That's What Friends Are For!!!

Yesterday I was having one of those days where I just needed a helping hand. A very close friend of mines came over to the rescue without even me asking. She asked if she could cook which was fine with me. Normally, I would say no I'll cook but with a pounding headache and my precious 3 month old demanding my attention I was grateful. I had some sea scallops in the frig and also some chicken. She choose the scallops which I was happy with. She took the baby into the kitchen with her as I headed to my room for just a little rest to get rid of my headache. To my surprise I was called down maybe an hour later to something delicious.

Seared Scallops and Indian Spiced Spinach Penne Pasta

She seared the scallops in butter and simply seasoned with salt and pepper. They were delicate and yummy! As for the pasta, she use a penne pasta* I bought from Trader Joes and tossed with spinach*, garlic*, some vegetable curry (I get from my local Asian market), some extra virgin olive oil, butter*, salt & pepper and grated parm cheese.

Everything was delish, and I so appreciated this little break. Thanks Nina!! Love ya!

*Organic

Creamy Broccoli Soup

Before I even had the chance to freeze the Creamy Curry Onion Soup from my previous post, my five year old wanted some soup. He loves broccoli, so I decided to add some steamed organic broccoli to the soup. I warmed the creamy curry onion soup first and then blended it with my hand blender. Once that was done I add the steamed broccoli and some of the water that it steamed in to the pot of creamy curry onion soup.

I then took my hand blender again with all contents in the pot and blended to creamy goodness. You can obviously add more water (from the steam broccoli if there is any left) or broth to bring cream consistency to your soup. I also topped with a little bit are fresh parmigiana cheese. The flavors from the Creamy Curry Onion Soup brought a nice body of flavor to this version of a Creamy Broccoli Soup. Need I say more. Left overs brought to life once again. Enjoy!

Wholefood's Grand Opening!!

Talk about a Grand Opening, Plymouth Meeting, PA Wholefoods grand opening was that plus more. The parking lot was jammed packed with eager and anxious customers waiting to finally enter the largest Wholefoods Market in the Philadelphia Region.
With the store opening at 10am they started things off with the breaking of bread which was great. Customers were greeted pleasantly throughout the store which was warming. Everyone seemed happy to be there and welcoming. I felt like a kid in a big candy store with thousands of healthy, helpful options for everyone in my home to enjoy.

The Philadelphia Eagles Pep Band strutted throughout with a certain swagger as they played different known tunes for shopping customers.


This is a first for me, a trail mix bar.

Remember the coconut ice cream I blog about in a previous post? Here they have 11 different flavors to choose from. Some flavors are new for me, and I can't wait to try . They were on sale too.

The bakery section was divine. From freshly baked breads, danishes, muffins, cookies, pretzels, cakes, pies, and......

more, and....

and so much more.

There's a Brick Oven Pizza!! Got to try the four cheeses - so good!

Flips offer burgers, and hot dogs for those who come in for a quick munch. A good thing about flip is the beef for the burgers are from local farmer and its ground and forms by hand.

There's a bulk section that offers local honey, as well as blue agave, olive oils, and brown rice syrup along. They also provide different sized containers for all of these including the little honey bear for those who like.


I was there for a good 3 hours just going through the whole store a couple of times. These are just a few things that this huge building offers. You can find out more here: wholefoods plymouth meeting. There was also a good handful of different vendors in the store that I plan on blogging about in the very near future so stay tune. To be continued....

SOUPS UP!!!

Yesterday I went to Wholefoods and smelled something different in the hot soup section( yes, I can detect a different soup by smell without even looking, lol). So to my surprise, there was a Curry Onion Soup and when I opened it I was in love. I grabbed one of the little sample cups to fill for me to try. Oh my, it was decadent and smooth tasting. I didn't want a 8 oz or a 16oz, I wanted the big boy 32oz container. However, I had other groceries that took priority in my cart. I was determined because after tasting that, I know that's what I wanted for dinner. So I looked at the ingredients list once more - this time to memorize. I had everything at home, so why not make it myself. That's exactly what I did too. Here's what I rounded up in my lab:


Creamy Onion Curry Soup

3 large onions, sliced*
1 pint of heavy cream**
2 tablespoons of butter *,**
1 tablespoon of green chiles, diced
1 tablespoon of curry power
1 tablespoon of sofrito (click here for recipe)
1 cup of water

-In a saucepan melt the 2tbsp of butter on a medium heat, and add onions.
-Sprinkle a little bit of salt to help draw moisture out of the onions.




-Allow to cook uncovered and stirring until the onions become soft
-Once soft, add curry powder and mix into the onions
-Allow to cook for 1-2 minutes


-Add remaining ingredients and bring to a gentle boil.
-Once a gentle boil forms, turn the heat onto a low simmer
-Allow to simmer covered for 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally
-Once done, season to your liking with salt, pepper, and fresh herbs.

It came out pretty close to the wholefoods version. However, I think I would like this version even better if I used coconut milk instead. With the remaining portion left I will blend it and freeze it. I can use for a cream of onion base for future recipes.

*organic
**can substitute with coconut milk to make vegetarian/vegan

Free Bags of Grocories at Wholefood!!!!!

A friend of mines called me telling me that the new WholeFoods (which
hasn't opened yet) is giving away free bags of groceries to the first
100 people in line at 5pm today. I only had an hour to get there
after getting her call. So I picked up kids and headed towards the
new store. Despite some traffic we pulled up 10 minutes to 5pm. I
literially scream at the size of this store - it's huge! I was so
excited being as though I'm a avid WholeFood shopper. They posted the
giveaway on there facebook account. People waiting in line where
excited almost like they were waiting in line for a concert. Everyone
standing in line received a wholefoods reusable bag filled the
following items:

1.) 365 Brand All Natural Sandwich Cremes (cookies)
2.) 365 Brand Lightly Salted Tortilla Chips (restaurant style)
3.) 365 Brand Lavender Body Lotion
4.) 365 Brand Macaroni & Cheese
5.) 365 Brand Mild Salsa
6.) 365 Brand Creamy Peanut Butter
7.) 365 Brand Organic Hot Chocolate Mix
8.) 365 Brand Organic Pasta Sauce
9.) 365 Brand Whole Wheat Penne Pasta
10. And a cool Re-Usable Wholefood Bag

The Plymouyh Meeting PA Store will open next Tuesday January 12, 2010.
Thanks Wholefoods!!!!

Did somebody say Sofrito?!?!

A few days ago I was in the market and came across 2 beautiful bouquets
of Cilantro. I know cilantro is a love it hate it herb but I
love it. So I bought two full bunches happily to take home and come up
with some creative tasty treats. Well, days went by and I didn't come
up with anything. Surprisingly the bunches were still looking great in
the Frig and I didn't want them to go to waste. So I started looking
in my cookbooks and online for some inspiration. I wanted to make soup
but that meant that I would make more then one kind of soup because it
was just that much cilantro. I came across some sites that had recipes
for sofrito. Genius! I could make Sofrito! I like to make soups and
sauces and always use the ingredients that I put into my sifrito
blend. I used both bunches of cilantro, green, red and yellow peppers,
1.5 bulbs of garlic and 2 large onions and some extra virgin olive oil.
I throw all of that into the blender and blended on a medium high speed.
You could smell the herb-y goodness through the spout. With all that I used
I had at least 4 cups to play with. So I allowed it to sit in the Frig over
night and then started freezing by the the tablespoon. I froze about 32
individual tablespoons in a freezer container awaiting future soups,
stews and sauces.

Good food, good eats!