Food.

(**FYI. I HATE BLOGGER!!!! The formatting sucks! I am so anal about this kind of crap. It literally gives me anxiety when shit isn't spaced right, etc. So the "funk" is blogger's fault, not mine**)

I love food.

So, with my day off I made lots of it. I have pictures for some. First up, pot roast. My favorite Chef Anne Burrell says "Brown food tastes good!" and she is right. The key to the most kick-ass pot roast is to sear all sides, including edges, of the meat and once it's good and dark and crispy, but that sucker in the crock pot for 8-10 hours and pure carnivore bliss will be achieved.

I always make a "rub" before searing...it consists of salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Simple but super tasty and the "drippings" make excellent gravy. Next up, mashed potatoes and gravy.

I have ALWAYS hated mashed potatoes, until I made them myself. I guess for me, they have to be doctored up good: butter, garlic, lots of salt, pepper, sour cream, and parm cheese. And, they can't be smooth...must have lumps. Gravy is simple, just depends what kind of meat you have.

Also made a Loaf of Bread. Simple, just dumped all the ingredients into the trusty bread maker and that was it. I must say, until today I thought "Bread Machine Flour" was just another trick that food makers and grocery stores have us consumers roped into. But, my bread was still doughy after the bread machine was done, so I just put it in the oven for a bit. I'm convinced it was because I used regular old flour and not "Bread Machine Flour"...but I haven't done any research for any validity.

So, I always buy lots of veggies and they usually go to waste for reason or another. But today, I made vegetable stock that I later used in my Broccoli & Cheese soup. Basically, you can make vegetable stock with any vegetables you have on hand. It really is a versatile thing to make.

But my recipe for today was: Oh, the only "prep" I do for the stock is washing and cutting up the veggies...no peeling.

Vegetable Stock

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion

4 cloves of garlic

3 carrots

1 leek

2 red peppers

3 stalks of celery - leaves and all

10 mushrooms

Salt & Pepper

Parsley

Bay leaf

Heat butter & oil in pot.
Saute onions and garlic until translucent
Add all remaining fresh vegetables
Saute for a bit
Add 4 quarts of water & bay leaf
BTBRTS (Go Chef Anne!) Bring-To-Boil-Reduce-To-Simmer
I don't really know the time I left it simmering...
Once it's done, strain and use or freeze
I used this stock in my Broccoli & Cheese soup (recipe below)

Sauteing the veggies for the stock

Bbroccoli & Cheese Soup

I made this in hope to trick my kids into eating vegetables. It worked! Even Fat Boy sat there like a baby bird with his mouth wide open wanting more. This soup is super easy!

Butter & Olive Oil - use what you want
1 medium onion
Garlic - I use a ton, use to your preference
2 broccoli heads (pretty sure that's not the correct term, but whatev) cut up
1 potato cut up
3 cups vegetable stock
1 cup of shredded cheese - I used "Fiesta Blend" which is what I had in the fridge. Pretty sure you could use any type and it would turn out just fine.

Heat butter and oil
Saute onions and garlic until tender
Throw in the broccoli & potatoes
Pour in stock over veggies
BTBRTS (Go Chef Anne!) Bring-To-Boil-Reduce-To-Simmer
Once all the veggies are super tender, put into blender (or use an immersion blender if you have one) with cheese and puree.

Broccoli & Potato mix boiling away

Getting ready to be "souped"

The finished product...

Eat it up! I'm also going to make homemade croutons to put in the soup. May sound weird, but back home (Pacific Northwest) there was a deli that made the most delicious B & C soup and they always garnished with homemade crunchy, yet slightly chewy croutons and they were garlicky and Parmesan-y. To Die For. Mouth is watering!

And to finish it off...Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies. Oh yeah. Kid approved too...check it out. No, I won't share my secret fabulous recipe. Sorry...family secret ;)