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It’s a little bit butternutty….

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While I did it for the sake of Max’s little tummy at the time, adjusting to a dairy and soy-free life wasn’t easy.

With the constant need to read ingredients the process of eating became more of a challenge, more like an Olympic sport! Every item placed in the cart at the grocery store was scanned for any mention of dairy and/or soy. (I recommend the ShopWell app….saved me many times over at the grocery store and you can adjust it for just about any type of dietary restrictions.) I had to advise every waitress when I went out to eat of my dietary restrictions, sometimes even reading over a menu several times before I walked into the restaurant.

I lived with the feeling that it must have been frustrating for the cooks in the kitchen to have to adjust my meal, just because I didn’t want my son to cry in pain from any dairy or soy in my food that would get transferred to his breast milk. This frustrated me to the point that I really didn’t want to eat out at all until Max was cleared or we stopped breastfeeding. (After about nine months, I was able to finally go back to normal when Max started eating solid foods and showed no reactions as I reintroduced dairy and soy into my diet.)

But aside from that I will admit: I had missed dairy on occasion. There were moments I wished I could have a big slice of cheesecake, a plate of buttery Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, or a big bowl of fettuccine alfredo. Sure, there were alternatives like the Daiya products to give me the feeling that I was eating cheese or ranch dressing. (By the way, their pizzas and macaroni & cheese were pretty decent for not having any gluten, dairy, or soy in them.)

More than anything though, I really missed a good pasta in a cream sauce. Fortunately, I was able to locate this gem of a recipe courtesy of Cookie + Kate, which used pureed butternut squash in vegetable broth to replicate that decadence one craves when you order anything in a cream sauce. (And another added bonus aside from being healthy for all you non-meat eaters: it’s Vegan!)

You can check out the recipe on the Cookie + Kate website here: Creamy Vegan Butternut Squash Linguine with Fried Sage. And if you’re not that big into linguine, I recommend using fettuccine as evidenced by the featured photo. It was a delicious substitution and I mean, who doesn’t love fettuccine in a cream sauce?

While I am not a vegan or vegetarian by any means, this dish at the very least satisfied my palette. With my diet back to normal, I would more than likely add some heavy cream and possibly some Parmesan to give it that extra kick of salt. Yet I learned that if you need to be healthy, healthy can be delicious.

And as always, enjoy!

– Jenny V

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Spicy Tips: The Perfect Chicken Noodle Soup

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Spoiler Alert: Be prepared for the onslaught of chicken dishes!

When the fall season hits, I can’t think of anything better than busting out the Crock Pot and making dishes that assault your sense of smell when you return from work that day. Also, the house just feels warmer and more inviting that way. Trust me, there’s nothing better than after a long day of being on the phone with an insurance company to argue a client’s claim, to walk in and smell the love that your dish has been making while you were away. It’s a calming force.

So before I wax poetic on slow cooking, let’s get back to the topic. Namely, Chicken Noodle Soup. I know we all have a recipe that we follow. We all have our own tricks and tips that personalize how we create this cold-weather classic. And so I want to share a few of my own, as there are a few helpful suggestions to guarantee positive results.

 
1) Make sure to flavor your broth!

When you’re sick, Chicken Noodle is simply the best soup (in my opinion) that can bring you out of that non-hunger phase and nourish your soul. It has the protein from the chicken, the vitamins from the vegetables, the noodles to help fill you up, and most importantly: that nice salty broth to break through your temporarily altered taste buds. So while I love adding a healthy dose of poultry seasoning, don’t forget salt and pepper! There’s nothing worse than all those delicious elements in a bland broth. And taste as you go….I cannot stress that enough.

 

2) If you can, make your own stock.

You can always buy chicken broth if you’re in a pinch, but I love making my own stock. When Matt & I purchase a whole chicken, we first roast it and eat the breast for dinner that night. Then, strip the meat off the chicken down to the bones, as the meat will be perfect for soup when you process and chop it. And in the Crock Pot, put that carcass in with enough water to cover the top of the bones, then lid on low and slow for 8-9 hours (and sometimes longer).

Once the carcass starts to fall apart in the stock, that’s a good sign. When done, remove the bones and my final move is to place a paper towel in the strainer and ladle in broth through that into a container. The stock will retain some fat, but this helps keep bone fragments out of your broth. Use a wooden spoon to push around the liquid to get it to strain. You may replace the paper towels a few times as eventually the fat will pool enough to where nothing gets through, but that’s okay. This is a messy (but rewarding) process. You get a clearer broth this way.

 

3) Saute your veggies before you put them in and make sure they’re fresh!

I keep my veggies standard: celery, onion, carrot. You can add fun ingredients like leeks or fennel, but I love the classics when it comes to chicken soup. Now, you can always just throw the veggies in raw and allow the slow cooking to do its magic, but I love getting a little bit of color on those veggies. You won’t necessarily get a bite of onion as it melts into the broth, but you will taste a hint of it. The carrots will practically melt in your mouth, as will the celery. You want to let them cook the longest in your broth.

So for the best result, a little bit of oil in a pan, saute for less than 5 minutes, and add the veggies first to the broth.

 

4) For best results, make the noodles separately (and keep them that way).

This is more a rule because Matt does not like soggy noodles. And it’s a good one! The noodles are always the final ingredient to add to the soup, because once they’re done the soup is done. And then once in the fridge, the noodles keep expanding the longer they sit. And instead of soup, you get this noodle dish with soup elements and minimal broth. So instead, I tried a new trick: I cooked the noodles alone, strained them, then placed them first in the bowl and ladled the soup over the top.

When I had to clean up and put the rest in the fridge, I made a decision to keep the noodles in a separate container. You get more control over the amount of noodles you want in your bowl, and the broth remains intact when you heat it up.

 

5) Low and slow is the best way to go!

I have forgotten the most important tip of all: the slow cooker is the best way to make Chicken Soup. Flavors are best when they have a chance to meet and meld for a while. You don’t want to rush this step and if you have the time, take it. The depth of flavor you can achieve from that low and slow technique is second to none.

 

And as always….enjoy!

– Jenny V

Taking Stock to a whole new level….

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It’s been a while….and we have been cooking up new recipes non-stop!

But more importantly, Matt & I have been sticking to our main lot in life in the kitchen: whatever we make, we try to make homemade. (Except for dairy products, although I am determined to learn how to make fresh mozzarella as soon as I can locate a fairly easy recipe!)

So let’s talk stock….even though I have talked about it at least once or twice before.

Chicken is the easiest one, of course! You get a whole roaster chicken and once you’ve cooked it for one meal, strip it as bare to the bones as you can, Crock Pot it with some onion, fresh herbs & seasonings (thyme, bay leaf, poultry seasoning), and cover the carcass with water….then you lid it, put it on low, and let the gatherings of deliciousness come together! Trust me on this, you will never go back to plain old chicken broth once you have made your own.

You can also do seafood rather easily too, especially if you have shrimp shells and fish bones! (I’ve tried the shrimp shells….it’s definitely an easy way to go and doesn’t require much time to make. And in a seafood soup or stew? YUMMY!)

But my newest favorite concoction? BEEF.

Yes, beef stock (if you cook with bone-in meats) can be quite delicious! And don’t be afraid to add the fat in there as well….the more flavor you can infuse into that stock, the better. And that fat has LOTS of flavor.

Matt and I had prime rib bones to work with (thanks to leftovers from Easter) and so with some bones, red cooking wine, herbs, and a whole lotta love, we created the most delicious stock to date! (You can ask my husband, he will wholeheartedly agree that this was the best stock he’s ever tasted….the proof in how quickly the Beef Noodle Soup we created did not last a week.)

While I do not have a picture of the process, I will have to make do with locating a picture of the soup:

But if you’d like my process….here’s my take on beef stock a la Vintzileos!

And as always, ENJOY!

~ Jenny V

Beef Stock

Ingredients:

Bones (Prime Rib, Steak, Roast, etc. If you’ve had a beef dish and there are bones, don’t be afraid to use them!)

1 cup red cooking wine

4-5 sprigs fresh thyme

2-3 cloves garlic (optional)

1-2 bay leaves

8-10 cups water (possibly more, but it has to be enough to cover the bones completely)

1 medium onion, sliced 

Directions:

1) In a Crock Pot, place the sliced onion along the bottom of the pot.

2) Add the bones, wine, herbs, and garlic, finishing with the water.

3) Turn the Crock Pot on low, cover with lid, and cook at least 8 hours. (My trick is to put the stock on an hour or two before bed, that way when I wake up in the morning, I turn it off and let it start to cool while I get ready for work. Remember, the longer you let those flavors meld, the better your stock will turn out!)