Fish and Cheese Chowder

Since I've been pregnant, I've had a hard time eating any kind of fish except tuna fish. Fish that has low mercury levels, such as tuna, are great for you, especially when you're pregnant and little brains are developing. I've heard it recommended that you eat fish 2-3 times per week. Any more than that could be too much mercury.

But I get tired of just of tuna after a while. And any other fish makes me nauseous. But I found this soup recipe in my book of collected recipes. It's something that I found and clipped from a copy of the very first issue of Country magazine about ten years ago. I thought it might be worth a try. I modified it slightly from the original version, and it was great! It's definitely something I can eat without getting sick.

I used tilapia fillets for this recipe, but you could probably use whatever kind of fish suits you best. The recipe didn't specify what kind of fish to use.

Fish and Cheese Chowder

3/4 lb fish fillets, fresh or frozen
2 T. butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1 large diced carrot
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1/4 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
dash of paprika
1 14-oz can low sodium chicken broth
3 c. milk
1 c. cheddar cheese

If fish is frozen, thaw it for about 30 minutes. Melt butter in large saucepan. Add vegetables. Saute until onion is transparent. Meanwhile, cut fish into 1/2 inch cubes. Blend in flour, salt and paprika. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Very gradually add milk and broth. Cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Add fish and simmer until fish flakes easily with a fork, about 5 minutes for fresh fish and 10 for frozen. Add cheese and stir until melted.

Here are the veggies I chopped while the butter was melting.

Saute your veggies in the melted butter until the onion is transparent.

Cut the fish fillets into 1/2 inch cubes while the veggies are sauteing.

Gradually add broth and milk before adding fish.

Simmer until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

Missionaries and my violin pledge

I don't know if anyone reading this remembers my violin pledge, but if you do, you might be wondering what happened with it. A couple of things happened, actually.

The first thing that happened is what I'd call life. It just gets in the way sometimes. I'm sure if I was more diligent that wouldn't be such a problem. But when you're pregnant and sick a lot, you just don't feel so driven.

But the other thing that happened was a probably a better excuse. My brother (number four in our family of seven) was called on a mission and left September 12th. Several years ago he helped my parents buy that violin, paying a substantial portion of it--at least half. They did it mostly so I could have a good violin to play, although it has remained a family possession. And now that my brother is on his mission for our church, he needs funds so that he can continue his mission.

Because serving a mission is so important to us, we have all agreed to sell the violin. Any sacrifice is worth it. Why, you might ask? It goes way back ...

After Christ's apostles died, the original church apostatized. The priesthood was lost. Groups of educated men met together to put together creeds, and ordinances and doctrines were changed. Later, other churches recognized that pieces of the truth were missing and formed new churches. However, they still lacked divine authority and continuing revelation.

In 1830 the Lord restored his ancient church to the earth through Joseph Smith. Along with the restored gospel was revealed the saving ordinances and covenants, organization of Christ's church, the plan of salvation, and other wonderful things that had been lost.

Knowing what we know of Christ's gospel plan, we know why we are here on earth and what God hopes for all his children. We know that Christ lives today and wants all men to come to Him. We know that his children can't receive the blessings that God wants for us unless we come to Christ and live as he would have us live. Through his restored gospel, we know what God would have us do to come to Christ.

Knowing all this, is it any wonder that we want to bring this message to the whole world?

Fresh peach pie ... the perfect September dessert

Brian and I love peaches. Brian loves them even more than I. This year and last year in September we bought half bushels of peaches and canned them. With what is left, I usually make a pie or a cobbler. Brian especially loves this pie, and he looks forward to it all year! :)

Fresh Peach Pie

1 c. sugar
4 T. cornstarch
1 c. water
2 T. lemon juice
1/4 c. butter
4-6 sliced, peeled peaches
prepared 9-inch pie crust (flour, graham or vanilla wafer)

Mix the sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan. Add the water and lemon juice and cook on medium high until quite thick, stirring constantly. Add butter and stir in as it melts. Add the peaches. Pour the filling into the prepared pie crust. Cool completely in fridge.

Makes: 8 servings

Broccoli ham puff

I got this recipe years ago out of the magazine Quick Cooking (which is a great magazine, by the way). I've modified it slightly to fit what I like. It's my favorite way to use ham.

Broccoli Ham Puff

2 T. butter

1 c. flour

4 eggs

1 c. milk

Filling:

3 T. butter

3 T. flour

1 c. milk

3 c. steamed fresh or frozen broccoli

1 1/2 c. cubed cooked ham

1/3 c. sour cream

1 1/2 t. lemon juice

Place first butter listed in an 8x8 baking dish, and put in the oven that is preheating to 425 degrees F. Keep an eye on it, and pull it out when melted. Meanwhile, mix flour, eggs and milk until smooth. Pour into 8x8 dish with melted butter. Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until golden and puffed.

Meanwhile, melt second amount of butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour until smooth. Gradually add the milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook until thickened. Add the remaining ingredients. Cook until heated through.

When egg puff is done, remove  from oven and spoon ham mixture into the center. Serve immediately 

Makes: 4-6 servings

Article published in FeedLot Magazine

This is probably my last article for a while until after the baby is born, so I thought that I'd share it. I'm actually kind of pleased with how it turned out. The link below takes you to the magazine's website, where you click on the link to the left to see the Sept./ Oct. issue. My article is on page 8.

http://www.feedlotmagazine.com/

Cauliflower cheese soup

I really like this soup. It's simple, and it's one of the few ways I know of to use cauliflower. This recipe uses a lot of cauliflower. It's a meatless dish, so it's something a vegetarian can eat. But I like it with breaded fish sticks! Mmmm!

Cauliflower Cheese Soup

1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets

1 large potato, peeled and diced

1 carrot, chopped

3 medium cloves of garlic

1 chopped onion

1 t. salt

4 c. water

2 c. grated cheddar cheese

3/4 c. milk

1 t. dill

black pepper to taste

Reserve 2-3 cups of the cauliflower and set aside. Place the rest of the cauliflower, potato, carrot, garlic, onion, salt and water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer until all the vegetables are very tender. Meanwhile, steam reserved cauliflower until crisp-tender. Pour large pot of vegetables into a large bowl, let cool for a few minutes, then blend in batches in your blender and return to pot. Add the steamed cauliflower and remaining ingredients. Heat through and serve.

Oatmeal Apple Muffins

I really love these muffins, and I've made them for years. They always say "fall time!" for me. I hope you enjoy them!

Oatmeal Apple Muffins

1 egg

3/4 c. milk

1 c. raisins

1 chopped apple

1/2 c. oil

1 c. wheat flour

1 c. quick oats

1/4 c. sugar

1 T. baking powder

1 t. salt

1 t. nutmeg

1/4 t. cloves

1 T. cinnamon

Beat egg in large bowl. Add milk, raisins, apple and oil and mix. In a medium bowl, mix all dry ingredients. Add to large bowl and mix just until moistened. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full and bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.

Makes: 12 muffins

California tax on rural residents

Reading Jeff Fowle's most recent blog post was an eye opener. I didn't know that the state of California had levied a fire tax on California's rural residents. Jeff makes some great points. I would also suggest reading the comments. Having taken a range ecology class, I can see how our suppression of fire, and then building homes with all that extra tinder around, was a dumb idea. Also, if these are public lands, it shouldn't just be the rural residents that pay for the fires. If everyone in the state can go enjoy those public lands, then everyone in the state should take part in helping with it.

Women's rights--still an issue in a different way

A family member had this article on her blog. I started reading it and was amazed by the power of this writer's thought process. I think it is a great read. It brings out some points that no one ever thinks about. It would be especially meaningful to LDS readers in light of the recent gay rights controversy.

Plato's son; Augustine's heir