Get your peelers ready!

It may seem a little strange posting a soup recipe in April, but where I am…today it’s chilly out there! My family goes crazy for this soup almost any time of year, especially when someone has their braces adjusted and needs to avoid crunchy things for a few days.

Leeks are a member of the onion family but have a much milder taste. Be careful though – they grow in very sandy soil and are famous for having tons of dirt and sand stuck in their layers.  Be sure to wash these guys really, really well before you use them so that you don’t end up with sand soup.

Creamy Potato Leek Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 4  large leeks (they look like green onions, only 10 times bigger!)
• 2  pounds Idaho or Yukon Gold potatoes
• 4 cups chicken broth, reduced sodium
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ½ cup milk, half & half, or heavy cream

Equipment:

• Soup pot (4 qts.)
• Cutting board
• Knife (paring or chef’s)
• Vegetable peeler
• Blender
• Large bowl
• Large spoon for stirring
• Ladle for serving

Cut the dark green leafy part of the leeks off (light green is ok) and discard. Cut the root of the leek off the end. Now, cut the leek in half lengthwise (longways).  Keeping the leeks as together as you can, hold each leek under cold running water to wash out the dirt and grit.  Once clean, slice the leeks crossways into small pieces.

Place the soup pot on the stove over medium heat.  Add the butter to the pot and let it melt. This should take a minute or two.  Add the leeks to the pot and stir to coat in the butter.  Stirring every minute or two, let the leeks cook for 10 minutes, or until they’re soft but not brown.

While the leeks are cooking, peel your potatoes with a vegetable peeler.  Throw away or compost the potato peels.  Cut the potatoes into 1” to 2” pieces. (Hint: The smaller your potato pieces, the less time they will take to cook.)

Add the potatoes to the leeks.  Pour in the chicken broth to cover the potatoes. Bring the chicken broth up to a boil, then immediately reduce the heat to low. Cover and let cook for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 to 10 minutes.

Remove soup pot from the hot burner (CAUTION: HOT STUFF!).  Remove the top from the blender and ladle in the potato soup mixture until the container is about ½ full (you’ll need to do this in two batches).  IMPORTANT: Remove the center piece from the blender lid.  This will help to prevent the hot soup from exploding out of the blender due to a build-up of steam. Cover the hole with a dishtowel folded over 4 times and carefully hold it in place while blending.

Blend the soup on medium speed until smooth.  Pour the blended soup into the large bowl.

Ladle the remaining un-blended potato mixture into the blender and repeat the blending process with the rest of the soup.

Return all of the soup to the soup pot.  Add your milk, half and half, or heavy cream and stir well.  Season with salt and pepper until it tastes the way you like it.  Serve in mugs or bowls.

Time:            45 minutes

Grown-up Permissions:

Knife work (potatoes, leeks)  ­                              _________________

Stove work (sautéing leeks, simmering soup)  _________________

Blender use (pureeing soup)                                _________________

Not your usual supermodel bananas, but these babies are so ready to make some fantastic banana bread

There always seem to be plenty of brown bananas lying around my house and this recipe is the perfect way to use them. Not only will you have a yummy snack and tasty breakfast the next day (if your family can resist eating it all), but your house will smell awesome!

Brown Sugar Banana Bread

Serves 8

Ingredients

• Non-stick cooking spray
• 3  ripe bananas
• ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
• ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ½ cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Equipment

• Pastry blender
• Large mixing bowl
• Rubber spatula
• 5”x9” loaf pan

Preheat your oven to 350°.  Spray your loaf pan with non-stick spray and set aside.

Peel your bananas and place into the mixing bowl.  Using the pastry blender (or a fork), mash the bananas until there are very few lumps and they look gooey.  Add the melted butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla to the bananas, using the rubber spatula to stir well to combine.

Add the flour, followed by the baking soda, and salt.  Use the rubber spatula to stir until just combined with no lumps of flour remaining. Be careful here, because you don’t want to over-mix it either. That will make your banana bread tough.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place on the middle shelf in the oven.  Bake for 50 minutes to one hour or until cooked through.

Remove pan from oven and place on a cooling rack.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes; remove loaf from pan.  Let the loaf cool the rest of the way, or dive right in and eat a piece while it’s warm.  Just be sure to share!

Time: 10 minutes prep, 1 hour active cooking time

Get permission for: oven use (baking)  ­

A few of the things you'll need to whip up your own homemade pizza sauce

Making your own pizza sauce is super easy, plus you’ll have the chance to slice and dice your way to pizza stardom by using fresh onions and garlic (totally necessary to good sauce). Here’s what you’re gonna need:

Homemade Pizza Sauce

Enough for 2 large pizzas

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1-15 ounce can tomato sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed or whole
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Place a medium saucepan over medium heat on the stove. Add olive oil to pan, then add onion and garlic. Saute for 5 minutes, or until beginning to become fragrant. Add the sugar and cook one minute more. Pour tomato sauce into the pan, then add the thyme, basil, fennel seeds, oregano, salt, and pepper. Stir well to combine. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. (This freezes great!!)

Homemade Pizza Dough

Makes 2-10″ pizzas or one big pizza

• 2 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup warm water (not too hot–you’ll kill your yeast and your dough won’t rise)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 1/2 to 3 cups flour, plus a little more for kneading
• cooking spray
• large bowl
• plastic wrap
• rolling pin
• baking sheet

Place the yeast, sugar, and warm water in the bowl and stir to combine. Set aside in a warm place for 5 minutes.

If bubbles have formed after 5 minutes, woo hoo! Your yeast is alive and ready to do it’s thing.

Add salt and olive oil to the yeast/water mixture, then stir to combine.

Add 1 cup flour to the yeast mixture, then stir well again. Your dough will be super soft and very sticky. Add the second cup of flour and stir until it gets really hard to do. Sprinkle a little bit of flour onto the counter top and dump dough onto the counter. Begin to knead the dough (take a look at the video again here if you need a reminder), adding a bit of flour if it gets too sticky to work with or begins to stick to the table. You may use all of the flour you measured out, or you may not. It all kinda depends on the weather or how you measured the water.

Kneading the dough

You’ll knead the dough for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until it starts to look nice and smooth.

Clean your bowl and dry it well. Spray the bowl lightly with the cooking spray, then place the dough in the bowl. Flip the dough over, just to make sure it’s lightly coated with cooking spray. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set the bowl in a warm, but not hot place for about 45 minutes, or until the dough has just about doubled in size.

Punch the dough one time to release some of the air, then set aside for 5 minutes to let it relax (hey–you’d want to relax too if someone just punched you!).

Punch down your dough

Sprinkle some flour on the table, and some on your rolling pin too. Cut your dough in half and gently shape into a ball. Set one ball of dough aside, covered, until you’re ready to roll it.

Roll your dough into a circle, or whatever shape floats your boat, being sure to add some flour to the table or rolling pin if it starts to stick.

Preheat your oven to 450-degrees.

Place your pizza on a baking sheet and top with your favorite toppings–get crazy!

Bake your pizza for 12-15 minutes, until the edges have started to brown and your cheese has melted.

Gooey, cheesy goodness!

Now…wasn’t that easy?

Vanilla milkshakes, fancy straws optional :)

It’s true. Sometimes you want a treat. You know that you should eat healthy foods, and that they’re an important part of every meal you eat. But if you eat right, and load up with all those super yummy fruits and veggies, it’s ok to have a treat every once and a while. Especially if you make it yourself.

So today, I propose a little warm weather treat for you and a friend: vanilla milkshakes.

Vanilla Milkshakes

Serves 2

• 2 cups vanilla ice cream
• 2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• a good pinch of salt

Place all ingredients into a blender. Place the lid on the blender, and hold. While holding the lid, turn the blender onto it’s highest setting for 30 seconds. Pour into two glasses and enjoy!!

There always seem to be plenty of brown bananas lying around my house and this recipe is the perfect way to use them. Not only will you have a yummy snack and tasty breakfast the next day (if your family can resist eating it all), but your house will smell awesome!

Serves 8

Non-stick cooking spray

3                                  ripe bananas

½         cup                  light brown sugar, packed

¼          cup                  unsalted butter, melted

1          large                egg

1          teaspoon         vanilla

1 ½      cups                 flour

1          teaspoon         baking soda

¼          teaspoon         salt

Equipment:

Pastry blender or fork

2 Large mixing bowls

Rubber spatula

5”x9” loaf pan

Preheat your oven to 350°.  Spray your loaf pan with non-stick spray and set aside.

Peel your bananas and place into the mixing bowl.  Using the pastry blender (or a fork), mash the bananas until there are very few lumps and they look gooey.  Add the melted butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla to the bananas, using the rubber spatula to stir well to combine.

Add the flour, followed by the baking soda, and salt.  Use the rubber spatula to stir until just combined with no lumps of flour remaining. Be careful here, because you don’t want to overmix it either. That will make your banana bread tough.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place on the middle shelf in the oven.  Bake for 50 minutes to one hour or until cooked through.

Remove pan from oven and place on a cooling rack.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes; remove loaf from pan.  Let the loaf cool the rest of the way, or dive right in and eat a piece while it’s warm.  Just be sure to share!

Time:               10 minutes prep, 1 hour active cooking time

Get permission for:    Oven use (baking)                    ­

Tell me your favorite three smoothie ingredients, and I’ll write a recipe and test it it to sweet, yummy deliciousness, just for YOU! I’ll even include your name in the title and take a few pics to show you what I’m doing…

Need something to get you started? Check out our smoothie video for my not-quite famous Strawberry-Banana Smoothie. It’s got all of the usual suspects, including starwberries and bananas (duh), vanilla yogurt, honey, oj, and a bit of ice.

What would make your perfect smoothie?

Ingredients:

1          cup                  all-purpose flour

1          teaspoon         salt

1          large                egg

½         cup                  buttermilk*

2          cups                 frozen corn kernels, thawed (fresh from the cob works great too!)

1                                  green onion, sliced thinly into little rounds, white hairy end discarded

1          tablespoon      vegetable or olive oil

                                    Sour cream (for garnish)

Equipment:

Large mixing bowl

Whisk

Flexible spatula

Flat spatula for flipping

Large non-stick sauté pan

Small ladle

Place the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Whisk them together to combine.

Add the egg and the buttermilk to the bowl.  Whisk until blended together with flour mixture and almost smooth.  Add corn and chopped green onions and stir until well mixed.  Set aside.

Place non-stick pan on the stove and add half of the oil to the pan. Warm the pan over medium heat.

Using your ladle, carefully pour the pancake batter into the pan, being sure to leave space in-between the pancakes (they’ll get bigger in the pan).  Let the pancakes cook on the first side for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the edges start to turn a little bit brown. Using your flat spatula, slide the spatula under the pancake (you may need to give it a little wiggle to get it under there). Now, flip it over. Repeat with remaining pancakes in pan.  Let the pancakes cook 1 to 2 minutes, or until they move easily in the pan.  Remove from pan to a plate and keep warm.

Repeat cooking process with remaining oil and batter.

Serve with sour cream if you like.

Time: 15 minutes

Permissions:    Knife work (green onions)  & Stove work (sautéing)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Milk
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 pinch Salt
• 4 slices Bread
• 2 teaspoons Butter
• Syrup

Place the milk, eggs, cinnamon, vanilla, and salt into a bowl.  Stir together with a whisk or a fork until all of the ingredients are combined to form a custard. (The cinnamon may float to the top; that’s ok).

Place two slices of bread into the egg/milk mixture. After the bread has started to soak in the custard, flip the bread over so the dry side is face-down in the egg mixture. If your bread is fresh, this could take as little as 10 or 15 seconds per side. If your bread is a little dry, it could take a minute or two per side.

While the bread is soaking, place butter into a medium non-stick skillet over medium heat (if you have a stove with numbers 1 to 9, you’ll want around a 5 or 6).

Place the soaked bread into the skillet and cook until the fist side is golden brown 2 to 3 minutes.  Using a spatula, flip each slice of bread over just once, to cook the other side.  Cook another 2 to 4 minutes, or until the second side is golden brown.

Carefully slide the French Toast onto a plate.  Repeat with remaining two slices of bread.

Pour syrup on and enjoy!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Red Onion, diced (check out the video for a cutting demo!)
• 4 or 5 Tomatoes, diced with the seeds removed
• 1/2 to 1 whole Jalapeno, diced very small (be careful here and wear gloves if you can, the juice is super spicy!)
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup Cilantro, washed and cut very finely
• 1 lime, cut in half and juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Place all ingredients into a medium bowl and stir until combined.  Serve with tortilla chips.

Serves 4