Broccoli Cheese Soup (from scratch)

One soup I've loved since a child is Broccoli Cheese Soup. It's always been a favourite of mine, and I was fortunate enough to discover, thanks to this recipe, that it is also one both of my children love. I stumbled across this Panera Bread copy cat recipe at Yammie's Noshery, but while I was making it discovered that I needed to tweak it to get a soup that I would like.

My biggest issue with most soup is the incredibly skimpy amount of vegetables in it. I fixed that. Below is my recipe, made multiple times and devoured by all!

Broccoli Cheese Soup
Based on this recipe from Yammie's Noshery

1/2 stick of butter (1/4c)

1/2 of a medium yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves minced garlic

1c of milk

1c of heavy cream

3c chicken stock

1/4c corn starch

1/4t nutmeg

2 bay leaves

2c chopped carrots (roughly 4 carrots)

4-6c broccoli florets (an entire bunch + some more if you desire)

3c shredded cheddar cheese

Pepper to taste

1) Sautee onions and garlic in butter over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until tender.

2) Add the milk, cream, and stock.

3) Combine corn starch with a bit of water (or a bit extra broth) and stir until fully dissolved. Add to the pot.

4) Turn heat to medium low and add in nutmeg and bay leaves, stirring until thickened.

5) Add in the vegetables and allow to simmer until tender (roughly 30 minutes).

6) Remove bay leaves and stir in cheese until fully incorporated.

7) Serve.

This will have an excellent flavour, especially if you use homemade chicken stock. There will be no need to add any salt while cooking (or after it is served), as there is plenty of sodium in the cheese, and, as I mentioned already, there is no lack of flavour.

This recipe is easy to make, and a crowd pleaser. Definitely a win in our household! I really need to remember to make bread bowls next time, though! I don't have images of the children eating the food because I was too busy stuffing my face. The leftovers go quickly, too!

This recipe claims to serve 4, and I could see it feeding 6 adults good sized servings. If you are serving with bread bowls, I'd think it could feed 8. You will easily have leftovers to get at least one more meal out of it for 4 adults, though.

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from your own. This recipe is an adaptation of one found at Yammie's Noshery.

Spaghetti Squash Pizza Bake (LS, Original Recipe)

With a new diet requirement (low sodium), I find myself having to come up with alternatives to lunch for Bobble's school. He eats really clean at home, but the preschool doesn't really want the parents sending lunches since they have to make sure it would meet certain dietary requirements. I find this rather frustrating since I feel that they are not well versed in nutrition. In all fairness, that's not their job... their job is to teach 3 and 4 year olds, not know what veggies have what vitamins and minerals. Either way it goes, now we find ourselves making his lunches and attempting to keep it similar to what the kids at school are eating because literally everyone else has the same thing.

I saw a "spaghetti pizza bake" on the menu, and I have no idea what that is. I can only assume it's spaghetti with sauce and some cheese (maybe other toppings?) baked on top... or mixed in. Here was my version that I made for lunch that day, filling an 8x8 pan. (We set some spaghetti squash and sauce aside for a separate bake and to use sauce on pizza later in the week. Original amounts to include the other bake and pizza sauce would equal a full spaghetti squash, 5 tomatoes, 1 can paste, a whole serving of chopped pepperoni, and 1/2 tsp. salt.)

This can easily be vegetarian by omitting meat and adding other veggies instead.

Spaghetti Squash Pizza Bake
2c. Spaghetti Squash (cooked and scraped out to be noodle-like)
3 Tomatoes
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 c. tomato paste
1/2 serving turkey pepperoni chopped up (or chopped peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, etc. for a veg. dish)
1/4 lb ground beef (browned) (or more chopped veggies for a veg. dish)
1 1/2c. shredded mozzarella
Fresh Basil to taste
Dried Oregano to taste
Coconut Oil to grease dish

1) Shred cooked Spaghetti squash and then put in a greased 8x8 dish

2) Blend tomatoes, paste, basil, and oregano. Add in chopped pepperoni, ground beef, or any veggies you want to use.

3) Mix sauce and spaghetti squash together, and top with mozzarella.

4) Cover with Aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes at 350F.

5) Remove foil and bake another 10 minutes. Serve hot.

This whole dish would contain roughly 1,000 mg. of sodium, so a generous serving of 1/4 of this whole dish would only be at around 250mg for the meal!

Please keep in mind that the sodium content can vary GREATLY from brand to brand, so (obviously) check your labels. To replicate this recipe exactly, the specific brands I used (other than general items like ground beef or spices) were:

Boar's Head turkey pepperoni
Happy Farms Mozzarella (Aldi brand)
Friendly Farms Tomato Paste (Aldi Brand)

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Post contains affiliate links.

Braised Barley and Vegetables (LS)

I had never made barley in my life before trying this recipe, so this was definitely an experiment for my family. In fact, I don't recall ever EATING barley in my life. I'm sure I've had it in a soup or something, but I'd never really had it to where I remembered it. I had no idea what it would be like, or how well I would make it. Still, it sounded tasty, looked simple, and easily could be a low sodium dish.

I don't have a kitchen scale, so I just eye-balled it. I also had no idea how much 8 ounces of cut rutabaga and 8 ounces of cut potatoes would look like. In fact, I'm most certain that I didn't have the "correct" amounts of them in there. This dish claiming to serve 4 people should fit in my 3QT pan, so I had a rough idea. The pan was to the brim, so I definitely went with the larger pan the second time around.

The meal turned out well. Inexpensive, easy prep (just chopping a few things), super easy to make, and hubby even said, "...this isn't what I expected. It's DELICIOUS, just not what I expected!" before I even had one bite.

It was delicious, actually. Very delicious. I was surprised, as there wasn't really any spice in it to flavour it, but it was a good flavour. It would be good with cut up mushrooms in there, too. If you like mushrooms, that is. It was so delicious, actually, that both children LOVED it!

Pre-cooked Bacon (optional!)

This is a FABULOUS cold-weather meal.It would be great accompanying a variety of meats, though the second time around I put in 4 slices of (finely crumbled, cooked) bacon. I used the Aldi uncured bacon brand "Simply Truth", which has 65mg/slice. This is the lowest sodium bacon I have found anywhere. There was no salt added to the veggie stock since I make my own, so the overall sodium for this entire dish was roughly 300mg, 560mg with the added bacon. Keep in mind that the sodium content will be altered by using store-bought stock, and by how much of particular vegetables you add. I googled the nutritional information for each veggie I used to get a rough idea of the sodium content they added. 

* NOTES *

• I only had a 2 cup pyrex cup, so I guesstimated the additional 1/2 cup of water, covered with plastic wrap (and a rubberband to secure it), and left over night in the fridge
• Lacking a kitchen scale, I added half of a rutabaga and only 2 (red) potatoes. I also added 3 ribs of celery and 3 carrots.
• I sprinkled in a tiny bit of some pink Himalayan sea salt and ground some fresh pepper into the pan (it was a peppercorn medley and not just black pepper), brought it to a boil, then set the stove to 3 for a simmer.
• I seriously had no idea how to tell if barley was done, so I just set the timer and hoped for the best. Worked out great. Timer went off, turned off the burner and moved the pan from the heat (like I do for other things that need to lose their liquid or absorb/thicken).
• I expected this, originally, to feed all 4 of us with a bit left over for someone for lunch since youngest isn't going to eat a full serving.... we have enough for ALL Of us to have left overs, and then even one or two more servings after that.It goes a long way!
• For extra flavour, you can soak your barley in stock instead (all the water the barley is with gets dumped into the dish anyway)

This is another recipe out of my Russian, German & Polish Food & Cookingcookbook.

Braised Barley and Vegetables 
Serves 4
Ingredients

• 1 cup pearl or barley
• 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, sliced
• 2 carrots, halved lengthwise and sliced
• 8 ounces rutabaga or turnip, cut into 3/4" cubes
• 8 ounces potatoes, cut into 3/4" cubes
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• celery leaves, to garnish

Instructions:
1) Put the barley in a measuring cup and add water to reach the 2 1/2 cup mark. Let soak in a cool place for at least 4 hours or, preferably, overnight. (Below is when I first put it in to soak that morning, and when I took it out to use that afternoon)

2) Heat the oil in a large pan and saute the onion for 5 minutes. Add the sliced celery and carrots and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the onion is starting to brown.

3) Add the barley and its soaking liquid to the pan. Then add the rutabaga or turnip, potato and stock to the barley. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cover the pan.

4) Simmer for 40 minutes, or until most of the stock has been absorbed and the barley is tender. Stir occasionally towards the end of cooking to prevent the barley from sticking to the base of the pan. Serve, garnished with celery leaves.

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from your own. Post contains affiliate links.

Baked Veggie and Grains Pilaf

This is a nutritious side dish that will go with any meat. We paired it with a yummy lamb roast, but it would be delicious accompanying anything. You can also add different veggies into the mixture like eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, and more.

 

Rice and Veggie Pilaf
Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon Butter (or oil)
1 Onion, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped (or 4 smaller ribs)
1 chopped bell pepper (red, yellow, or orange)
1 ear of corn (cut kernels off)
4 small to medium sized carrots (chopped)
1 medium zucchini (chopped)
3/4 cup millet
3/4 cup quinoa
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups stock of choice (use veggie stock to make vegetarian)

** Use oil instead of butter and veggie stock to make the dish vegan

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Heat butter or oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook and stir vegetables in the hot oil until softened, about 10 minutes.
3. Mix veggie mixture, millet, quinoa, stock, and salt together and put into an 8x8-inch casserole dish; pour in stock. Cover dish with aluminum foil.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until grains are tender and have absorbed all the liquid, about 30 minutes.

We made this to accompany a lamb roast, so we did the stock part a bit differently. We had 2c of chicken stock that needed to be used, so we used those 2 cups, 1/2c of the juice from the lamb roast, and then pulled a 1/2c of frozen chicken stock from our freezer.

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff was not reimbursed for this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Recipe was an adaptation of this recipe. Post contains affiliate links.

Black Bean Salad Recipe

I have a bunch of canned beans, and I am forever looking for new recipes to use them up. In an attempt at a meatless dish, I decided to try to make a variation of a black bean salad I found online.

I had to change it up due to some ingredients I had on hand not being good (like corn being black at the cob when I cut it... something I had never seen and it looked fine from the outside), but it turned out great for our family. We ate this over rice (warm) and we ate this with tortilla chips (cold). Everyone loved it, it was easy to make, and healthy. Enjoy!

Black Bean Salad
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 ear fresh cooked corn, kernels cut off the cob
• 1 red bell peppers, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots, from one medium shallot
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 9 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon lime zest (be sure to zest limes before juicing them)
• 4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
• 2 Hass avocados, chopped

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients except for avocados in a large bowl and mix well.
Cover and chill for a few hours or overnight.
Right before serving, add avocados and mix gently, being careful not to mash avocados.
Garnish with a more chopped cilantro if desired.
Serve at room temperature.

adapted from: My Balanced Plate

Mixed (sans avocado) and ready to chill!

Chopping Avocado to add into our bowls

Squiggle's bowl

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Post contains affiliate links.

MOMables Black Bean Soup (GF)

I am a sucker for black bean soup, and it really does get expensive to buy it premade (and even more to get it in a restaurant). When I saw the MOMables GF recipe for Black Bean Soup, I simply had to try it. It sounded delicious, we had all the ingredients, and it was apparently very quick to make! Also, with one super simple alteration, the recipe could be vegan. Easy peasy!

My hubby took the kids for a jog, and I started dinner. Dinner involved opening cans (unless you soaked and cooked your own black beans, stirring things while they heated, and then serving. Yes, it was really that simple.

Starting out

Ready to eat!

Heating up

I was astonished at how easy it was! Even more so at the fact that this meal costs about $7.50 if you're buying store brand items and full price.

I was even more surprised that Bobble and Squiggle both ate all their food, and that hubby got seconds while going on about how this recipe was a keeper. I had seconds, myself.

This recipe fed us a lot. In fact, this is what was leftover after dinner (which fed a 1yo, 3yo, and two bowls full for 2 adults):

Leftovers in our 2 quart dish

As you can see, definitely enough for leftovers the next day!

If you're not GF, you could always eat with tortilla chips. We enjoyed this with tortilla chips one night cornbread for lunch the next day, and with cheese quesadillas, too. (MOMables has a free recipe for making GF spinach tortillas, too!)

Enter for your chance to win a 3 month subscription to MOMables and get more great recipes like this one!

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff received a trial to MOMables in exchange for reviews. This did not sway my opinion in any way. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.

MOMables New Grain Free Menu!

MOMables is a fabulous service where you can get menus sent to your email every week. The menus will offer alternatives for lunches for your children so you don't get stuck in that sandwich rut. Yes, there are sandwiches from time to time, but not your plain old lunch meat and cheese.

Sandwiches or not, there is always a fun spin on the foods. For example, "sushi" sandwiches, gluten free fish sticks, and much more.

MOMables offers a free week trial of their menu services. To sign up for a free week, click here.

In the summer time, you get more dinner ideas. The best thing about this service is they not only have a whole week of different meals ready for you so you don't have to try to come up with something new, but the shopping list is all there and ready for you to just print out. There are also tips for what to make extra of to use in the next day's meal.

Recently, MOMables has started offering an alternative to their regular menus (which contain tips for making things allergy friendly), and they now have a grain free option.

To read more about their regular menu offerings, please check out my previous reviews and posts on MOMables found HERE.

MOMable's GF option has many delicious recipes that the family will enjoy, and if you don't want to make the recipe gluten/grain free, you don't have to. I love experimenting with new cooking styles, so I was all about trying their GF option.

Keep an eye out for some of their GF option recipe reviews in the near future! Not all of the MOMables recipes are available for free, obviously, so I will share the recipe itself if it is a free recipe.... like I did with their Chocolate Avocado Pudding!

Want to try MOMables for yourself? Enter below for a chance to win a 3 month trial in either the GrainFree option or the Original!

Don't forget to follow MOMables on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, FaceBook, and their Blog for more recipes!


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Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff received a trial free of charge in exchange for a review. This did not, in any way, sway my opinion of the product. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.