Potage Parmentier (Leek and Potato Soup)

So it's potato soup right, that "souper" easy, hehe. I know corny but forgive me I couldn't help it. I've made lots of potato soups before, I LOVE potato soup, it's thick, it's creamy, it fills you up and warms your bones on a chilly afternoon.

The recipe was simple and straightforward: potatoes, leeks, water, salt and cream/butter. I simmered for the required time, so far so good. Now I don't have a vegetable mill, and Julia specifically said not to use the processor, so I figured the blender was out as well. She mentions mashing by hand with a fork but something about leeks mashing didn't work well in my head. So instead I used my mixer with the paddle. Hey it mashes my potatoes for mashed potatoes perfectly, why not! And I could always adjust the speed so not as to "over blend". I drained the veggies, keeping the broth in a pitcher, and pitched them in the mixer. Mush with a few chunks and lots of leek strings, I started adding the broth back in. Seemed like a lot of water to put back in the soup! I reseasoned, and I must admit I had to add a TON of salt, and I'm not a big salt person.

It did not look like potato soup that I'm used to by any means, it looked like water with green onions. And it tasted that way too. VERY watered down compared to my idea of potato soup. So I added the cream, and well at least it began to "look" like potato soup.

Verdict is iffy, maybe it's supposed to be thin and I'm just used to soup that can hold bacon up on top. It's not bad, and prolly much more carb friendly than my old version. I'm hoping that it'll be a bit better reheated since there is a TON. Maybe I'll cheat and use my leftovers for variations on the recipe.

Meal Plan Monday!

Monday
Going to the store today so it's a quick fix meal from the pantry!

Tuesday
Breakfast: Frozen Waffles
Lunch: Potage Parmentier (Leek and Potato Soup) with hot ham and swiss sandwiches
Dinner: French's Crunchy Onion Chicken, Roasted Red Potatoes and Steamed Green Beans

Wednesday
Breakfast: Oeufes Brouilles (Scrambled Eggs), Pan-fried Ham and toast
Lunch: Sandwiches
Dinner: Shrimp and Grits Casserole, Lima Beans and Cherry Tomato Salad

Thursday
It's the hubby's birthday so I'm going to fix him a special dinner & double up on my recipes today.

Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Quiche Lorraine (Cream and Bacon Quiche), "Salad" and French Bread
Dinner: Poulet Roti a la Normande (Roast Chicken w/Cream, Herb and Giblet Stuffing), Haricots Verts a l'Anglaise (Buttered Green Beans), Gratin Dauphinois (Scalloped Potatoes with Milk, Cheese, and a pinch of Garlic), Reine De Saba (Chocolate and Almond Cake)

Friday
Breakfast: Cereal
Lunch: Prolly something quick like mac and cheese since we've got a full day of playgroup stuff.
Dinner: Ranch Dressing Packet Hamburgers and Curly Fries

Saturday
Breakfast: Pancakes or French Toast with Bacon
Lunch: Cowboy Chow with my brother
Dinner: Leftovers, if anything 'cause we'll still be full from lunch.

Sunday
Breakfast: Oeufs a la Fondue de Fromage (Poached Eggs on Canapes w/Cheese Fondue Sauce)
Dinner: Filets de Poisson Bercy aux Champignons (Fish Filets Poached in White Wine w/Mushrooms), Asperges Au Naturel (Boiled Asparagus) with Beurre au Citron (Lemon Butter Sauce) and Riz a la anglaise (Rice cooked in butter)

Out of the Fog!

I did it! I made it through the last weeks of pregnancy and have another wonderful little man in my life. I must admit the first 2 months have been rough, lack of sleep, dealing with colic and reflux, an overbearing big brother who alternates between acting out for attention to being a great helper and inamored with his baby brother. But I'm finally feeling like I can get some time for myself again. I was actually able to read a book this week! And I'm attempting to plan menus again now that we've officially depleted my freezer stock of meals. Which I'm happy about truthfully because I was getting tired of the boringness of just reheating our meals (not that I could have even mustered the brain power or energy to cook something before now). I'm excited about trying out new recipes and honestly I was inspired by the movie Julie and Julia to try to work my way through the classic books as well. I'm feeling more prepared for it than when I first started cooking but I think I'd still like to master technique, something that I'm sure I'm sorely lacking in.

Proof in point, I took a knife technique class 2 weeks ago. Until now I had considered my knife skills adequate, still a bit afraid of the knives, I knew I couldn't peel a potato or apple in my hand well, well with just a pairing knife . I made due with all things but still felt clumbsy about the whole process most of the time. So I decided to learn from the pros. It was great! I learned that sadly I wasn't even holding the knife correctly. Once I figured that out, things seemed to be almost second nature!

So I'm hoping that while I'm comfortable roasting a chicken or baking a ham, I can make crepes from scratch, have made homemade cinnamon rolls and pizza dough and regularly make my own stocks and sauces, I know that my technique is rustic to say the least.

So flipping through the pages of the classic book I realized too that it would be really really boring cooking one chapter at a time, can you imagine a week of eggs? So instead I'm going to do 1 recipe from each chapter a week, like in the Julie/Julia project. And just because I love sweets I might double up on the desserts. But because I still have baby weight to lose I will be adding light recipes and family friendly recipes to our weekly menus. As much as I love butter, cream and Julia I have to keep us healthy too!

What I'm working with...

Stockpiling my freezer is well underway and I'm feeling great about my accomplishments. But I thought I'd share with you my little secret. I don't have a deep freezer, I know I really need one but instead we have another fridge/freezer combo out in the garage. It's the standard old top freezer. It works well enough, and prior to becoming boring parents who had no lives, the fridge part was really needed too. We have a pool table & darts in the garage, so the fridge was used for storing cases of cokes and beer. Along came baby #1 and the get togethers sadly ended and the fridge part is now empty, except for the occasional extra gallon of milk or packages of butter.

But I have found that as long as you're organized, my little outside freezer works. Prior to my "baby stockpiling" the outside freezer was used only for storing meats, while my kitchen side-by-side style freezer housed convenience foods and frozen veggies. Since I'm now stockpiling I'm slowly transforming the outside freezer into my "go to meals" freezer and hoping to use up most of our frozen meat since I know I WILL NOT be doing any scratch cooking for at least a month when baby #2 comes.

And until then I'm storing those scratch cooking basics in my inside freezer. So here's the progress of my baby stockpiling and what I'm working with....

The Official "Feed the Freezer" List

So baby #2 will be here in January and I know that I will have my hands full with a new baby and a rambunctous two year old so I'm feeling the need to have a freezer full of fast go-to meals for our first few weeks at home. I will be trying to gradually cook the items on my list since I'm already exhausted after cooking normally nowdays. And of course if I find more items they'll be added to the list, some ideas of which I still need to find recipes too.

Breakfasts:
Gingerbread Waffles
Ham & Cheese Muffins
Breakfast Tacos/Burritos
French Toast Casserole
Ham & Cheese Quiche
Savory Breakfast Casserole
Pancakes (a couple of different varieties)
French Toast Sticks
Whole Wheat, Oatmeal, and Raisin Muffins
Applesauce, Bran, and Oatmeal Muffins

Lunches:
Chicken Taquitos
Sloppy Joes
Beef & Bean Chimichangas

Dinners:
Chicken Enchiladas
Manicotti & Sauce
Chicken Pot Pies
Shepherd's Pie
King Ranch Chicken
Veggie Meatloaf & Mac 'n Cheese
Chicken Spaghetti
Three Bean Chili & Cheddar Cornbread Muffins
Sausage & Spinach Soup
Chili Cornbread Casserole
Lasagna
LaBamba Casserole
Chicken Broccoli Casserole
Chicken Florentine Bake
Turkey & Artichoke Stuffed Shells & Sauce
Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage
Chicken Stroganoff
Beef Daube Provencal

A quick update

So it's been FOREVER since I've done an update. Yes I'm still laid off but honestly not putting much effort into the search since we'll be having a new baby arrive in January. I mean who can really afford to put 2 kids in daycare unless you're making well over 6 figures? Anyways I've been loving staying home but it doesn't leave much time for me. The first 4 months of this pregnancy were really rough, the hubby and monster ate fast food everyday since the thought of food was horrible. But I have been feeling better now and have been cooking more so I wanted to share just a few of the recipes I've tried lately. I'm sure that I'll forget some but then I can blame it on pregnancy brain right?

Breakfasts:
Paula Dean's Cinnamon Rolls
Pioneer Woman's Orange Marmalade Rolls
Ina Garten's Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Dinners:
Seared Salmon with Sorrel Sauce & creamy horseradish mashed potatoes
Quick Roast Chicken
Bobby Flay's Veggie Meatloaf, Creamy Mashed Cauliflower & Steamed Green Beans
Kroger's Veggie Lasagna Roll-Ups
Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff
Paula Dean's Old Fashioned Meatloaf with Ina Garten's Mac & Cheese
Emeril's Chili Mac
Tilapia Fish Tacos

Desserts:
Flu Fighter Cookies
Bread Pudding w/Bourbon Sauce

Okay I'm back now for the recipes that I didn't get to before (9/13/09)

Quick Roast Chicken
3-4 lb roast/fryer chicken, preferably already cut up
1 to 2 small to medium quartered white onions
1 lemon
1 lb of quartered red potatoes (can use more if you want)
1 lb baby carrots (ditto)
fresh sage, rosemary & thyme
olive oil
salt & pepper

In a large roasting pan place the potatoes, onions and carrots. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Tossing well to coat. Layer the pieces of chicken over the veggies. Slice the lemon and squeeze the juice over the chicken. Quarter the squeezed lemon and place under the pieces of chicken. This will allow the lemon to steam through into the chicken. Generously sprinkle your fresh sage, thyme and rosemary over the chicken & veggies. Sprinkle the chicken with salt & pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Cover with aluminum foil and roast in a 400' oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue cooking for another 30 minutes or until the juices run clear.

Creamy Mashed Cauliflower (aka sneaky mashed potatoes)
1 lb fresh or frozen cauliflower
1/3 c cream
1 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp cream cream (optional)

Steam the cauliflower until tender, when tender remove from heat and shock in an ice water bath. When cooled, drain and place in food processor. Blend cauliflower until desired texture, should resemble chunky mashed potatoes. Place the mash into a stockpot and add remaining ingredients. Stirring occasionally until well heated. At this point you can add the cream cheese if desired, blending well until melted.

Slow Cooker Chicken Stroganoff
1-2 lb boneless skinless ckn thigh meat
1 pkg sliced mushrooms
1 chopped white onion
1 can of mushroom soup
1 tbsp of worcestershire sauce
1 c chicken broth
salt & pepper to taste
dried parsley flakes to taste
1 tsp dried thyme
1 c sour cream

Cut the chicken into bite sized cubes and place in slow cooker. Add mushrooms, onions and remaining ingredients thru thyme. Slow cook over low heat for 8 hours, stirring occasionally. About 30 minutes prior to serving add the sour cream and stir until well blended. Serve over egg noodles.

I'll fell off the edge of the Earth!

Ok so not really but kind of. I apologize to those few people who might have actually enjoyed reading my nonsense. I have found that it's really hard to find time to play around on the internet when I'm staying home all day with my lil monster. I rarely have time to do anything but check my email and other most important things. Menu planning has become a struggle too - but I persevere, just not as far out planned. So here's a quick update about what I've been up to....

1. Laid off, yup.

2. I decided to start a direct selling business. I'm a Tastefully Simple consultant now and loving it! This is a great fix for my lack of menu planning. It's open and serve stuff that I can throw on chicken or veggies and I've got a meal!

3. Had a lovely trip to Mountainview Arkansas for the music festival. My grandpa was up there so we went to see him, some neat mountain scenery and hear bluegrass music.

4. I've made some new yummy recipes of course so I'll have to update you on them after my monster goes to bed tonight.

5. The CSA I joined is about up and running, the 1st bushels should be ready in May. I'm super excited since I'm not paying a lick for a year's worth of fresh organic fruits and veggies! They've also got free range chickens so I think this is where I'll be getting my chicken too!