Faux Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup

I'm used this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon + 1/4 cup melted butter (divided)

1⁄2 medium chopped onion

1⁄4 cup flour

2 cups half-and-half cream

2 cups chicken stock

1⁄2 lb fresh broccoli (about 3 cups), chopped into bite size pieces

1 cup carrot, julienned (I bought matchstick carrots)

1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg (I didn't use this)

8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese (2 cups)

salt and pepper

Everyone in the Pool

I didn't have half n half so I used 1 cup whole milk and 1 cup cream. I also may have accidentally used closer to 4 cups of broccoli. On the step where you add in the veggies we decided the soup was souper thick, and to cover it for the rest of the cooking time.

I may have turned the heat down too low and then forgot to recheck it, but at 20 minutes my carrots were just hot and raw, not cooked. I added a bit more fire under the pot and let it go another 10 minutes. Jeff was skeptical of the nutmeg so I left it out, but I think I will use it next time.

Once our vegetables were done we used an immersion blender for a few seconds. If you have access to one it's easier than using and washing a blender just to cream a cup of soup.

The kids didn't like it, but Jeff and I did. The leftovers reheated okay, it was even thicker the next day. We only had a tiny serving left, because I ate so much the night of that I hurt myself. I'm curious if it would freeze well, but there wasn't enough to try it with.

One thing I don't really understand in her recipe is that she sautés the onions, then takes them out of the pot for a while. That was a pain in the ass, especially because my soup pot is really heavy. If we make this again I'll be skipping that step. I don't care if the onions cook down to nothing, and they don't need to come out to make a roux. Maybe it's because she cooked the roux so long she was afraid that they'd burn? I don't know. If I experiment and find out I will let you know.

Finished Product

Zoku Tartufo

This recipe in the book we got with our pile of Zoku presents caught my eye. I love chocolate and cherries, especially together. It's so pretty they used it for the cover. This time I had just enough mix leftover for 1 pop so I made one for me. After removing M's I started a second without refreezing first. It did take longer, and really isn't a good plan. It was fine since I was busy cleaning anyway, but no way a child will wait in a line 30 minutes long.

I halved the recipe in the book, because I didn't want leftover mix today, and this way it only uses one pudding cup. Yes I agree, it's weird, but it worked. The texture was pretty good. Not name brand fudgesicle good, but still good. I didn't have any weird mouth feel the way the melted ice cream one did. I didn't have cherries in mine, because I ran out, but I did dip it in the chocolate.

Ingredients:
1 vanilla pudding cup
1/4 cup water
4 1/2 tsp of sugar
1 1/2 tsp of vanilla
Maraschino cherries
Chocolate quick shell

Whisk the first 4 ingredients together. Cut the cherries into fourths. I used the fruit wand to place the fruit up against the side of the freeze chamber on one side, but the book also mentions just dropping them in as you pour the liquid. It's fairly thick, so if you go slow it shouldn't sink too much.

After the pops are frozen we dipped them into the quick shell using the chocolate station that grandma got us. I would never have bought the silly thing myself, but it does work well. Personally I'd just drizzle the quick shell onto the pops if I didn't have it.

First freeze 12 minutes.
(Second freeze 17 minutes.)

M really enjoyed finding the bits of cherry in the popsicle, and said he loved it. Z ate the cherry bits, and chocolate, but didn't finish her popsicle. She was ready to move onto the rest of her snack.

Jeff's Beef Barley Soup

The kids call this one Daddy Soup, because it's their dad's recipe. I'm usually the one who cooks it now, but it's still Daddy Soup. We like to make dinner rolls to have with this. If you aren't a fan of peas, try substituting green beans for the peas.

Ingredients:

Carton Beef Stock (32 oz)

2 Cups Water

1/2 cup diced onion

1 lb ground beef

1 28-32 oz can of petit diced tomatoes

1 cup carrots sliced

¾ cup pearled barley

1 cup celery sliced very thin

1/2 cup frozen peas
Some olive oil
Salt and Pepper
(optional: italian herb seasoning)

My celery is too thick, should be half this. I hadn't made soup in a while and forgot.

How To:

In dutch oven (large heavy pot) saute onion to golden w/ olive oil

Brown ground beef (season with salt and pepper) (can also add italian herb seasoning)

Add in beef stock, water, and can of tomatoes, cover and bring to a simmer.
Adjust seasonings to taste.

From here on out maintain a light simmer action & stir occasionally.

Add carrots & barley (will take 45 minutes to finish from this point)

15 minutes later add celery

20 minutes later add peas

Simmer for 10 more minutes

Check your carrots for doneness. Simmer longer if they're too toothy/crunchy for you. Same goes for if you use fresh or frozen green beans, they may take a little longer than the peas.

Yay soup!

(Note: You want to use a fairly lean beef. If you find a lot of grease in the pot after browning your meat just spoon or pour it off, so that you don't have a greasy soup. A little is okay, but if you think it looks like too much, then get rid of some.)

Yay Soup!

Zoku Cleaning

I just wanted to take a moment to mention my cleaning method for the Zoku stuff. There's a lot of bits. You can't just wash the freezing part, because it freezes water, but it also doesn't necessarily all stick well enough when you remove a popsicle to come completely clean.

To clean the actual unit I just use a paper towel. I'm afraid of getting stuck to the super cold surface, so I fold a paper towel around a chopstick and use that clean anything I see down inside the freezing chamber. I just wipe the top with a paper towel. So far no issues. The units live in the freezer.

The popsicle sticks I take apart (there is the stick and the a drip catcher, they snap together) and I pop them into the silverware cage of the dishwasher. So far that's working well. There is a metal ring inside the stick, but I don't see any rusting or corrosion occurring, so I'll keep washing them this way.

The removal tool just gets a quick hand wash. All the cutting tools get a soak in warm soapy water and hand wash. They are tiny and hard to clean, but Z does love her star pops.

And that's it.

Mixed Berry Quick Pop

We had several days of strawberry ice cream pops, so today I asked the kids what new option they wanted to try. Vanilla pudding or fruit smoothie. Z just yelled about wanting stars, and M chose fruit smoothie, so that was decided.

Ingredients:
1 cup apple juice
1 cup frozen mixed berries (strawberry, raspberry, blueberry)
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
(10 minute freeze time)

I tried the mix with only one tablespoon of sugar, but I thought it was too tart and would be worse after freezing, so I added a touch more.

I shaved a thin slice of apple and used a star shaped punch to add stars on Z's pop, but then I didn't take a picture. Oops. Apple slices work better than strawberry, at least for the star. Came out less blobby looking.

Both kids liked them. Success. Still had enough mix for another 2-4 popsicles. It's a frozen smoothie, what's not to like?

Strawberry Ice Cream Quick Pop

We got a new set of Zoku Quick Pop makers for Christmas. We used to have one, it died, I finally got rid of it maybe in November. I thought it was hilarious when I unwrapped one from under the tree. My MIL ended up giving us 3 single pop makers, and a slew of extras. (case, extra sticks, decorating kits, and chocolate station) I didn't keep good records before, I'm terrible with things like this, but I'm going to try to be better as I experiment this time.

Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1 cup melted vanilla ice cream
4 Tbsp strawberry milk mix (powder)

Blended in a blender because I'm the lazy. It got a little aerated, so I popped it into the fridge to get nice and cold, and hopefully for some of the bubbles to settle out. I plan to skim the top to remove any froth before using the mix.

Lots of easily scooped off froth.
Tastes like a mix of strawberry milk and vanilla ice cream, SURPRISE.

The pop maker says 7-9 minutes, but longer for high fat mixes, so I set a timer for 10 minutes.

Hmm... not sure what's going on, if it will freeze more or not, but going to wait 2 more minutes. It expanded upward, so it's beyond the freezy wall. I'm not sure if the cold will seep through enough to freeze more or not, but if the core isn't solid it won't come out on the stick and then I have to wait for it all to thaw so I can wash the darn things.

Freshly Poured Mix

I used a chopstick to poke down toward the center and I think we have a good freeze. I'm waiting just a little longer. It will have ended up being 15 minutes in the pop maker when I try to remove one.

The pops came out with no problem. Next time I might fill slightly less since the fluff that rose up almost got tall enough to interfere with removing the pops from the makers.

Not my thing, lol. The flavor is okay, but it has that frozen fat texture thing, where it coats your tongue a bit? I'm not a fan. The kids are enjoying them though! Good thing too. I forgot it takes 2 oz of liquid to make a pop, we kind of have a LOT left over.