Sickness and Recovery - Soup! Pie!

So last week was the week that it all hit the fan.  It was my first week back to work 80%.  Well, it should have been.  I ended up with a stomach bug and both kids were sick with a fever/cough.  So Tuesday, I left early due to lack of sleep and stomach issues.  Thursday I was home with a sick baby.  Friday I was home half day with a sick baby.  Husband was out of town Tuesday and Wednesday.  Fun times.  It can only get better from here, right?

So I didn’t eat all of the food that I’d planned for the week.  I laid off the vegetables.  I really only ate enough to keep going.  We did finish off the cream of celery soup by Friday:

I ended up eating a lot of homemade applesauce and toast.  I used some of my time home with the sick baby to make pomegranate juice.  We had 6 pomegranates.  We have four more again.  Ugh.  They are too much work.

Now it’s Sunday and the hubby and I feel like we are coming down with the same cold that the boys have.  It’s expected when babies sneeze and cough on you.  I’m loading up on Emergen-C and Zicam. 

Thursday night my hubby brought home a roasted chicken from Costco.  We ate it with the Mexican rice, guacamole, cheese, sour cream.  And carrot sticks.  Friday night I threw some carrot, onion, and celery bits in with the chicken carcass into the crockpot and made stock.  Saturday night I made chicken and rice soup (trying to head this cold off at the pass).  I started with the recipe from The PrudentHomemaker.  I had celery in the freezer (I can never finish off a bunch of celery, so I blanch and freeze the rest), carrots (3 bunches from the CSA, but I didn't use that many!), and green onions.  I bought a 5 pound bag of rice for $2.69 from Smart and Final so needed to use some of that up.  I basically made a double batch, which means I used 1 cup of raw rice.  I added dried thyme and parsley.  The stock was very yummy and gelatinous. I probably should have diluted it and saved some of the yumminess for later.  But I didn’t.

I also made olive and rosemary bread.  I like no-knead bread but never plan enough in advance.  So I used a rustic white bread recipe from America’s Test Kitchen Family cookbook, except I used the bread machine to make the dough.  And I added some olives and rosemary.  The bread machine just doesn’t beep loud enough when it’s time to add the mix-ins, so I guesstimated.

Then I realized it wouldn’t be done in time for dinner.  It’s 2.5 hours on the dough cycle.  Then you shape it and let it rise for an hour.  Then it needs to bake for 45 minutes.  Then it needs to cool for two hours.  Dinner at 8 pm anyone?  So I cut the dough in half and baked two loaves for faster baking and cooling.  I used the method in Healthy Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, which involves baking on the pizza stone.  That cut rising to 45 minutes, baking to 30 minutes, and cooling to about an hour.  It was ready for dinner at 6:30 pm.

Both the soup and the bread were fabulous, along with a romaine salad with pears, walnuts, blue cheese, and avocado, with balsamic vinaigrette.

Sunday morning I got started right away (after feeding the baby…he’s waking in the night again due to the illness) on mini-pumpkin pies.  This is a recipe from my grain-free and dairy-free neighbor.  They are delish!  She uses honey, I use maple syrup.  I made up the crust and put them in the muffin tin and put them into the freezer.  Then I took a nap.  Then I finished them off.  I’m not gluten, dairy, or grain free, but hey, if it’s good, it’s good.  She actually combined two different recipes to make them.

Mini Pumpkin pies:

The crust:
Scant 2 cups nut flour (I used almond flour)
1 Tbsp coconut flour
3 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp salt
2 tsp coconut oil

Mix in a food processor until it forms a ball.  Mine never really did, but it did get sticky enough.  Coat the muffin tins with coconut oil and then put a heaping Tbsp of crust in each.  Flatten along the bottom and partway up the side. I had enough for 12 muffins.  Cool in the fridge 1 hour.  Bake at 350F for 8 minutes.

The filling:
2 cups/1 can pumpkin puree
1/3 cup maple syrup
3 eggs
1 cup coconut milk (I used the full fat version)
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cloves
¼ tsp nutmeg

Bake at 325F for about 45 minutes, or until brown on top. 

This made extra filling, so I threw 3 silicone baking cups in with just the filling, to finish it off.

I almost never say this, but...I used 1/3 cup of maple syrup in the filling.  Next time I'll use 1/2 cup.  I rarely think things need to be sweeter.  I'm almost always cutting back on the sugar.