chicken noodle soup- sniffle

So Mommy has a cold- again. 

Time for chicken noodle soup.  Its sunny and cold outside but she feels freezing.  I love this soup with crunchie french bread.

ingredients
one whole chicken- ask the butcher to cut it into three or four pieces.
fresh dill
fresh parsley (from our winter garden)
two large carrots diced
two large onions diced
parsnips (chopp about four of them)
1 leek chopped
celery- two celery sticks chopped
2 cans of vegetable or chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
add a dash or two of olive oil (good for your heart)

Chicken soup saga!

So its the kind of day where I have too much homework, Mom is feeling sick and we are stuck inside.
Chicken soup should always have eggless noodles over it.  Mom got the ingredients, and did the first step of placing cleaned chicken into a pot, and covered with water.  Simmer to cook chicken and create stock.  When chicken is cooked remove and pick chicken off the bone.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the soup and simmer, add chicken without skin and bones simmer two hours.  Cook noodles, drain, and enjoy.  Can be eaten as leftovers -- even better the next day.

Our weird and wacky do not follow recipe BANANA BREAD

This BANANA BREAD is a concoction that might or might not turn out well.  We had some aging bananas and decided its time for Banana Bread.  Its crisp outside and when we turn back the clocks its time for all that fall has to offer.

We took

1 1/2 cups of mashed ripe bananas

1/3 plain fat free yogurt (we used vanailla)

5 tablespoons of butter (we forgot to add)

2 large eggs (we used egg whites)

1/2 cup sugar (we used stevia)

1/2 cup brown sugar 

3/4 baking soda (we didn't have any)

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon of ground allspice

350 for 55 minutes.  We added chocolate chips, lots to add some flavor.  It tasted.....

Chef and I - VanGogh ready for the costume party

Pumpkin Heads!!!!!

  Poppop and me at Halloween Camp with our Gold Pumpkin

 

 

 

 

Kreske Lake

 

Paris's Chicken Paprika style!

Its late October and an unusually warm day.  We decided to make a fall chicken paprika style for Sunday night dinner.  I am sharing some cool photos from our trip to Jim Thorpe to go mountain biking.  The apps are HISTAMATIC, INFINICAM.  It gives the pictures a cool old school look.

Horses in Jim Thorpe, PA

Ingredients:
Chicken and Thighs
Paprika
Salt and Pepper
Two yellow onions
Finger potatoes
Spinach fresh
Vegetable stock

Directions: While boiling the potatoes (small fingerling potatoes) saute two chopped onions in olive oil, add a little paprika and salt&pepper.  Saute until onions are soft.  Add chicken, and chicken or veggie stock. Cover until chicken is soft.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Saute (in olive oil and garlic) spinach for a side dish.

As you can see the national Map it is very warm and sunny today!  Look at Dallas - 90 degrees!!  Doesn't look like we are getting any SNOW anytime soon.  Also Halloween looks like it will be clear and crisp as you can see our 10 day forecast in Phoenixville, PA.

Today Hi  71°F Lo  52°F Precip 20 % Daylight Remaining 8 hrs 2 mins	25 Hi  73°F Lo  60°F Precip 20 % Length of Day 10 hrs 44 mins	26 Hi  75°F Lo  64°F Precip 30 % Length of Day 10 hrs 42 mins	27 Hi  75°F Lo  56°F Precip 40 % Length of Day 10 hrs 40 mins	28 Hi  69°F Lo  45°F Precip 30 % Length of Day 10 hrs 37 mins	29 Hi  58°F Lo  40°F Precip 10 % Length of Day 10 hrs 35 mins	30 Hi  57°F Lo  42°F Precip 10 % Length of Day 10 hrs 33 mins
31 Hi  60°F Lo  45°F Precip 20 % Length of Day 10 hrs 31 mins

Candy taste test (pre-Halloween blog post)

Well, since my Mother will not buy me all the candy I want from Acme, I need to limit this taste test to a few types of sweets.  We stopped at Kimberton Whole foods on the way home from an Open House tonight and bought

The super sour organic pops (yummy earth) at Whole Foods are good but not super sour.  The grape was grape-y, the cherry is apple-y.  So far so good.  I would try other products by Yummy Earth.  Normally organic candy is gross or sucks.  

We also had babe ruths and reese's peanut butter cups laying around and recess peanut butter cups won by a landslide.  They are also good frozen.

Lets do our own survey.  Which do you like better:

1. snickers

2. reese's

3. babe ruth

Please vote by commenting.

This could be a nor easter- time for take out!

The below link is a great place to follow our current storm.  
Its a radar.  Anyone else have a weather site they enjoy? 
We decided not to cook tonight but to eat CHINESE food
http://radar.weather.gov/

We ordered sweet and sour soup and low mein.  And that is really all one needs.  We added some of the hot sauce on the left.  This sauce named siracha.  Is amazing on pizza, chinese, veggies, in soup or on almost anything.  If you buy it uyou will not be disappointed.

The weekend was beautiful, now it rains--soups on the way- my lentil soup

Weddings.  We just went to one.  I wore a dress suit and Nike shoes with bright green bottoms.

My Aunt Tami looked like a bride. We all dressed up, ate good food (filet) and danced around (except for me).

Here is a recipe for my lentil soup.  My Mom did most of the work this time because I had a cough.

Paris's Lentil Soup

-Wash one bag of lentils

-Put them into a slow cooker with some water and  veggie stock.

-Dump a can of tomatoes and tomato stock into the crock pot.

-in a frying pan

-add several diced onions

-add sliced carrots

-cook until they are softened

-salt and pepper
-add a couple swirls of olive oil.  More oil the better!

-add to crock pot, and cook for 6 hours.

 My Mother's friend Diane like this soup.  She always wants my Mom to make it for her.

Please serve this soup with several dashes of balsamic vinegar and some fresh (we still have some in the garden) parsley.  It makes a difference to the flavor and long french bread is good for dipping in the soup!

This is a good soup for when it rains.  There is no need to make anything else.

Quick Snacks with Products that pass the Paris taste test!

Here are some of my favorite quick snacks from Trader Joe's:

1.  Greek Pizza, heat and cut into slices add cold arugula for a nice crunch!

2.  Meatless Trader Joe's sausages, cut into dime size pieces and saute in olive oil, serve with toothpicks

3. Edaname, microwave and sprinkle with Sea Salt.

4. Trader Joe's Natural Peanut Butter on Celery.

Rainy with a chance of rain!!

Its raining cats and dogs out there.  I watched 4 different weather stations this morning and rain is here to stay.  We are getting the leftover of tropical storm Nicole.  Nothing dangerous.  This rain will help our low creek gets some more water.   Tonight is 'leftover; night and a good night to be inside and eat warm leftovers.

Here is a radar link to track the storm.

http://www.accuweather.com/us/radar/sir/us_/radar.asp

I miss my bike, its being fixed and impossible to ride until I get it back.  This rain isn't helping much either.

So enjoy the rain and remember your umbrella.

Peasant Food- String Beans Simmering with Potatoes

I love this dish.  Kids can make it with only a little help.  I got hungry while making it and made myself a smoothie to drink before dinner.  My Mom calls it an upside down dinner.  Dessert first. Smoothie recipe to come.

Ingredients:

String Beans
Can of Tomatoes diced
2 onions diced
Garlic diced
Olive Oil (lots!!!)
Boil (small red) potatoes in separate pot
Naan bread (bought from store)

                                         Salt and Pepper


Serve with store bought Naan (warmed in oven for ten minutes)  Saute onions in oil and garlic and start cleaning string beans -snapping off both sides and adding to pan.  (PICTURE 1) once onions are sauteed add canned tomatoes and juice from can, some veggie stock (from market) salt and pepper.  Simmer...in 45 minutes the beans will be soft, add cooked baby potatoes and serve.  Add home grown parsley. (PICTURE 2)


We took this meal to our neighbors and they enjoyed it.  It was a fun night and on the side we had sauteed spinach with sauteed garlic and tomatoes on the top.  We should have bought more Naan.  A perfect after a storm type hot meal.  Vegan and vegetarian.

Paris's Kitchen Sink Veggie Lasagne

Lasagna Sheets Whole Wheat from Wegman's
Whatever veggies in the house
-chopped one onion
-two handfuls of spinach
-chopped green pepper from garden
-onion from garden chopped

-Spagetti sauce
-tofu crumbled
-mozerella cheese

Saute veggies with olive oil and garlic and red pepper flakes, add sauce, and layer sauce with pasta with feta crumbles, again until you top with mozerella.

Bake at 375 for 50 minutes to an hour.  Enjoy.  Omit cheese and this dish is vegan.  Enjoy!

I ate half of this lasagna.  My Mom made me use whole wheat pasta sheets.  I like white pasta better.  Top with parsley (flat) adds nice flavor.  Very easy to make. Easy to eat.

Halloween approaching time for Pot Pie.

Last Halloween I went Trick-or-Treating as a Chef.  Halloween day I made Chicken Pot Pie for my Aunt and Uncle.  They loved it.  I did not.  It was a Paula Deen recipe.

Chicken Pot Pie

2 chicken breast

2 or 3 cups of cold water

4 tablespoons of butter

1/4 cup of flour

1 cup of whole milk (we used skim)

salt and pepper

2 9 inch foldable pie crusts

2 15 ounce cans of veggies

Boil the chicken and when boiled peel off bone.   Add to butter, flour chicken stock, salt and pepper.  Assemble the pie crust in a pie plate, add chicken and sauce and drained veggies.   Place other pie crust on top and make 3 fancy slits on top.  Bake 40 minutes.

Since I am one year older, I think I like Pot Pie now.  This is great when it is chilly outside or overcast.  Your thoughts?  Can be veggie if you omit the chicken and add some spinach or collard greens.

A shout out to other children who find food and weather facinating!

Hi!  My name is Paris and I love food and I love learning about the weather too!  It is September 27th and two days after a full moon.  Tonight we are having vegetarian lasagne.  Good food for a rainy day.  I will post the before and after picture and my recipe for lasagne.  Don't be shy when cooking, some days my cooking is good other days it is so-so.