Broccoli Cheese Soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup

(Taken from a recipe blog I like, so I thought I would share.)

1 can chicken broth (about 1 3/4 cups of broth)
1 small onion, diced

1/3 c. flour
1/4 c. butter
Pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon)

2 c. milk (I used 1% with great results)
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (the sharper the better for flavor - I used sharp cheddar and hopefully next time will have extra sharp cheddar on hand)
1/2 c. shredded swiss cheese
steamed chopped broccoli (the amount of broccoli really boils down to preference - I wanted a lot of broccoli in my soup, so I chopped and steamed approximately 2 1/2 to 3 cups of broccoli florets)

Simmer chicken broth and chopped onion for 15-20 minutes in a covered small saucepan, until onions are soft. Heat milk in microwave for 1-2 minutes. In a separate medium-sized stockpot, melt butter then add flour and pepper. Cook together for a couple of minutes, then whisk in warmed milk. Stir and heat together on medium-high heat until soup starts to thicken. Next add chicken broth and continue to stir until well blended. Add cheeses and steamed broccoli. Serve immediately.

Makes approximately 4 servings (with two adults and three kids, we finished the pot of soup in one dinner serving it in bread bowls, so if you are serving more adults or serving the soup in regular bowls, I would consider doubling according to the number of people)

Curry

Allison mentioned wanting to cook with curry more often. Here is a recipe my family loves. It is really, really yummy and not spicy. I usually throw everything in a crock pot and use the frozen chicken breasts or tenders from Costco. Easy and good.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Honey-Baked-Chicken-II/Detail.aspx

Also we use a curry block often. It is more spicy. You can buy it usually at the grocery store in the Asian section by the soy sauce etc. I think it's about $3.50. We brown chicken usually and throw in whatever veggies are around and sometimes fruit too. It has directions on the box, but you have to hunt for the English, it's mostly in ?Chinese? It looks like this....



One last curry tidbit....Gygi's (3500 South 300 West, in Salt Lake City) has cooking classes and they have one on Sat Feb 20 from 5:30 - 7:30. The only other info they have is....Mona Nisar from "Curry in a Hurry" is teaching how to cook some of her fabulous dishes here at Gygi's. Please contact her for information and registration.
801-898-2381
(This info was found at www.gygi.com)

These were a HIT!

Just wanted to say that we did Jalapeno Poppers with those FAB Jalapenos we got this week. They turned out FABULOUSLY and everyone LOVED them! Thanks. :)

Jalapeno poppers. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/

• 20 whole Fresh Jalapenos, 2-3 Inches In Size
• 2 cubes Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 pound Thin(regular) Bacon, Sliced Into Thirds

Preparation Instructions

If you have them, slip on some latex gloves for the pepper prep… Cut jalapenos in half, length-wise. With a spoon, remove the seeds and white membrane (the source of the heat; leave a little if you like things HOT). Smear softened cream cheese into each jalapeno half. Wrap jalapeno with bacon pieces (1/3 slice). Secure by sticking toothpick through the middle. (At this point, you can freeze them, uncooked, in a Ziploc bag for later use).
Bake on a pan with a rack in a 375-degree oven for 20-25 minutes. You don’t want the bacon to shrink so much it starts to the squeeze the jalapeno. If, after 20 minutes, the bacon doesn’t look brown enough, just turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes to finish it off. These are best when the jalapeno still has a bit of bite to it.
Serve immediately, or they’re also great at room temperature.
You’ll love these so much, you’re gonna come out of your skin. Or something like that.

Sweeet Limes

Looks like a yellow orange huh?

FA'ALIFU FA'I - A Samoan Recipe

Don't want to wait for your bananas to ripen? Try this recipe. It means "green banana" Sorry, couldn't find a good recipe online. You can do a search and come up with many using coconut milk, but this recipe is the palagi way, or white people way. Either way it is yumm-o but this one is my favorite....

Start with Green Bananas. Yes, just a regular banana that is very green and hard. If it has any hint of yellow, it is too ripe for this recipe and will be gross.

Soak them in very hot water for a few minutes (helps to peel them) Take them one by one and run a butter knife down the length. Then pull the husk/skin off. Make sure you get all of it off, otherwise it turns black. You can scrape them a little with a butter knife if you want.

After they are all peeled, boil them in water until they are tender. (poke them with a fork) They are very starchy like a potato. You want the tenderness of a boiled potato. MAKE SAUCE (recipe below) WHILE THEY ARE BOILING!

Drain water off.

Add sauce immediately to the drained bananas in the hot pan and stir around a little until they are coated. The pan doesn't need to be on the heat, just hot from boiling the fai. It will thicken up almost like spaghetti sauce and turn yellow. That's it! Now for the sauce....

This is little tricky. It's a little of this and that and taste it. Here goes a try to describe it....

A glop of mayo. Maybe 1/2 cup for a regular bunch of bananas. We got three tonight, right?, maybe a 1/4 c.

Same amount of milk. Stir it good. Should be fairly thin.

The next ingredients are per taste. Salt and Curry Powder. It should have a hint of brownish yellow before the sauce hits the pan and hot banana from the curry. Maybe 1/2 tsp. or 1/4 tsp. Stir it up, taste, etc. That's it!

I like a lot of sauce with mine. Yum. It's almost potato salad-ish. Definantly not sweet as you would think a banana dish may be. email any questions...
smartmoneymom@gmail.com Good Luck!

Pumpkin Spice Dip

1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix till smooth; serve with apple slices or ginger snaps