sunday soup

Well, all (almost all) the stores are closed here on Sunday, at least the ones within a reasonable distance of our house, so today I made some dinner with what we had in the kitchen and it turned out nicely. 

Some tomato-ey soup...

I started with two cups of cream and cooked it until it was frothy and then added a can of (maybe stewed?) tomatoes some basil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and macaroni noodles..... cooked it until the noodles were soft, it was yummmmmy! 

chicken noodle soup

noodles

2 eggs 

cup of flour (actually quite a bit more) 

3 tbsp milk

dash of salt

mix together and roll out, cut into thin strips and lay out on a towel... (you'll probably need a nit of flour to get the mixture thick enough to even cut. 

leave out to dry on a towel for at least an hour

put some water in a big pot (not too much, only enough to cover the chicken that will be in there soon), with some chopped onions, carrots and celery and some chicken stock powder and boil for a few minutes until the veggies are soft, reduce heat and add a few chicken breasts, let it simmer on low/medium heat for maybe 20 minutes.... until it's done! 

chop the chicken and save the broth for later! 

i used a 4-5  cups of cream and cooked it until it got frothy and then added 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup ( i made a big pot for alot of people, when i made it just for the family i only used 2 cups of cream and 1 can of mushroom soup!) then i added most of the broth and the noodles and turned the temp up kind of high so the noodles would cook and then near the end i added the chicken and WAHLAAAAH! oh yes, and i added garlic powder, salt, pepper and some more chicken stock powder! 

pita chips

chop up your favorite grocery store soft pita and dip both sides into a mixture of

olive oil

basil (oregano would be good too)

garlic powder 

black pepper

spread out on a cookie sheet, sprinkle with salt and bake at high temp and then flip until they're crispy. 

pumpkin roll

This is by far my mom's most famous and amazing recipe.... It's basically her signature.  I have vivid memories of Sarah Boyle (really good family friend) cutting off huge pieces, like 2 inches wide, when it's usually about 1/2" 

Preheat oven to 350*

3 eggs 

1 cup of sugar

1 2/3 cup pumpkin or 1 small can

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup flour

1. mix together and spread onto a cookie sheet with sides (that is lined with wax paper)

2. bake 20-22 minutes or until cake springs up when touched. 

3. Cool briefly and then flip onto a "turkish" dish towel, very carefully peel off wax paper then roll up like a jelly roll starting at the narrow side (with the dishtowel). It can sit for one hour or several hours..... (while you make others!)

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 cup powder sugar

2 tsp butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla 

Mix together! 

Unroll pumpkin rolls, frost and re roll (this time without the towel :)) Wrap in Saran wrap and refrigerate. 

carrot cake

4 eggs

1-1/4 cups vegetable oil

2 cups white sugar

2 tsp Vanilla extract

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

3 cups grated carrots

1. Preheat oven to 350* or 175 C (Or decide between 170 and 180 if your dutch oven doesn't allow anything but even 10's)  Grease & Powder 9x13" pan.

2. Beat eggs, oil, sugar & vanilla in a large bowl. Mix in flour, soda, powder, salt & cinnamon. Stir in carrots, then pour into the pan. 

3. Bake 40-50 min.

Icing:

1/2 cup softened butter

8 oz cream cheese

4 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat all of these ingredients together, frost cake once cooled! 

broccoli cheese soup

Connor was really missing panera's soup, so we found this recipe......

1 Onion

Butter

flour

4 cups half and half or cream

chicken stock

3-4 heads fresh broccoli

1 shredded carrot

nutmeg

16 oz sharp cheddar cheese, (or dinky individual slices of cheddar that look like american cheese, that's all we can find here in Holland, so far) 

1. Saute chopped Onion in butter. 

2. In another pan (to save dishes just start with the big pot, saute onions in it and then put them aside in a bowl) Melt 1/2 cup of butter, cooking on medium heat, and then add 1/2 cup flour cook, stirring constantly for about four minutes. Add half and half and  continue to keep it moving with a whisk after a few minutes add around 2 tbsp of chicken stock (we used 'chicken flavored base' it's a big jar of yellow powder, it's the best! my family even mailed it to me from the States!) Simmer for 20 minutes (I only did ten before I added the veggies yesterday and it worked fine), stirring alot! (Or if you're cooking with a kid, you have them stir constantly. ;) 

3. Chop broccoli (Connor preferred tiny little pieces, so it'd be exactly like panera). 

Shred Carrots. Add both and the already sauted onions and after adding them let pot simmer for 20-ish minutes. Add Some salt (maybe a tsp?), pepper (pinch), and 1/2 tsp Nutmeg and cheese, stir over low heat until the cheese is all melted.

To be like panera, serve with a nice piece of baguette! 

sometimes eric needs a nap

right after dinner! 

gigi eating..... priceless

cilantro & lime rice

(connor couldn't wait until we were done praying to dig in! )

This is chipotle style rice! YUM! We had our first 'chipotle' dinner in amsterdam tonight.... sort of a practice run, we'll be sure to have the nashes over for round two.... 

-Sorry I don't have the perfect measurements.... butter here is sold in big tabs so i'm not sure how much i used, but I'd say about a 1 inch cube.

- small handful of chopped fresh cilantro

- 1- 1/3 cups basmati rice

- 2 cups water

- tsp salt

- juice of two limes

melt butter in pot/pan, add rice and cook a minute or two. 

add lime juice, then water and salt and bring to a boil.

reduce heat and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed (about 15-20 min).

stir in chopped cilantro and serve warm!!!