Yogurt in an Igloo

There are lots of posts around the internet for how to make your own yogurt. Google away, and you'll probably find at least ten different ways to do it.

Some call for raw milk and others say that won't work because of the competing good bacteria. One calls for for powdered milk, another says you can use non-fat, 1%, 2%, or whole milk. Opinions vary from using a powdered culture to using store-bought plain yogurt. "You MUST hang your yogurt to get a non runny product". "Don't bother hanging it, it's just fine without". Different temps, use the oven, use a yogurt maker, use a cooler...

Yep. Lots of opinions.

And they probably all work just fine.

For myself, it's all about making it simple. And cheap. And deeeelicious.

I originally followed directions for using the oven and the results were sorta slimy. So then I tried using the cooler because, by golly, I was NOT purchasing another space taker-upper for my kitchen (as in a yogurt maker)!

The cooler worked great. But then, the stopper to my cooler broke off and got, um, misplaced. And the other cooler is huge and needs a good cleaning. And they took so much water and so much space while they did their magic.

So here's what I use and it is PERFECT:

Okay, so it's the brand Igloo. But "Yogurt in an Igloo" sounds so much
more fun than saying "Yogurt in a Drink Dispenser".

It perfectly fits four one quart canning jars (that's a gallon to all of you who maybe forgot). It doesn't take much water or space, and it makes the yogurt turn out creamy and delicious!

So, here's the skinny:

~ Turn on your tea kettle filled with water.

~ Sterilize 4 one quart canning jars and lids.

~ Bring ONE GALLON MILK to 175-180 degrees F. If you want to be precise, you really won't need the entire gallon. But pretty close, so mayizwell play it safe and just do the whole gallon. Then let it cool to 105-110 so the heat doesn't kill your squirmy little active cultures.

OPINION ALERT: If you are buying organic milk from a trusted source, go for whole milk. If you cannot afford that, get skim. I personally think that getting the proper amount of fat is healthy, especially for growing children. But research shows that toxins are stored in fat cells. So if you don't know what is going into the cow that makes your milk, try not to ingest the fat.

~ Pour the milk divided evenly between your 4 sterilized quart jars that have been allowed to cool. Don't get stressed about who gets more. The jars won't care. Just be sure you leave a few inches at the top so you have room for the cultured yogurt.

~ Drop in about a quarter cup of plain active yogurt into each jar and stir. Just plop it in, no need to measure precisely. Well, I don't. But my sister who asked for these instructions probably will, because she's a precise kind of girl. She'll be happy I told her a quarter cup instead of a plop.

~ Place caps on jars. Screw lids down tightly. You don't want watery yogurt do you?

~ Now, you are going to need to fill the Igloo to just below where the jar lids will be, with water that is between 105-110 degrees. I try for 110 or a scad (sorry about the non-measurable measurement Sis) bit higher myself. I fill it about halfway with faucet-warm water, then take it's temp and add boiling water or cold water until I get it right. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT put your jars of yogurt in first, then dump boiling water in, thinking you will cool it. It's gonna kill those active lil cultures. Water first, then jars.

~ Put your jars in the Igloo. If you've filled it past where the bottoms of the lids end up, drain some out.

No Silly. Not that Igloo.

See, what'd I tell ya? They fit perfectly.

The N on one lid was so I knew which one was which when I tried Nancy's plain yogurt for one
of the starters. It was a pretty nice starter, just slightly tangier than when I used the
powdered culture and every bit as creamy.

Make sure your Igloo is in a warmish area, or wrap it real good with some towels or a blanket. I put mine in front of a heat vent in the laundry room.

Now go have a glass of kombucha or kefir and read all about how healthy it is for you and your family to ingest as many good, live, cultured foods as possible.

Then, for goodness sakes, go to bed before the sun comes up. That yogurt is going to need a good 8 hours in it's bath. It is very shy, plus you don't want to allow precious heat to escape, so DO NOT OPEN THE LID.(Alternatively, I hear you can make it early in the day and let it sit for about 8 hours, then refrigerate. I have not tried doing that.)

Dream about bunnies and rainbows and unicorns. Or a pina colada on a beach in Bora, Bora. Or about one day having your entire house clean and your laundry done all at the same time for an entire hour. Whatever puts you in your happy place so you can get some good REM Zzzzs.

When you wake up in the morning and realize it was mostly all a dream, it will be nice to remember you really do have some fresh yogurt to eat for breakfast.

Take the jars out and dry them off. Open a lid and check on the consistency. Now is also a good time to stir in a little vanilla if you like vanilla yogurt. I am thinking you could stir in any flavor extract if you'd like. I love orange extract in other things, but I have only tried vanilla for yogurt.

It will probably be just fine to eat for breakfast, but if you want optimum consistency, only eat one quart and put the rest in the fridge for a few hours and it will set even more.

My favorite is plain, topped with some pure,
grade B maple syrup and a couple of walnuts.

What's yours?

If you try this at home, please tell me how it goes!

Menu Plan Monday, August 30-Sept.5, 2010

My daughter has been showing an interest in antiques and vintage items for the past couple years. She sometimes goes “antiquing” or “garage sale-ing” with me, and has even ventured to the huge antique expo with me a couple of times. So I was pretty excited when, at the Goodwill a couple weeks ago, I found an old recipe card club file box from 1971with a complete set of recipes, including a section entitled “Recipes Children Can Make”.

Making sure that my daughter knows how to run a household is very important to me. She needs to know how to care for others, take care of babies, clean, do laundry and etc. for sure, but I really, really want to make sure she understands how to cook, develops an instinct, and has confidence with it. She is 9 years old now and knows some basics, but I am excited to take her through some more formal training.

So, starting once our family schedule settles down a bit (when we are done with traveling and camping trips), we, along with my 11 year old son at least some of the time (yep, boys need to know too!), are going to start some purposeful cooking lessons, using this vintage Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library.

Some of the recipes are not as wholesome as I prefer to serve my family regularly, but they are recipes that she will be able to do by herself, and can give her a good foundation for confidence building.

She and I are both pretty excited about getting started. I’ll be using the recipes in my MPM posts and linking to the blog where we will have posted about making it (I will also be teaching her some computer skills during the process) so you will all get to see how it is going.

With that in mind, I have also planned to use several recipes this week which the kids can make with me, just to whet our whistles. Amidst all of the projects, I am trying to spend time with the kids and involve them as much as possible in whatever I am doing. I am trying to make the most of every summer minute we have left. I hope you are doing the same!

Have a great week!

Menu Plan Monday

I have found so many new recipe ideas through people who have posted their menus and links to recipes on Menu Plan Monday. I don’t have time to look at every link, but I do look through at least several almost every week. I make a note of recipes I’d like to try on my private blog space, where I hyperlink recipes, and make a note of which blog I found the link on so I can give credit if/when I actually use it in my Menu Plan. I love MPM:)

Monday: Apple and Chicken Sandwiches with this recipe which OrgJunkie shared on MPM as inspiration.

Tuesday: Easy, Creamy Mexican Skillet which was referred by Vanderbilt Wife via MPM

Wednesday: BBQ Sloppy Chicken Pan Pizza also referred via MPM

Thursday: Pepperoni Bread also found via MPM, when I followed additional links

Friday: Indian Flair Potato Pancakes

Saturday: Leftovers

Sunday: Burger Thing

In addition to menu plans for dinner, I am hoping to try Migas as something new for breakfast.

Online Recipe Storage Ideas

I have a long list of recipes I'd like to try. Years ago, I'd clip recipes that sounded good from magazines or newspapers, and I found a wonderful and organized way to keep track of all of them. Nowadays, I find most of my recipes online.

Many of them I find through Menu Plan Monday. Some are recipes I find myself because something sounds good, or I need to use up a particular item. Lots of times, a friend will send me something they love or they think sounds like something I'd enjoy making, or goes well with our attempts at eating a whole food diet.

They are all online.

So I searched and searched for something free I could use to categorize and store them. I found nothing. Many of the recipe sites allow you to save to your own recipe box. But then you have to visit each site to find your recipes, and you can't store recipes you find on blogs or other sites in the same place.

What I finally ended up doing is starting a private blog where I have a specific place for each category and hyperlink the name of the recipe for where I find it. I started doing this is 2008, so my list is quite long now. It has come in very handy during many of my meal planning sessions. And it has give my one place to store all of those items I just don't want to forget to try.

Do any of you have any other ways you store online recipes you'd like to try?

A,B,C -- Easy As 1, 2, 3 (Alphabet Soup)

In my hastily posted menu plan yesterday, I included a link for Scrabble Soup for Wednesday. Because of mood schedule changes, I often make my menu items on a night other than the one I have planned.

So yep, we had Alphabet Stew tonight. I did not use the Scrabble Soup recipe I linked to but, instead, made up my own. It turned out great, especially with the fabulous bread my daughter makes (by herself other than getting the honey out of the gallon jar) in the bread machine. Everyone, including Mr. Picky Pants, loved it. I am going to attempt to write out the recipe below so I can make it again. If you want to make it also, have at it.

Be forewarned that preparing this soup, or even thinking about it, could bring on your own kitchen performance of ABC, ala Jackson 5.

Off The Cuff Alphabet Soup

Put about 10 cups cold water in a gorgeous pot. Mine is a red Le Creuset 8.5 quart I purchased at Costco with my rebate check a couple years ago.

If the pot is pretty it makes all the difference in the world.

Throw some beef bones in there and add 2+ Tablespoons plain old white vinegar. Vinegar helps extract more nutrition out of those old bones. I say 2+ Tablespoons because I actually really like the tangy flavor it gives so I use more than the recommended amount. Why is it, that when I talk about "those old bones", I keep thinking of myself? Hmm.

Add:

~ 1-2 turnips, peeled and diced

~ 1-2 carrots, sliced thinly

~ Celery stalks and/or leaves and parts, cut up

~ 1-2 cloves garlic

~ 1 onion, sliced

~ Sea Salt, maybe about 2 teaspoons

Now go correct your kid's math, get caught up on laundry, cut up all of the produce you bought yesterday and freeze them on cookie sheets for smoothies later -- or whatever it is that you do all day.

Then pour yourself a glass of wine. We're going to be here awhile.

This is my friend Julie, getting some wine. Not while she made soup. It was at her birthday party. But, still. She was getting some wine and she looks cute in her new dress so I'm leaving it up.

Let those bones and veggies boil for hours and hours, maybe even overnight.

Then, if your family hates the veggies you have included, take them out and blend them up so they don't know they are in there. Then put 'em back in. If they don't have that hatred, well, I'm happy for ya, and just leave them alone.

Remove the bones, strip the little bit of meat that might have still been attached, shred it up and throw it back in the gorgie pot. Add some more veggies of your choice, as many or as few as you'd like.

Add:

~ 1 32 ounce box Beef Broth

~ 1/4 - 1/2 cup onion soup mix (I buy in bulk from Frontier), to taste

~ 1 packet Simply Organic Mushroom Sauce Mix (because I had it, you don't have to)

~ 1 Tablespoon Oregano

~ 1 Tablespoon Dried Basil or fresh to taste

~ Sea Salt to taste

~ 4 Tablespoons Worchestershire Sauce

~ Veggies of your choice (I did not add any additional veggies because I was hoping to slip one over on Mr. Picky Pants, which I did).

~ 1 Pound Cooked Beef of your choice, I used ground

Bring back to boil and add Alphabet Pasta. I found the alphabet pasta for $3.00 through my co-op.

Like, um, a year ago.

So when I cleaned out my pantry and saw I still had it, I decided I better use it. Tomorrow is my co-op order day. I am glad I know how much we like it so I can order more. And it will not be a year before I use it this time.

It is especially fun for little ones who don't like "veg-a-bles". Mine got so distracted with the alphabet and the colors of the pasta that he didn't say a word about the veggies. It helped that the veggies were soft and sort of fell apart in the soup also.

If you want soup, add about 1/2 cup of the ABC pasta. Or, you can be like me, reason that you have had the box for a year, it's time to use it up, and dump the whole thing in, creating a thicker stew.

Whatever. The picture is from my cell phone because my camera is broken. At least now you have a blurry idea of what an alphabet stew might look like.

Serve piping hot, preferably with a slice of homemade bread and a pat of real butter.

Some of us are dippers. This bread is too good to dunk, but the crust can be sacrificed to use as a great dipper.

E-A-T U-P!

Soup’s On Saturday: Chicken Wing Soup

Does anyone else have a chicken soup recipe?

Here is the recipe I threw together last week. It turned out pretty well, but I am going to post it with the tweaking I did since then. I hope you try it and like it!

1 Whole Chicken, stewed and deboned (or equivalent)

2 cups broth from stewed chicken and/or other broth.

3 stalks celery

3 grated carrots

1 grated onion

Olive oil or butter

Hot Sauce (what I had was a very mild chili sauce which was more like ketchup, so I added 2 T. Tabasco. Using Hot Wing Sauce with a kick will be much better)

1 t liquid smoke

2 t worchestershire sauce

3-4 small potatoes

8 ounces grated Cheddar Cheese

1 brick cream cheese

Half and Half or milk

Saute onion, carrots and celery in butter or olive oil until crisp tender. Add all ingredients except cheeses. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Stir in cubed cream cheese and grated cheddar. Stir until melted. Serve with all or some of these choices on side:

~Blue Cheese crumbles

~ Ranch Dip

~ Spicy Wing Sauce

~ Cilantro

~ Sour Cream

~ Salsa

~ Anything else you would serve with Chicken Wings. Have fun!

NEXT WEEK: Cream Of ??? soups.

Link your favorite or put your recipe in the comments section.

Stranded. Darn.

As I mentioned yesterday, it snowed here. And we don't get much snow in these here parts. So it's a pretty big deal.



Due to treacherous driving conditions because of ice, church was canceled yesterday. And all activities for tonight too. So we actually stayed home all day for two days!

May the snow stay long enough for me to get caught up on stacks of projects. You see, this way I can stay home, give rides to no one -- and still not be the villain who is not giving rides to anyone. Yes, that's the way uh-huh, uh-huh I like it. Uh-huh.

I loved staying all cozy all day yesterday. Except for playing in the snow of course.

We had nowhere to go. No agenda. It was pleasant.

I made the yummiest coffee cake evvv-uhr. Believe me when I say it.


You make the batter, pour pecan sauce over it, then bake it. Can you see it glistening?


I also made Salted Caramel Cocoa. With fresh whipped cream. And I mean fresh.
(That link no longer has the caramel sauce recipe so go here instead. This is a really, really great recipe and very versatile too).

Maybe it should have been ice cream!

I made mine a coffee. With a little something extra added. I discovered that Salted Irish Cream Caramel Coffee is very tasty indeed. Very.

I will be making these items on the first snow of the season every year. They are winners. In the taste category.

As for the nutrition category? Well, I'll just leave that one blank.

What kinds of foods make you feel all warm and snuggly? Any snow traditions (involving food or not).

(P.S. If you'd like to see more snow pics, you can look here, on our family blog)

Soup's On! Saturday, Pumpkin Chili

(photo from Vegan Visitor where original recipe is posted)


Where I live, in the Pacific Northwest, a storm blew through this week and it rained quite a bit, but the air continued to stay somewhat balmy, especially for how wet is was. Although, thinking of my husband who has been in Florida for work all week, maybe "balmy" isn't the right word.

Today the weather is sunny, but not warm. Looking over the valley below us, nestled between the pockets of fog, there is an ever changing patchwork in varying shades of vibrant autumn hues.


Fall is beautiful and the pictures I see through my window are changing daily. Ah, Autumn. (By the time I took this picture the fog had evaporated. Did I say "ever changing"?) Do you see Mt. St. Helens in the background to the right?


Last week my friend Julie C. posted a link to her blog for a delightfully seasonal Pumpkin Chili. Those of us who know her have the secret code to get in. But woe to you who do not! So I decided to post it here on my blog for this week's Soup's On! Saturday (If you are a first time visitor to this blog, you can read about Soup's On! Saturday here). Oh, and if you are looking for past week's recipes, I am working on a link list. Look over to the right, in my sidebar, for the links I have so far.

I made this chili this week and it was yummy. I had to adjust the spices because my (old) coriander was not fragrant or flavorful and did not provide any flavor at all. But I am a huge fan of cumin so didn't mind any extra cumin flavor.

Julie said she didn't have carrots, I didn't have celery when I made it. We both started with dry beans too. It turned out well for both of us. So don't be shy. If you have beans of any variety, dried or canned, and you have pumpkin, you can play around with this recipe. You can view the original recipe by clicking on the link under the picture above.


Would you please pray for my friend Elizabeth? She has recently found out about some health problems which are looming large. They have to make decisions about how to proceed with treatments, as well as how to deal with all of the challenges it may bring. Please pray for a miracle of healing, for peace and for clarity. And maybe you could even leave her an encouraging comment so she knows you are praying for her:)

Enjoy Julie's recipe below and then link your own, or email it to me so I can post it here.

Have a wonderfully cozy week. May you find rest in knowing you are being held by the Creator of the Universe.

Pumpkin Chili

2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 Onion, finely diced
2 Medium Carrots, peeled and finely diced
1 Stalk Celery, finely diced
3 cups Tomato Sauce
3 cups Fresh Tomatoes, skinned and chopped or 1 - 28oz can diced tomatoes
5 cups beans, soaked and cooked (I mixed red and pinto beans this time)
(could sub 2- 19oz cans beans, drained and well rinsed)
1/2 teaspoon Salt
Crack of Black Pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon Dried Thyme, scant
1 teaspoon Ground Coriander Seed
1 Tablespoon Ground Cumin
1 Cup Dice Pumpkin, roasted


Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Clean and cube half a good baking pumpkin.
Using about 1 tablespoon of the olive oil lightly cover the pumpkin, tossing to coat.
Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes or until tender.
Heat the remaining oil in a large stockpot and add the diced onion, carrots and celery.
Sauté the vegetables until slightly softened and the onions are transparent.
Add the chopped tomatoes, sauce and spices then bring everything to a simmer.
Stir in drained, rinsed beans and continue to simmer for an additional 20 minutes or until the carrots are soft.
Add the cubed pumpkin.

Soup's On! Saturday: Happy Fall Squash Soup

Sorry I am so late -- just in case droves of you were all lined up to post your link. I am working on my pantry for Pantry Raid "after" pictures for Monday and lost track of time.

You can read about Soup's On! Saturday here.

My soup for today used some of the chicken broth I posted about last week. I wasn't sure I'd like it, but I did.

Happy Fall Squash Soup
1 squash of your choice (I used acorn squash), cooked and pureed
1/2 brick cream cheese
about 6 cups chicken broth (more or less to desired thickness. Can also thicken first with flour or cornstarch)
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
salt to taste

Heat all together until it is hot and cheese is melted. Serve with toasted pecans, cilantro and sour cream on top. I also added cabbage cut very small and some chicken pieces.

Soup's On! Saturday: Chicken Tortilla Soup

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you find some recipes you will keep in your own recipe box and use for years to come. I know I am adding to my own collection with some really yummy soups.

If you haven't stopped by before, you can read all about Soup's On! Saturday here.

A couple weeks ago I gave you a quickie Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe because, well, I was in a hurry! This week I am giving you my regular recipe for it. It takes a little bit more time than the quick version, but is still a fairly easy meal to make. It uses several canned ingredients, but it sure is the best Tortilla Soup recipe I have found.

We love soups with toppings, so this one is a definite hit. Before we ladle the soup into our bowls, we scrunch some tortilla chips on the bottom of the bowl. Then we ladle the soup in, and top it with avocado, green onion, sour cream, cilantro, maybe just a few more tortilla chips, and cheese. Jack cheese is especially good on top.

My oldest son likes to add jalapeno too. He likes spicy things. He ate a habanero, a really spicy kind of pepper, when he was on a trip to Mexico, on a dare. I think it was one of the spiciest peppers there are. If your whole family likes spicy food, you could throw in some jalapenos (or habaneros!) too, while cooking.


Chicken Tortilla Soup
3 Cloves Minced Garlic
1 Chopped Onion
3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter (I just use what I have and it works fine)
2 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
3- 14 Ounce Cans Low Sodium Chicken Broth
4 Cups Half and Half
1 10.75 Ounce Can Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Cup Fresh Salsa
1- 15 Ounce Can Creamed Corn
6 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, cooked
2 teaspoons Cumin
1- 27 Ounce Packet Dry Fajita Mix (or make your own fajita seasoning mixture and you can use sea salt and add or leave out things according to your taste)

Saute onion and garlic in butter for 5 minutes. Add flour, stir well, cook 1 minute more. Add broth and Half and Half. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low. Add everything else, cook for 15 minutes more after it boils.

I am looking forward to getting some more of your recipes. I am running out of tried and true soup recipes and will be be trying some new ones myself this week so I will have something to post next week.

Have a comfy, cozy, sitting-by-a-warm-fire-on-a-cool-autumn-day kind of week!

Soup's On! Saturday: Versatile Chicken Soup

If you are new here, please read my newly rewritten info about Soup's On! Saturday. Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope you find a recipe -- or a few, and that you stop by again.


I remember My Older and Wiser Sister telling me years ago that she got three meals out of a chicken. She told me she made the chicken itself for one meal, used the leftover chicken in burritos or whatever, then used the bones -- and whatever else is left, to make soup. I took that to heart and began squeezing as many meals as I could out of one chicken.


These days I have a large family, and one chicken pretty much is stripped, like a school of piranha got to it, within minutes. And I have since been more educated on the benefits of using broth in general. So I try to use any stripped meat bones, of any kind, to make broth. The burritos, well, they will need their own protein source!


In my Menu Plan Monday a couple weeks ago I posted a recipe I received from a friend (which I also found online) called Sticky Chicken. Boy howdy, my family loves that. I made it nice and spicy that night for my spice lovers. And that pile of bones that was left afterwards is the picture I had in mind as I typed the piranha comment above! It was picked clean. I don't know that I have ever seen bones in this house picked so clean.

But there were still lots of wonderful juices in the pan as well as the bits tucked here and there, of meat and liver type stuff. So I made a bone broth overnight. The next day I added some fresh veggies (cabbage is my fave) as well as some cooked brown rice and some spices. My older son especially appreciated eating some of this nice, warm soup when he got home late from a long day at college, and even commented that it was really going to "hit the spot".

The next day was a Saturday and I was afraid there wasn't enough rice left in it to really make a meal, so I found a recipe online for Whole Wheat Dumplings and threw those in, along with one extra box of chicken broth just to make sure I had enough. It was a hit, and I made my chicken last for three meals:)

Most of you probably have heard (or seen) me mention the book Nourishing Traditions:The Cookbook That Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats. It is a fascinating read and really opens your mind to a whole new way of thinking about food and the way you prepare it. This link, to an article called Broth Is Beautiful, takes you to an article by Sally Fallon, the author of that book. The article is very interesting and explains some of the reasons why your Grandma always wanted to give you chicken soup when you didn't feel well.

Below, for my soup recipe this week, I am posting her recipe for making a good broth. I am adding my own italics/bold to a few parts I found especially helpful or interesting. Then you make it your own. Add rice, noodles, dumplings, more meat, veggies, herbs and spices (such as basil or lemon pepper) tabasco sauce -- or whatever makes it be your family's chicken soup.

"Stock or broth begins with bones, some pieces of meat and fat, vegetables and good water. For beef and lamb broth, the meat is browned in a hot oven to form compounds that give flavor and color--the result of a fusion of amino acids with sugars, called the Maillard reaction. Then all goes in the pot--meat, bones, vegetables and water. The water should be cold, because slow heating helps bring out flavors. Add vinegar to the broth to help extract calcium--remember those egg shells you soaked in vinegar until they turned rubbery (Tiffany notes, use about a half tablespoon of vinegar per quart of chicken broth. You really don't taste it).

Heat the broth slowly and once the boil begins, reduce heat to its lowest point, so the broth just barely simmers. Scum will rise to the surface. This is a different kind of colloid, one in which larger molecules--impurities, alkaloids, large proteins called lectins--are distributed through a liquid. One of the basic principles of the culinary art is that this effluvium should be carefully removed with a spoon. Otherwise the broth will be ruined by strange flavors. Besides, the stuff looks terrible. "Always Skim" is the first commandment of good cooks.

Two hours simmering is enough to extract flavors and gelatin from fish broth. Larger animals take longer--all day for broth made from chicken, turkey or duck and overnight for beef broth.

Broth should then be strained. The leavings, picked over, can be used for terrines or tacos or casseroles. Perfectionists will want to chill the broth to remove the fat. Stock will keep several days in the refrigerator or may be frozen in plastic containers. Boiled down it concentrates and becomes a jellylike fumée or demi-glaze that can be reconstituted into a sauce by adding water."

Please don't forget to look at the other recipes linked here throughout the week.

Have a wonderfully healthy, wholesome and comforting chicken- soup- for- the- soul kind of week!

Menu Plan Monday: October 19-25

For more menu ideas go to www.orgjunkie.com. And, if you are new here, please come back on Saturdays and leave your soup recipe for my new "carnival" Soup's On! Saturday.

I try to buy pasture fed meat for our family. I cannot always afford it, especially the products that are specifically labeled as organic. But when I find meat from someone who I know fed it on pasture and did not give it hormones, I go for it when I can.

Well, this week I am picking up ground beef from an entire cow. That's alot of meat. We are not keeping it all, but we will have a freezer full of ground beef. Don't be surprised to see that all of my recipes this week contain ground beef.

Thankfully, my husband actually requested tacos and/or taco salad this week. Pretty much no one ever requests anything or expresses an interest in what I make other than to say "Yum, this is good", "I love it when you make this" or to keep silent and, when asked, say "It's okay" if they are just tolerating it. So for someone to 1) make a request and 2) for it to be something as utterly simple as tacos, well, that just makes me happy. The fact that it includes ground beef is even better. I'm glad they seem to be happy with their meals for the most part, but it does help when someone makes a suggestion once in awhile!

When you meal plan, do you find that you usually stick to the plan? Do you vary slightly, or make what you plan but juggle around the days you make it? I know that I rarely stick to the plan to the letter. But it sure helps to have a framework to go from anyway!

Have a great week!

Monday- Tacos/Taco Salad (scroll down for recipe)
(actual: unexpectedly had to take son downtown to school, hubby to doc for ankle injury and drive up to Washington to pick up meat. Then son had to be taken to CAP. So I broke open a can of Mexican Tortilla Soup. Nice. Will probably make this on Wednesday since Stroganoff ingredients are easily used another time, while produce for tacos/taco salad will spoil if not used.)

Tuesday- Sloppy Joes (using premade spice packet from Simply Organic) with Homemade Buns (I will let the breadmaker do all but form them into buns and bake them)
(Actual: as planned. House was on the cold side so buns did not rise as much as I'd hoped. But they were still very tasty and, in my opinion, made the Sloppy Joe's even better. The beef was from what I just purchased and is very lean, good meat. Served with veggie slices and sticks of garden fresh zucchini, cucumber and carrots.)

Wednesday- Poor Man's Stroganoff (except I will either be making my own noodles or using whole grain noodles, not egg noodles)
(Actual: As planned.Very easy.)

Thursday- Firecracker Casserole (It's easy to make your own black beans too)
(Actual: Tacos originally planned for Monday. I don't buy crunchy taco shells very often and they were a yummy treat!)

Friday- Nacho Spuds
(Actual: As planned, family loved these. After they were cooked through, I put the potatoes under the broiler for a few minutes before I covered in cheese, the broiled again til edges of cheese were crunchy before adding the other ingredients and more cheese.)

Saturday - Leftover Buffet
(Actual: No leftovers. Made another batch of Nacho Spuds as above)

Sunday- Cheeseburger Soup
(Actual: As planned, used mushroom broth and beef broth rather than the chicken broth I usually use. The mushroom broth added a very good flavor, will use it again. Also used extra homemade buns I made for Sloppy Joes to accompany soup.)

Soup's On! Saturday, Cheeseburger Soup

I am barely making getting this up here before my 10 am deadline. Eeek. Well, when a kid needs to be taken to a Junior High trip to the pumpkin patch, some things just get shoved aside for awhile.

If you don't know a thing about Soup's On! Saturday, click here and read all about it. Basically, you come here to look at soup recipes, post your own recipe on your blog then come back here and post your link (the link specific to your soup post) in the Mr.Linky below so others can go to your blog and look at your recipe. And then you leave comments on as many blogs as you like, especially recipes that sound good or that you try. Feel free to leave how you changed it up for your family too. We all know that each family has specific tastes and like to try new things!

This week I am providing a link for a recipe rather than typing it out. I have subscribed to Taste of Home since 1995 (when I was 14;) and this is a recipe I found there and have made for my family for several years. It is pictured above, straight from their website. Personally, I don't think the picture looks that great. It looks very familiar and not because it is a soup I make. My friend Jenny N. might be familiar with it right now in her house. But it really and truly is yummy and my kids especially love it. Some of my family members make it for their families too and it has even won an award at our annual Christmas Soup Cook-Off (I will write more about that another time!).

So go and look at this recipe for Cheeseburger Soup. If you know me or have been reading here long, you'll probably know right off one thing I change when I make this, in addition to a few specifics I might sometimes mention. Can you guess? Who knows me best?

Might I just mention that I made Theresa's Taco Soup from last week and that my entire family loved it? (I took a picture but my email won't open up so I can't get it. I will post it later if/when I can get to it). As I told her, anything with taco seasoning and ranch seasoning is sure to please! And I will also add that Theresa is my only big sister. She isn't very big though. I am bigger. Uh-hem. But I am younger, always will be -- and I can lose weight. But, as you can see, I will never, ever be as tiny as my eensy-weensy, "big" sister!

I am very proud of my "big" Older and Wiser sister. You should look at their blog and see some about the humanitarian aid they have participated in for many, many years, including living in a foreign country for 15 years. Or you can read about their escapades as a family, or about how she, darn right, had a meeting with the Governor of Alaska yesterday. You betcha!

She is one of my closest friends and best cheerleaders. And a wonderful example to me for all most of my life. Excluding the days when she would pinch me and give me Charlie Horses for copying everything she said. And when I was "accidentally" annoying when my mom forced me to be a chaperone on her car rides with love interests. When she told me I had a big nose and called me Tif-Fanny-Butt.

But she's a little older now, and more mature. So now she just smiles when I copy her. And mostly she endures graciously enjoys my chatty thoughtful company. If you need to book any travel from anywhere, please check out her Way2MuchFun link too. It is a travel booking website similar to other online travel reservation companies. She has started this home-based business to supplement their income since they work for a humanitarian aid company.

Now, go post a soup recipe on your own blog and come back here and link to it. Or include your recipe in my comments section. Or email me your soup recipe and I will post it here, giving you full credit. And, if you do make a recipe linked here, please let us know!

Have a week full of autumn beauty!

Soup's On! Saturday: Quick Chicken Tortilla Soup

Soup's On! Saturday
If you haven't been to Soup's On! Saturday before, you can read about it here.

I am all about doing my best to cook healthy and mostly- from- scratch- food for my family. But tonight I was busy. And I will be busy all day tomorrow. I am spending my day, UH- Gin,, with Mandisa and Nicole C. Mullen (polishing fingertips on shirt now). So what if I am sharing with, like, 14,000 other women?

I am going to wait in line for as long as it takes to try to get Mandisa to sign my girl's CD. In addition, I am really going to try to work up the nerve to ask her if she will say hello to my girl on the phone. Nervy, yes. But so priceless. My girl will be pleased into Never Never Land, forever and ever. You see, my girl and I, we voted for Mandisa every week when she was on AI. Dial. Vote. Hang up. Dial. Vote. Hang up. Avoid boys who want to use the phone to vote for another. Dial. Vote. Hang up. And so it went. Over and over and over and... We love 'Disa.

Nicole Mullen sings a song that brought me great comfort at one of the most difficult times in my life. So it is with great joy that I finally get to see her in person. She is a character. She wore Converse Boots. CONVERSE BOOTS, I say. Red ones (wasn't it you Deanna that told me someone you know is wearing pink ones to their own wedding?).

I digress. How shocking.

So aaaannnyway, as i was saying, my time is at a premium, as shown by the time stamp on this Early To Bed, Early To Rise Girl's midnight post. Which made me think of a quick and delicious Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe my treasured high school friend gave me a few years back (hi JL). So I thought I'd post it as my recipe tonight, since I know some of you are also busy. In fact, maybe you are one of the 14,000 I must share our 'Disa with. If you see me in line, please show compassion for my 7 year old daughter and make way.

(I will be posting another, less quick, recipe for this same soup on another day)

'Disa Fan Chicken Tortilla Soup
4-6 cups Chicken Broth
1/2-1 Cup Chopped Onion
2-3 Uncooked Chicken Breasts, chopped up
Can Diced or Chopped Tomatoes
Can of Diced Green Chiles
Can of Green Enchilada Sauce
Cumin, they say 1 teaspoon. I say at least twice that as I am a cumin fan.
Garlic to taste (approx. 1 Tablespoon)
Grated Mozarella or cheese of your choice
Tortee-Ya Chips

Saute onion and garlic with some olive oil and the cumin until soft. Add chicken, enchilada sauce, green chiles, diced tomato and chicken broth. Let cook at low boil until chicken is done, 30-45 minutes (it is much better if you do NOT precook the chicken as it releases it's juices into the soup while cooking).

Put chips and cheese in a bowl and serve soup over top.

You could also serve with the delicious cornbread I talked about yesterday.

Did I mention this is quick and easy?

I also want to tell you we had Em's Potato Soup and it was luscious. I added even more basil, and had extra ham so used that too.



Then we topped with fixins. Thanks Em!



Link away! Make sure you check comments too, for more recipes as some post there. Oh, and please make sure you tell your readers to come here to see even more soup recipe links:)


Wishing you a blessed Autumn,

Homey Things: Fresh Baked Bread

I love it when I can go outside in the crisp fall air and come back into a warm and homey smelling house.

Or just sitting and looking out the window at the crimson, fiery orange and sunburst yellow leaves blowing in the wind, while I sit, warm and comfy, cup in hand, with delicious smells coming from my kitchen.

When I have good smells coming from the kitchen, I know I have taken time to prepare something for my family. Whether it be something nutritious, comforting, or sometimes just a treat, I want my family to know I care for them and want to take care of them. I want them to know they are important to me. And I want them to have many memories of things I did that show them I care.

I think baked goods are one of the best scents there are. I have a house full of mostly boys and men, and I hear even grown men like baking scents best. I can't always spend the time it can take to bake some of the more complicated or time consuming foods.

A few Christmases ago, my brother Eric bought me a bread machine.I sort of feel like a cheater using it, knowing many of you bake your own bread, totally from scratch and make it by hand, from start to finish. You mix it and knead it and let it rise and punch it down and let it rise and form it into loaves and bake it. What a blessing for your families. I admire you. I admire that you have such a good handle on your days that you make time for it. But if Eric hadn't bought me The Machine, I'm pretty sure my family would taste home baked bread only a few times, ever.

I have found recipes for The Machine, but hadn't found one we loved that was also using whole grains. Therefore, I haven't used it much and have questioned it's value and whether or not it was worth holding onto, based on the limited space I have and my large family. But I am sentimental and it was such a thoughtful gift, especially for a young man to have chosen for his older sister.

So let me tell you, I was really happy to find this recipe for bread machine bread that is quick, healthy and easy. It turns out every time. Everysingletime. Perfect.

I am so very glad I have kept The Machine. And, when we are out of bread and it is much quicker, tastier and healthier to make it than to drive all the way to the store, I am happier still. And every time I use it I think of my brother Eric.

This bread goes great with soup. I have lots of soup recipes and am getting alot more with the soup carnival I am doing now. It is wonderful for toast. Grilled cheese has never been better. In fact, I can't think of a way I wouldn't like it.

I love it when I walk up to the bread machine and catch a glimpse in the window to see whether or not the bread has turned out. Suspense. It feels kind of like looking into some space age gadget. Almost like I should use gloves when going near it, and maybe don a spacesuit or something. If I were a good Photoshopper, I'd super impose a little green man peeking out with the bread. But I'm not. So you'll need to picture it yourself.




It doesn't take alot of work, but I sure hate to waste ingredients. Not to mention, we were probably looking forward to it and the cycle takes almost three hours! So, when I open the lid and it looks perfect, especially if the top hasn't even fallen, I gently jump for joy. But only if I am alone. If I am not alone I just say "YES!" or "YIPPEE!" under my breath.




So now the question is, do I stay with my planned dinner (a pasta dish) -- or make something that sounds extra good with the bread? (We had Clam Chowder and even Mr. Picky asked for more soup and more bread)


Honey Wheat Bread (Makes one 2 pound loaf)
Put ingredients in this order (unless your machine manual says differently)
* 1 and 1/2 Cups Warm Water
* 1 Tablespoon Oil (I substitute coconut oil)
* 1/2 Cup Honey
* 1 teaspoon Salt
* 4 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
Make a well in flour so some of warm water comes up in it.
* Add 2 teaspoons active dry yeast to well

Put The Machine on Whole Wheat setting. Select crust you prefer. Pictured above is medium. Start and go about your day and, in a couple hours, you will begin to catch a whiff of bread baking -- IN YOUR KITCHEN! Then go find a soup recipe and sit down for a fallish family dinner.




Wishing for you warm and homey smells, wafting through your home,