Cream of Broccoli Soup

Every Wednesday night at my house is soup night. We all decide on a soup and try to make something new each week. With soup it's really not that hard. There are a million soups and often times I find myself using up veggies and other ingredients I have on hand in the fridge and pantry.

This is a great way to get kids to eat broccoli. My kids are pretty good about eating veggies but broccoli is not one of them. They can't see whole pieces of broccoli since this is blended and they love it!

This recipe is modified slightly from the book - CIA Book of Soups. You can find it at Barnes and Noble or on Amazon.

Cream of Broccoli Soup
1 16oz pkg broccoli
3 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 small celery stalks, chopped
1/4 c. flour
4-5 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. milk
salt and pepper to taste
juice of half a lemon

In a large stock pot heat oil and add broccoli, onion and celery. Cook until veggies are tender. I like to use the organic packages of fresh broccoli. I can't find organic any other way but you could substitute regular fresh broccoli, just weigh it to get an approximate amount.

Add in flour and stir to combine. Cook 3-5 minutes to cook off the flour taste making sure the flour doesn't burn.

Add in broth, stir again to combine. Let simmer 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat. Using an immersion blender (my favorite new kitchen item) blend soup until it is smooth. I got my Cuisinart SmartStick Immersion Blender at Sur la Table but you can find then just about anywhere. If you don't have an immersion blender transfer soup to a blender and blend.

Return to heat and add milk. Stir to combine. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Serve hot with a little sprinkle of your favorite cheese!

Playmobil Secret Agent Headquarters

I have to admit this is a pretty cool toy. There is a secret agent secret room that opens up. There is a transforming car/vehicle, a motion detector alarm, a trap door leading to a jail cell, and tons of accessories. The people have lots of weapons to hold in their hands, and modern features like laptops and dvds!

And, the best part, it is very compact. I expected a huge set up by the size of the box but I would say it is approx. 18 inches wide by 12 inches high!

This was purchased as a gift for my son. The price tag said $89.99. Expensive but seems to have already provided hours of play and fun. I'm not sure where the toy was purchased but I have seen it at Toys R' Us and Playmobil online - among others.

My only complaint about this was assembly. There were photo instructions without labeled pieces or bags. When I say bags I mean there were probably 12 different bags of pieces and when you started with step 1 you had to open several (4-5) bags to get the necessary pieces. Why not just have all the pieces for step 1 in the same bag?! That would be to simple huh?!

Anyway, we also had to look a lot at the box for pieces/parts that were not listed in the instructions at all. We figured it all out in the end but it did take me 2 1/2 hours to assemble. That was of course with my two boys needing to show me every piece. My advice would be to put it together when the kids are sleeping and it would go much faster!

*****For my boys, ages 2 and 5, this is not an age appropriate toy, however, they love it and play with it supervised on a daily basis. They have acquired many many toys that are not age appropriate. Some have worked out and some have not. If you have kids that still like to put things in their mouth I would recommend against this one. Some of the pieces are really really tiny. The box says for ages 7-12.*****

Pros - compact, interesting, provides hours of play and using imagination
Cons - assembly is lengthy, expensive

Deconstructed Cheese Ball

Everyone I know, including myself, loves cheese ball, however, it is a bit unattractive in its ball form rolled in nuts. I deconstruct the cheese ball when I want an elegant look which is great for a dinner party.

These cheese ball bites are very easy to make. You will need a sharp knife to dice the veggies very small.

You will need to following ingredients:

1 baguette - sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
4 oz cream cheese - whipped is best for this application
1/4 onion - finely diced
1/4 red bell pepper - finely diced
1/4 orange bell pepper - finely diced
2 oz monterey jack or cheddar cheese - sliced in thin strips
4-5 olives - finely diced
8-10 walnut halves - sliced in thin strips
6 slices salami - sliced in thin strips

There isn't an exact recipe for these. Use what veggies you have (and love) in the fridge. Mix and match what ever you want! I made these for a few people who don't love spice but diced jalapeno peppers would be really yummy!

If you don't want to cut out bread rounds you could also use crackers.

From your baguette cut 1/4 inch slices. Using a cookie cutter or a small rimmed glass cut out rounds. Don't throw away your scraps. Toast them and use for bread crumbs in a later dish!

Smear with cream cheese. I used whipped cream cheese to make it easy to spread but you could use regular. Just make sure it is really soft as to not tear your bread.

Finely dice all of your veggies. If you are using salami and cheese just slice them into thin strips.
Cut slices from walnut halves. You don't need to be exact. Just keep them thin.

Start making thin rows of veggies, cheese, and meat with your diced and sliced pieces.

I did it in this order:
red bell pepper
walnut
olive
cheese
salami
onion
orange bell pepper

Keep in mind what flavors you want the most of and keep those toward the center. The longer the row is the more flavor you will get from that ingredient. You can make these a few hours in advance and keep in the fridge.