Butternut Squash and Granny Apple Soup

Ingredients:

•           2 tablespoons butter (or margarine)

•           ½ cup yellow onion, chopped

•           ½ cup red onion, chopped

•           6 green onions, sliced

•           4 cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed

•           1 large granny apple, cored and cubed (leave skin on)

•           1 cup carrots, peeled and sliced

•           2 potatoes, cubed (leave skin on)

•           1 quart chicken broth

•           ¼ tsp cinnamon

•           dash ground ginger

•           dash ground allspice or cloves

•           dash ground nutmeg

•           ½ to 1 t. salt, to taste

•           ½ cup whipping cream (optional)

Directions:

1.                  Melt butter in large soup pot on medium heat. Add onions and cook until tender, about 5 mins.

2.                  Raise heat to medium-high and add remaining vegetables, chicken broth, and spices and stir. Cover, reduce heat to low, and boil gently for 20-30 minutes until carrots and squash are soft enough to easily pierce with fork.

3.                  Puree the soup in batches in blender.

4.                  If adding cream, put now-pureed soup back into pot and add cream and simmer gently on low for another 5 minutes, covered.

About this blog

I hate those blogs where you have to scroll through 3 pages of text about how Granny used to serve this recipe every Sunday before her head was eaten by a dingo and a zillion photos of the food from several angles to get to the actual recipe. I didn't make this blog for any reason other than keeping track of recipes I've tinkered with and hopefully introducing others to some of my genius. Kidding. Also, I came up with the name of the blog in the shower and thought it was funny so... there you have it.

Green Powerball Freezer Smoothies

Get breakfast ready in approximately 2 seconds in the morning. (Prep required. Of course.)

For the Powerball:

2 T. dry oats
1 T. flaxseed
1 T. peanut butter
1 tsp. cocoa powder
1 T. water

In a blender, combine oats and flaxseed and grind to a powder. Combine oats/flax powder with remaining ingredients in a small bowl with a rubber spatula until it can be molded into a ball. Freeze on wax paper while you prep the produce for the rest of the smoothie.

For the Produce:

1/2 banana
1/8 avocado
1/4 cup frozen berries
2 wedges apple
2-3 baby carrots
1/4 cup packed spinach

Chop banana, avocado, apple, and carrots into small pieces. Place in sandwich-sized Ziplock bag. Add powerball. Freeze bag.

For the Smoothie:

In the morning, stumble out of bed. Dump contents of ziplock bag into blender. Add 1/2 cup of whatever milk you drink. Blend. Breakfast's ready.

Approximate Nutrition:
350 calories
40 g carbs
17 g fat (from peanut butter and avocado. healthy fat.)
12 g protein
10 g fiber
16 g sugar (from fruit and milk)


Note: The purpose of the powerball is so the peanut butter doesn't stick to the inside of the bag. Also, it sounds frickin' epic.

Note: If you desire a sweeter smoothie, use 1 T. honey instead of water when making the powerball. Or just dump a bit of sugar up in there. No judging here. I had Reese's for dinner last night.

Note: I like to make about a week's worth of smoothie bags at a time. Takes 3 bananas, 1 avocado, 1 apple, and a few handfuls from bags of baby carrots, spinach, and frozen berries.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars - Perfected Ratios!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Ratios Perfected! (no more trying to figure out how many crackers equals exactly 1 cup of crumbs…)

Ingredients:

1 shrink-wrap package of graham crackers (you know... they come 3 to a box...)

1 1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup butter

Heaping 1/2 cup of peanut butter

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1.       Unwrap the graham crackers and place in gallon size ziplock bag. Crush with rolling pin.

2.       Place in medium bowl and add powdered sugar.

3.       In a medium microwave-safe bowl, melt butter. Stir peanut butter into melted butter with a fork to combine.

4.       Drizzle about 3/4 of the butter/peanut butter over the crumbs and sugar. Stir until all is absorbed—it will still be pretty powdery at this point. Then drizzle on the remaining butter mixture and it should moisten the rest. (If you stir it all in at once, it absorbs too quickly and remains crumbly. This method ensures all gets moistened).

5.       Press mixture into a square cake pan (8x8 or 9x9). Greasing the pan is not necessary.

6.       Melt chocolate chips in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until completely melted. Do not overcook. (Might take a total of 3 or so minutes...but heck if I know. I [still] just have a crappy 700-watt microwave that fit dorm safety regulations in college...)

7.       Using a rubber spatula, spread the chocolate over the peanut butter.

8.       Chill for at least 15 minutes for chocolate to harden. Cut into bars.

9.       Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Tip: I like to melt the chocolate chips in the same bowl I did the butter in so the chocolate gets a slightly salty flavor. I also think it melts a little more uniformly.

Tip: if you like more chocolate for your peanut butter, double the chocolate. I personally think the peanut butter crust is the best part so I don’t like to mask it with too much chocolate.

Tip: This recipe can be easily doubled to make a 9x13 pan of bars. 2 pkgs graham crackers, 2 ½ cups powdered sugar, 2 sticks butter, 1 1/4 cup peanut butter, and 1 cup chocolate chips.