Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I have a confession. My resolution for 2016 was to get more comfortable with my body. I'm not so happy with how clothes are fitting and the amount of energy that I do not have. I did so well all of January, and then our first snow storm of the season hit dumping over 2 feet of snow on the ground. It seriously derailed all of my best laid plans. I went from meal planning every week to eating butter, chocolate, and carbs. SOMEONE HELP ME! 

This is mainly a public declaration to help me be more accountable, and as my invisible internet friends, you're all responsible for helping me stay on track. Ha! Just kidding. But seriously, the direction of this blog may take a turn as I attempt to keep myself on track by feeding myself real food and incorporating more exercise in my daily routine. Maybe I'll get my act together and start blogging about my weekly goals? Maybe I'll post more "real food" recipes? Maybe I'll do both? My main goal is to keep blogging, keep taking photos, and keep making this space my own. I hope you all stick around. 

I've made my meal plan for next week and I just ordered one of the new Fitbit Altas. I'm super excited that it has a feature that will remind me to move because I love to be all cozy on the couch with a book and nap after work, and that's probably not such a healthy habit. I'm also part of the Tone It Up community, and it's been a fantastic motivator for me. 

So, a few changes may show up in this space as I try to make some healthy changes in my own life, but today I have a cozy meal for you. Broccoli cheddar soup to be exact. It's what I made during the blizzard earlier this year where I was stuck in my house for an entire weekend. I hope you enjoy! 

This is honestly one of my favorite comfort meals, and I crave it once the weather turns colder. It's hearty, warms up nicely, and can be paired with little ham and cheese sliders brushed with savory herbed butter. Yes. Do that. 

This soup has everything you want in a comfort meal: cheese, butter, half and half, and more cheese. Oh, and it's easy, too. And really creamy. Are you sold yet? 

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

recipe from Simply Scratch 

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

1 small white onion, diced

1/2 cup pre-cut matchstick carrots

1/4 cup flour

2 cups half and half

2 cups vegetable broth

1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets 

8 ounces sharp cheddar, grated (please grate your own...it really makes this soup phenomenal) 

salt & pepper to taste

In a medium pot melt 2 tablespoons butter and add in onion and carrots. Cook over medium heat until vegetables are fragrant and tender. 

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add in broccoli florets and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove broccoli and place in a large bowl of ice water. Let broccoli rest until adding to the soup. 

Next, add in the remaining 1/4 cup of butter and allow to melt. Sprinkle flour over butter and stir constantly until cooked. Slowly add in the broth and half and half. Stir until combined. 

Drain and add broccoli to the soup cooking uncovered on medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until soup is thick and broccoli is tender. Do not let soup boil. Using an immersion blender, pulse broccoli florets until smooth, or until desired consistency is reached. 

Add in half of the cheese and stir until combined and creamy. Season with salt and pepper. 

ENJOY!

pear & ginger crumble

It's been almost an entire year since I've written in this space, and almost as long since I've baked anything at all! So much has changed in my life and today was the perfect day to bake, and write a little bit.

So many new things in my life...all of them good...but today I feel a little unsettled. All the things that are different now were things that I'd been praying for a very long time, but they've required a stretching of my faith in a new way. When you pray for things for a long time without any sign of change, your faith is built almost in the way muscle is built. You keep exercising the faith, trudging through what seems to be lifetimes of waiting on an answer, and little-by-little, your faith muscles grow until one day you look back and realize the strength that was built. But, blessings and answered prayers build your faith, too. Blessings have a way of stretching you. Of enlarging your territory. It's easy to get overwhelmed with doubts of being able to sustain the new. Specifically for me, it's been hard to find my place in this new season of overflow because I became accustomed to the desert season. Please don't misunderstand me. I am grateful for the breakthroughs that have come. I am also grateful that I am now experiencing God's faithfulness in a new way. I am discovering new things about him. I am uncovering that even in a season of blessing faith and character can be stretched. I'm amazed at how God has fulfilled my heart's desires, but how he has also shown me things that need to change. I hope I never get tired of discovering new things about him.

What does this have to do with pear crumble? Not a single thing. This space has become a place to document food (because it's fun and I love it), but also a place of remembrance. A place I can write  about what's going on in my life and then come back to as a way to remember how far i've come, and how faithful God is to me. 

Pear & Ginger Crumble (with Browned Butter)

recipe from Shutterbean

For the Pears

4 pears (I used Bartlett & Red) peeled & chopped

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon flour

1 inch knob ginger, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Crumble

1/2 cup butter, cubed

1 cup flour

1/3 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

Method

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. 

In a baking dish, combine chopped pears, sugars, cinnamon, flour, ginger, vanilla, & salt. Set aside.

Place cubed butter a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Allow butter to melt, then foam, then finally take off the heat when brown specks begin to form on the bottom of the pan. More information about browning butter can be found here. 

While the butter cools slightly, combine flour, sugar, oats, and walnuts. Pour butter over dry ingredients and mix together forming the crumble. Spoon crumble mixture over the pears and spread evenly over the filling. 

Bake for 35 - 45 minutes until filling is bubbling through the golden brown topping mixture.