a cold snowy day

What would be better on a snowy Sunday than homemade soup. I used homemade beef broth, shell beans I froze this summer,tomato's I canned,summer squash I canned,onion and garlic,carrots and celery. Also added some egg noodles and a Parmesan cheese rind from the refrigerator. This soup was warm and comforting, I usually don't make vegetable soup I thought it was a good way to use veggies I canned this summer.It was so good and will become a regular recipe in my kitchen.I also made cornbread with corn from the local mill in Plymouth. Since I did not have to leave the house today, I spent the day cooking and working on craft projects.

Local beef and squash

I had wanted to try this meal for a while. This week being so cold seemed like the right time.http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nuevo-chipotle-beef-in-butternut-squash-boats-nuevo-latino-beef-dishes-recipe/index.html this was the winning entry on the food network for a beef cook off. The beef is slow cooked in a flavorful sauce with tomato,vinegar,chipolte,cumin then served over 1 quarter of a roasted butternut squash then topped with tomato and avacado. I thought it had over cooked in the crockpot but it was great and would make again. The beef was local, and the squash and the tomato was a (backyard beauty ) from Maine. This was a very healthy dish and did not feel like healthy food.

Its the New year

We are aiming for a healthy new year here, I have only missed one day of walking since Christmas. Also trying healthier menus, lots of salad and soup. Today we had Ellie kriegers grilled thai beef salad from her book the food you crave, It is a really satisfying salad. I also made homemade clam chowder yesterday. It was from clams Joe dug this summer. This year instead of freezing them raw whole I ground them up and froze them in there juice and also used clam broth I froze from the Qhahogs i cooked for stuffed quahogs. The clams ground up were great no big chewy pieces all small and tender and it tasted very fresh. The potatoes were also local.