Kapusniak (Ukrainian Sauerkraut Soup)

Every now and then I get a craving for sauerkraut. My HTB (Hubby to be)’s mom made this soup from the Ukrainian cook book we both have so I had to try it! I cut the amount of sauekraut in half to make it more “soupy”.

 

Kupasniak
1-2 lb pork hocks
1/2 qt sauerkraut
2 cups chopped potatoes
1 cup thinly cut carrots
1 onion
1 bay leaf

Boil pork hocks for an hour in just enough water to cover. Add the sauerkraut, potatoes, carrots, onion and bay leaf. Continue to boil for an hour or until all vegetables are cooked.

Thia Noodle Bowl

Every now and then I get a craving for something I can’t have here in this small town. Unless of course I make it myself! This is one of those recipes.

I used to go every friday to a small Thia restaurant with some of the other girls I used to work with.  We would all order these noodle bowls. I never realized after some research on the internet about them that they were actually a salad. You can pretty much add any kind of vegetable you like to them. Cucumber, radish, carrot, bean sprouts. The ones we had usually had bean sprouts and lettuce, then noodles, then grilled meat and some rolls that were deep fried, and you pour the sauce over them and dig in! YUM!

Grilled Chicken and Vermicelli Salad

2 boneless chicken breasts (1 whole breasts split to make 2 pieces) 
1 cloves garlic, minced or pressed 
1 whole shallots, finely chopped 
1 cups iceberg lettuce, shredded
1/2 cucumber, sliced
1/2 cup rice vermicelli
shrimp

Dressing

4 ounces water
1 ounce lime juice
2 ounces fish sauce
1 ounce sugar
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons vegetable oil or olive oil

Mix dressing ingredients together in a bottle or container and shake to combine. I made lots extra and poured it into a bottle I wasn’t using.

Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil, add pasta, remove after 3-4 minutes or when almost soft. Strain in colander.

Marinate chicken breasts in the garlic, shallots, salt and pepper and vegetable oil for at least an hour. When ready to cook, grill chicken on both sides until done (about 10-15 minutes). Cut into bite sized pieces.

In each of 2 bowls, divide lettuce and cucumbers.

Top with vermicelli.

Arrange chicken on top of pasta.

Pour about 2 ounces of dressing on each salad. Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

I’ve decided to put myself on a diet. Well, not just me, but my BF too. I have managed to lose my weight and I’m trying not to let it creap back up. The easiest thing to do is to make myself eat more fruits and veggies and start going for walks everyday with the dog, which benefits Kato and me! If only it would stop raining… we haven’t seen the sun since last week.. It makes everyone a little grouchy I think. I would definitely recommend spraying muffin tins and not using paper liners like I did, they stick to the liners..

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup reserved blueberry juice (from thawed blueberries)
1  cup blueberries frozen (thawed)

topping:
1/2 cup warm milk
1/2 cup sugar

In a medium bowl mix the flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl mix the remaining ingredients together except the blue berries. Add the flour mixture until well blended and fold in the blueberries.

Bake at 350 for 25 mins. When done pierce with fork and brush the tops with milk and roll in sugar.

I must say, I like the nutty taste of the whole wheat flour and the blueberries go well with it. My oven was at 400 and they were definitely over cooked, so I recommend lowering the cooking temperature.