Oofta

A good friend of mine went to law school in Minneapolis, and I went to visit her several times while she was there. I was living in upstate NY at the time so the snow and cold weren't toooo shocking to me. As two young women who grew up in Arizona, we were experiencing real snow and winter for the first time in our 20s, and we were always on the phone with each other comparing the weather. We came to the conclusion that Minnesota is colder, but upstate NY is snowier.

Anyways, on my visits I always enjoyed seeing that strong Scandinavian heritage peeking through in the modern day. Garrison Keillor is only exaggerating a little bit when he tells those Lake Wobegon stories. So much of the country feels the same. When you get off an airplane in so many cities, it's hard to tell where you have landed. In Minneapolis, it was fun to hear about a "hot dish" a "parking ramp" and I especially loved the word, "oofta." I'm not a Minnesotan, but I believe it roughly translates to "uggh."

This is all background for one morning last week. The baby woke me up at 5:00 AM and just wouldn't go back to sleep. I decided we might as well head down stairs and get our morning started. With each step, the temperature dropped colder and colder. I was so cold when I got into the kitchen, I exclaimed, "Oofta, we need to do something to warm up this house." (Which was funny because I hadn't thought about my Minneapolis visits for a great while - I guess the cold took me back.) It was in the 40s outside, and not much warmer inside because we had left the kitchen window open (in our defense - it had been hot only the day before). I decided to turn on the oven. With my foggy brain I just thought of turning on the oven to use as a heat source, but then quickly decided that would be a waste of gas, so decided to throw in a couple sweet potatoes. After we warmed up a bit, I decided to put the baby in her high chair and roll it into the kitchen. I dug around in the fridge to realize that we were low on our breakfast staples - we had one egg, no yogurt, no milk, no bacon. Things weren't looking too good. Luckily I found some leftovers to start feeding baby girl, and I started cooking. I still wasn't warm all the way through, so I started by making some soup. I had broth and leftover chicken added some zucchini, onions and carrots.  While it was cooking, I prepped vegetables for lunch and dinner, and felt I had gotten a lot done by the time our toddler and my husband got up to start their day.

The results were an unconventional breakfast, but great for warming you up whatever the time of day.... or season. Sometimes simple is the best.

Chicken, zucchini and carrot soup with freshly baked sweet potato and butter and hot tea.

Chicken, Zucchini and Carrot Soup

1 T butter

1 onion, chopped

3 carrots, chopped

2 medium zucchini, chopped

1 Quart Chicken Broth

2 C chicken, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 t thyme

Melt the butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Add the onion and carrots and cook until the onions begin to soften. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook until the zucchini is tender. Enjoy.

Mushroom Stuffed Turkey Breast

This last weekend we picked up a turkey breast at the farmers' market. We had never made just a turkey breast before, so we asked the farmer for some suggestions on how to prepare it. He recommended butterflying it and filling it with a stuffing of our choice. We decided to follow his advice and chose to make some mushroom stuffing.

We got half way through stuffing the turkey breast and realized that we were going to need something to hold it together. I should really invest in some kitchen twine for these types of situations, but we didn't have any handy, so we started hunting down something that could do the job. I have been working on a small rag rug out of some old cotton curtains, and decided to sacrifice a narrow strip of fabric to hold together our dinner. (I swear it's clean!) It worked like a charm.

Besides the hunt for a kitchen twine substitute, the stuffed turkey breast was really easy to prepare. I always feel that anything stuffed seems a little special, and this made for a mid-week treat dinner. The mushroom stuffing is full of flavor and quick to prepare. We served ours with quinoa and broccoli.

Butterfly the turkey breast. Because it is so much meat, we put half aside in the freezer to use later. Half the breast will still comfortably serve 4 people.

After placing the stuffing in the center of the butterflied breast, roll up the meat and fasten with twine.

We enjoyed our stuffed turkey breast with broccoli and quinoa.

Mushroom Stuffed Turkey Breast
serves 4

Half a turkey breast
2 T butter
8 oz mushrooms, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/4 t ground thyme
1/4 t garlic powder
a few shakes of oregano
1/4 C Parmesan cheese
1/2 C chicken stock
kitchen twine

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Butterfly the turkey breast. (We set aside half and put it in the freezer.) In a cast iron skillet, melt the butter and add the mushrooms and onions. Cook until the mushrooms are beginning to brown and the onions soften. Remove from the heat and add the thyme, garlic, oregano and Parmesan cheese. Place the stuffing in the center of the turkey breast. Roll it up and fasten with twine. Place the rolled turkey breast in the cast iron pan over high heat. Brown on each side, add the chicken stock, and transfer to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes (or until it is cooked through). Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes and slice. Spoon some of the juice over the turkey.

This post is part of Alphabe-Thursday, Pennywise Platter Thursday, Full Plate Thursdays, Simple Lives Thursday, The Ultimate Recipe Swap, Tip Day Thursday, Fresh, Clean and Pure Friday, Foodie Friday, Fun with Food with Food, Fresh Bites Friday, and I'm Lovin' It.

Onion Soup

I came down with a terrible cold and cough a couple of weeks ago. My weakened pregnant immune system has taken a long time to get back to 100%. I tried every home remedy in the book including inhaling steam, hot water with lemon and honey, the wet sock treatment and more. My mom suggested making some onion soup. She swears by it for helping loosen up the congestion. I wouldn't say it was a miraculous cure, but I think it helped. The best thing is that it is easy to make which is perfect for when you are feeling under the weather.

Heat a dutch over or heavy bottomed pot, and add butter and oil. Once melted add the sliced onions.

Cook the onions until tender, and add beef broth, thyme and bay leaf.

Simmer the soup until it reaches the desired texture. Serve with buttered toast points.

Onion Soup
2 T butter
2 T coconut oil
2 lbs. onions, sliced
4 C beef broth
1 bay leaf
1/2 t. of thyme

Heat up a cast iron dutch oven or heavy bottom pot and add the butter and oil. Once melted, add the onions and cook until soft (about 15 minutes). Add the broth, bay leaf and thyme and simmer until the soup reaches the desired consistency (about 30-60 minutes). Serve with buttered toast points.

This post is part of Pennywise Platter Thursday and SoupaPalooza. Come join SoupaPalooza at TidyMom and Dine and Dish sponsored byKitchenAid, Red Star Yeast and Le Creuset