From my diaries/ Creamy Leek Soup

Improve your immune system by eating veggies during the Covid-19 pandemic. I love.. love veggies!!! I am a person who eats veggies with love. Even if you‘re not a veggie lover, I suggest you to give this beneficial tasty soup recipe a try. New tastes, new habits, new starts to welcome Spring. Why not?

Cooking veggies is as fun as eating them for me. I'm so glad hubby is a veggie person too :) My son loves some of them but he doesn't like leek. Except this creamy leek soup. It’s cold outside today, a cup of hot creamy soup. That is totally what I crave!

One thing I love about making soup is, you can also use ripe ingredients. Fridge cleaning recipes save the day. Right?

Ingredients

3 cups chopped leeks

1 cup Yukon gold potatoes (peeled, chopped)
1 cup carrot (chopped)

3 cups of veggie broth.

3 cups of water

2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 cup coconut milk (or any plant based milk)

2 garlic cloves (peeled and smashed)

1 small chopped onion

2 tbsp olive oil

2  bay leaves

1 tsp thyme 

1/2 tsp dry mint

A touch of turmeric

Salt, pepper 

In a large sauce pan, sauté onion, leek, carrot until softened and add potatoes, garlic, salt pepper. Stir a few minutes and add the bay leaves, veggie stock and water. 

Cook until the potatoes are tender. Remove from heat and remove bay leaves. Stir in the lemon juice and coconut milk. Add turmeric, mint, and more salt for taste if  needed.

Pour the soup into the blender and puree until it's smooth.

Sprinkle black pepper and thyme or chopped parsley on top and serve.

If you like to try more soup recipes,

Cauliflower Soup,

Spicy tomato Soup,

Lentil Soup

Nostalgia

Creamy Potato Soup

I used to love stopping by Panera Bread in New York . Especially winter time and having their yummy creamy potato soup. Last week I came up with my own version of this soup:) I believe that the carrot gave extra benefit and taste to it.

chicken broth
potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 small carrot, cubed
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese or sour cream (room temperature)
Pepperoni (cubed) or Bacon/ cooked and crumbled/ 3 slices or more (optional, but makes it really good, especially pepperoni and bacon lovers like my son)

Combine  chicken broth, potatoes, carrot cubes and spices in a small pot. Boil until potatoes and carrots are tender. If you like your soup smooth, here is a little tip: Smash some potato cubes for thickening.  Add cream cheese. Keep stirring until the cheese melts. Ready to serve. Sprinkle a little pepperoni or bacon over each bowl of soup. Extra pepperoni this time for Aria!!!

Sweet Ghost Brownie Bites

An easy and fun Halloween treat! Brownie bites and marsmallows! They both are Aria's favorite and turned into a yummy and very easy Halloween treat.

1 cup butter(melted)
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup cacao
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup flour,

Decoration:
Marshmallows, red colored sugar, dark chocolate

Melt the butter, add the ingredients in order and mix them all. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes. Place marshmallows on the brownie in last 2 minutes. (One marshmallows for each bite)

(I used 9x13' greased pan)

Marshmallows always make delicious Halloween treats, don't they? Yummy ghosts!
Red colored sugar for lips. What can I say? Our ghosts are smiling, They don't really look spooky, also break off small pieces from the chocolate bar and roll them into little balls for eyes. I put the eye balls, right after I took them out of the oven. Actually, using m&m for the eyes is another idea. Let it cool. After I sliced it, my son used the red colored sugar for making them smiling :)

It has been a while since I spent some time in the kitchen with my son.
He enjoyed eating these brownie bites much more than baking :)
Happy Halloween!

Oh, no! Summer, don't go! Recipe/ Cinnamon Lemonade

I've been using skype for years to connect with  people from my family and friends far away. Last year I started to chat with my son during work hours. Sometimes he forgets the time if he is gaming. So, I need to remind him, some stuff.
This morning he accidently wrote to me at his group chat window. He noticed in a moment and opened another chat window.
-Aria, take a shower..(me)
-In a sec
After half hour. I just clicked his name to see the chat window though...and typed again

- Aria...showerrrrrr!
He answered me in caps !
MOM DONT TALK IN THAT CHAT
MOM OMG!
-Sorryyyyyyyyy, my mistake ..soo sorry ..

I didn't notice how it happened but I was in their chat window with his friends..
It must be embarrassing for an 12 years old boy though..I know..still sorry about that..
Anyway, Skype is part of our lives each day.
Do you use Skype often?

I love lemon!! Lemon scent as a air freshner, love it as a flavor for cooking and baking, especially for fish and chicken. Lemon scent certainly uplifts our mood and stimulates the nervous system. For me lemon is a must! Also I love how they look on the counter. Fresh lemon comes first but also preparing some lemon flavor for later use would be very helpful.

Whenever I grate lemon peel, use some and freeze rest of it in a ziploc. Freezing lemon slices to add your water also gives a wonderful flavor to your water, tea, soda..

Yes, September is at the corner but I don't feel like summer is over yet...lol!!! I need to smell cinnamon. Maybe the delicious scent and taste of cinnamon helps me welcome autumn this year :)

Simply put a couple of (or only one) cinnamon sticks in a boiling water. Keep it simmering 20-25 minutes. Smells good It also helps removing cooking odors from your home.

Okeeeyyy..I think I am ready for fall :) Hmmmm... actually,  a glass of low calorie lemonade would be good for now! What about cinnamon lemonade?

Low Calorie Cinnamon Lemonade

2 cups water 
Juice of 2 lemons.
Honey or Splenda to taste
Mix the ingredients and garnish with lemon slices and cinnamon sticks. Serve with ice cubes. Today no ice cubes for me. I have a bit of sore throat. If you have boiling water with cinnamon sticks, just add some to your lemonade. Heavenly!!!

Yummy homemade lemonade is ready!
Mmm..I am somewhere beetween summer breeze and autmn leaves!
Niiiiice!!!

                                                                        Welcome Fall!