Potage Parmentier (Potato Leek Soup served warm)

 It is almost the end of winter! Thank goodness!

Meanwhile, it's still warm-soup season and this is a perfectly simple, delicious for this rainy/snowy/wet/miserable day.

Ingredients
4 cups diced potatoes (about 3 medium potatoes)
3 cups thinly sliced leeks (white and tender green parts only)
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
1 tsp salt, or to taste (if using unsalted chicken broth)
4-6TBS cream or melted butter, for finishing
2-3 TBS green onions, roasted red peppers, herbs or other garnish, as desired

This is a leek.
I'll admit this is my first-ever time cooking with leeks so I asked the internet how exactly I was supposed to approach said onion-y vegetable.

 In the case of this soup, you are first supposed to chop off the dark green, leafy parts, leaving the root intact. There is probably too much dark green part left on my leeks but my selection at the store was not too great (you can see there really isn't a lot of white on the stalk - according to the internet, ideally, there should be more white).

Slice the leek down the middle beginning just before the root. The root will hold the leek together as you cut it. Turn the stem a quarter-turn and make another cut of the same length down the middle.

Now begin to slice the leek thinly from end to end.

Add leeks and diced potatoes to a large pot.

Add liquids and salt if using.

Let simmer 40-50 minutes until vegetables are tender.

 When cooked to the right amount of doneness, mash with a fork or potato ricer lightly before processing with a food mill. I don't own an immersion blender but that would also work well. You can also blend in batches in a standard blender.

 At this point, if you're not going to eat it right away, you can let it cool to store and reheat to a simmer before eating.

You'll see below that this bowl of soup is a little thick. I used less water in my recipe than I would if I made it again. I think that the 3 cups water 3 cups broth would make a very good not too thin, not too thick soup. But please adjust depending on your preference!

 Finish with cream, melted butter and garnish.

 Serve with bread! Like http://joanofthekitchen.blogspot.com/2014/06/quick-herb-and-olive-oil-dinner-bread.html.

This is the same recipe except I halved it, used 1 c. bread flour, 1/2 c. all-purpose, and added chopped green onions and chunks of cheddar cheese. 

**A recipe for Potato Leek Soup served cold is called Vichyssoise. I think I'll do that when it warms up a bit though.

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins & The Practical Couponer

I have not been writing all that often.
I have not been writing all that often for a few reasons:

Reason 1: We don’t have internet at home! I know, I know, it’s like the stone age.
Reason 2: My brain function and creative abilities seem to directly correlate with degrees- above-zero.
Reason 3: I’ve been doing all sorts of other things that are somewhat kitchen-related i.e. couponing, canning/jamming, & wedding planning. Soon to be added: gardening! (Hopefully sooner rather than later!).

The Practical Couponer

Do you want to save some money but don’t want to become one of those people on the A&E special? Does it seem like too much of a hassle? I’ve been novice-couponing for about a year now. I’m here to tell you that there is room in the check-out line for the practical couponer.

Ethan told me once that he didn’t think I could be a couponer because it takes so much time. It’s possible that the first pro-couponers really had a large undertaking. But we’ve moved forward leaps and bounds in extreme couponing - it’s called the internet. The internet and sites like those I’ve listed below, have made couponing accessible to anyone with a spare 30 minutes or so a week.

The other major issue with couponing is possibly ending up with a lot of things that you may never use or need. Then there is the trouble with storing all of those things. You can see how it could get out of hand pretty easily, especially once you’ve experienced the “high” of receiving items for pennies or even for free. Here’s how I keep myself in check:

1. I limit myself to two or three stores per week. Chances are you’re visiting at least one grocery/drug store per week. My feeling is that if you’re already going to the store every week, buying mostly the same things, shouldn’t you be buying these things for the lowest possible price? Broadening your scope to two stores allows you to compare deals between the two. I usually do BigY, Price Chopper, and Rite Aid (sometimes).

2. I know almost exactly what brands and items we eat or use and I limit myself to those things. For instance, I don’t buy Depends just because I can get them for $0.49! I also do approximately 90% of our grocery shopping. After a few years of this, I have a pretty good idea of the things we buy and which are worth “stockpiling”. Here’s a few examples of items that I think are worth couponing:
Paper products (toilet paper, paper towels, etc.)
Shampoo/Conditioner/Soap
Hair Products
Pasta/Pasta Sauce
Rice
Cereal/Granola Bars
Laundry/Dish Detergent

3. Understand your sale cycles. If you’ve been grocery shopping, even just for a few months, you probably see items going on sale in some kind of pattern. For instance, the lowest price for 1lb of butter at BigY is $1.99. This happens maybe 4x a year. This is the best time to buy butter since otherwise you’ll pay as much as $5.99. There’s some science to it, but the best way is just to take notice of how frequently a brand goes on sale in your store.

4. The best time to use a coupon is when the item is at it’s lowest price or when it is Buy One Get One (BOGO). Coupons aren’t just available in the Sunday paper anymore. Those same coupons and many more are available to print online (coupons.com, etc.). Some stores have e-coupons or “click2card” coupons that load directly to your store-loyalty card. No scissors required! Price Chopper and Rite Aid have the best e-coupon programs (In my humble opinion).

5. Store circulars. Each week I look through all my stores’ circulars and write down items that I want/need that are on sale. Then I match these up with the coupons I have or do a search for available coupons. For your sanity’s sake, I think it’s important to do it in this order.  Clipping coupons and then searching for the items will make you want to pull your hair out. Also store circulars sometimes have store-coupons that can be combined with manufacturer’s coupons for really amazing savings (Price Chopper and Stop N Shop have new store coupons almost every week). For example, last week BigY ran a 2/$8.00 Sparkle/Brawny/or Angel Soft sale. They also offered $1.00 double coupons and there was a manufacturer’s coupon for $1.00 off 2 Sparkle. If you bought two Sparkle, you got 2-6 packs of paper towels for $6. Score!

6. Let the professionals guide you. Two of my favorite sites are LivingRichwithCoupons.com and theKrazyCouponLady.com. Both have great getting-started info as well as ideas or examples of how to take advantage of the best sales each week. 

7. I would also like to give a lot of credit to the other super-couponing-ladies that I know who are a source of constant inspiration!

Couponing for me isn’t really about getting items for free (even though it’s really awesome when that happens). Couponing is about getting the best possible price for items you are buying anyway.  That just makes sense to me. I still buy all my regular groceries (produce, meat, etc.),  but using the tips above probably saves me at least $50 a month. It could probably be more if I put more time and energy into it, but I’m happy with it for now.

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

These muffins are a great way to diminish your supply of frozen blueberries (if you are a hoarder of frozen blueberries, for instance) and they use pretty simple, pantry-staple ingredients. The yogurt keeps them moist for days (if they last that long). This recipe is adapted from The Joy of Cooking. Makes 1 dozen standard muffins.

Ingredients
2 eggs
½ c. butter or oil
½ c. yogurt + ½ c. milk or cream
½ - ⅔ c. sugar
1 tsp vanilla

1 ½ c. all-purpose flour
½ c. wheat flour (or use all white flour if you prefer)
1 TBS baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground nutmeg

1 - 1 ½ c. blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Mix wet ingredients together in large bowl or stand mixer until blended
In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients
Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients until just combined (it should be lumpy)
Fold in blueberries
Scoop batter into muffin tin, filling almost to the top.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20-22 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.