#3.5 Slow Cooker White Bean Soup

 I wanted to dabble with a little vegan dish here and there on my vegetarian list completion. My first attempt was a complete flop and not even worthy posting about. Somethings should just not be substituted bleck!

The Thursday 5 hour chem class/labs starting at 8am was killing me since last thing I wanted to do after a super long week of class was to cook. I thought it was time to break out the trusty crock pot so I could have a hot meal waiting for me for when I got home. I found this recipe and thought it would be a perfect soup for the chilly nights and something my grandparents would enjoy. As we planned a dinner date together earlier in the week. 

I prepped everything the night before and threw it all together before crossing my fingers and heading off to class. Walking in the door the smells were fantastic but....it was no where near ready. It ended up taking 10 hours total and 3 of them were on high setting. I don't know if it was the crock pot (a bit older but still got it normally) or if I needed to do more with the beans. Mashing was a bit awkward but did change it from a clear broth to a bit heartier thickness. 

Be sure you add salt at the end of cooking and I'll be posting a behind the science behind it soon. It will ruin the dish if you do it in the beginning...trust me!

Overall it was a great soup but did need a bit of something else. Not sure what though cheese, meat something. For round two the next day I did put in bacon chunks and that helped. Definitely broke the vegan/vegetarianism rule, but come on it's bacon I think that should always get a free pass. 

Slow Cooker White Bean Soup

prep time 15 min    Cook time 8 hours (eh maybe)

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil 
• 4 cloves garlic 
• 1 medium yellow onion 
• ½ lb. carrots
• 4 stalks (1/2 sleeve) celery 
• 1 lb. dry navy beans 
• 1 whole bay leaf 
• 1 tsp dried rosemary 
• ½ tsp dried thyme 
• ½ tsp smoked paprika 
• Freshly cracked pepper (15-20 cranks of a mill) 
• 1½ tsp (or more to taste) salt 

Instructions

1. Mince the garlic, dice the onion, slice the celery, and slice the carrots into thin rounds. Add the olive oil, garlic, onion, celery, and carrots to a large (5qt or larger) slow cooker.
2. Sort through the beans and remove any debris or stones. Give them a quick rinse and then add them to the slow cooker, along with the bay leaf, rosemary, thyme, paprika, and some freshly cracked pepper.
3. Add SIX CUPS of water to the slow cooker and stir to combine the ingredients. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.
4. After 8 hours, stir the soup and mash the beans slightly. Starting with just a ½ tsp, add salt to your liking. I used about 2 tsp total, but keep tasting and adding more, ½ tsp at a time, until it reaches the level that you prefer.

Serves: 6-8 (makes 9 cups)                                                  source budget bytes

If you don't want to make it vegan try adding ham hock or turkey leg with other ingredients. 

add veggies to bottom

next add the beans & seasonings

liquids go next

end result pretty tasty

Science Behind....frozen water

ice..ice..baby duh duh dunt dunt duh source: NOAA

Winter is on us full force and there are always a few questions surrounding the topic of ice and it's odd properties. Did you know that about 90% of an iceberg is under the waters surface? That's where the phrase tip of the iceberg comes from because there is so much more under than you can see.

Why does ice float?

You've watched Titanic and seen those beautiful pictures of majestic icebergs weighing more than a building floating along in the ocean. How is that possible?

Usually solids are the more dense than liquids. For a substance to float is has to be less dense (density=mass/volume) than the medium it is in...right but ice is made of water and it's in water so what gives?

Water is unique because it likes to stick together with other water molecules via hydrogen bonds. This is why it has high surface tension and is able to form droplets. 

The molecules that make up water (aka H20) each have opposite charges and when water cools below 4ºC about 39ºF the hydrogen holds the negatively charged oxygen atoms apart from each other creating a crystal lattice formation or more commonly called ice.

Unlike most substances when water cools and freezes into ice it actually expands by 9% and becomes less dense allowing the solid ice chunks to float in water. This is why pipes can burst in the winter time and ice is excellent at weathering large rocks over time as it seeps in to tiny cracks.

Why don't fish freeze to death in the winter?

Ice always freezes from top down if it froze from bottom up fish would die first! You would see tons of dead fish every spring eeww. What happens is the colder water at the top freezes and floats while the heavier (slightly warmer) water sinks to the bottom. It sort of insulates the rest of the lake. If it ice sank it would cause the water from bottom to move up and then the lake would freeze solid. 

Fish are cold blooded so their metabolism depends on the temperature. The gradual change of temperature allows their body to adjust and survive through the cold temperatures. If the lake is large enough there will be a layer of liquid water at a constant temperature always at the bottom allowing the fish to survive.  One other key things is that cold water holds more oxygen in it's solution so there is more oxygen available for the fish to use that are under a layer of ice. 

There are many more things colder than ice if you want to study them look into the field of: Cryogenics: The branches of physics and engineering that involve the study of very low temperatures, how to produce them, and how materials behave at those temperatures.

My favorite cryogenic activity is to make liquid nitrogen ice cream... but that is a don't try it home experiment. Instead with careful adult supervision you can make dry ice ice-cream. I found this to be my favorite recipe.  It's a very unusual texture and is almost fizzy! Be sure to mash your dry ice into a dust and use protective clothes as it is very cold and can burn skin easily if touched or swallowed in large chunks. 

Want to explore more about ice and cold? Try out this cool experiment (not just for kids). It was one of the first ones I ever taught and study teaching but love to use it over and over. Lots of fun and easy to do! Great for all sorts of investigation and questioning experiments extensions. Plus it just looks really cool.

ICE BALLS
materials: water balloon, freezer (or very cold weather) water, food color, flashlight, pie pan, salt

Freeze water balloons a few days ahead of time. You want to fill them up to be big enough to cup in both hands or smaller. Unwrap balloon and discard, place in pan to catch drips and begin to observe in a dark room with a flash light

Each balloon is unique! 

Pour salt over ice and watch it melt you can experiment with other things like sugar and flour with out telling kids what the substances are. Add food coloring to follow the trails of melt. 

Holiday Jokes

As many of you know I like to post on FB cheesy one liner jokes to count down the holidays. It started first as a joke last year, but I found that people really liked it and were asking for more so I kept going. I guess when I hear enough is enough I'll stop.

Many people have told me they like to share them with others so I thought it might be nice to have a collection of jokes for you to pass on. Enjoy!

 Christmas Jokes

Thanksgiving Jokes

Halloween Jokes

this should be enough to get you started and there is more to come!

St Patrick's Day Jokes

#3.12 Spinach Tomato Orzo Soup

So looking at my recipes I realized there is almost spinach in all my dishes. Why stop now so here is another one!

This dish is super quick and easy to throw together. While you could add mini meatballs or sausage this is a great vegetarian option as it stands. It reminds me of an Italian Wedding Soup. It has just the right amount of heartiness and spice to fill you up on a chilly winter night.

Spinach Tomato Orzo Soup

Time: less than 30 min Prep: less than 5
Serves 6 (easily double ingredients for larger serving sizes)

Ingredients:

1 medium onion (chopped)

2-3 cloves garlic (chopped)

1 can (14.5 oz) Diced tomatoes with basil & oregano

4 cups (32 oz box) of chicken broth

4 cups water

1/2 lb or 8 oz spinach (chopped frozen)

1 cup Orzo pasta

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp rosemary

1 tsp oregano or Italian seasoning blend

1/4 tsp chili peppers flakes

Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Parmesan cheese (optional)

In a large soup pot drizzle oil and heat. Add onions and cook till soft. Add garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add water, chicken broth, thawed & drained spinach, spices and whole can of diced tomatoes. Bring a boil. After reaching a boiling add orzo, turn heat down to medium and cook pasta for 10-12 minutes or until pasta is tender. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese before serving.

recipe adapted from babble.com

*if using low sodium/fat broth be sure to add some salt otherwise it comes out EXTREMELY bland..I made that mistake blech! Though I'd rather add my own salt than have too much to start with, so in the end it turned out great.

Yum the orzo does soak up liquid so if having left overs might want to add more water!

Holiday (adult) Beverage Roundup

Happy Holidays! It's that time of year that family is around, the calender is completely filled up with work parties, holiday baking, travels, and shopping becomes a contact sport. 

Phew a drink sounds great right about now! Here is a list of festive drinks to relax with in the evening or serve at a party. Cheers!

Cranberry Margaritas  via ezrapoundcake

Spicy Ginger Man  via singlemindedwomen 
(be sure to check out the other 12 days of Christmas Cocktails drinks)

Peppermint Schnapps Hot Chocolate no recipe needed just add schnapps and garnish with whipped cream and peppermint bits

so simple but cute!

Reindeer Bubbles via hgtv

Champagne and raspberries with out syrup would be so easy and a great adaptation too!

nice and refreshing

Pomegranate and Lime White Wine Spritzers via nutmegnanny

this might turn into my new go to drink..
 bourbon yes please!

Maple Cranberry Bourbon Martini via family fresh cooking

Hot Caramel Apple Cider via cooking-in-college

or try it cold on the rocks!

Polar Express(o)
(totally made up this name but it works I think)

Bailey's, vanilla vodka & coffee ice cubes