Easy Cheesy Potato Soup
This easy cheesey potato soup recipe is perfect for when the weather forecaster is predicting a hefty snowstorm coming our way. You’ve heard that before but you decide not to give into the panic shopping that takes place across the region. Just take a look around your cupboard and throw this easy soup together. You’ll be surprised how good it turns out.
Ingredients:
4 large potatoes
1 quart milk (4 cups)
1/2 to 1 diced onion
1 rib of celery diced
1 small carrot diced
4 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon (heaping) flour
1 eight ounce cream cheese
Dash of pepper
Directions:
- Cut potatoes into small pieces and cook in salted water, with the onions celery and carrots.
- In a heavy pan melt the butter over low heat. Stir in flour and cook until bubbly.
- Slowly add half of the milk. Add hot, cooked potatoes and onion mixture.
- Use a potato masher to break up potatoes a bit. Add the rest of the milk and the salt and pepper.
- Cook over medium heat until hot. If it is not thick enough, add 1 tablespoon of flour with 1/2 cup cold milk and add to the soup, stir frequently.
- Cut cream cheese into cubes and add to soup, garnish with fresh parsley or chives.
Note : I always keep a bag of Mirepoix ( a French name for a combination of onion, celery and carrots) in the freezer as a quick soup starter. You can pick it up at any grocery store in the freezer section.
Tags: cream cheese, Potatoes, Soup, Vegetarian
Trunk or Treat
Russell Veggies participates in their first ever Trunk or Treat @ The Y, I decided to join in on the fun and uses some of our remaining produce to decorate a “trunk”. I used our farm truck filled with pumpkins and gourds and miscellaneous fall items to decorate. Threw in a few Halloween props and started handing out treats for the kiddo’s. I gave out Halloween pencils, erasers, glow sticks and spider rings. The truck made a great place for parents to take pictures using the “Great Pumpkin” as a centerpiece.
This was a new and exciting experience for me and I was amazed at the number of children that attended. I plan on making this an annual event for Russell Veggies and look forward to creating a new look each year. Come join us next year at the The Y in Floyd County. I’ll keep you posted on the event day, it’s sure to be a fun one.
Dana's kiddo's @ The Y
Val's Pumpkin Chili
I experminted with something a little different this week when entering the First Annual Chili Cook-Off at the “Y”. I decide to try using something seasonal to make a unique chili instead of the traditional one I usually prepare. Too my surprise it was really pretty good, good enough to be the Grand Prize Winner! At first I was pretty skecptial trying something so unusual but decided what the heck, the worse that could happen was that no one would eat any. Boy, was I wrong. I didn’t even have a spoonful to bring home. Try it out for yourself, it’s really good.
Ingredients:
| 2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, diced 1 green bell pepper, diced 2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained 1 (46 fluid ounce) can tomato juice 1 (28 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes with juice |
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice 1 tablespoon chipotle chili powder 2 tablespoons white sugar |
** I used fresh pumpkin and 1 quart each of home canned tomato juice and whole tomatoes chopped
Directions:
| In a large pot over medium heat, cook beef until brown; drain. Stir in onion and bell pepper and cook 5 minutes. Stir in beans, tomato juice, diced tomatoes and pumpkin puree. Season with pumpkin pie spice, chili powder and sugar. Simmer 1 hour. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of dark chocolate. |
Tags: chipotle peppers, Pumpkin, Tomatoes
- 2010 Making Strides Breast Cancer walk
October 24th I participated in my thirteenth Making Strides Breast Cancer walk. I began walking with my sisters in memory of my grandmother, Elizabeth Wood, who passed away from breast cancer. Years later (2003) my sister, Denise Bachmann Klotz, passed away from the same dreaded disease. We now walk in both their memories, last year as well as this year Russell Veggies sponsored teams to walk. Last year we had a small team of walkers only about twelve of us walked. But this year, well that’s a whole different story. This year I asked the same people to walk again and we were going to try and get a few more to join us. A co-worker of mine (Andria Cardoso) asked if we could walk in honor of her mother, Patti Cardoso, a two time survivor of breast cancer. She began gathering friends and family to join us and we asked member and employees of the Floyd County Y to join us. Before we knew it we had 100+ walkers. It was then when we asked the Y to let us use their buses for transportation and to see if they wanted to co-sponsor us in the walk. They were willing to help with transportation as well as help with purchasing t-shirts for the walkers.
What a wonderful day we had for the walk. We probably had 80 walkers to ride buses and caravan to the Waterfront Park in downtown Louisville. Together we raised almost $2,500 in support of the American Cancer Society. This money helps thousands of breast cancer patients and their families face their journey through services such as Reach to Recovery and Look Good…Feel Better.
Thank you all who participated and made donations to our team. Thanks also to the Y for your support and sponsorship. We are already making plans for next year and we hope to have even more walkers next year. If you want to join us next year contact me… valarie@russellveggies.com
Kenny's Jalapeno Poppers
One of Kenny’s favorite things to grow in the garden are peppers. My brother-in-law Gregg turned us on to this great appetizer a few years ago (he uses cream cheese with chives for his) and we have been hooked every since. Kenny altered his creation so he can claim fame to these now. Try them out for yourself, once you start eating them you can hardly stop. Kinda like a Lays potato chip.
Ingredients
20 fresh jalapeno peppers
12 ounces cream cheese
1/2 lb package bacon
Directions
Cut steams off peppers and cut them in half long ways, remove seeds from peppers. Fill each pepper with cream cheese, them wrap 1/2 slice bacon around each pepper half. Secure with wooden tooth pick and place on baking sheet. Place in 450 degree oven for 30 minutes or until bacon is fully cooked. Remove and serve when cooled down. ENJOY !
Tags: Jalapeno
Buttercrunch Head Lettuce
Lettuce is a vegetable that would be good to add you your diet. Most people can have positive benefits by adding more lettuce to their diets. Lettuce is green leafy and full of good nutrients that keep our bodies strong and healthy. The fresher the lettuce the better it is for us, so if you are able to have a garden to grow lettuce it’s a good idea to do. If you can’t grow your own, pick it up at your local farmer’s market. Lettuce is a tasty addition to most meals. It is great to have a salad made of different kinds of lettuce.
Lettuce comes in many different varieties. Head lettuce is very popular, it is tasty and easy to wash and fix into a nice salad. Leaf lettuce is better for you. Leaf lettuce is ready to eat in about forty five days after you plant it. Leaf lettuce is heat resistant so it is a good choice for hot climates. The leaves of the leaf lettuce are curly and a light green color. Leaf lettuce goes well in a salad and is good to mix with other lettuces and salad fixings.
Another variety of lettuce is the Black Seeded Simpson. Black Seeded Simpson lettuce is easy to grow and is a very popular variety of lettuce. It is ready to eat in about forty five days after planted. It can be used all season long if you keep it properly picked.
When you plant a lettuce garden you can plant several different varieties of lettuce together. Then you can pick the different varieties of lettuce all at one time to make a tasty salad with many different types of lettuce in it. You can also plant spinach or endive in a lettuce garden for added variety. If you don’t have space outdoors for a lettuce garden you can grow in pots on your decks or patios.
When lettuce is cut fresh and severed right away it gives you vitamin K. Vitamin K is an important vitamin in the healing of wounds. Lettuce can help you heal from surgery or other cuts. Eating fresh Lettuce every day is a good habit to get into. The fresher lettuce is the better it is for you.
Tags: Lettuce
Loose leaf salad
Loose leaf lettuce (also called leaf lettuce) varieties are those
lettuces that do not form a compact head. Their flavor tends to
be mild and sweet. Most home gardeners who grow lettuce
raise the loose leaf type. Loose leaf lettuce typically is one of
the firs and last offerings at Farmers’ Markets.
The sweet, tangy taste of this apple cider vinegar dressing is a perfect compliment .
Ingredients:
2 cups of green loose leaf lettuce (measured after leaves have been torn into pieces)
Possible add-ins:
– Sliced radishes – Apples, with peels, cut into thin slices – Dried cranberries – Mandarin oranges
– Chopped pecans
Note: This amount of dressing makes one serving
2 teaspoons mild-flavored vegetable oil, such as canola oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Whisk, oil, vinegar and sugar together in a small bowl. Mix with lettuce and any additional salad ingredients, tossing to coat. Serve right away.
Kenny & Val
It’s been a long, hot , great summer for the New Albany Farmer’s Market. Thanks to everyone who attended the market and supported Russell Veggies. Last Saturday was our last day this year for the market and it was a really good day. The weather was wonderful, finally cool fall temperatures; there were lots of familiar faces and long time customers. We will miss seeing each of you every week but look forward to a relaxing couple of months. Kenny can’t wait until October 1st, hunting season begins. He’s ready for some down time and looking forward to a little hunting and fishing.
We will see you all again at the first of May 2011. Please continue to check our website for additional information. I will continue to post recipes, helpful gardening tips, updates at the farm and available produce schedules. We will have fresh eggs available throughout the winter, if you need any please contact us.
Thanks again for a great season,
Val & Kenny Russell
Fresh ready to cut lettuce
Get Fresh – Buy the freshest lettuce you can from a farmer’s market or a grocery store you know that typically has good produce.
Keep it cool – Set your refrigerator and produce drawer temperature and humidity controls correctly. You don’t want your refrigerator temperature set low and the humidity high or your lettuce will “sweat” and get soggy, especially if there is water from the leaves already pooling in the produce bag. Likewise, if you have the fridge set to the coldest setting, and the humidity set too high or the leaves are wet, your lettuce will frost (which is equally as tragic!).
Wrap it Up – If you buy iceberg lettuce (which I don’t really advocate since it is has zero nutritional value), simply wrap it in a moistened paper towel as soon as you get home from the store and place it back in the plastic bag before storing it in the drawer. The really absorbent kind of paper towel works best.
With leafy lettuce greens like romaine, red leaf or green leaf lettuce, you can follow the same process. I have found though that it is better to remove leafy greens from their plastic bag and pat the leaves dry with a paper towel before storing them if they are wet from the produce sprayer at the store. Squeeze the water out from the paper towel and wrap the head of lettuce up. Place the wrapped head of lettuce back in the bag and in the produce drawer.
Room to Breathe – Store your lettuce in your produce drawer with plenty of breathing room. Leaves can be easily bruised if you have lots of other vegetables crammed in with the lettuce.
Water in the Bag? – As soon as you see water pooling up in your the produce bag of lettuce, drain it out if you your going to only use part of the lettuce and storing the rest for later use. Water pooling in the bag can be a sign that your humidity setting is too high, so just keep an eye on it and make adjustments if you notice this happens often
Tags: Lettuce
- Six different kinds of lettuce
Our lettuce is looking great for this time of year and we will be bringing some to the New Albany Farmer’s Market tomorrow. This first planting consist of Red Oak Leaf, Butter Crunch, Black seeded Simpson, Salad Bowl, Kentucky Bibb, and Grand Rapids. We are picking three of the six varieties this week. Stop by and pick up a bag or two.
We have agreed to grow a variety of lettuce for the new local restaurant Artesia, and have come to realize that Kenny planted a ” bunch” of lettuce and we now have an abundance of lettuce to get moving. (http://www.artesiabistro.com/fusion_bistro_and_catering/)
I contacted a couple of other local restaurants and they have aggreed to purchasing form us as well. Patticakes Pies & Cafe (http://patticakesandpiescafe.weebly.com/) has already started purchasing and using our lettuce in her wonderful salad selections. Check her out on Facebook, she post her specials daily. Josh at the Bank Street Brewhouse ( http://www.newalbanian.com/bankstreetbrewhouse.html) is getting lettuce at the first of the week to use in his salads also.
Thank goodness for the relationships we have formed with our local chefs, they are an asset to the New Albany Farmer’s Market, Downtown New Albany and to Russell Veggies. I’m glad that they believe in buying local and supporting us and other local farmers. We certainly appreciate their business.
Tags: Lettuce
