Snow day here! So here's a soup recipe! Right? 

It's been so long since I've posted. But here I am! Might get another one ready for posting, too, before I get up from my perch here on the couch, watching the snow fall and not worrying about driving on the roads. 

I used to love a snow day as I would spend the majority of it getting caught up on life and work. I'd have a ton of things accomplished by the end of the day, as with my insane work ethic ingrained in me by my parents - never let a moment be wasted. So, I struggle now with snow days. Making the call for the school is tough on it's own at 6am. But, then there's the struggle with what I do during the day. Do I sleep in because I'm pretty much exhausted all the time? Do I get up and try to get caught up on emails and to do lists? Do I cozy up on the couch with Hannah for some Paw Patrol and play dough because I work so much that I don't get to spend as much time with her anymore? Do I catch up on my hobbies, like food blog posts and cooking and dog walks? Do I clean the house, like deeper clean than the quick vacuum and wipe down it gets on the weekends? Do I catch up with friends I rarely see? Or do I just not care and do whatever when the moment strikes? (Not in my personality capacity to do whatever so that's it's own special kind of struggle!)

It's a thing.

But, I've decided to just take the day and do what I can, a little bit of everything as they are all important. So to start - a post for you! A delicious, hearty, flavourful and kid-loved soup that Hannah devours. Now, we know she's a soup girl and loves most soups, but this one really strikes up great conversation at the dinner table. It's loaded with veggies, which she's becoming a little pickier about recently, but she's so busy chatting about finding her letter and daddy's letter, she's just scooping mouthfuls of carrots and turnips into her mouth without a beat. 

So, enjoy! 

Loaded Alphabet Soup

Total time: 30 min

Ingredients:
drizzle of oil or splash of water
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 carrots, chopped small
1-2 celery stalks, chopped small
1/2 cup chopped turnip, chopped small
1 can diced tomatoes
2-4 cups vegetable stock
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp summer savoury
1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp honey
1/2 box of alphabet noodles (I seriously just find them in any grocery store)
2-3 handful of kale, chopped 
1 can chickpeas, rinsed
Sea salt/pepper to taste

What to do:

1) In a large pot or dutch oven, add oil or water and heat on medium. Add onion and garlic until things start to smell good, about 5 minutes, stirring often. I often wait until I hear Lee say, "Mmmm, that smells good, what are you cooking?" And I reply, "Your favourite, onions and garlic" :) I swear, every time. 

2) Add in carrots, celery and turnip, as well as a small sprinkle of salt/pepper. Cook, stirring often, for another 5 minutes or so until browning starts to happen and it looks delicious.  

3) Add tomatoes, vegetable stock, spices, and honey. Stir and bring to a boil. Let boil for another 5-7-ish minutes until turnip starts to soften a bit.

4) Add in noodles and kale, continue boiling for another 5-6 minutes, STIRRING OFTEN so the noodles don't stick to the bottom. Careful not to cook the noodles fully or they will get gross and mushy as they will continue cooking on their own once you turn heat to low. 

5) Reduce heat to low, add in chickpeas, more salt/pepper to taste and let sit for about 10 minutes to let the flavours grow. Serve up with a delicious piece of crusty bread or crackers and enjoy finding the letters in your soup! 

It tastes as good as it looks. 

It was amazing.

And just like teaching, this amazing gem came without a plan, on the fly, just working with the ingredients available to me. It was on a whim. It came out of a plan gone sour from lack of ingredients for another recipe. It came from fresh farm veggies sitting in the fridge waiting to be used. It honestly just came out of my head and went straight into my belly. Aaaaamazing. 

Garden fresh summertime veggies in a sweet and saucy balsamic glaze, mixed with my most precious staple - spaghetti noodles. Ummmmmm, yes, please!  And sprinkled with roasted pipits because, hey, why not. This dish surprised my tastebuds, and my daughter, who saw this heap of vegetables and gobbled it down. Yes, that's right folks - my 3 year old cleaned her plate from this dish. I feel like I should get an award for that big feat alone. Phew! 

I give you this, awesome 10 minute dish for supper tonight. 

Enjoy! 


Balsamic Spaghetti with Garlic Scapes, Zucchini, and Roasted Pepitas

Ingredients:
Spaghetti Noodle of Choice (We used whole wheat)
1 small onion, diced because who likes long pieces of onion? Not me. 
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil or water for sautéing 
*Cast Iron Pan - Seriously, get one, use it. Makes this dish better, I swear.
1 small zucchini, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
4 garlic scapes, chopped 
1 ripe tomato, chopped
4 swiss chard leaves (or green of choice, optional), chopped
Balsamic Vinegar (don't measure - add bits at a time until taste is right for you)
2 tbsp Honey or Maple Syrup 
Extra Virgin Olive Oil for added Sauciness, optional
1 tsp hot pepper flakes
chopped fresh basil and oregano, as much as you want (or dried)
sea salt/pepper to taste
1/2 cup pepitas

What to do:

1) Cook noodles according to package. Set aside until ready to add in. 

2) Heat oil or water in cast iron pan over medium heat. Add onion. Cook and stir until smelling awesome and slightly coloured. Add in garlic scapes. Keep on stirring. Keep on cooking. Keep on smelling amazing. 

3) Add in rest of veggies and stir, stir, stir. Add a bit more oil or water if needed. By now, they should be getting a bit browned from the awesomeness of a cast iron pan. 

4) Add in a drizzle of balsamic. Stir. Add in a bit more. Reduce heat to low-medium. Add in honey, hot pepper flakes, fresh basil and oregano. Stir to coat and mix. Add a touch of oil if you want it a bit more saucier. Taste test. Add sea salt/pepper and more balsamic if you'd like. (I did) Add in noodles and toss to coat. Turn off heat.

5) Roast pepita seeds in a small pan over medium heat then sprinkle over top of noodles. Eat up and return back for seconds. No judgement here.

I think Spring has arrived. Maybe? 

It's often too soon to tell. I'm probably jinxing it right now by even mentioning it. A snowstorm could be forecasted at any minute, I guess. But with the crocuses making an appearance on the front lawn, 20 degrees forecasted for Tuesday, and being able to get into the car in the early morning without defrosting the windshield, I think we can safely assume spring is here or near. 

And, if you take a stroll at any local farm market, spring is most definitely here! The beginnings of delicious veggies are on the menu - shoots! Pea shoots! Kale shoots! Excellent power packed greens that are quite versatile to use. We often blend them up into a pesto, but tonight, we were in the mood for something light and fresh. Salad rolls. Complete with fresh pea shoots from the market. 

Salad rolls make a common appearance around this household. However, we recognize they may not be on the menu for many others. Especially, since most times they're mentioned, people have no idea what we're talking about! I'm not even sure what prompted us one day to buy rice paper and try them out, but it was a few years ago now, and once we did, we were hooked! So easy to prepare, a great alternative to 'salad', which is my least favourite way to eat veggies, and fun to eat! Actually, it is a fantastic way to get your toddler to eat a salad.  They can easily help prepare them and roll them up. And then you get to eat them with your hands! Win win, I'd say. 

Well, tonight's salad rolls featured locally picked pea shoots, and I thought, hey! I don't think these are on the blog! So, they got a front row seat for the month of April. I bumped the next two posts aside (Vegetarian Lasagna with Cashew Cheese and Curried Cauliflower - oh they are delicious and hopefully will get them up soon for ya!) Spring took over tonight! 

Enjoy these tasty rolls as a main, a side, or an appetizer! They pair well with a BBQ dish or a rice dish. We often have them as a side with Pad Thai noodles. I've included a few variations for sauces that we make fresh to go with them to dip. So yummy! We usually mix up the dressings in a jar and just eat as is, but if you like a thicker sauce, add a tsp. of corn starch and water to the mixture and stir evenly over medium heat until it starts to thicken. This will give a thicker sauce, which sticks to the rice wrap a little better.

​Enjoy! Let me know how it turns out for you!

Spring Salad Rolls
Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
Rice Paper & a bowl of warm water
Salad filling: shredded cabbage and carrot, pea shoots, thinly sliced peppers, etc. 
Spicy Dressing:
-2 tbsp oil (olive or sesame are our favourites)
-1 tbsp vinegar (white or rice are our favourites)
-1 tbsp honey
-1 tbsp water
-1 tsp each chilli powder, garlic powder, ginger, powder
-1/4 tsp cayenne pepper or hot pepper flakes
-dash sea salt/pepper
Sweet Dressing:
-2 tbsp oil (olive or sesame are our favourites)
-1 tbsp vinegar (white or rice are our favourites)
-1 tbsp honey
-1 tbsp coconut aminos or soy sauce
-1 tsp each garlic, ginger powder
-dash sea salt/pepper
Nutty Dressing:
-2 tbsp nut or seed butter (peanut butter or sesame seed butter are our favourites)
-1 tbsp vinegar (white or rice are our favourites)
-1 tbsp honey
-1 tbsp water
-t tsp garlic, ginger
-1/4 tsp hot pepper flakes
-dash sea salt/pepper

*Optional: Mix up sauce as is by whisking or shaking in a jar until combined. Or, if you like a thicker sauce, add in 1 tsp. of corn starch and water, and heat over medium heat, story constantly, until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat and serve as dipping sauce. It will stick to the rice paper better this way. 

What to do:

1) Submerge one sheet of rice paper in warm water with fingertips.

2) In about 30-60 seconds, it should turn soft and pliable. Remove from water and lay on dry towel. Add salad filling to the middle of the wet paper.

3) When the paper becomes sticky, about 30 seconds after laying on the towel, roll one edge around the salad filling, fold in the sides, and roll up until sealed. Place on a plate, uncovered. Continue with the rest of your rolls (We usually eat 2-4 rolls each!), careful not to let them touch once rolled on the plate or they will stick together. 

4) Store in fridge, wrapped separately in an airtight package. 

5) For Dressing, mix up as is in a bowl by whisking or in a sealed jar by shaking. See note about wanting a thicker sauce* above.