Something from Nothing--Asparagus and Broccoli Soup

Sometimes you just gotta stick your head in the fridge and make do with what you have.  And sometimes you just gotta make soup.  That's how this happened.  While in my frugal state of mind, I saved both the broccoli hearts and the asparagus ends after Easter dinner.  I really wanted to kick myself, though, because I'd thrown out a ham bone a couple of days before this.  I was thinking, well, if I don't eat split peas, or navy beans, well, I'm just totally not going to try to make any kind of imitation of those to go with that ham bone--I could not wrap my brain around making anything but split pea soup with that ham bone.

Image from www.thedeliciouslife.com

So I threw it out.

And immediately regretted it.

Because no sooner was it touching the compost garbage, then I thought--wait, I could use to to seriously flavor ANY kind of vegetable soup!  Just like bacon makes it better, ham flavor makes things better, too--ham goes with everything, doesn't it??  Well, next time, my clean-out-the-veggie-crisper-soup is going to involve a ham bone, dang-it!


The biscuits come from Satisfying Eats.  They totally rocked.  See note at bottom.

Now, on with the recipe!

Ingredients:

Image from www.eatingrichly.com

1 cup (roughly) asparagus ends, PEELED
2 cups broccoli stems, hearts (PEELED) or crowns
1/2 cup onions, chopped
2 cups broth--ham, turkey, or chicken preferably
1 ripe avocado
1 - 2 Tbs lime or lemon juice
butter or fat to saute
garlic powder, salt and pepper (optional)
1 cup leftover ham, or bacon (optional)

Method:

In large heavy-bottom pot or dutch oven, saute onions in butter until translucent.  Add broth, broccoli and asparagus, cover and simmer on medium-low heat until broccoli and asparagus are very tender (about 20 minutes).  Remove all to blender or food processor and puree until smooth, adding avocado and lime/lemon juice here.  Return to pot along with ham, if using, heat through, and taste.  Add garlic, salt and pepper if necessary.  Add bacon, if using, right before serving.

*These were the best paleo biscuits I've eaten, to-date!  Voted on by my whole family; actually tasted like flour had been used.  They were fast, and easy.  I only added about 2 Tbs of the Parmesan  and skipped the stevia altogether.  Awesome.  I will be serving these with every soup from this point on...

DIY Pallet-Love Project #1: The Shoe Rack

Are you on Pinterest?  I am, finally.  I'm actually on it twice--first as My Primal Adventures, and second as Paleo Toronto.  The two accounts have totally different angles, though, just like how the MPA blog, and the PT website, have totally different purposes.  Check them both out, and feel free to suggest things for me, because being new on both, I haven't pinned very much so far.

Along that note, though, if you check out the MPA boards, you'll see I have a pin-board dedicated to DIY projects, and I've pinned a whole bunch of ideas for re-purposing wooden pallets.  I LOVE all the ideas that are out there.  Old pallets have this amazing patina to them that remind me of reclaimed barn-board or old milk crates.  I've found pallets made from soft woods, sure, but I've also found pallets made with maple, cedar and oak.  It is important to know, though, that they treat pallets with chemicals to keep them from rotting.  Kind-of like how they pressure-treat wood for fences and decks, but without the green hue.  These are pretty ugly chemicals, so I highly recommend doing any sanding of this wood in a well-ventilated area or using a dust mask.  Wash your hands after sanding.  And clear-coat the entire project when complete with a water-based urethane product to seal it in  (I'm a huge fan of Benjamin Moore's Stays Clear; it was used on every gym floor throughout the Toronto School Board--this stuff is tough, dries in about an hour, and barely has any odor whatsoever).

I also happen to love reno projects and making stuff myself.  My hubby and I have this beautiful dining room table idea we've fully drawn plans to build, but I want to make it from Douglas Fir which is not a common wood in Ontario (unless you have a really old barn to tear down) so we haven't been able to get out and get the lumber to make it.  But at some point, that will happen.  And until then, I'm building some of these weekend projects using pallets that I can get hold of for free (which fits my budget perfectly).

So, the pallet in the front is the one I chose for the shoe rack.  It doesn't have a nice patina at all, but that doesn't matter if its going in the closet.  I think it's actually spruce, so it's pretty crappy lumber, but the width of the slats and the spacing between them was already perfect.

This is such a simple and genius project.  We measured the space we had in the closet, decided we didn't want the shoe rack to go up above where the coats hung, and cut the top off to the right height.  We used a skilsaw for this.  Then I dragged it out onto my driveway and used a palm-sander with 80-grit paper and sanded all the rough fronts of the slats, the ends, and got between the slats as best as I could.  I didn't want rough splinters marking anyone's shoes.  I took a sanding sponge to it after that, just to get between the slats a little bit better.  It wasn't perfect, not by any means, but it was better than it was before.

Now, it was a bone-chilling 2 degrees Celsius outside and I was just freezing my @$$ off outside, so I dragged the whole thing into my front hallway to seal it with the clear coat (and hopefully seal in some more of the rough edges). Like I said, the Stays Clear has almost no smell whatsoever and dries fast, so why not?

Two coats of Stays Clear (with a light sanding between coats), and the project was done.  It took less than a half day.  My cost?  $4 for more wall plugs to mount it in the back of the closet.  We were out of them.

Voila!