Well, I'm still sick. Not surprising since the doctor told me yesterday that I have bronchitis. So I don't feel up to cooking anything big and want something healing. In the past few years, I've given up the typical American stance that chicken noodle soup makes everything better. Now when I'm sick, I want matzo ball soup.   This is a traditional Jewish soup served on Shabbat in observing homes. It's pretty much chicken soup with balls similar to dumplings without the glue-like texture. Ok, so I'm not a fan of chicken and dumplin's. Anyway, I supposed there are as many ways to make matzo ball soup as people who make it, just like chicken noodle soup. My best friend and a Jewish friend of mine (both of whom are the ones who taught me about this wonderful soup!) make theirs with veggies. You know, carrots, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, spinach or kale, etc. My husband and children refuse, yes, refuse to eat matzo ball soup this way so I make it plain, just broth and balls with no veggies. Last time I made it with veggies, I even tried to blitz everything together in the food processor and they still wouldn't eat it! So instead, I just make a big salad and refuse to give anyone their soup until the salad is eaten or no one will eat it! I also make a loaf of bread to go with this meal, just to make it SUPER carby. That's the way Colin likes it though and I love to make him happy when I make dinner.

So here's the process of my day and the recipes.

This morning I took a roast chicken carcass out of the fridge that I've been saving to make stock with. Threw in some leek tops, carrots and carrot tops and celery from my CSA, some onion, ginger (a piece about the size of my pinky) and a head of garlic with the papery skin pulled off and the top sliced off then thrown in whole, some marjoram from my CSA, a handful of parsley from the miracle plant outside that made it through the whole hot summer and this confusing winter on my patio, a bit of basil since it was on the counter, some dried rosemary from last week's CSA and a dried sage leaf, a bay leaf, salt and pepper and some soy sauce. There might be a few other things in the pot but I can't remember through the congestion in my head. Pretty much, put whatever in the pot you have laying about. When I have stock ingredients in the fridge that are going to go off soon, I put them all in a bag and freeze them so I can just toss them in the pot when I want to make stock. I put all this in my stock pot and put it on low all day. My house smells wonderful!

At about three, I put the bread ingredients in the bread maker on the dough cycle. If you don't have a bread maker, you can totally make this by hand. I'm just feeling lazy today.  It takes about 3 hours to make a loaf of bread, so make sure you are prepared for the time by starting early!

It's almost 5 now and I have to get up soon to start the oven to bake my bread.

Here are the recipes:

Matzo Ball Soup  
2 1/2 quarts of chicken stock or half stock, half water
1 head of garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, minced
1 package of matzo ball mix. I prefer the Streit's brand to the Manischewitz because I think it's more flavorful and needs less done to it.
1/4 c oil
2 eggs
Some soy sauce to taste
Parsley

Follow the directions on the package for making the matzo balls.  Saute the garlic and ginger in a bit of oil in the bottom of the stock pot and then add your stock/ water.  Boil the stock/ water and season to taste with soy sauce, salt and pepper and some parsley. My hubby only likes soup from a can usually so I have to make it really salty.

It's super easy... pretty much one of the few convenience meals I make for my family but they love it.

Sunflower Seed and Flax Whole Grain Bread

I originally found this recipe at allrecipes.com but have changed it to fit our tastes.

1 1/3 cups water
2 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons honey, brown sugar, white sugar, agave, maple syrup or whatever. Check out my post on agave
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/3 cups whole wheat flour or any amount of rye and whole wheat flour to make this amount
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon or so active dry yeast.  This is about 1/2 of a package.  You can add more if you want but it's not necessary.  I buy my yeast at Costco in a big 2 lb thing and it lasts me about 2 years, even making bread regularly.  And it's only a bit more expensive than buying the packages.
1/2 cup ground flax seeds
2 handfuls sunflower seeds

Put the ingredients in your bread maker in the order recommended and push dough.  I've baked this bread in the bread maker but it's always better to make it in the oven since you don't waste half the loaf with the weird top and the annoying paddle indent.  After the timer beeps, put it in a greased pan and allow to rise again to 2x it's original size.  **
Bread always rises fast in my kitchen for some reason but recipes always say an hour, so I'm saying an hour just in case. Punch the dough down, then place shaped loaf into a greased bread pan and let rise until doubled again. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until there is a hollow sound when you thump on the bottom.

**To make the bread by hand, proof your yeast in the sweetener (I used brown sugar today), yeast and warm water in a bowl for about 5 minutes until frothy and bubbly. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and knead until smooth and elastic, like the underside of a woman's arm (I read that somewhere and it's totally describes what the texture should be like for all the non-bread bakers out there). Put in an oiled bowl with a towel over it until doubled in size, about an hour or so.


Like I said, I serve this meal with a simple or complex salad, whatever I feel like and some butter on the side.  I hope you enjoy this as much as my family does and I hope it makes me feel better!