my mom’s pasta salad 

May 13, 2015 6 Comments

so apparently it’s spring,  although here in Denver you wouldn’t have known it this past mothers’ day. 

  

Seriously.   It was pretty awesome! 

  

Because I got to make a snow lady! 

Today I’m sharing what is pretty much a basic pasta salad.  My mom made this growing up all the time.  Now I do! We pretty much always have a bowl of this in the fridge from spring to summer. 

  

mom’s pasta salad 

1 box of small macaroni ( shells, elbows, etc) 

2 celery stalks, chopped 

2 carrots, peeled and chopped 

1/2 red onion, chopped 

Hellman’s mayonnaise ( anywhere from 1/2 cup-1cup) 

***Powdered garlic ( 1/2tsp minimum, more if you really like garlic) 

Sea salt and pepper. 

Cook pasta in salted water, just until tender.   Drain ( don’t rinse). While hot sprinkle  with salt, pepper and garlic . Let cool . 

Mix all ingredients together. 

  

And that’s it! Season woth salt and pepper!

When my daughter’s friends come over they eat this like candy. 

My niece  once stole the bowl off the counter and I had to chase her! 

she and my daughter actually sat in my oversized tub ( empty tub ) with the bowl and two spoons. 

I couldn’t make this up if I tried! 

*** I once made an incredibly over garlic dip…  It was insane.   Ever since then Scott claims I tried to kill him with garlic…  So I tend to use less garlic than most.  Season to your own family’s tastes!

I have a few other pasta salad recipes, but this one here…. It’s the family favorite! 

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basic beef stock 

April 30, 2015 1 Comment

hiya, friends!  How’s your Thursday going? 

Sooooo… Remember earlier this year when I told y’all about my jawbone up24

Yeahhhhh.  It’s disappeared. Like off the face of the Earth. 

And I’m obsessed. Completely obsessed with finding it. 

I know the day and the time that I lost it.  And since it was the day of the NCAA men’s’ hockey semi-final, I even know what I was wearing ( YAY PC!)

But I cannot find it. And it’s frustrating.  

Ugh. 

Anyhooooooooo….

After a very long conversation with my eldest son last night about the benefits of Bone broth , I’ve decided to share my basic beef broth recipe. 

It’s quite similar to my Chicken stock recipe, but there are a few more steps. 

Start by getting some beef bones from your butcher.  I usually ask for them and the cut them for me.  I get a mixture of marrow and knuckle.  And they are really  inexpensive! 

***( I usually have him cut my an inch thick marrow to give to my pup as well) 

basic beef broth 

2-3 pounds of assorted beef bones from your butcher 

( optional.. Tomato paste) 

1 large onion

1 large carrot

A few celery stalks 

Tomato 

Garlic cloves 

Handful of fresh parsley,,,  stems and leaves 

Bay leaf 

Healthy splash of Apple cider vinegar 

Preheat oven to 375

Place bones, a carrot,onion and celery on a baking sheet , toss with salt and pepper and of you desire, tomato paste 

  

Roast for an hour or two until the bones get some color..  Color equals flavor! 

Remove from oven and let cool completely. 

Add everything from the pan including drippings and anything you can scrape to a large Dutch oven 

Add a healthy splash of apple cider vinegar ( it helps extract the minerals from the bones) 

  

Add bay leaf, fat handful of parsley Chopped tomato, garlic cloves ( no need to peel) celery stalks and ice cold water to the top of the pan 

Bring to boil over medium heat, skim any foam and Reduce to simmer. 

And wait.  Like a long time .  I usually start mine early in the morning and let it cook allllll day long. 

At the end of the day, remove from heat, let cool and refrigerate overnight. 

In the morning, this will look pretty gross.  Don’t be discouraged.  It’s all part of the process 

 

All of the fat will have floated to the top and congealed. Gross. 

Using a slotted spoon, remove as much fat as possible ( a little bit is ok…. You will be straining it a second time.  Don’t stress) 

 

 Return to heat and once again…  Cook over low heat all day. 

Pour through strainer, into a bowl, this time discarding all bones and veggies 

Cool completely. 

 

  Finish by straining through a fine mesh strainer ( I strain it into a large Pyrex measuring cup because the pourer- thing makes life easy ) 

Pour into jars and enjoy ! ( it will also freeze beautifully for up to 6 months) 

  

It may seem like an awful lot of work, but the flavor that you develop is insanely good! Like great!   And these two jars are half of what I made.   I froze the other half. 

Let me know if you make this! 

Have you ever lost something and drove  yourself crazy trying to find it? 


**** bone marrow and dogs.   I’ve done a lot of research,  you can give a dog a fresh marrow bone, and trust me, he/ she will love you.   But the bone HAS to be raw.   Any sort of cooked bone dries out and can cause slivers and shards and hurt your pup. 

Some dogs may have GI issues if you have a bone woth a lot of marrow (  from what I’ve read) 

My pup seems to do ok with it. 

  

 My favorite little old lady 💞

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home-made chicken stock 

April 26, 2015 10 Comments

good morning, friends!

It’s a rainy Sunday morning here in Denver, and I’m starting my day by sipping on  a giant mug of chicken broth.

Its a perfect combo 🙂

Last week I was chatting with y’all about BROTH BOWLS and the health benefits of bone broth. (Stock)

Making stock is really quite easy.. And inexpensive ( bonus!)

A few months back, I started saving all of my veggie scraps ( onion tops and skins, carrot tops and shaving, parsley stems, pea pods, potato skins, celery leaves and ends… Basically anything except for peppers or cauliflower)

I save them in a Tupperware dish and when it’s full, I make broth

For veggie broth, simply add all of your scraps to a pot, fill with cold water, a few pepper corns, sea salt  and a bay leaf.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about an hour.  Once liquid is cool enough, drain through a colander ( into a bowl ) and voila! Free veggie broth!

Chicken stock is quite similar, but there are a few more steps.

Start with a ROAST CHICKEN.  Pull off and discard any excess skin.  Remove as much of the meat as possible and reserve for another dish.  Add bones to a large stockpot and add vegetable scraps

( if you don’t have scraps, use one onion, chopped ( don’t bother peeling) a carrot or two, a few ribs of celery )

Add ice cold water … This is very important,  you need the cold water to properly extract the minerals from the bones

add either some white wine, lemon juice or vinegar. ( healthy splash ) it also helps extract the minerals

Add a bay leaf or two, some peppercorns, sea salt and place pot on  medium high heat and slowly bring to a boil. If any foam should arise, skim off and discard .

Once pot reaches a boil, reduce heat to low and allow stock to simmer for 2-3 hours.

When stock is cool enough, drain first through a colondar ( into a bowl…. Once I forgot the bowl and poured the soup right down the drain. )

Pure.

Genius.

Not.

Once stock reaches room temp, refrigerate until fully chilled.  The fat should float to the top.

Strain again, this time through a fine mesh strainer to remove excess fat.

Test for salt and pepper and voila! Enjoy as is or use in your favorite recipe!

Click for more soup recipes

Basic beef stock 

 

Creamy roasted tomato and garlic soup

Crock pot potato cheese soup

Chilled cucumber soup 

Autumn mushroom soup with cognac

Kale soup

Creamy curried butternut soup 

Veggie chili

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