The construction in our kitchen will be completed tomorrow! Our new hood is in, the drywall has been replaced and smoothed, and tomorrow the ceiling will be repainted. It will be so nice to have that done...especially because we listed our house for sale on Monday, and we have our third showing tonight (Tuesday), with another to be scheduled on Friday or Saturday, and an open house on Sunday! It's hard enough to keep a house in show condition with a toddler, let alone daily construction dust! God help me!
In case things weren't crazy enough, The Hubs is having his wisdom taken out tomorrow (Thursday), so I've been trying to make lots of soup this week.
So here's what's cooking this week, soup edition.
Sunday:
Cream of Peanut Soup. We had our first taste of spring on Sunday. It's was almost 80 out. Gorgeous and sunny. So what was I doing? Slaving over a hot stove making soup for The Hubs. Yep, I love him.
I found this recipe on the Colonial Williamsburg website, after reading about it in The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American by Jeff Smith. (Yes, I'm now the kind of person who reads cookbooks). This particular book is both cookbook and a history of American cuisine, so I highly recommend it. You can read a bit about the history of the soup here. Peanut soup sounds a bit unusual, but it was really, really good, especially with crushed roasted peanuts as garnish!
I also decided to finally make the rest of our Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups since I've had the noodles thawing in the frig for a few days and didn't want to waste the ingredients. I'll have to play with the ratios a bit so I can make one batch that uses all the ingredients. I did add some Italian sausage this time around, and it was a really addition! The only challenge I had was that the noodles were a little wily after been heated, then frozen, then thawed, then warmed up in a pot of hot water. They had a tendency to tear, so I used the good ones for roll-ups, and used the rest of a more traditional lasagna. Still tasted great!
Monday:
Spicy Tomato Soup. I discovered this recipe when I was getting ready for my surgery last year. I love the rosemary, basil, and dill. The Hubs loves the chili flakes I add in, along with the chili powder. Everyone's happy. After learning how to chop herbs at my knife skills last week, I bought fresh rosemary for this week. It smells SO good. I'm already dreaming of a little herb garden in my new house!
Whole Wheat Snickerdoodles. I was quite pleasantly surprised when we got a call for our first showing just 33 minutes after our listing went live. My mom, a former realtor, suggested I make snickerdoodles just before the showing so the kitchen smells all cinnamony...and the potential buyers would have a warm snack. Snickerdoodles were the cookie of choice in our home growing up, and I had JUST packed my old Betty Crocker cook book a few hours earlier. I looked up the recipe online and realized I didn't have any shortening, so I started searching for plan B. The recipe I made instead has no shortening and used whole wheat flour so I can try to convince myself that they are healthy. I wish they were because I had about six...and of course, some dough!
Tuesday:
Chicken Stew with Dumplings. Well, that was the idea anyway. Our first showing got moved up an hour, and then another showing was added. We ended up using an old Applebee's gift card instead.
We scheduled a third showing for Wednesday, so I made a big double patch of cookies. I now have a big container full of pre-rolled cookies for future showings.
Wednesday:
Rustic Tortellini Soup. Speaking of double batches, that's what I'm doing with this soup at naptime today and we'll have it after the showing tonight.
Thursday:
Slow Cooker Dill Potato Soup. We need to be at the dentist's office at 7am, so it seemed like a good day for a crockpot meal! My kitchen will also be a construction zone for the last time, so there's another good reason for the crockpot. The Hubs might not be up for a thicker soup like this, but he'll have plenty of other options, and I know he'll like it when he starts to feel his jaw again! (Thankfully, I put the kibosh on any potential showings for this day).
Friday:
Cauliflower Soup. Like any good Dutchie, The Hubs loves cauliflower. When I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it. We found some really pretty purple cauliflower, so the soup will have some nice color, too.
Saturday:
Italian Wedding Soup. One last day of soup. This is another one The Hubs' raved about when I've made it in the past. Of course, as I type this, I realize that we have a second showing to one of the buyers from Monday night, so this one might not happen either.
I may need to research some meals that can be quickly packed and eaten in a car as we drive around. Any ideas?
Eet Smakelijk!