increased the corn and added a poblano pepper as a substitute.

 Black Bean Chorizo Soup with Beer
 Adapted from: http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Negra-Modelo-Chorizo-_-Black-Bean-Soup-Recipezaar

• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
•  1 lb chorizo*
•  1 lg onion*, diced
•  1 red pepper*, diced
•  1 poblano pepper*, diced
•  3 cloves garlic *, minced
•  2 quarts water
•   36 oz beer (l used Oktoberfest)
•  4 cups fresh corn kernels *, (from approx. 6 ears corn)
•  2 (15-oz) cans black beans, with liquid
• 1 (15-oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
•  1 1/2 Tbsp ground cumin
•  1/2 tsp fresh-ground pepper
•  2 Tbsp lime juice

 Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chorizo and cook, breaking the chorizo up as you cook, until pink.

 
Dice the onion and peppers; mince garlic.

Add vegetables to chorizo; cook until onion is translucent.

Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 2 hours or until vegetables are cooked.

Note: I did not have carrots this time, but I think I would add them if I did to make this even heartier. Because of the bean liquid, I didn't feel this soup needed anymore salt, however, feel free to add salt if you feel it's needed You may also add cayenne if you want more spice.

 *CSA ingredients

Bariatric Blogging

I had a happy happenstance today that I didn't expect.  When I first had the surgery, I purchased a dress that I thought would be the right size for our Christmas concert this coming December.  I have been attempting to put the dress on periodically as I've lost weight and up until last month, couldn't do it.  The day I was able to put the dress on over my shoulders, I had my husband snap a picture.  It still didn't come close to fitting my hips, but I could get it on and allow the skirt to fall over my hips.

This past week, as I was in the process of moving, I was trying on my dresses that had been tucked away in the back of my old bathroom (where I had a hanging rack) to see if any fit.  I figured I would try on the black dress again, just to see how it looked.  Lo and behold, it fit a bit better, so I snapped a picture of the fit.  I am so close to being able to wear this dress, it's just amazing.  I didn't think anything more about it until today when I noticed that I had a reminder on google+.  When I clicked, there was the original picture.  As I looked at it, I realized that in just 2 weeks, there had been quite a big change in the way the dress fit and how my face looked.  So I downloaded both pictures onto the computer and made this composite:

I was shocked to realize how much more I have lost from my chin and neck and just how much better the dress fit.  In JUST 2 WEEKS!!!!!

According to my scale this morning, I am 96 lbs down.  I go to the sports doctor on Thursday to find out where we go from here on my knees.  It is clear to me that I need to be able to do land exercise.  The pool is nice, but I just do not see the same results when I can only work in the pool.  Moving last week helped me drop another 10 pounds and as you can see, did some all over toning that just wasn't happening in the pool.  I also now have my Bowflex set back up, so now I have no excuse for lifting weights and getting my muscles back in tone.  I am looking for big changes coming up, but first, I am excited that 100 lbs is clearly in my sights!

I have said it before and I will say it again: I have not had the easiest road through all of this with the weird things that have happened every step of the way, but it has been worth everything that has happened.  One more pound and I will weigh less than I have since probably my late 20's.  I will never be as thin as I was in high school (I don't think I looked that healthy at 128 lbs), but I have hope that I will get to a healthy weight at which I can be happy!