Italian Chicken Noodle Soup

The cold and flu has hit my house hard. I am still healthy, but my hubby not so much, and my daughter is sick too, which means she comes to stay with me so I can nurture her back to health and make her my famous Chicken Noodle Soup. 

I have been told many times that I make the best chicken noodle soup. I sometimes even tell myself when I am sick and forced to eat soup from a restaurant. I always wish someone would make me my soup instead, but I have not taught anyone how I do it. Even though it is not hard to do, when I am sick, I am usually too sick to try to show someone. So I am finally writing down my simple recipe that is sure to comfort the sick. Enjoy!

Italian Chicken Noodle Soup

1 lb. Italian chicken sausage

2 Tbsp Olive oil

8 cups chicken broth

1 onion

3 carrots

2 celery stalks

1/2 Tbsp garlic, minced

1 Tbsp Italian seasoning

1 bay leaf

Cooked Ditalini pasta, or pasta of your choice.

salt and pepper to taste

I first start out by making a mirepoix. It is a combination of onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. The base to any really good soup. Chop them up into similar size pieces, except the garlic should be minced. Add olive oil to a skillet and add the mirepoix. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

Cook stirring often until onions are translucent. 

Meanwhile cook your pasta according to package directions. 

I like using ditalini, but you can use whatever noodles you like. 

Drain. 

In a large stockpot, add your chicken broth, cooked vegetables, Italian seasoning, and a bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer. 

Meanwhile brown your chicken sausage.

Remove the bay leaf from the stock. 

Add your sausage and noodles to the stock, and serve. 

Hot Pastrami on Rye

My husband and I are nearing our 1 year anniversary of living in our loft downtown being "empty nester's". This past year has been pure bliss. We have settled into our life so nicely and every single day I find myself thanking the Lord for this wonderful life we have together. How time flies when you are having fun! 

Dwelling on my happiness and all the blessings that are in my life, often leads me to think of others I know that are miserable.  What keeps people in a miserable place? I think it is fear of the unknown. Something I have learned more and more as I grow older, is the more you try to hold on to something, the more it holds on to you. People get comfortable in their lives, even if they are miserable. They don't take a single step to change their circumstances, and they grow stagnant. Often times becoming more and more secluded because they are miserable people, so no one wants to be around them. 

I like to think I have a different mindset. I believe life is a gift. We are given time to make a difference. Find your purpose today. Really stop and take inventory of your life, your friends, our living conditions. What do you wish was different, and what steps can you take to make those changes?  Instead of looking at the mountain, look at the steps. Take one step at a time and change your life for the better. The happier you are, the better your relationships are. 

Now on to today's food. My husband loves a good hot pastrami sandwich. So naturally I wanted to surprise him with it. I always want to make him the things he loves. He said I nailed this one. Enjoy!

Hot Pastrami on Rye

Serves 2

1/2 lbs cooked and thinly sliced beef pastrami

4 slices havarti cheese

sauteed onions

coarse grind mustard

4 slices artisan rye bread 

1 cup beef broth

Saute your onions in olive oil, salt and pepper, for a few minutes.

Bring your broth to a simmer. Add pastrami and onions to the broth. Simmer until pastrami is hot. Reserve the broth for pouring over the sandwich.

Toast your bread and add coarse mustard to two of the 4 slices.

Divide cheese, meat and onions among rye bread. Pour your broth over the sandwich and close.

Serve hot. 

French Onion Soup

Are you just maintaining your relationship? Or are you nourishing it, growing it, making it thrive? Just maintaining will get you nowhere. Unfortunately we are human and too much of the same thing gets boring. Romantic tip: Spice it up! Don't just maintain your relationship today. Do something that will make him or her feel special and loved. 

My husband loves french onion soup. It is one of his favorites. The soup is not hard to make, it is just time consuming. So I don't make it for him as much as I should. The crunchy toast on top, covered in cheese, just makes this soup amazing. It is a perfect comfort food.

This recipe is not just for two. Well it is, but it is enough that you will have plenty leftover in the fridge. It lasts 1 week in the fridge in an airtight container. It is even better the next day, just wait to add the toast and cheese until time of serving.  Enjoy! 

French Onion Soup

adapted from Bon Appétit | October 2013

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

6 large onions (about 5 pounds), thinly sliced

2 large shallots, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

4 sprigs flat-leaf parsley

2 sprigs thyme

1 bay leaf

8 cups beef, chicken or vegetable broth

8 1/4 "-thick slices country bread, toasted

8 ounces sliced Gruyère

Slice up your onions. 

Heat butter in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add onions, shallots, and garlic; 

season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and dark brown, 60–70 minutes. 

Add vermouth and vinegar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until slightly reduced, about 3 minutes.

Tie parsley, thyme, and bay leaf with kitchen twine; add to pot along with broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 8 cups, 35–40 minutes; discard herb bundle.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Place ovenproof bowls on a large rimmed baking sheet. Divide soup among bowls and top with toasts (cut to fit if necessary) and cheese.

 Bake until cheese is bubbling and golden brown, 6–8 minutes.

6 minute Fruit Tart

 
Romantic gestures are great. I love it whenever my husband thinks of me, and when he does something out of love it is the best gift ever. I used to call my husband the dishwasher fairy. He would empty my dishwasher for me every morning just to make the start to my day nice. It always made me smile. Since then I have taken that job over again. Mostly because I have several fragile dishes that I want handled extra careful. 

I wanted to do something for no reason for my hubby. Around here, we usually wait until the weekend to go to the grocery store for our big purchases. I walk to the store almost every day, but the weekend is when I pick up the heavy items like detergent, beverages, and anything heavy... like a bag of potatoes. Carrying those by myself for 6 blocks is not fun, even though I have done it many times. This last time I decided to go get them myself just as a nice gesture for my hubby. Eliminating one chore from anyone's day is always nice. 

Romantic Tip: Be the Grocery Fairy. Most practical gift ever—surprise your love with a week’s worth of fresh groceries.

Now on to today's recipe. Sometimes I just want to make something that has a cute presentation. These little mini fruit tarts are a great side dish and make any plate look pretty. Serve them on the side of your eggs, pancakes, lunches, or just serve as a snack. Easy to just pick up and eat, and even easier to make! 

6 minute Fruit Tart

Won Ton wrapper

Sliced banana

strawberry

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

I only needed to make two of these. You can make as many as you want. For two it took 2 strawberries and a half a banana with 2 won ton wrappers. Adjust your ingredients according to how many you are making. 

Press your won ton wrappers into a cupcake, brownie, or muffin tin. 

Place in the preheated oven for 5 minutes.

While won tons are cooking, slice your fruit.

Once the won tons done. Add your sliced fruit. 

Easy Peasy, and oh so tasty!

Garlic Greek Ranch Dip

When is the last time you picked up a book of poetry? Maybe in this day and age you need to Google poetry, or download poetry on your kindle, nook, e-reader, ipad, or whatever tickles your fancy. I like to open my Oxford Book of English Verse and read. There is something that gets me opening that old book with worn pages. Thinking about all the others who have read it before and what it meant to them. I would suggest reading a romantic poem or two with your love. It makes you think and automatically sets a romantic mood.

Romantic Tip: Read poetry together. Talk about the poem after and what you each got from it. 

Now for today's recipe...I send my hubby off with fresh cut veggies every single day for work. I am blessed to have a man that loves his raw veggies! I like to change up his dip varieties so that he doesn't get bored. If he had it his way, he would eat jalapeno ranch dip every single day. More often than not, he comes home and admits that the "new dip" was good. This was one of them. I was quite pleased because it is much healthier than the traditional ranch because there is no mayo in it. 

Garlic Greek Ranch Dip

adapted from Kitchen Treaty

1 cup Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 large garlic cloves, smashed and finely minced (about 2 heaping teaspoons)
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions
2 tablespoons chopped chives
¼ cup minced Italian parsley
½ teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Dash Tabasco sauce (optional)

Mix together. Chill until you serve.

Mediterranean Quinoa Wraps

I am often taken back by how many couples just constantly put each other down. I used to have a lot of friends that seemed to hate their spouse. I finally came to the conclusion that this is toxic to be around and I eliminated the negativity from my life. We all need to be reassured. Just because your man is a man doesn't mean he doesn't have feelings. He is just as insecure as you are. I decided to start letting my husband know at least once a day how proud I am of him. I let him know I like him as much as I love him. I have found that when I say affirmations to him, he becomes more positive and in turn, it boosts his self esteem. Which is very attractive to me. 

Romantic Tip: “I like you. I love you. I’m proud of you.” Say and mean these three phrases often—affirmation through clear communication is the key to healthy relationships.

Now on to today's food...As I mentioned before, I am trying to make some meatless meals for my husband. I think if once a week I can make him something yummy that is healthy, he won't notice it is meatless. 

I was right with this one. It is a new favorite in this house. The crispy Quinoa patties go so nicely with the Greek yogurt and veggies. I used a very healthy 100 calorie flaxseed flatbread. 

Mediterranean Quinoa Wraps

1 cup uncooked quinoa

2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

1 medium carrot, finely grated

3 eggs

3 tablespoons gluten free all purpose flour

2 green onions, sliced thin on the bias

1 /2 teaspoon Splenda or sugar or stevia

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Olive oil for frying

Sliced Cucumber

Sliced Tomato

Sliced Red Pepper

Yogurt Sauce: 

1/2 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

green onions

Start out by making the yogurt sauce.

in a small bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, and the green onions; season with salt and pepper. 

Next move on to the quinoa patties. In a large pot bring the 2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil over high heat. Add quinoa and reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 18-20 minutes, or until all water is absorbed and the seeds are tender. Allow to cool for a few minutes.

In a large bowl combine the cooked quinoa, cheddar cheese, ricotta cheese, carrot, eggs, gluten free flour, green onions, Splenda, pepper, cumin, salt, and garlic powder. Mix well and then let chill in the fridge for 1 hour to let it set.

Heat a frying pan or griddle and a couple teaspoons olive oil over medium-low heat. Mixture will be slightly sticky, so using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop mixture into pan and lightly flatten to 1/2 inch thick.

I made my long and oval shaped to fit in a wrap.

Fry until golden-brown, about 4 minutes on each side.

You can store them in between parchment paper in an airtight container until you are ready to serve.

I used some flaxseed flatbread that they sell at our local organic market. You can use any tortilla. If you are gluten-free, use a rice tortilla. 

Start out with a flatbread and add cucumber, red pepper, and tomato. I added a chive too for extra flavor.

Add quinoa patties. 

Top with yogurt sauce.

Wrap to close and serve!

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