Child of the Wild Blue Yonder

Ranch Style Potato Soup

8:35 PM

Thai Style Chicken Noodle Soup

11:35 AM

The other night Josh was feeling pretty sick, so I, being the incredibly considerate partner that I am (hahaha), decided to make my favorite go-to when I'm feeling sick.
I just didn't feel right running to the store and buying a can of chicken noodle soup when I already had such incredible ingredients at home. To put my own spin on things, I chose to go for a Thai Inspired Chicken Noodle Soup. It's citrusy, and refreshing, but the the broth is still soothing. It is sure to put a spring in your step; no one can deny the comfort of chicken noodle soup.
To keep it a quick and easy process, I opted for using Chicken Broth. This soup will only take about 30 to 40 minutes.

Thai food is recognizable by its ability to fuse so many different flavors and make sure to use them in a harmonious way.

What You Need:

For the Chicken:
-1 Large Clove of Garlic
-2 Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts
-1 tsp Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
-1 Tbsp Low Sodium Soy Sauce
-1 tsp Salt
-Pepper to taste

For the Broth:
-1 tsp olive oil
-4 Cloves of Garlic
-1/2 tsp fresh grated Ginger
-1 Jalapeño (seeded)/ or a chili pepper
-Fresh Cilantro Leaves for Garnish
-1 Shallot
-1 Large Carrot
-a large Handful of Shiitake Mushrooms
-2 Celery Stalks
-32 Oz Organic Low Sodium Chicken Broth
-1 tsp Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice
-1 tsp Sambal Olek Chili Paste
-1 Package Thai Style Rice Noodles
-Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Start by pre-heating your oven to 350º F. While the oven is pre-heating, prep the ingredients for the chicken. Place your chicken in an oven safe dish, a small casserole dish will do! Mince the garlic finely, add that, the soy sauce, and the lime juice to the chicken. Flip your chicken a few times to make sure it is coated. Distribute salt evenly over chicken, then add pepper. Put the chicken in the oven, and set a timer for 10 minutes. When the time goes off, baste the chicken by pouring the leftover juices in the baking pan over the chicken, put back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

2. Prep the ingredients for your broth now: mince the jalapeño/chili pepper, seed it if you would prefer your soup mild, leave the seeds if you're feeling spicy. Peel the carrot and cut into small rounds, dice the shallot, and celery stalks.

3. In a large pot, add oil over medium heat and allow it to get hot. Once hot add the minced garlic, allow it to become fragrant (stirring constantly, this is a quick process.) Add in the jalapeño and shallot, continue to stir until the shallot is cooked. Add the chicken broth, bring to boil, and reduce to simmer.

4. While waiting for the broth to boil, add chili paste, grated ginger, and lime juice to a small bowl, and stir together. Once your soup is simmering, add the lime and chili paste mixture, and the carrots and celery. Cover and continue to let simmer.

5. Once the timer for the chicken has gone off again, pull it out and flip it, setting it on the highest rack. At this point you're just going to want to cook it until the chicken is done, it should take between 5-10 minutes depending on the oven.

6. When the chicken is done cooking, either pull it or cut it into bite size pieces and add it to your soup, add the mushrooms along side. Allow soup to simmer covered for 5-10 minutes.

7. At this time, cook the noodles according to package instructions. Leave the noodles slightly al-dente and add to bowls for serving.

8. Pour soup into bowls, and garnish with fresh cilantro leaves. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Bruschetta Balls

11:07 PM

This next recipe was also inspired by our immense amount of basil plants, and the love we have developed for bruschetta... I call it, Bruschetta Balls.

I had this craving for something just as fresh as bruschetta, but a little more hearty and filling. Josh and I came up with the perfect solution; meatballs. We chose to eat the meatballs on top of a remaining loaf of our homemade French bread. A meatball sub, if you will.

We stuffed our meatballs with fresh mozzarella cheese, and used a ground pork and beef combo. These meatballs, covered in a homemade tomato sauce with grated parmesan, are sure to have you craving more.

What You'll Need:

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

-1 Large Clove of Garlic

-1 tsp Fresh Parsley (flat leaf or curly will work)

- 1 pinch of Rosemary

-1/2 of a Large White Onion

-1/2 of a ball of Fresh Mozzarella

-1/2 lb Ground Pork

-1/2 lb Ground Beef

-1 Large Egg

-1/2 cup Panko Breadcrumbs

-1/2 cup Milk

-1 tsp Salt

-Pepper to taste

Tomato Basil Red Sauce

-1 Large Clove of Garlic

-Handful of Basil (I probably used about 10 large leaves)

-1 Tbsp Fresh Parsley

-1 tsp Rosemary

-1 tsp Oregano

-1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper (optional)

-1 Tbsp Olive Oil

-1/2 of a Large White Onion

-8 Oz Can of Tomato Sauce

-14.5 Oz can of Diced Tomatoes

-2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar

-1 tsp Salt

-Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Start by prepping the meatballs, while you're chopping, make it easy on yourself and chop up all the herbs so you won't have to do it when you start the sauce. Mince the parsley, garlic, and chiffonade the basil so that you don't bruise it! We used fresh rosemary, so chop that too if you're going with the fresh route... dried will work just fine!

2. Put the milk and breadcrumbs in a small bowl, and allow the breadcrumbs to soak up the milk - you want a good binding for your meatballs.

3. Cut the mozzarella into 1/2 inch cubes, set aside.

4. In a larger bowl, add the egg, all the fresh herbs, and salt and pepper, whisk until mixed. Add in the ground pork and beef, as well as the soaked breadcrumbs and onion, mix with your hands.

5. Form the meatballs, and stuff with the mozzarella. You should be able to get 18 medium/small meatballs from the mixture. Make sure the meat is completely covering the cheese!

(Feel free to choose to either pan fry or bake your meatballs. We baked our meatballs and focused on our sauce while the meatballs were in the oven!)

6. Preheat the oven to 325° F. It took our meatballs about 30 minutes to cook, but all ovens vary so try to keep an eye on your meatballs! To bake, I used a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and a wire drying rack on top to allow the grease to drip. If you're using this method, don't forget to either spray your wire rack with cooking spray, or wipe it down with olive oil.

7. Once your meatballs are in the oven, start your sauce. Add a Tbsp of olive oil to a medium/large sauce pan over medium heat, wait till the oil is hot. Then add garlic and cook until fragrant (this takes no time at all), then add the onion cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Wait for the onion to change color, add the can of tomato sauce, and the can of diced tomatoes.

8. Add the basil, parsley, rosemary, oregano, crushed red pepper if you so choose, 1 tsp salt, and balsamic vinegar. Allow your sauce mixture to come to a boil, and then reduce to simmer. You should let your sauce simmer for at least 15-20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

9. Once your meatballs are cooked, you should be good to go. Make sure your meat is cooked to about an 140° F internal temperature, till slightly browned on the outside, and no pink on the inside. This ensures that your binding and meat has cooked evenly. If it feels kind of grainy, it's probably a little undercooked. If your mozzarella cheese oozes out, it's not a big deal, it'll still be delicious.

10. If you decided to eat this on slices of bread like we did, toast the bread in the oven for about 5 minutes on each side, and then top with a meatball and some sauce. Sprinkle with some parmesan cheese.

We had our leftover meatballs and sauce with spaghetti noodles the next day, if you're more of a fan of spaghetti and meatballs go for that right away. You can't go wrong with a classic.