This soup is perfect for when you are feeling under the weather, but still hungry. It is hearty and satisfying, plus it soothes the throat.

What you need:

4-6 carrots, peeled and sliced

4-6 celery stalks, sliced

1 yellow onion, sliced thin

1 tbs butter

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks

1 small butternut squash, peeled and chopped into chunks

apprx. 6 cloves of garlic, peeled but not cut

1 carton low sodium chicken stalk

olive oil

salt

pepper

marjoram

basil

rosemary

sage

What you do:

Place chopped sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and whole garlic cloves on a baking stone. Drizzle olive oil over them and sprinkle salt and pepper on top. Bake at around 400 degrees until the outside of the chunks are crispy, but the inside feels squishy- about 40 minutes or more. 

While waiting for the baking vegetables, sauté carrots, celery, and onion in the butter in a large frying pan until the onions are caramelized and the vegetables are tender.

When the baked vegetables are done, place them in a large pot and add half the carton of chicken stalk. Using an immersion blender, blend the vegetables completely. Add the celery mixture. 

Pour some of the stalk into the pan that had the carrot mixture and, using a wooden spoon, scrape the bottom of the pan. Add this to the pot along with the rest of the stalk. Add spices according to taste and cook at a low boil for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. At this point the soup is done, but I like to cook it on low for a while longer to add flavor. I'll usually start this in the afternoon to eat it mid-evening. It can stay on the stove for hours. You could also start this in the morning and cook it on the crock pot. If you need more liquid, just add a bit of water. Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

I like to have some fun with my classes on Halloween. At our school, the students are required to recite poetry, speeches, or monologues throughout the year, so on Halloween I have my students recite poems by Edgar Allan Poe. Usually I have them do "The Raven", but we wanted something new this year, so we decided to do a few different poems. Here is one I was not familiar with before, but that I have come to enjoy:

The Conqueror Worm

BY EDGAR ALLAN POE

Lo! ’t is a gala night

   Within the lonesome latter years!   

An angel throng, bewinged, bedight

   In veils, and drowned in tears,   

Sit in a theatre, to see

   A play of hopes and fears,

While the orchestra breathes fitfully   

   The music of the spheres.

Mimes, in the form of God on high,   

   Mutter and mumble low,

And hither and thither fly—

   Mere puppets they, who come and go   

At bidding of vast formless things

   That shift the scenery to and fro,

Flapping from out their Condor wings

   Invisible Wo!

That motley drama—oh, be sure   

   It shall not be forgot!

With its Phantom chased for evermore   

   By a crowd that seize it not,

Through a circle that ever returneth in   

   To the self-same spot,

And much of Madness, and more of Sin,   

   And Horror the soul of the plot.

But see, amid the mimic rout,

   A crawling shape intrude!

A blood-red thing that writhes from out   

   The scenic solitude!

It writhes!—it writhes!—with mortal pangs   

The mimes become its food,

And seraphs sob at vermin fangs

   In human gore imbued.

Out—out are the lights—out all!   

   And, over each quivering form,

The curtain, a funeral pall,

   Comes down with the rush of a storm,   

While the angels, all pallid and wan,   

   Uprising, unveiling, affirm

That the play is the tragedy, “Man,”   

   And its hero, the Conqueror Worm.

This poem was copied from here.

Once again, Happy Halloween!

Makeshift Bookshelves

We moved in about three months ago and our spare room is still a disaster. One of our big problems is that we have a lot of books but only one bookshelf and several "magic" bookshelves (you can see one in the last picture next to the map).

So, since we cannot simply go out and buy a few bookshelves, I decided to get creative and make some space.

 The books were already in these boxes from moving, so I just re-arranged them and was able to get rid of a bunch of them. When we moved, my husband's desk broke, but we saved the shelves and scrapped the rest. I put those two shelves on top of the boxes, as you can see. This saved so much space in the room. It also looks kind of cool, so it is definitely manageable until we can get some real shelves. This would be great for a dorm room or a small apartment, too, especially if you don't plan on staying for long.

Muffins for Two

I accidentally bought squash instead of pumpkin again. When will I learn! Honestly though, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. Squash can be used in all the same recipes or just eaten as a side dish with dinner.

We had nothing in the house for breakfast the other day, so I decided to use what I had around the house to make just two muffins. They were delicious! I found a recipe somewhere on the internet for one muffin, which inspired me to create a recipe like it of my own. Of course I decided to make it as healthy as possible by using whole wheat flour and oats. My husband doesn't usually like the individual muffins (I love them) because he finds them denser than regular muffins, but he actually loved these. Besides being delicious, these are also super easy and can be made in a regular cereal bowl, so there is hardly any clean up. All around, a good choice for breakfast :)

What you need:

6 tbs whole wheat flour
1-2 tbs quick cook oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
dash of salt
1-2 tbs toasted coconut (we happened to have this lying around, actually, but you can use any mix-ins you want. Derek didn't want chocolate chips in his-I've been known to overdue the chocolate- but I added a few in mine. You could also do cinnamon chips, nuts, or anything you like)

Vanilla (Again, I overdue the vanilla, but a couple teaspoons to a tablespoon would be good)
2 tbs squash (or pumpkin)
2 tbs melted butter
2 tbs brown sugar
pumpkin pie spice (again, a couple teaspoons to a tablespoon if you really like it spicy)

What you do:

In a regular bowl, mix the flour, oats, baking powder, salt, coconut, and any other mix-ins. Add the vanilla, squash, butter, brown sugar, and spice. Divide batter into two small corning ware ramekins or muffin tins and bake at 345 degrees for about 20-30 minutes (check with a wooden toothpick around 15 minutes because ovens vary and I think mine generally takes longer than most).

When it's done, allow to cool and enjoy!

Eyeball Cake Pops

While I do not use these for Halloween, they are perfect for ghoulish gatherings or scary snacks! I actually use these for the classroom. Every year I have "Cyclops Day" when we get to book 9 of The Odyssey. I also have an eyeball candle, a cyclops figurine, one eyeball earring (obviously I can't wear two!), and this year I had eyeball plates and napkins. It's just a way to make learning fun and tasty! Kids will love this creepy, but delicious, treat. Plus, this is crazy easy, though a little time consuming.

Last year I put these on sticks and I think that's actually the best way to do it, but this year I left out the sticks and it still worked out well- actually it's even a bit creepier this way.

What you need:

1 box Funfetti cake mix

1 container vanilla frosting

white chocolate melting chocolate

blue, black, and red decorating gels

What you do:

Cook the cake as directed and let it cool completely.

In a large bowl, crumble the cake and mix with the entire container of frosting. A big fork works well for this, or you can get your hands right in there and do it that way.

Roll the mixture into medium sized balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. 

Put the rolled balls into the refrigerator for about an hour or two.

When the rolled balls are cold, melt the chocolate using a double boiler on the stove. If using a stick, dip the tip of the stick into the chocolate and then stick it into the ball and let it sit for a minute. Then the cake should stay on the stick while you dip it into the chocolate. If you are not using sticks you can just roll the cake ball in the chocolate with a spoon. This way works fine, but it does not get the balls as round and smooth as using a stick will.

Allow the cake pops to cool and dry completely, possibly by putting them back in the refrigerator. When they are dry, you can use the gels to decorate. I start with a black dot in the top center. Then I add a ring of blue around that. Finally I make jagged lines coming out from the blue ring, so that the eye looks bloodshot.

Kids really like this snack because it's silly, but also because it tastes so good :) Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Mash (with a secret ingredient)

Derek and I are not cream and sugar people. We like our coffee black and bitter. That's not to say we don't enjoy a latte every now and then, but in the morning, we like to enjoy the pure coffee taste.

Sometimes we forget this. Sometimes something in the grocery store looks too good to pass up. Something like this:

If we liked cream in our coffee, I'm sure this would be great. But, as we found out the morning after we bought it, we don't. We couldn't simply let this go to waste, though, so we had to find another use for it.

OK, actually the only plan I had for this was to bring it to the faculty room at work- teachers need a lot of coffee, after all. But, as I was preparing dinner, I had a brilliant idea- put some in my sweet potato mashed potatoes. Let me just say, if you love everything fall and everything pumpkin, you will love this!

What you need:

three sweet potatoes- washed and peeled

about 3/4 cup Bailey's Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer (more of less depending on your preference for    consistency and taste)

1 tablespoon butter

salt

pepper

garlic powder

What you do:

Cut and boil the potatoes in salt water. Keep them cooking until they are very tender. Drain the water. add the butter, cream, pepper, and garlic powder and whip with a hand mixer until you reach the desired consistency. That's it! Super easy!

I served this as a side to turkey meatloaf (which was delightful! I didn't measure a single thing, otherwise I'd post a recipe- will do soon.) and steamed broccoli. 

This is an absolutely perfect, easy, and healthy fall comfort meal :) Enjoy!

Chicken Lentil Stew

I thought a dark picture would look mysterious and cozy, but I'm afraid it just looks like a poor photo. I had to share anyway because this soup is AMAZING! I made this for Sunday dinner and then we had the leftovers for lunch throughout the week. It is so filling and very healthy. A must try healthy comfort food for the fall/winter months.

What you need:

1 rotisserie chicken (my go-to for soups and stews)
4 carrots peeled
4 stalks of celery
1 medium yellow onion
Several cloves of garlic (depends on your taste- I always put a bunch)
1 tablespoon of oil (I use olive oil but vegetable oil will do fine)
1 tablespoon of butter (although I usually just use more vegetable oil and no butter)
1 bag of lentils
1 small can of roasted tomatoes
1 carton low sodium chicken stalk
salt
pepper
marjoram
sage

What you do:

Make a soup stater (mirepoix) by chopping the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and sautéing them in the oil/butter with salt and pepper until tender.

While the vegetables are sautéing, pick apart the rotisserie chicken and put the meat into a large pot.

Add the vegetables and the chicken stalk to the pot along with the lentils, tomatoes, and spices. Bring to a boil, then cover and continue to cook on low-medium heat for about a half hour or until the lentils are tender. Once done, remove the pot from the stove and use and immersion blender in the stew for about 30 seconds to a minute. You don't want everything blended, just some of the stew to give it that stew-like consistency. After that, keep warm on the stove until you want to serve. A nice hearty wheat bread goes well with this. Store the leftovers and enjoy for the week!