Sunday, November 6, 2011

days five and six

day five.

I am thankful for fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables that have been put on the earth for us to enjoy.  
I think fall is my favorite time of year for produce--there are still some of the yummy summer vegetables that are winding down (tomatoes), but fall itself offers up such a colorful variety.

This weekend alone we enjoyed:
-apples
-pears
-carrots
-collard greens
-garden tomatoes
-acorn squash
-pumpkin
-arugula

I am so thankful that my kids love them just as much as I do, and are always excited to try new things. 

I am thankful for the farmers market and the local pumpkin patch that provided us with yummy pumpkins and squash. 

I'm thankful for stores that carry such a variety of things to eat, and make it easy for us to enjoy them.
.
day six.
I am thankful for soup. 
Nothing beats a hot bowl of soup on a cold dark evening.
I'm thankful for the weekend snow (although it was a bit weak....) that made eating soup that much more fun. 
I'm thankful for soupy leftovers the next day.
I'm thankful for warm toasted bread that dips so nicely into my bowl. 
.

Chicken and White Bean Soup

Saute until tender in a bit of olive oil:
1 small onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 celery stalks, diced small
3 carrots, sliced
1-2 cups roughly chopped collard greens
add S&P to taste

Add about 6 cups chicken broth
2 chicken breasts* ( I even add mine frozen sometimes--the chicken will fall apart after it cooks:)
1 can butter beans (any white bean will do, my kids just looooove butter beans)
1TBS Italian seasoning blend
juice of 1 lemon

Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer on medium low for a few hours.

*I buy hormone and antibiotic free chicken and meat, and because it is a bit pricier, I like to stretch it out as far as possible. Most times when I make soup, I will add 1 chicken breast and double the beans. This time I was wanting a meat-y-er soup, so I did two.

Top with parmesan cheese and enjoy!


What were YOU thankful for this weekend?

6 comments:

Meg said...

So unless you're buying local chickens, then here's a little info on chicken packaging that I think you'll love knowing! Aaron was the frozen chicken buyer for Sam's Club/Walmart, and after touring a few chicken plants he came home and insisted that we only buy frozen chicken instead of fresh. "Why?" I asked.
"Because frozen chicken is fresher than fresh." was his reply.
"Huh?" I said next.
His explanation was surprising! Apparently, fresh chicken is packaged, then FROZEN, then put on refridgerator trucks to be transported to your supermarket, where we buy it and eat it. That's right, FRESH chicken has been frozen! It just thaws on the trucks before it gets to us. Then we take it home, and if we aren't going to use it, what do we do? Well we throw it in the freezer, of course.
So then I said to Aaron, "hey. wait! But you're not supposed to freeze chicken twice"
He replied, "hello! biggest oversight in american cuisine! It's a miracle more people don't get sick. Just buy it frozen from the start. Then, at least, it stays frozen until you're ready to use it."

Interesting, right? And also kind of totally super gross. So buy local chicken, frozen chicken, or don't freeze fresh chicken!
Giving chickens antibiotics isn't the worst thing. They have salmonella in thier feces, so if they step in their poop (which they do), and then on their food (which they do)...well you get the idea. They aren't getting injected with antibiotics, a lot of chick feed that you give them during the first 4-6 weeks of their life is medicated to keep the chicks alive. It's really common for them to get coccidosis. Hormones freak me out, but antibiotics isn't as freaky as it sounds.

Am I still talking about chickens? Your soup looks yummy. I love anything with beans!

I still have cauliflower alive in my garden. Yeah! in November! Hooray for fall vegetables! We've had several frosts and it's totally bangin' still. Like, it actually looks BETTER after the chilly weather set in. I am sooo planting broccoli next fall.

I heart food.

SHARM said...

I am thankful for the family time...

Unknown said...

I am LOVING your 'thankful' posts. They always bring a little happiness to my day. Thank you.

ps. I love soup.

Anonymous said...

hmmm....I also love this time of the year. I loved reading your thankful listings. There is so much to be thankful for, and some are as simple as you said, of being thankful for "the stores that carry such a variety of things to eat and make it easy for us to enjoy them". :)

Ashley said...

We are trying out the chicken and white bean soup recipe tonight :) I I just went to the local market and purchased everything I would need to make it (plus a few extras) and Im super excited.

Thanks for sharing everything that you do on your blog...especially the being thankful portions. Keeping a reminder for the little things to be thankful for is lowering my stress levels and bring me back to basics.

Thank you :)

Kimmie said...

We are a soup loving family as well!!! Soup is definitely a staple at our home. I love throwing things in a pot and making something delicious and nourishing for my family. I also love making our meat "Stretch" and usually only add 1 or 2 chicken breasts to any of my recipes.

BTW...I have an old meat grinder and I will take my chicken breasts and grind them up and use them instead of ground beef in our some of our recipes. (this post might interest you: http://pinkcookieswithsprinkles.blogspot.com/2010/01/beans-bring-sunshine.html)

Your chicken and bean soup reminds me a little of my vegetarian minestrone soup recipe. LOVE soups with beans in them.

I am thankful for an abundance of garden veggies. I am in the middle of taking our abundance of BEETS and CABBAGE and making Bortscht soup for the first time. I am swimming in apples and carrots and have been making apple, carrot and pecan muffins.

I feel SO abundantly blessed with SO many good things to eat! It makes me sad to think that there are people starving in the world and yet there are so many people that WASTE so much food. It is a hobby of mine to creatively use whatever food we have to make sure that nothing goes to waste.

I am thankful for your blog that is truly a RAY of sunshine in my life!! Thanks for inspiring us!