JBF Sale

Yesterday I made broccoli cheddar soup for dinner. Lia and I loved it, but Ben was not a huge fan. He likes anything that has meat in it and this soup did not. Also, it had sweet potatoes (another food item he doesn't care for). I tried hiding it, but he questioned what was in the soup - because it was pureed.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup (Food Network Magazine)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
2 cups low sodium chicken stock
2 cups half and half
1 large russet potato peeled and chopped
1 large sweet potato peeled and chopped
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper 
2 cups chopped broccoli
1 1/3 cups shredded cheddar
croutons for topping (optional)

Heat oil in a pan and cook onion and celery until softened. Add the chicken stock, half and half and both potatoes, bay leaf, 2 cups water and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then simmer until potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, put broccoli into a microwave safe bowl, add 3 tbsp water and season with salt. Cover with plastic wrap and microwave about 4 minutes.

After potatoes are tender, remove bay leaf and transfer soup to blender (or if you have an immersion blender, use that). blend the soup and add back into the pan. Note: Soup is hot - puree in blender in parts - and keep the cap slightly open to let steam escape.

Add cooked broccoli to soup (I diced it up more before I added it). Add the cheese and more salt and pepper if needed. Serve with croutons.

If you do want meet - cubed ham would be a good option.
I also thought it might be good with wild rice added to it.

Last night was also the JBF (Just Between Friends) Sale. It is a huge children's consignment sale. It runs twice a year and I always look forward to going to it. If you consign or volunteer, you get to attend the pre-sale the night before it is open to the public. My friends, Tona and Kendra were also at the sale. After we bought our items, we were starving! It was about 9:00 pm. We decided to go to Applebee's to get something to eat. We hit it at the right time for Happy Hour - all of the appetizers were half off. I asked our waitress if they had gluten free buns. She said no, but they offer a gluten free menu. She brought me the menu. It actually had a lot of options, but none that I wanted at the time. I ended up getting the cheeseburger sliders and I didn't eat the buns. I saved one burger for Landen to eat for lunch the next day, but he ended up not wanting it, so Ben ate it.

It is nice to know that restaurants are becoming more aware of people needing to eat gluten free. It is nice to have the option.