Cauliflour soup

I really need to take more pictures of this delicious food for you to see but we just gobble it up to quick!
I'd be wanting to make some cauliflower soup for a long time because a guy I used to work with talked about how excited he was to go back to Wisconsin for Christmas to have it. Apparently it's another thing Wisconsin is famous for....and here I thought it was all about cheese, beer and Green Bay.
Anyway here's the recipe. It was smooth and creamy and delicious. We ate it with whole wheat salteens (which taste the same as regular salteens by the way) but it would be even better with a loaf of sour dough or french bread to dip it in. Yumm...

1 head cauliflower

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 quart low-sodium chicken stock

1 Tbsp parsley

1/3 cup milk

Salt (1tsp?) and Pepper (2tsp?)

Optional additions 3-4 sticks of celery (i didnt have any in the fridge so i left this out), water to help with softening the veggies and thining the soup (if you use too much water just add some cornstarch mixed in cold water to thicken it back up), and 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese (not my favorite kind of cheese so i dont keep it in the house either)

Remove the leaves and thick core from the cauliflower the chop coarsely.
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or soup pot over medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook until softened, but not browned, about 5 minutes.
Add the cauliflower and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the cauliflower is very soft and falling apart, about 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and, using whatever blender you have (immersion or standard), puree the soup and return it to the pot.
Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper and parsley Add  milk (and cheese) Keep warm until ready to serve.

Green Beans with biscuits and gravy

I hate canned green beans. Seriously we got like 12 cans from the hubby's grandma years ago and every time he would open a can i literally had to CHOKE them down UGH :P So when we got like a gallon size bag of them from Bountiful Baskets I was NOT looking forward to eating them. But hubby sauteed them with olive oil and salt and they were nice and edible so long as they were still hot. Then I made a casserole with them and can I just tell you that green beans have never tasted so good! I was surprised! Plus it was super easy.


Here's what you need :

1 can cream of mushroom
a splash of milk (maybe 1/4 cup)
three big handful of great big green beans
Onion powder (maybe 1 Tbsp)
1 batch of buttermilk biscuit dough (or a tube of refrigerator stuff if you have to)

First trim grab your kitchen sheers and trim the ends off and cut into 1 inch strips and put in a 8inch square dish
sprinkle with onion powder (i sauteed mine for a minute or two but it was probably unnecessary)
then add the cream of mushroom and milk and mix it all together
 Bake at 425 for 15 minutes to get it all heated up (you could even microwave it for like 7 or 8 minutes instead of baking it for this part)
Top the heated mixture with biscuit dough and bake for another 15-18 minutes. Just till the biscuits are nice and golden brown on top.

scoop it out and enjoy!

PS this reheated really well also.