Gluten-Free Potato Soup for the Soul

*Note: I posted this here and here. So, this is really cheesy,but it's soup week at The Gluten Free Homemaker! So sue me - I'm proud of my soup!

My apologies if you're reading this for the second, or perhaps the third time. :)

It's a well known fact that I'm a gourmet wanna-be, but oh so bad, and not in a good way. I toil - sometimes, I slave - once in a while, I plan my meals - weekly, I stick to the chart - rarely.

Being the good, money-saving wife that I am, I searched high and low for something, anything to cook with this humongous bag of potatoes that had been purchased in bulk. What was I thinking? That I had a family of fifteen or something? Anyway, after researching and pondering and thinking about the weather (a snowy day in Atlanta - so much for thoughts of spring!), I decided to make a big pot of potato soup.

Normally when I try something new it's not well received.

Who knew that carbs, cream, and butter would be the miracle drug my family needed? Go figure.

Someone gave me this simple recipe yesterday and it provided that additional shot of warmth that we needed. I whipped up a fruit salad and that's all it took to complete this easy meal.

Homemade Potato Soup

{{I'll try to be accurate with the ingredients. Don't laugh - I'm an eye-baller}}

about 8 or so (maybe more) small russet potatoes

one large onion - diced

4 carrots - diced

2 stalks of celery - diced

olive oil

chicken broth (I used a carton - 32 oz.)

salt and pepper

butter

cream (I used fat free half & half) - about 3/4 cup

In a large stock pot, bring the cubed potatoes to a boil - oh, add water. :)

Reduce heat and simmer until soft.

While that's cooking, saute the onion, celery, and carrots in your olive oil

(in another pan - duh).

Hmm... a little minced garlic might be good at this point, too.

Be sure to salt & pepper the veggies pretty well.

Saute until soft.

Once the potatoes are done, pour off about half of the water.

Add in the chicken broth and the veggies to the potatoes.

Add more pepper and salt to taste.

In a separate saucepan over low heat, warm the fat free half & half and to that,

add about 3 lbs. tbs. of butter to melt.

Once the creamer is warm, add it into the soup mixture. At this point, I took my handy dandy potato masher and mashed some of the potatoes right there in the pot. This way, the soup became more starchy and thick. At least that's what I like to tell myself.

You can garnish with crumbled bacon. I didn't because I hate frying bacon - makes me feel greasy. The family complained, but they got over it and STILL thought I was a rock star.

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Here's What We Did

First, I want to say something to Forgetful Girl. Forgetful Girl, I couldn't find a contact link on your blog and, I don't know if it's just me and my computer, but I also couldn't leave a comment, which sucks because I love to leave comments! LOL Like I said, it may be me, but if you've noticed that you've received no comments at all and are stumped, contact me and I'll see if I can help. Just a thought. :)

OK - I hope that the football-watching readers enjoyed the Superbowl last night. We did. Traditionally, we consume way too much junk food. See, here's the thing. If you schedule it for a particular day, like Superbowl Sunday, it's calorie-free, fat-free, and guilt-free. I'm not sure how it works, but it does. Trust me. :)

{This is Jessie balancing a plate of roasted peanuts on

Oreo, the sleeping, practically catatonic cat.}

{This is Jessie trying to look elegant while

feeding Sophie, the begging dog, and irritating

Oreo, the sleeping, practically catatonic cat.}

Oh, the other thing is that you HAVE to eat this on the sofa. Eating at the kitchen table would ruin the ambience and, well, it would just be wrong.

This is what we had and remember, we don't hate people who eat guilt-free junk food once a year. We had barbecued chicken wings (protein), margarita pizza (fruits & veggies), Jessie had her gluten-free bbq chicken pizza which she copies from the California Pizza Kitchen recipe, (I had a salad because even though I SAY it's guilt-free, I was born with guilt), roasted peanuts (more protein), strawberries dipped in chocolate (fruit and chocolate, which defies all catagories), and finally milkshakes (calcium). I know. It's enough to send anyone to the hospital. But if you do it in moderation, you come out of it quite refreshed!

Moving along...

Jes has done great. The headache has gone somewhere else and not returned. Yay for that!

As for the California Pizza Kitchen recipe... Here's what we do. Jes uses her favorite gluten-free pizza crust and tops it with GF BBQ sauce (we use Kraft), mozzarella and smoked gouda cheese, sliced red onions and shredded, cooked chicken. That's it. Sounds a little odd, but take my word, you'll love it.

Have a great week! :)

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Creamy Gluten-Free Broccoli Soup

Jessie continues to do well. She didn't miss a beat after returning from Virginia and was practically non-stop this past weekend. I know that statistically adolescents have a higher recovery rate from CFS so we're holding our breath and hoping that her condition continues to improve.

Her daily does of Lyrica will be reduced by half beginning tomorrow. I'll be sure to keep everyone posted as we progress.

On to a yummy topic!

I used this Broccoli Soup recipe from Foodnetwork.com once before and it was a success. We'll be having it again tonight. It's easy and delicious. Of course, I substitute the all purpose flour with gluten-free and use gluten-free chicken broth. My tweaks also include changing the cream to fat-free half & half, adding an extra carrot, and this time I'm going to sneak a handful of spinach into the mixture. Hey, it's already green and whatever it takes to get the healthy foods in, right? I also don't add the croutons. We just add a little shredded cheese.

Now, I just wish I had one of those immersion blenders. It's on my wish list. As it stands, I gradually puree the soup in my blender, saving a small portion (maybe 1/5) chunky. If you use the blender, be sure to only fill the blender halfway because the heat will cause pressure and, well, you would be in for a mell-of-a-hess, if you know what I mean. POW!

*Image from foodnetwork.com

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Traveling & Orange Cakes

We traveled from last Thursday through Tuesday of this week, and as always, it took me two days to recover from the trip. Jessie, oddly enough, is doing just fine. She's not sleeping very well. But as most of you sufferers know, it's par for the course. Tonight, if I have to literally hold her down and pry her mouth open, I'm going to make her take some melatonin to get the ball rolling.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to post a recipe for a cake that Jes made late this afternoon. I've only tasted it but I'm fairly certain that it's going to ruin any semblance of a diet we had going here.

If you haven't been keeping up with the blog from the beginning, you may not be aware that Jes is a natural baker. I now believe that baking is a God-given talent that some people are just born with. Me - not so much. I'm sure that the talent for cooking skipped a generation and landed on her.

ANYWAY, she adapted a recipe for an orange pound cake. Actually, I don't think it's a pound cake. It's lighter than a pound cake, but not as light as angel food. (told you I'm not a baker). She adapted it to be gluten-free, which isn't easy. Truly, it's utterly delicious. First, I'll have to pin her down and get her to pencil her substitutions into the Williams-Sonoma cookbook, THEN I'll happily pass it along to our gluten-free friends.

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Chicken Satay Stir Fry

I adapted this from a Rachel Ray recipe on Food Network. It will be a new staple for us because it was dee-lish! Try it out

This is not copied exactly from Foodnetwork.com. I changed up a few things.

What's below is my adaptation. Go to the link for the actual recipe. You could really change up the vegetables to suit your taste, we did. The main thing is the satay sauce.

Chicken Satay Stir-Fry with Orange Scented Jasmine Rice

Rice:

3 3/4 c. water

2 oranges, zested

2 cups jasmine rice, rinsed

Stir Fry:

2 tbs. canola oil

1 pkg. (about 1.3 lb.) chicken breast tenders, sliced into bite-sized pieces

3 cloves minced garlic

1 onion, sliced

1 green pepper, sliced

1 bunch fresh broccoli

about 4-5 baby portabello mushrooms, rough chopped

*The original recipe uses onion, peppers, carrots, garlic, snow peas, & scallions.

Satay:

4 rounded tbs. peanut butter

3 tbs. GF soy sauce

3 tbs. honey

1" of ginger root, shredded

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 orange, juiced

*As the sauce warms, it thickens. You will probably want to add a little water to thin.

Garnish:

chopped peanuts

Heat water with orange zest to boiling. Add rice, return to boil, stir. Cover pot and reduce heat to simmer. Cook rice until tender, about 18 minutes. Fluff with fork.

For stir-fry, heat a large skillet to high heat. Add oil, chicken, garlic, and onion. Stir fry for 3 minutes. Add remaining veggies and stir-fry 5 minutes more.

Heat the ingredients for the sauce under low heat in a small saucepan, whisking to combine.

When ready to serve, I added the sauce directly to the stir-fry pan.

Enjoy!

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My Pledge

We won't even call this a New Year's Resolution because those never come true. Or is it that we never keep them? Whatever... this is not that.

I've not blogged here lately which is sad because my Living Chronically connections are probably the most important to me. So, here is my pledge.

(I'll bet you already know what it is.)

I'm going to be a better, more attentive writer.

Actually the reason I haven't written is that Jessie has been doing well - in the health department. Otherwise she's been a pill. But if you wanted to hear about that side of my dear daughter, you'd have to mosey over to my griping blog. Head's up - she's not called Jessie in that blog. Her initials are S.A. and that's all I'm saying about that.

In the spirit of the season, I'm posting our new favorite GLUTEN-FREE candy. It alone can be blamed for the additional 2-3 pounds I've packed on over the past two weeks.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Mounds of Healthy Stuff

1 Bag Dark Chocolate Chips

1 Bag Milk Chocolate Chips (because we can't be too healthy)

1 Bag Dried Cherries

1 Bag Whole Almonds

Toast the almonds then set aside to cool. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, then add the almonds and cherries. Line at least two cookie sheets with waxed paper and mound about one tablespoon of the stuff onto waxed paper. (We used two spoons to make it easier.)

Immediately put the cookie sheets in the refrigerator to cool.

Next, try to control yourself.

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Gluten-Free Broccoli & Potato Soup

In my humble opinion, soup is a win/win choice. Consider the facts.

It's usually cheap, filling, easy to make, serious comfort food, and finally, soup is a one-dish-wonder. I can't tell you how many variations I've come up with over the years.

Last night we had gluten-free broccoli & potato soup. I would guess that it took about an hour to make, start to finish. It was a winner (except for the constant steady stream of "food critique of the day" that my family has yet to put a stop to. See the other blog for my family gripes).

Let's get started:

Gluten-Free Broccoli & Potato Soup

You will need:

3 tbs. butter

1-2 tbs. olive oil

1 onion, diced

3 potatoes, diced

(Add a few diced carrots if you'd like)

chopped broccoli (fresh or frozen)

salt & pepper to taste

3 tbs. gf all-purpose flour (we use bob's red mill)

4 cups of gf chicken or vegetable broth

1/2 cup cream (either light cream or half & half)

Directions:

Combine butter & olive oil in stock pot over medium heat.

Add about 2/3 of the broccoli (keep the rest to add after pureeing if you like a few chunks), and all of the onion, carrot, potatoes, salt and pepper. Saute for, hmm... about 10 minutes. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute, until the flour reaches a blonde color. Add stock and bring to boil.

Simmer uncovered until the vegetables are tender, about 10-15 minutes. Pour in cream. With a blender, puree about half of the soup. Add salt and pepper, to taste and ENJOY!

Of course, you may want to add a little shredded cheddar to top it off. :)

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F-F-F-F-Friendship F-F-F-Friday

That's my scary, it's almost Halloween, title. Creative, don't you think?

I only have a couple of blogs to share today as I've been a little slacker this week. Been working on my other job. How's it working, you say? NOT TOO GOOD. I've been painting a portrait this week and I'm now reminded of exactly WHY I hate to paint portraits. Moving along...

Sick Momma, by Aviva. I love her writing style and sense of humor.

Off the Wheaten Path, by Mrs. McKracken aka Margo Anderson. Mrs. McKracken? Yes, you heard it right. Love the name. Margo also writes about autoimmune disease.

*Brief update*

Happily, Jessie is doing quite well this week. Last weekend's adventure had practically no effect. Could she be pulling out of the woods? Possibly. I think that pulling out of school and dropping that difficult routine may have done the trick for now.

Jessie's doing her schoolwork at home during the day and is able to see friends more often. It's a good thing! Works wonders for that laser-eyed, "Don't look my way or speak to me or I'll scream" attitude. She has been busy for the past two nights and will be babysitting 4 year old twins this afternoon for a couple of hours. Sounds like a regular, spoiled rotten, obnoxious, killing her parents, happy teenager to me.

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IIItttt'ssss Friendship Friday!!

A little lame? Could be, but I'm having trouble coming up with a regular title. So until I do, I'll will continue with the "HEERREE'S Johnny" routine. So sue me...

Moving along, I've found a few new friends this week. I'm going to share the love and wholeheartedly encourage you to do the same. Feels good.

On the ME/CFS front I've found:

Fibro Viv lives in Texas and you can visit her at Invisible Illness CFIDS/FMS.

Catherine Morgan is a writer and nurse with CFS. She's over on Wordpress at Living With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Another Wordpress discovery: Rachel at the Blue Coffee Mug

AND on the Celiac front, I've found:

Wasabimon, a beautifully colorful, fun blog.

Learning How to Cook...Gluten Free

and last, but certainly not least, one of my original faves...

Brian, the fireman, over at Fire and Salt.

Pay all of these good folks a visit. They really are pretty nice. :)

Finally and perhaps most importantly:

Pray for me. Pray hard for me. Nathan, aka Satan himself, is flying in for a weekend visit. Oh, I'm just kidding. I love Nathan to death - good kid. I will, however, be braving Atlanta's wonderful 5:00 rush hour traffic as his flight arrives (hopefully on time) at 6:00. It's sure to be a lively, fun, action-packed weekend. Pray for me. I'm not joking. Teenagers in love, it's an unnerving thing for 40-50ish parents.

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Gluten-Free Roasted Red Pepper Soup

I was recently lucky enough to acquire this recipe from my friend, Dennis, who is an exceptional gardener and cook. Now Dennis uses his home grown red peppers as well as his own crushed red pepper for this recipe. However, since I have the keen ability to kill even a Chia Pet, I successfully created the recipe using roasted red peppers from a jar and dried, crushed red pepper. It works just as well. As with many great cooks, please note that his recipe is not exact.

This delicious soup is super healthy, delicious, and perfect for the upcoming season.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

roasted red peppers (I used 3 jars)

basil (to taste)

Vegetable or Chicken Broth (I used GF chicken broth - about 3/4 of a box)

2 - 15 oz. cans of whole tomatoes

5-6 cloves of garlic

3 tsp. balsamic vinegar

1-2 tsp. olive oil

1 large onion - roughly chopped

crushed red pepper

Bake the onion, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, basil, vinegar & olive oil in a roasting pan at 350 for approximately 45 minutes. Blend until smooth. In a dutch oven, combine the roasted vegetable mixture, broth to desired consistancy, and crushed red pepper to taste (I used maybe 1 tsp.) until heated through.

Enjoy!

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