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Carrot Ginger Soup

I was given a pdf copy of My Pinewood Kitchen in exchange for my review. I love cooking and I’ve been doing a LOT of it with being home so much. So, needless to say, I’m getting bored with my recipes and dying for something new.

This cook book looked healthy, hearty, and delicious. And I’ve not been disappointed!

I’ve been attempting to make a carrot soup that I like – and my last one was a major bust (as in, sorry kids, you don’t have to eat it) – so I decided to give this one a try. I definitely haven’t tried one with an apple in it before, so I was quite curious as to how the added sweetness would taste.

Short On Inspiration While Dining In? My Pinewood Kitchen Dishes Out Some Quarantine Cuisine Tips

With COVID-19 keeping us at home more and shopping less, home chefs need to get creative while cooking tasty, healthy meals for their entire family. Chef and author Mee McCormick is an expert: she healed herself of Crohn’s disease, gut issues, and other immune system challenges with whole food recipes when doctors couldn’t help her.

The mom/rancher/restaurateur can share tips for “quarantine cuisine” when you’re hankering for variety in your meals but you’re short on ingredients and inspiration. Perfect for social distancing, many of her recipes are made with items you probably already have in your pantry (for example, her Black Bean Chicken Chili and Immune-Boosting Chicken & Quinoa Soup); she can teach home cooks how to repurpose items to reduce food waste (cilantro pickles, anyone?), and reveal the healthiest foods you need in your pandemic pantry.

My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure offers more than 100 gluten-free, whole foods recipes that can be customized for Keto, Paleo, or vegans, making it a truly “all-inclusive” eating plan for the entire family. From smoothies, soups and salads, to dinners and desserts, every recipe is gluten-free and gut-friendly.

•    Curb Your COVID Anxiety with healthy chocolate with Mee’s Chocolate Avocado Mousse & Five-Ingredient Fudge Cups
•    Soups for Social Distancing – Black Bean Chicken Chili and Immune-Boosting Chicken & Quinoa Soup (nutritious, delicious, and they use what you likely have in your home already!)
•    Plenty of plant-based offerings
•    Reduce Waste: Learn how to make cilantro pickles from cucumbers, sweet potato chips from sweet potatoes, a falafel burger from canned chickpeas, and how to make your own healthier ketchup and mayonnaise if you run out
•    10 Gut-Friendly Foods for your Pandemic Pantry

Mee McCormick is a rising Southern culinary and wellness innovator, restaurateur, author, TV cooking personality, farmer, rancher, wife and mother. She splits her time between Nashville and nearby Nunnelly, Tennessee; a tiny, unincorporated community in Hickman County, which is also home to her biodynamic farm and restaurant Pinewood Kitchen & Mercantile.

Mee authored her first cookbook My Kitchen Cure, which led to wild success and a book deal with HCI for her second cookbook My Pinewood Kitchen, published on April 14, 2020. She frequently appears on Today in Nashville, and she participates in nationally-recognized food festivals and events, spreading the same level of care and hospitality to audiences everywhere that she has become known for throughout the state of Tennessee. Visit: www.meemccormick.com or www.pinewoodkitchenandmercantile.com.

My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure/130+ Crazy Delicious, Gluten-Free Recipes to Reduce Inflammation and Make Your Gut Happy
By Mee McCormick
HCI BOOKS
Released: April 2020/ $26.95
ISBN: 9780757323522
Available wherever books are sold

There are some absolutely amazing recipes in this book! Think terrific and tasty family meals, and the Carrot Ginger Soup did not disappoint!

Carrot Ginger Soup

Ingredients: 

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil or ghee

1 large white onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

1. pounds carrots

1 apple, chopped and skin on

4 cups Chicken Bone Broth (page 120) or Vegetable Broth (page 121) – directions in the cookbook

2 cups water

1/4 cup raw cashews

3/4 cup full-fat coconut milk

1 tablespoon miso

Sea salt (to taste)

Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1) In a large saucepan over medium heat, heat the oil or ghee. Add the onion and sweat until soft. Add the garlic and ginger, and cook for about 3 minutes.

2) Add the carrots, apple, broth, water, and cashews. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Allow to cool.

3) Transfer to a blender or food processor. Add the coconut milk and miso paste. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve warm.

Incredibly easy and delicious! I paired this with some leftover ribs and steamed broccoli for an absolutely amazing dinner with the family!

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Tasty, Healthy, Snacks

*I received these products free for purposes of my review*

Pure Crumb

Pure Crumb sent me 4 different kids of bark. Brownie Bark, Crumb Cake Bark, and 2 kids of Cookie Bark.

These products are all gluten free and dairy free, so will work for a lot of different dietary restrictions!

While I liked all 4 flavors, I do have my favorite! But, before I get to that, more about the products in general.

You can purchase 12 individual packages, you know, for if you’re counting calories. But, seriously, just buy the big bags! With the simple ingredients these products have, it won’t hurt to splurge a little on the calories!

For example, check out the ingredient list on the Brownie Bark:

Ingredients:  Pure Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips*, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Gluten Free Flour Blend*, Eggs, Almond Flour, Coconut Oil, Cocoa Powder, Cinnamon.

*Pure Semi Sweet Chocolate:   sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soya lecithin, vanillin.

*Gluten Free Flour Blend:  garbanzo bean flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, whole grain sweet white sorghum flour, fava bean flour

I mean, I actually know what these things are! How awesome is that?

While there are some “bark” pieces, these honestly are a bit more like “crumbs” so Pure Crumb is a great name for them. I enjoyed these straight from the bag, and as a crumb topping on my yogurt – which is seriously amazing and why you should just get the big bags!

Brownie Bark – My favorite! It’s so chocolaty and you may actually want to get the snack bags for this one, because it’s really hard to not just eat the entire bag.

Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookie Bark – My favorite one for a yogurt topping. I just love the coconut and chocolate cookie crumbles on yogurt. Delicious, a little crunchy, and not too sweet.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bark – Also tasty, but it’s hard to compete with coconut, so… you know, I’ll eat it if the Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookie Bark is gone.

Crumb Cake – Delicious flavor, think cinnamon sugar cookie, but it’s competing against 3 barks with chocolate, so it didn’t stand a chance!

Check out PureCrumb.com for more information and/or to order some for yourself!

Plant Junkie

Check out this line of plant based spreads, dressings, and vinaigrettes. I was intrigued by the variety of flavors available, and just a bit curious. How do you you make a ranch dressing without dairy?

I tried the chai ranch dressing first. And, I’ll be honest. It does not taste like ranch. I’m not saying that it tastes bad. But if you’re expecting traditional ranch dressing, this is not it. I’m actually pretty sure that it’s impossible to make a basic ranch dressing without some sort of dairy product.

Anyways, I would describe the flavor as kind of hummusy (is that a word?), with some coconut and oats making it more mild, and of course chai seeds. I was originally going to sub it for mayonnaise on a sandwich but changed my mind. It’s got a LOT of flavor – way more than mayonnaise. So, I tried it as a veggie dip instead and that was perfect!

The Turmeric and Pepper Ranch dressing was terrific on a salad, just start light because these dressings have a lot of flavor! Which is amazing, because I’m the kind of person who prefers a little dressing with my salad and not the other way around. So, with these, I get lots of flavor without having to drown my lettuce.

And with no eggs, no soy, and no gluten, these are great products for a variety of diets.

I used the Chili Pomegranate Vinaigrette as a steak marinade. It was very flavorful, and quite delicious! I realize these are plant based products, but I do love a good marinaded steak! And since they’re gluten free, and keto friendly that just makes it a lot easier for me to use as a marinade when I have guests!

You can purchase their products on amazon or at plantjunkie.com.

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Cheesy Bacon Potatoes

potatoes

I love potatoes, bacon, and cheese! Side dishes just don’t get much better than this.

Cheesy Bacon Potatoes

Ingredients
6 medium potatoes
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
4 pieces fresh cooked bacon broken into pieces, or 1/4 cup bacon bits
2 cloves garlic crushed
salt & pepper to taste

  1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease bottom and sides of a 9X9 casserole pan.
  2. Peel and slice potatoes into thin slices. Mix potatoes with heavy cream, 1/2 cup cheese, garlic, and salt & pepper.
  3. Spread evenly in prepared pan. Top with 1/2 cup cheese and bacon bits.
  4. Bake for 1 hour or until potatoes are tender