Mandy and Jace

Hey everyone! I’m going to be taking a blog break to gather my thoughts, photos and recipes. I’ll start posting again in September. Have a good couple of weeks!

We finally got some rain!!! I think God decided to give me a break after I pronounced my flowers dead. They are still pretty dead but maybe we can baby them back to life.

I sucked at following my meal plan last week. Jace worked late most of the week and I ended up eating soup most nights. So I have a lot of food left over that needs to get eaten this week before it goes bad. I hate wasting good food. Here’s this weeks plan.

Tonight: beef fajitas with refried beans
Tuesday: sweet tea brined pork chops with rice
Wednesday: Crock pot roast and potatoes
Thursday: take out
Friday: date night

Happy eating!

I know all of you just saw the title of this post and tuned me out, but give me a chance! This soup is not near as bad as it sounds. I found this recipe in my Family Chef Cookbook. After changing my eating habits I started eating a lot of salads, but after a while I get tired of rabbit food and want something with some depth. I wanted a soup that will fill me up but be low calorie. This soup tastes a lot like potato soup, but has a little celery flavor at the end. It’s also really good cold so when is its a million degrees outside and you don’t want a hot soup you can just pull this out of the fridge, pour it in a glass and use a straw to drink it.

Celery Soup
from the Family Chef Cookbook

1 onion, cut in medium pieces
1 leek, whites only (optional but they make the soup so much better)
6 cups (1 1/2 boxes) chicken stock
1 potato, cut into medium pieces (You can also use cooked white beans or even rice!)
12 stalks of celery, cut in medium chunks
1 bunch italian flat leaf parsley
2 handfuls of frozen peas
a pinch of nutmeg, cayenne and/or white pepper
salt to taste

Heat a large pot to medium-high heat. Add in about 1-2 tablespoons of oil. Add the onion and leaks to the hot pan and sprinkle with salt. Cook until translucent, do not brown.

As soon as the onions and leeks are translucent add in the chicken stock and the potatoes, and add salt and pepper. Cook until potatoes are tender.

Add the celery and cover the pot. Cook until the celery is soft.

In batches put the soup in the blender add handfuls of peas and parsley to each batch or if you have an immersion blender add a couple of handfuls of peas and parsley to the pot and blend until smooth.

Strain the soup through a mesh strainer and re-heat until warm. Season with salt, pepper, and/or pinch of nutmeg and cayenne pepper. Serve or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. This also freezes well.

Just a list:

• I know last winter I was complaining about it being cold and that I wanted it to be Summer, but I’m done. It can go back to where it came from.
• I am pronouncing my poor back yard plants dead. Time of death….well whatever time is is right now.
• I need another day in my weekend, I’m still tired.

 
This week’s meal plan is a little nuts. Jace has a crazy work week so everything I make will be in a crock pot or easily re-heated so he can eat whenever he can. Here’s the plan.

Tonight: cowboy soup made in the crock pot
Tuesday: some kind of stir fry
Wednesday: crock pot roast and potatoes
Thursday: take out
Friday: date night

Happy eating!