Soup season is upon us!!!

Ok, so I love fall.  The changing leaves, the crisp air, the bounty of sweet root vegetables, the need for sweatshirts (but still being able to wear flipflops)….Be still my heart!

When I woke up this morning, it was chilly outside, so I broke one of the many soup recipes I will be bestowing upon you this fall: Corn and Bacon Chowder. YUM.

2 bacon slices (I used 4 because, well, I love bacon)

1 cup total chopped onion, celery, and bell pepper (any color will work)

2 packages (16oz) frozen sweet white/gold corn, divided

2 cups milk, divided

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 cup shredded sharp cheese

Cook bacon in a Dutch oven over medium heat until crisp.  Remove bacon from pan; crumble and set aside. 

Add celery mixture and 1 package corn to drippings in pan; saute 5 minutes or until vegetables are soft.

Meanwhile, place remaining 1 package of corn and 1 cup of milk into food processer and process until smooth.  Add pureed mixture to vegetables in pan; stir in remaining 1 cup milk, salt, pepper, and cheese.  Cook over meduim heat (do not boil), stirring constantly, until cheese melts.  Ladel chowder into bowls.  Top each serving with crumbled bacon and sprinkle with a little more black pepper.

Super easy and really quick.  It only took me about 20 minutes to get this all done.

Fantastic Farmers Market Friday (lots of pics)

I love going to my local Friday night farmers market.  I love my farmer friends.  I love seeing cows and chickens up close.  I love knowing WHO grew my food and WHERE it came from.

My mom and I were talking today on the way and we realized we have been going to this market for 6 years.  6 years!!!  Some of these people have known my daughter since I was carrying her in a sling.   I have been making the best effort my schedule, budget, and sanity will allow to feed my daughter (and myself) the freshest, healthiest foods possible for 6 years.  Somehow it just doesn’t seem so long.

Here’s just a glimpse into what the market looks like on the outside:

OH.EMM.GEE.

There were baby cows today.  Yes, technically I know they are CALVES.  But there are BABY COWS. *squee*

Perhaps next time I go, I’ll take some pics of me WITH my farmer friends.  When I feel a little more human and less like someone who needs hip replacement surgery.

Happy Friday everyone!

Happy Race Day!

(Edited to add:  I started this post on race day.  Then I *think* I may have drank my beer too fast with my neighbors and finally got time to finish it today.  SUNDAY was race day. Apologies for my tardiness and lack of ability to resist PBR and a good game of cornhole.)

Alright, I’m not sure how many of you know this, but I live in the “racing capitol of the world”.   Today is race day.  The 4 trillion-th running of the Indianapolis 500, or something.  Anyway, I am stuck at my house today, which suits me just fine considering we still don’t know what’s wrong with my hip (so I can’t walk very far without wishing for death) and it’s my day off and I don’t really feel like leaving the house on my day off anyway.   I am  actually making money just sitting on my porch blogging-by parking cars in my front yard. Prime real estate, apparently.

This morning’s cooking adventure, crustless quiche.

This recipe is INCREDIBLY versatile, so you can substitute just about anything.  I have used chicken, sausage, and bacon as meat fillers and a wide array of roasted assorted veggies as well.

This time I used roasted asparagus, onions, and zucchini and bacon as filler:

So…

2 cups assorted veggie/meat filler

4 eggs

2 cups half and half

2 cups cheese

salt and peper to taste

Combine milk, eggs, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and whisk together until all yolks are broken.  Add filler ingredients and cheese and stir well.  Turn into 1 quart baking dish (I use stoneware for mine).  Bake in oven at 425 for 15 minutes, then turn oven down to 350 and bake until top is golden brown (or until you can remove a knife from the center without residue).  Remove and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

(Birthday) Parties At School

I have a serious issue.

My daughter is in kindergarten this year.  At the beginning of the year, her teacher made is very clear that the children would NOT be able to bring in tons of sweets for birthdays, as a way of being fair to children who have summer/weekend/break birthdays.  “Awesome”, I thought.  Just to be safe though, on my daughter’s medical paperwork I wrote that she had a severe sensitivity to sugar and artificial dyes and her doctor recommended that she not consume them. I thought that was a reasonable way to handle the issue.

Turns out, this policy about treats is anything but true.  They have had candy, cheetos, cupcakes, and cookies for EVERY birthday possible AND for “holidays” like Halloween, Valentines Day, Christmas… And we still have another large candy consuming holiday coming up (Easter).

I must say, I am pissed.

Every time they have a “party”, she is returned to me in such a state that it horrifies me.  I’m not kidding.  I was describing her behavior after school on Halloween to my boss and he actually laughed at the terrified look on my face.

Apart from NOT enjoying having to control a child on a severe sugar high, I think this kind of food is POISON to her growing body/brain!!! I DO NOT WANT HER CONSUMING THIS CRAP!

So, internet, what to do?  I don’t want to freak out on her teacher, but I just don’t find this practice acceptable.  I purposely pack her lunch every single day (instead of taking part in the free and reduced lunch program that is intended for poor parents like me) and it seems that every time I turn my back she is being fed stuff that completely undermines my diligent efforts to make sure she eats a healthy diet every meal of her life.  I mean, if I wanted her to eat crap, I’d let her eat school lunch! Geez!

I also believe that she is going to end up facing a lot of adversity about her family’s way of eating and not always being included in the group of kids that brings in tons of cookies and cupcakes and candy for birthdays and holidays; I want her to start getting used to it young.  Being a kid is hard sometimes, and I just want her to know that her choices of food at home (and essentially at school) are because they benefit her.  I want her to be proud that her family cares about her health enough to make sure she isn’t being poisoned by processed food.

Ok, that’s my vent.  Have any of you had to deal with this? How did you do it in a way that didn’t offend your child’s teacher/school administration?

Farmers Market Fabulousness! (Real Food Wednesday)

Yay! This is my first Real Food Wednesday post since my blog went live (and I wrote enough to make it worth visiting)!!

Here’s the link back to Cheeseslave’s Real Food Wednesday page http://ow.ly/1dDiy

I thought that since I write about all the wonderful food that I cook with, it would only be fair to share with you WHERE I get all this goodness from, right?

In the winter, I hit up two farmers markets: Traders Point Farmers Market (http://www.traderspointcreamery.com/) and the Indy Winter Market (http://indywinterfarmersmarket.blogspot.com/). 

Both of these markets are just awesome.  I usually go to both, especially since some of my farmer friends alternate weeks so that they can participate in both.

I must say, every time I go I always come home feeling so much better about my food situation and our city’s food situation in general.  To be surrounded by people who CARE about their food choices and rights, people that want to support people who are making the effort to make sure we eat well is just so uplifting.  It gives me hope. 

I do need to make more of an effort to reach out to some of the organizers so that I can start making friends (like REAL friends) with people who share my real food visions.  There are so many great people that I feel I could really connect with, I’m just not awake yet.  Note to self: shower and try harder to be a sociable human being.

An explanation for my absence…

I would like to apologize to my 10 visitors for my lack of posting. 

I am currently in the process of closing a HOUSE (with a kitchen that isn’t the size of a hallway) that needs alot of loving attention before my daughter and I can move into it. 

Look at my new kitchen!!!!!

Isn’t it glorious?!

I absolutely cannot wait to get in there and start cooking! 

Also, I have just downloaded the WordPress app for my Blackberry, so maybe THAT will help me become a better blogger.

Hi! I’m so glad you’re here!

Welcome to my blog!  It’s not much, but it’s what I’ve got time for right now!

My mission with this blog is stated in my profile, but I’ll state it here as well:

I want to be another voice speaking up in support of real food, local food, raw milk, Weston Price, and cooking from scratch.  I love cooking and I want to share that passion with other people who have the same ideals about food as I do.  I plan to share recipes, book reviews, and in general day-to-day stuff about my exodus from processed food into the promised land of whole, local, organic, real food.  Expect a ton of hilarious pics, too! 🙂

Welcome!  Glad you’re here!  Enjoy!!!!