Mama's "Get Well Soup"

Everyone in the family, except me, has had some form of sickness this week so I got the idea (from a children's book) that I would make them some 'get well soup.' I have a lentil soup recipe that I LOVE (thanks, Joelle!) so I decided to twist it up a bit and make it into my 'get well soup.' Onion and garlic both are suppose to aid in getting well and boosting immunity so throw as much in this soup as is tolerable.

Mama's Get Well Soup
1 C lentils
5 C water
1 onion, diced
4-8 fresh cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp ground thyme
1/4 tsp oregano
1 T salt
1 pint canned tomatoes
4 C fresh spinach

Rinse lentils thoroughly. Combine all ingredients except fresh spinach in a large pot. Bring to a boil and cook for 45 minutes to an hour. Add fresh spinach about 5 minutes before ready to serve. Serve hot with your favorite bread! Yum!

All Part of the Job

We don't typically encourage our kids to climb or stand on the counters, however, this morning they were unloading the dishwasher together and since I was in the middle of some other chore, they took care of business without any help.

Apple Strudel

This was actually part of our Germany theme...but it fits right after the Apple post. There were no leftovers...that says it all!!



APPLE STRUDEL (modified from cooks.com)
3 lg. apples
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. dark seedless raisins
1/2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
Approximately 3/4 c. dried fine bread crumbs
1/2 lb. phyllo (1/2 box frozen phyllo pastry)
1/2 c. melted butter
Powdered sugar

Thaw frozen phyllo dough as directed on package. Grease large cookie sheet. Peel and thinly slice apples. Toss apples in bowl with next 6 ingredients and 1/4 cup bread crumbs. Tear 2 pieces of wax paper approximately 24 inches long and overlap them lengthwise and tape. This will be your work surface.

Keep phyllo dough covered with moist clean towel once it is opened and thawed. The paper thin dough dries out quickly. On wax paper, place each individual phyllo pastry sheet one on top of the other and brush each sheet with melted butter. Sprinkle scant amount of bread crumbs on every other sheet (you'll use approximately 12 sheets of phyllo dough.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spoon apple mixture on prepared phyllo dough and roll phyllo dough around apple mixture jelly roll fashion. Pinch ends to prevent leaking of apple mixture during baking. Place on cookie sheet seam side down. Brush roll with melted butter. Bake 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool approximately 30 minutes and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Slice and serve warm or cold. Makes approximately 10-12 servings.

Apples, Apples, Apples

Okay, so this was a while ago, but I just wanted to post something from one of the themes that Chaeli has been learning about in Kindergarten. First was Creation and then we went on to Apples. And here is some of what we did for two weeks of Apples! It was quite a fun two weeks!

Will it float?

Baked Apple Delight (yum!)

My Little Applesauce Makers

Brothers

Sweet little boys...

Hearty Broccoli Potato "Cheese" Soup

I went searching for a Potato Broccoli soup recipe a couple weeks ago and this is what I found. It came from someone's blog on the internet and I've tweaked it to suit our tastebuds. It is YUMM-O! And very easy too, I might add.

Hearty Broccoli and Potato Cheese Soup
6 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cubed
1 small onion, diced
1 bunch broccoli
1 T sea salt
½ C vegan cheese

Put the potatoes and onion in a pot, approximately 6 quarts. Add cold water until they are covered by about an inch of water. Add 1 T of salt. Place the pot over high heat and cover with a tight-fitting lid.

Turn on the oven, set for 400 degrees F. Chop the broccoli to remove the florets. Keep the florets intact and spread on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle with olive oil.

When the oven is at temperature and the potatoes are boiling, set a timer for 7 minutes. Place the broccoli in the oven and let each cook until the timer beeps.

Remove the broccoli from the oven and take the potatoes off the heat. Add half the broccoli to the potatoes and puree using an immersion blender (can use regular blender). Chop the remaining broccoli and stir it into the soup, then slowly fold in about half a cup of vegan cheese.

Serve with hearty bread and garnish with a teaspoon of the remaining cheese if desired.

Quercetin - My Miracle Allergy Cure!

A while back allergies hit me like they never have before. I was MISERABLE with a capital M! Sneezing, itching, watery eyes, the works! Finally I got the brilliant idea to research natural allergy remedies and this is one of the links I came up with:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natural-Health/2006-08-01/Six-Natural-Allergy-Remedies.aspx



With the exception of one odd day, I have been allergy symptom free since the day after I starting taking Quercetin. I also started taking garlic capsules and every once in a while I drink nettle tea. I am amazed at what quercetin did for me.