Eat Together, Make Life Delicious...

My favorite homemade soups take as little as 20 minutes to prepare from start to finish. I like to make small batches that serve about 4 people modestly as an appetizer. So if you want a huge bowl, double up this recipe.

This soup recipe, though quite good as a leftover, is so easy to prepare, I'd consider making it fresh every time.


Instructions
- Pick our your ingredients (see suggestions below)
- Washing veggies and peel away any skin
- Cut them into bite size pieces
- Heat a medium sauce pan over medium heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- Saute the veggies until they are soft and golden, which can take 5 to 7 minutes (the smaller you dice the veggies, the faster they will cook, so keep that in mind!)
- Add in 4 cups of water and one organic low sodium chicken or veggie soup Bouillon
- Cook the soup another 5 to 10 minutes on medium low heat
- With an immersion blender, carefully blend up the soup
- Add any seasoning you might like (see suggestions below)
- Serve hot

Carrot Soup
6 large carrots, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon coconut milk

Leek Soup
1 large leek stalk, sliced, rinsed and chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme

Lentils
1 tomato, cored, seeded, diced
15 ounces canned lentil beans
1 teaspoon ground curry

Potato Soup
2 potatoes, peeled, finely diced (these will take 15 minutes to boil until soft)
1 teaspoon fresh chives

Corn Soup
15 ounces canned corn
1 heaping tablespoon chopped onion
2 saffron threads (Add this at the end!)

Squash Soup
1 small butternut squash (peeled, seeded, and cut up into small pieces) depending on size may have to add more water
1 pinch paprika
1 pinch chili powder

Fast Split Pea Soup
4 cups frozen peas
1 piece bacon into bits
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

Labels: Comfort Food, home made, soups

Marshmallows are made from corn syrup-it's true and haven't we all read the very scary articles about that stuff.

But the good news is, you can use organic corn syrup instead of the conventional high fructose corn syrup. That's what I do. It's slightly more expensive, but worth every penny.

Now I am not a scientist, just a mom who wants to prepare really cool things for her kids...and from what I have read, organic corn syrup allows me to make marshmallows without concern. (read about the product I use) And really, what would life be without the occasion indulgence of homemade marshmallows? Just imagine them melting in deliciously creamy hot chocolate...comforting and the perfect setting to remind us of live's simple pleasures!

So Viva Homemade Marshmallows!

Homemade Marshmallows
Makes about 50 1-inch square marshmallows

2½ tablespoons unflavored gelatin
1½ cups granulated sugar
1 cup light organic corn syrup (the brand I use is: Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Light Corn Syrup)
¼ teaspoon salt
2 large egg whites
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
Olive oil cooking spray
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

In a small bowl combine the gelatin and ½ cup cold water and whisk until the gelatin started to dissolve. Set the bowl aside for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan/pot over low heat on the stovetop, combine the granulated sugar, corn syrup, salt, and ½ cup cold water. Stir the mixture until the sugar completely dissolves. Place a candy thermometer into the mixture (get the kind that clips on) and raise the heat to medium high until it reaches 240 or soft-ball stage. When that happens, immediately remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the gelatin. Set it aside.

In a standing mixture, add in the egg whites. If you have a splatter guard, use it. Slowly increase the speed to high and beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. When that happens, add in the sugar/gelatin mixture, and the vanilla. Beat everything on high speed until it starts to resemble marshmallows. This should take about 10 minutes.

Transfer the marshmallow mixture to a 8-by-12-inch glass baking pan. Or even a casserole dish. If you want, spray the baking dish first with olive oil cooking spray to make sure the marshmallow is easier to remove later. Spread the marshmallow mixture so that is as even as possible. It will be about 1-inch thick. Spray the top of the marshmallow mixture with olive oil cooking spray and then cover it with a piece of parchment.

Let the marshmallows sit out over night to dry.

Turn the marshmallows out on to the parchment paper and with a moist kitchen scissors, cut the marshmallows into 1-inch squares. A hot dry knife also works. Dust the squares with confectioners' sugar to prevent sticking. Set the marshmallows out again to dry to your liking and serve!

Labels: Comfort Food, home made, home made marshmallows, marshmallows, organic corn syrup