Spaghetti with lots of Vegetables

Recipe Name: Spaghetti with lots of Vegetables

Story: This recipe was a way to have my son's eat a variety of vegetables.  When they were very young they loved it, but then they started going to other people's houses and thought our spaghetti was "weird."  Into their teenage years, friends would come over and request my spaghetti, now it was back on the popularity list.

Years you've been making it: For at least 30 years, since roughly 1990

Author / Creator: Suzy

Submitted by: Suzy

Ingredients:
1 onion
1 pepper (usually I would use 1/2 of green and 1/2 of another color, yellow, orange, or red)
2 cloves of garlic
1 medium zucchini
1-2 small yellow squash
1 8 oz package of sliced mushrooms
Olive oil
Spices:  red pepper flakes, oregano, cayenne, basil, salt and pepper
2 jars of tomato sauce or homemade sauce
1/4 to 1/2 tsp sugar. (this cuts the acid of the tomatoes, but you do not want to make it sweet)

Directions:
Sautee onion, peppers, and garlic in about 2 Tbs of olive oil, until onions are slightly translucent.  Add zucchini, yellow squash, and mushroom.  Continue sauteing for another 2-3 minutes.

Add tomato sauce, spices, and sugar.  Simmer for about 30-40 minutes.

Even if I use commercial sauce I will add some additional spices, pinch of red pepper flakes, oregano, if you like it a little spicy add a pinch of cayenne.  Salt and pepper to taste.

In the last 10 minutes of simmering add fresh basil.

Notes:

If you "need" meat or more protein, browned and drained hamburger meat or sausage, or cooked and shredded chicken can be added at the same time as the tomato sauce.

Mom's Chicken Soup

Recipe Name: Mom's Chicken Soup

Years you've been making it: Since at least 1990

Author / Creator: Suzy

Submitted by: Suzy

Ingredients:
1 Chicken Free range
Onion
Carrots
Celery
Salt
Pepper
Thyme
Rosemary
Oregano


Directions:
Place in a pot with 1-2 onions coarsley cut, celery mostly leaves but at least three stalks, a pinch of salt, seasonings to include if fresh, thyme, rosemary, and oregano.  A dash of pepper

Cook until the chicken is tender.  Depending on the size of chicken, about 1 hour.  If you over cook the breast meat will be dry.

Remove the chicken and the vegetables, drain and cool.

Dice 1 onion, 2 carrots, 2 stalks of celery.  Add to chicken broth (in the past years I have added store bought chicken broth to give the soup a bolder chicken flavor).

Add additional spices, poultry seasoning, sage, rosemary, thyme, sea salt, pepper but small pinches.

Simmer about 20-30 minutes.

Remove meat from chicken bone and set aside.

My home recipe is to add about 1 cup of uncooked rice, simmer for about another 45 mins, then add the chicken and continue simmering for about 15 mins.


Notes: This is intended to be a soup for healing, colds, fever, flu, fatigue, if digestion is concerned may want to add a pinch of cayenne.

Do not remove the fat except excess from the chicken prior to cooking.  The fat contains a lot of Vitamins A, E, D, K, the other vegetables have a lot of minerals and phytonutrients important for healing.

This makes a very hearty soup which I have always thought good if you are sick.  Even a half of cup gives a lot of nutrients and calories.  If you want a slightly less concentrated soup, cook the rice separately then add at the end.