Ahh… Kale. I’m Back, Baby!

refrig soup

Refrigerator Soup.  What the heck is “refrigerator soup?” you ask.  It’s whatever you have left in your refrigerator at the end of your shopping cycle which you then chop up and throw into a pot.  With broth.  And wine. 

As promised post-cookie-bar-hangover, today’s post includes kale.  Kale!  Purge my soul (and arteries) my good friend, dark leafy greens!

This is–hands down–my favorite kind of soup to make, in case you’re wondering.  I love to make refrigerator soup for three reasons:

1. It insures I don’t waste.  Anything that grows out of the ground and a few other items that I found in my fridge are in this here bowl.

2. It’s DE-lish and different every time I make it.  Fun!

3. It’s healthy.  But of course.

It’s hard to record a recipe for food items such as this, but I will share what I did yesterday, K?  If you’re a psycho-measurer or to-the-letter-instruction-manual-follower, you are likely to be annoyed very soon…

Ingredients (as I recall…) 3 tbsp. olive oil, 1/2 onion, 2 cloves garlic, two kinds of cauliflower, broccoli, stems and leaves from both as well, carrots, celery, kale (KALE :)!), leftover brown rice, leftover chicken, chicken broth, 1/4 cup white wine, blob of “better than boulion,” salt and pepper to taste.

Directions: Chop up and simmer everything from the beginning of the list until you arrive at the rice.  Cook down until veggies get a bit softer.  Add everything else and bring to a boil.  Leave at a good bubbling place until veggies are cooked.  Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

Tips: Quantity on the afore mentioned items…?  Yeah… Uh… How does “whatever you’ve got” sound?  Also, timing on this is also absolutely not key.  I didn’t pay a lick of attention to how long any of this took, I’m sorry to say… I was in domestic mode yesterday, cleaning my floors, folding laundry, dusting, etc, so I just popped by every 20 mins or so to take a gander at what was going on.  But hey, that’s me.

So, you know, with absolutely no details of any kind to follow, this recipe prolly won’t make it into my cookbook someday.  But man did we enjoy it last night.

Just For Me

Workshop reminder: Feb. 5 and Feb. 13th!  Check out my workshop page for more details, or comment on this post/email me on Facebook!

just for me!

This blog, and pretty much every piece of my life puzzle right now, are dedicated to getting healthy food into little bodies and keeping the people who make it as sane as possible.

Occasionally, though, it’s nice to take a break from the “we” part of who I am, and do something just for me.

The other day I was alone in my quiet house.  The laundry was done.  Dinner was prepared.  After almost nine years as a full-time homemaker, I’ve let go of conundrum created by holding a Master’s degree and still being OK with checking these sorts of accomplishments off my daily list of to-dos.  It’s all good.

I made a salad.  For one.  Me.  Mixed greens, fresh sliced pears, thinly sliced red onion, grilled chicken, feta cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing that I fixed on the spot.  I didn’t consolidate my efforts in the kitchen by chopping ingredients for future salads.

I didn’t even make enough to share.

p.s. This was a weird day for me–which you already know if you’ve been reading my blog!  I actually love to make ridiculous quantities of food and share it all with the world.  If you’re interested in attending a workshop “just for you” to get some excellent tips on meal planning or how to get your kiddos to eat anything (including a salad!) make a comment on this post or check me out on Facebook!