Thai Coconut Soup

Long time no post.  I've been posting, but just not here.  I've been on A Year in the Life for these past 4 years.  Sorry y'all.  :)  I'm going to make it up to you by posting a new delicious recipe for Thai Coconut Soup.

It's so easy.  I've tripled it so you can feed a family of 6, and maybe have a little left for the next day.  My crew are hearty eaters, so I have to make enough to feed the peeps.

I hope you enjoy it!
~ashley

Thai Coconut Soup
3 cans (14 oz) coconut milk
3 cans (14 oz) or 6 cups chicken broth (I use bouillon cubes & water)
18 quarter-size slices fresh ginger
3 stalks fresh lemongrass, cut in 1-inch pieces (I used lemongrass paste & it was fine)
3 pounds chicken cut into 1-inch pieces (optional)
3 cup sliced mushrooms (I forgot these, so if you don't like them, leave them out.)
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce (nuoc mam or nam pla)
3 teaspoons sugar
3 teaspoons Thai chili paste (I made mine heaping, but I like spicy things.)
fresh basil & cilantro to garnish

• In a saucepan, combine coconut milk, broth, ginger, and lemongrass.  Bring to a boil over high heat.
• Add chicken, mushrooms, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar & chili paste.  Reduce heat a cook slowly until chicken is firm and opaque.  DO NOT BOIL chicken.  

Oh, It's Cold on My Tootsie Toes

Why is it when it's cold outside it's always my feet that are the coldest.  It takes me at least an hour to thaw out.  Hopson calls me a cold prickle.  :(  I am a cold prickle...I can't hold my own body heat in for anything.  He says it's because I don't have a positive mental attitude.  Yeah, what ever.  I would love it if someone made a bodysuit out of an electric blanket!  I could plug myself into the wall at my house and stay super warm all the time!

Because winter has decided to raise it's very cold head, again, after we've had a few weeks of 60ish degree weather in January/February, I am craving soup.  I would eat it in the winter at least once or twice a week.  (Warm soup to eat and a hot fire in the fireplace...good stuff!)  And because I wanted soup for dinner, I made myself soup.  I decided everyone else could eat it or not.  (Henry has been a birthday party & everyone else can fend for themselves.)  They all had loaded baked potatoes and half decided to have a cup of soup to go with it.

I made homemade Tomato Basil Soup, and of course I cheated on it.  It calls for fresh herbs, but I decided to use dried because I was pressed for time.  Hoppy & Elizabeth gave it a thumbs up.  I was pleased with it.  And since I was selfish and made it for me anyway...I was happy.  It heated me all the way to my very cold toes. :)

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

One of These Things is NOT like the others...

One of these things just doesn't belong.  Can you tell me which thing is not like the other, all before I finish my song.  Love Sesame Street!  I grew up watching it, and when my children were old enough to watch it, I would watch it with them.  Happy memories!!!  Remember the Ladybug Picnic?  Classic!



The reason I thought about that song is because I have been craving Butternut Squash Bisque for YEARS!  Yes, I said years.  I had it at a local restaurant, and they haven't made it since the first time I had it, about 2 years ago, so I finally broke down & made it myself.  Can I tell you that I think if the boiler had been big enough I would have submerged myself in it.  Oh my it was good, and warm, and creamy, and even better as leftovers.  I had it for breakfast & lunch the next day. 





But I thought about the shape of a butternut squash and it reminded me of something else I used to watch with my children...VeggieTales!  Notice my little friend on the back right...I always thought he was a gourd, but he's a butternut squash!!!  Love me some VeggieTales.  :)  Now onto the soup...


 


It's not hard to make, just a little time consuming.  I've never peeled a butternut squash, but I learned a trick that made it so much easier because the skin is very tough.  After you cut off the top & bottom you microwave it for a few minutes to soften the skin & then it slides off like butter.  (It also smells yummy while it's cooking in your microwave!)  Next scoop the membrane out and cut it up into chunks.

As I was cutting the squash up I allowed the onions to cook.  I actually cut-up a fresh onion, and didn't use frozen ones.  Aren't you proud?  You should be, you know how lazy I can be.  If you don't like onions, don't use them.  The next batch of soup I make I think I'll try it without the onion to see what it tastes like.  I'll let you know...

Once the onion is done cooking add in your chicken broth and squash.  Cook until squash is tender.  Simmer it, don't boil it, the squash is fragile. 

Once the squash is done cooking, gently spoon it out and put it in a blender or food processor with a some broth.  Puree the mixture until it is creamy.  If your blender/processor is having a tough time pureeing the mixture, add a little bit more broth.  When it's finished processing, add it back to the liquid in the boiler and add heavy whipping cream and nutmeg. 

And here is the finished product! 

Isn't it beautiful?  And shiny?  And wonderfully delicious?

It's happiness in a bowl.  I think I'm going to have to make a grocery run today for another squash.  This soup makes me happy and warm.  I know my boiler is not pretty for this picture, but I didn't care, because I had a bowl right after I took the picture.  Let me know if you try to it & what you think.

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,

~ashley

Where I Spend My Time

I think I need to paint my car.  No, it's not that the paint is chipping or faded, it's that I'm always in my car driving little people hither and yon.  Yellow, that's the color my car should be, and it needs a 'Children's Taxi' sign gracing the top.  Don't laugh, you know it can or will apply to you in the future.  We even have one child who can drive himself and it is still crazy around here.

We're in the car so much Henry knows how to get most of his homework completed in the car.  The life of being the baby of the family.  Bless that sweet child, he can roll with the punches better than anyone, and doesn't wig out when things suddenly change.  (he did not get that from his mommy)  He could also nap in the car like a champion when he was a baby.  People would see him asleep in his car seat & whisper and say 'oh look, the baby is asleep, y'all be quiet and don't wake him up.'  I would laugh and say, don't worry, you can't wake him up, because you couldn't.  We are not the quietest family...

Last night was one of the coldest nights of the year for us so far.  I really wanted to eat chili, but knew the fam would balk.  Chili is a go to for me in a tight.  And then, it was like I heard a chior singing as I remembered I have a recipe for White Chicken Chili.  I needed somthing I could leave cooking on low on the stove as I hauled my little chicks around.  You know I don't follow directions very well.  If I don't have or like something in a recipe, I'll change it, no biggie.  The original recipe calls for ground chicken.  What, ground chicken, who keeps ground chicken in their freezer?  So, I decided to poach some and dice it up.  I did want some heavy cream to add to it, but didn't have any so it was a healthy chili.

We're coming up on the busiest time of the year.  Every mom I talk to has said that December is crazier than May, and I totally agree.  Hopefully this chicken chili will help make your Christmas season a little easier.

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

No More Men in My Kitchen

I'm pretty good about sharing my kitchen with the fam, but I'm about to ban all men from it.  Hop & his very first best friend, Will, wanted to cook Red Fish Stew on Saturday, and me being the wonderfully nice mom I am (insert hysterical laugh here) allowed them access to my kitchen.  I figured since they are leaving in a year and a half for college, it was time for them to start learning to cook things on their own.

Hop started skinning & dicing the Red fish & Will started chopping the onion and making the roux.  I had to talk them both through the process, thankfully they caught on pretty fast.  In the picture to the left, Will (on the right) has started cooking the roux, and Hop (on the left) was dicing the fish.  I was proud of Will, he said the roux smelled like his Granna's Jambalaya.  I told him that he was so smart because when you make Jambalaya, you make a roux.  I think he was proud of himself.  Sweet Will!

Here is the finished product.  We decided to half the recipe because there were:  the two of them, Henry had one of his best buds, Josh, over that day, and then me.  It was just enough to feed the 5 of us.  There was about 1 serving left in the bowl.  It all went smoothly, but I have one HUGE complaint...those boys did not clean up my kitchen.  I don't mind you cooking, but you better clean up after yourself.  It's funny, I remember my mom saying the same thing to us growing up.

I pointed out several times what needed to be washed by hand & what needed to be rinsed and loaded into the dishwasher.  The trash from cooking needed to go into the garbage can & that garbage taken outside; counter tops needed to be washed off; and clean dishes they cooked with should have been put away.  Did any of this happen?  No it did not, and that leads to a very frustrated, very unhappy mommy.  I don't mind you using my kitchen, but you better leave it like you found it...and for some reason no one ever does.   So, I'm thinking about posting what I expect if you use my kitchen.

Momma's Rules for the Kitchen

1.  Yes, your momma lives here, but she does not like cleaning up your mess when you cook,
      CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF
2.  If you are unsure about what you are doing, ask questions first before you do anything.
3.  Have a wonderful time cooking.  Any other questions can be answered by reading rule #1.

Since football is over for the year, I think the big boys are going to plan a fun night that includes cooking in my kitchen & hanging outside around our fire pit.  I guess I better get the rules posted by Wednesday.  I'll choose to look the other way as they make a mess in my kitchen & I'll help them clean up after it's over...maybe.  ;)

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

Rainy Days and Sunshine

It really feels like fall outside today, and I really like the feel of fall.  Cool days with no humidity; God revealing His joy through the leaves changing on the trees; the smell of football in the air; pulling out all my fall clothes that I haven't seen since last year; yes, fall is a beautiful season.

It's been a little drizzly; a little chilly; it's getting dark early; and my fam. has asked for soup for dinner!   It may be rainy outside but in my soup bowl tonight there will be sunshine.

While at lunch today we all discussed which soup they would like for me to make.  One thing I hoped would that it wouldn't be anything that would take hours to cook.  Harry, El Jefe, the picky one, named the soup ~ Santa Fe Chicken Stew & and it was a resounding YES from the other three!  (this is different from the Santa Fe soup that is in the Food for Thought cookbook by the Birmingham Jr. League.  Also a very wonderful soup.)

This soup is so easy I think Henry could make it by himself.  Even if you can't cook, I promise you can cook this.  Like so many of the recipes I have, it was given to me.  A friend of my sister-in-law, Sandy, printed a cookbook over 10 years ago, and Sandy made it while we were visiting on night & everyone raved about it.  I of course tweaked it a little & you know I don't measure anything so I'll be giving you guestimations on the recipe site. Know I've given you the minimum, but I never use the minimum.  ;)  For my crew I actually doubled the recipe.

This is a really pretty soup & is so yummy!  So the next time your family wants sunshine in a bowl, you should serve them this with a smile to match.

y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley

Baby it's cold outside

At the beginning of fall 2010, Hopson and I were talking about the Farmer's Almanac & how they were predicting our winter weather to be mild this year.  We always playfully argue about how much snow we will/won't get.  I think the almanac was a little off.  We have had some mild days, but we've also had a lot of very cold days.  We're in Alabama.  We don't do cold very well.  If there is a hint of the 'S' word, there is no school, bread, or milk.

After a long hot summer I'm always ready for the weather to cool down.  When it's cold outside I love to eat soup.  I don't know what it is about it, but it just makes me happy.  In high school, my friend, Dennis' family owned a restaurant called Incahoots.  Mr. Deason made the best beer cheese soup I've ever eaten.  I asked him for the recipe one time, and he told me that it started out with some chicken lips.  Needless to say he didn't give me the recipe.

Last year I was craving beer cheese soup & now with the miracle of the internet I found a recipe that is pretty close!  Oh happiness is mine.  I'm thinking I may make some this weekend.  YUM!  The recipe makes a lot, so if your family is like mine & doesn't really care for soup :( then you may need to reduce it.
We still have a few more months of winter & then as usual we will skip spring and go directly to summer.  But, right now, I'm going to enjoy the cold weather, my roaring fires & a bowl full of yummy creamy soup.

Y'all be blessed beyond measure,
~ashley