Minetrone Soup with Meatballs

Where does the time go??? 

Thanks for stopping by, over the past several months I have not posted very often on my blog, but that does not mean I have not been cooking, baking, experimenting and trying new recipes. 

Recently I made Minestrone Soup. I was inspired by the book “The Blue Zone Diet” by Dan Buettner which is filled with all kinds of good for you recipes. 

I have never made Minestrone Soup, which was one of my fathers-in-law favorite’ soups, but I gave it a go and now it is one of our favorite soups! And on a cold wintry day it will warm your tummy and your soul.  

Like Gumbo you can add what you have left over from other meals or whatever vegetables you have on hand that need to be used, green beans, corn, any kind of canned beans, tomatoes and small sized pasta. 

As usual I looked in my pantry and fridge to see what I already had on-hand, did a little browsing around the web for a recipe and here is what I came up with:

Kary’s Minestrone Soup inspired by “The Blue Zone Diet” and Meli’s Family Minestrone. Traditional Minestrone Soup has some type of small pasta added in. I didn’t have any small pasta in my pantry, but in my fridge I did have one lone almost done baked potato and six meatballs left over from a meal we had recently so I decided to toss those in once the soup was cooked.  

Oh, still working on the exact measurements but as always working with what I have.  

Ingredients

Olive Oil

1 Sweet Yellow Onion diced

2 Peeled and diced Carrots

2 Stalks of Celery diced

3 Cloves of fresh garlic, diced

1 can each: black beans, pinto beans and kidney beans. Traditionally chickpeas, northern beans or any of this type are used however I used what I had in my pantry

1 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes

1 14-to-15-ounce crushed tomatoes

6 cups of vegetable broth or water. I like the vegi broth because it adds more flavor.

Tiny pasta 

In a large pot over medium heat add a splash of Olive Oil and sauté the onion, carrots & celery for a few minutes until soft. Add the diced garlic, mix together than add the beans, tomatoes, broth, salt & pepper stir and bring to a boil, turn down to a low simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the vegi’s are soft.  

I also added one not fully cooked baked potato, I had this left over from another meal, so I chopped into bite size pieces and added it to the pot while the soup was simmering.  Once the vegetables were cooked, I also added the cooked meatballs to the soup, simmered a little longer to warm them.  

It really was yummy! Cheers! Just Cook Something~ Kary 

 

Pasta Recipes, quick and easy

As we all hunker down, practice physical distancing and try to stay calm, many of you have

Andouille Sausage Spaghetti

stocked up your pantry with pasta. I always keep a variety of dried goods in my pantry, including pasta, because who doesn’t need comfort food, especially now. And pasta makes a quick and easy meals. My parents always keep a stocked pantry, so that habit was passed on to me. Also, I use to travel weekly for my job and when I arrived home I just wanted a simple home cooked meal.

Here are a few of our favorite pasta recipes. Please share yours as well, always room for another pasta recipe!

Mac and Cheese with Bacon and Panko

Spaghetti with Shrimp and Lemon

Rigatoni with Sausage, Spinach and Sun-dried tomatoes This one is really simple. I boil the Rigatoni per the instructions on the package. While the pasta boils, I cook the ground sausage then add to the drained Rigatoni (any pasta will do) next add a jar of sundried tomatoes along with the oil they are packed in and I toss in uncooked spinach, this is a perfect pasta dish any time of the year. Simple and yummy! You can make this with ground beef, turkey, sausage, chicken or salmon. Or for a vegi version omit the protein. You can toss in broccoli, mushrooms, asparagus or any vegi’ s you like. Use your imagination!

Tortellini, Shrimp Salad; Mardi Gras Style

Spaghetti with Andouille Sausage

Grilled Salmon with Basil and Pasta

Let me know what you are cooking up. Just cook something and stay safe. Cheers!

Brussel Sprouts with Bacon

Brussel Sprouts with Apples and Bacon

During the winter holidays Brussel Sprouts shows up at many meals. Here is a quick and easy recipe, bacon makes it really yummy, but sometimes I replace the bacon grease with olive oil and omit the bacon.

20 Brussel Sprouts

½ peeled and diced apple

6 slices of bacon cooked and crumbled

¼ diced sweet yellow onion

1 clove of garlic, diced

1 teaspoon of thyme

Salt and pepper to your taste

Here’s how it done:

1. Cook bacon, remove and let cool before you crumble it

2. Leave about a teaspoon of bacon grease in the pan and sauté the onions until soft, add the diced garlic and sauté’ for about 2 minutes. Remove and set aside

3.To the pan add the Brussel sprouts, diced apple, thyme, salt and pepper, toss and sauté until sprouts are fork tender

4. Add the crumbled bacon, onion and garlic, toss some more and serve, oh so yummy!

Let me know if you had a Brussel Sprouts recipe. Just cook something!

Hugs, Kary

Happy 4th y'all! Let Freedom Ring and thanks to all who came before and who still serve our country so we can celebrate holidays like today. 

This year we will probably be hanging out on the River, eating BBQ with our Best Buds and enjoying the cool mountain air.


Here are some of my favorite recipes and have a Safe and Happy Independence Day!!! 

Enjoy the day and every day, oh and Just Cook Something! Cheers! Kary~

Mac and Cheese

Grilled Poplano Peppers with Cream Cheese and Bacon 

Broccoli chicken salad

Chicken Thighs 

Waldorf Salad on the light side

Molly’s Sesame Lime Chicken

Grilled Shrimp with Tequila Lime Sauce

Grilled Bratwurst

Grilled Pork Kabob

Apricot Appetizer

Ellen's Arizona Beans

Moving to the High Country

Are you a beach person or a mountain person?  

That's the question that people always ask in the Carolina's and many people have a very definite answer. As for me I feel a sense of belonging in most places. I grew up in Southern California and lived at the beach, spent time in the mountains and in the deserts of California and Baja. 

Our Mountain Cottage

“You are only free when you realize you belong to no place – you belong every place – no place at all. The price is high. The reward great”. This quote is mentioned in the book “Braving the Wilderness” by Brene’ Brown. The quote is by Dr. Maya Angelou and Brene’ heard it in an interview with Bill Moyers in 1973 on public television. I just finished reading this for a book club that I was invited to by my Bestie Karin and we both agree it is a must read.

When I started writing this post, I had not finished reading the book “Braving the Wilderness”. Now that I have completed it and joined the “Bookies” book club in a discussion about this book, I started rethinking what I was writing about.

Front walk way

I think feeling comfortable with yourself and where you choose to live are two different things. You might be one of those people who just loves living at the beach, in the mountains or a busy city and you might not ever consider living anywhere else but the place you currently live. However, you might not have found a way to feel free with yourself...yet. 

Maybe you are a person who feels comfortable in many places, you just choose to live in a warm climate because that is what works for you right now. 

I am writing this post today because Doug and I recently purchased a Mountain home, a quaint cottage style home in need of a little TLC.  Finding this little jewel was a journey in itself and a story for another post. As I shared with Doug “the house found us, maybe the house needed us or maybe we needed the house…hmmm maybe both. Stay tuned for that story. 

When we decided to move from Charlotte to the North Carolina Mountains I got “Oh you’re a Mountain Girl”, hmmm yes I love the lush green mountains, the scent of pine and fresh air but I also love the smell of the ocean, the feel of the salty air on my skin, also the quiet dry heat of the desert and the wonder, that many before me braved the hot dry trek across the California deserts to reach the Pacific Ocean.

I don't know about you, but something magical happens to me whenever I get out of the city and close to nature. Whether I am near the ocean, a lake, a river, the desert or the Mountains, I feel at home.

Growing up in Southern California I learned how to scuba dive, surf sort of but mostly knee boarding and body surfing. Camping trips and campfires, lazy days soaking up the sunshine, playing volleyball, long walks and beautiful sunsets were a big part of my life. And of course, exploring the tide pools on school field trips and on my own. I wanted to be Jacques Cousteau growing up, a world travel and explorer!

There were family camping trips, loading up our family camper and traveling the length of California, Oregon and Washington on “PCH” the Pacific Coast Highway and interstate 5. Exploring the Redwoods, Big Sur, Yosemite National Park; which to me are some of the most magical places that I have ever visited.

Then there is the San Diego desert; Ocotillo Wells and Borrego Springs in the Anza-Borrego State Park, where we spent a lot of time on the dunes. Dune buggies, three-wheeler bikes. Yep I am talking way back, before they started making four-wheel all-terrain motorbikes. I am proud to say that I never did roll in one of those three wheeled motorbikes or in a dune buggy. Unfortunately, a lot of people I know did injured themselves; broken collar bones, legs, arms and assorted injuries. 

We also spent holidays, vacations and long weekends in Baja camping, also acting as pit crew for friends during the Baja 500 and the Baja 1000; a off-road Motorsport. And then there is the Mint 400 off-road race in Las Vegas, so many memories with my girlfriends and family. Which is now called the BF Goodrich Tires Mint 400…I miss the days of simple titles for sporting events.

I also spent holidays and weekends when I was growing up in Big Bear, where tobogganing, sledding and snow fights were the main event and always a cup of cocoa on the stove at our cabin to warm us up.

School camps and Young Life Camps in the San Bernardino Mountains and Mountain ranges near San Diego, California. Also spending time in Mammoth Mountain learning how to snow ski. Now that’s a story. My Sissy Deb moved up to Mammoth Mountain after High School to learn how to snow ski and work.

A lot of our friends and those chasing the snow and the surf would head up the Mountain for Ski season. The jobs didn’t pay much, the housing was really expensive but living the dream was all they cared about. As for my Sissy, she never did really learn how to Snow Ski, her and bestie/roomie Desiree had to work several jobs just to pay the rent and feed themselves. They also lived in some very interesting places; the apartment above the Disco where you could hear the bumping beat of music late into the wee hours of the morning. Then there was the apartment with a drape as the door for the bathroom... interesting, but for me and my besties Lu and Candy it was a free place to stay. Lu already knew how to Snow Ski but Candy and I learned in Mammoth, which kind of spoiled us because it is one of the most beautiful Ski resorts I have ever been to. Plenty of powder, wide open Ski runs, which I love and Sunshine on many days, pure Snow Skiing Heaven!

So here we are in the mountains. We are a family of roads warriors, adventures and travelers. We are now about 5 hours from the coast rather than 4, so not so bad of a drive and still within driving range of our family in Charlotte and Georgia. 

It already feels like home! Hubby is still painting doors and touching up, it is a process but all the walls have a fresh coat of paint. The house has beautiful Chinese elm floors in the great room area, we did replace the carpet in the two bedrooms and LV in the bathrooms. Next up; pressure wash the deck, replace siding and the roof. Remove the planters from the front of the house; yes we do love these but they gotta go. 

I LOVE it here and of course home is where the heart is...

And I couldn’t write a post without mentioning food, sooo my first meal that I cooked on the “new to me" Bosch Stove fueled by propane was turkey chili. Easy for me to make, I kept it simple with a really bare pantry. Click on the link Quick and EasyTurkey Chili for the recipe.

Just Cook Something and stay tuned for more recipes and adventures.

Cheers! Kary~

Quick and Easy Turkey Chili

We moved into our Mountain Cottage at the end of March. Spring had just started showing a few colors and the air was still cool. I thought Chili would warm us up and my kitchen cabinets were pretty bare of supplies, actually almost non-existent, because why move all those containers of food.  

The first meal I cooked on our, new to me, Bosch Stove fueled by propane was turkey chili. Easy for me to make and I kept it simple in the mist of unpacking, cleaning and trying to make a place for everything in our 1,000 square foot cottage, a little bit of a challenge, but we are making it work!

I had dry seasonings and herbs on-hand but nothing else so I made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick-up what else I would need. 

Here's a really simple and quick Chili: 

Quick Turkey Chili

•       Ingredients:

•       1/2 medium sweet yellow onion chopped (I find that the sweet yellow onion adds the best flavour and you can always use the whole diced onion, your choice

•       1 Green Bell Pepper seeds removed and diced

•       1 teaspoon olive oil

•       1 pound of ground turkey 

•       2 tablespoon chili powder

•       2 tablespoons of garlic powder

•       1 15 oz of black beans, drain, rinse in colander to remove some of the sodium

•    1 15 oz of red kidney beans, drain, rinse in colander to remove some of the sodium

•       1 29 oz can of tomato puree

  

   Over medium heat in a large Dutch oven I heated olive oil then sautéed the onions and green peppers until they began to soften, added the ground turkey to the pot, chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. I cooked it about 15 minutes on medium heat until the turkey started to brown. There was a little grease which I drained then added the black beans, kidney beans and tomato puree. I will add more spices once the chili is cooked if needed. After the chili boiled, I let it simmer for over an hour. The longer you simmer the chili the better the flavor! On my, new to me, stove top the simmer setting is a little high so I moved the pot to a smaller burner to keep the chili from continuously boiling. It was a cold blustery day so the heat from the burners was welcome!

    

I topped the Chili with shredded white cheddar cheese and served it with saltine

crackers. Oh, so yummy and easy. 

Check back for more recipes from my mountain cottage and posts about mountain living. 

Just Cook Something! Cheers~ Kary

Memory of my Brother, a fan of Moroccan food

---  Original Message ----

From: Vegascruzn

To: Ksquiresnc

Sent: Sun Jul 19 2009 2:28 pm

Subject: Check out Cooks.com – Recipes – Moroccan

Cooks.com - Recipes - Moroccan            You might see something you like

                                                                

                                                             Love Douglas

Who knew this would be the last email my brother Douglas would ever send to me. This was the last email that I ever received from my brother Douglas, although never the last message…

Christmas, Idaho 1998???

Douglas left us 9 years ago. He left us too soon at 53 years young. In 1973 we changed High Schools and he would tell people that we were twins and I flunked a grade, for the record he was born February 14^th and me in August, clearly not twins! Oh, how I miss his humor, but he can still make me laugh or cry when I think of him or hear a song, watch a movie, TV show or hang out at the beach listening to the surf roll in and out, we do love the ocean!

Douglas is forever in my heart, part of my soul and I feel him with me always, during moments of joy and despair.

You know that I am truly a happy, joyful person, also the cheerleader, the glass not just half full kind of girl, but glass always full!  However, we all have our challenges in this life and when I start to “go down the rabbit hole in my mind” to places best not visited, Douglas is there with all my Guardian Angels pulling me back towards the light.

The significance of the last email met so many things but one was that Douglas loved Moroccan food, also travel and adventure, so when the opportunity was literally dropped in my lap one Thursday afternoon in April by another angel Ms Betty, I said yes to another adventure, packed my bags and was on a flight the following Wednesday night from Charlotte to Madrid, then on to Casablanca, yes, THE Casablanca, “Play it for me Sam” place in Northern Africa!

So today I dedicate this post to my bro Douglas and all my future posts about my amazing, magical adventure to Morocco… Bro, I know you would have loved the Camel ride, getting up at 4:30 am not so much…which I might add my roomy Linda and I almost missed, again thank you Betty!

And it was truly worth getting up to ride on a Dromedary/Camel to see the sun rise over the Western Sahara, truly magical…

And yes, those camels, actually we rode Dromedaries are really really uncomfortable, the good thing was mine was in a good mood and seemed to take to me, no biting!

Stay tuned for my recipes and visit Kongo’s blog, a really fantastic fun writer so click on his link for the most incredible journey, Oh and did I mention an amazing photographer and friend.

It you are still reading my post, we have such short attention spans these days, please take time every day to hug, call, connect with those you love and meet. Stay present in your moment.

“There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called Yesterday and the other is called Tomorrow. Today is the right day to Love, Believe, Do and mostly Live.”
― Dalai Lama XIV

Peace be with you! Hugs, Kary