Kale corn chowder. Nectarine skillet cobbler

I love soup. I could probably eat it everyday. Without remorse. My kids don't feel the same way. They are morally opposed to soup and to "spice". The broad category my six year old assigns to any speck that dare touch his plate. So most soups at our house end up having to be chunky enough that the fillings can be picked out and eaten alone as an entrée. I also have to be sneaky to include herbs. I like the method I recently saw in Organic Gardening magazine of tying herbs together and then removing them at the end. Why didn't I ever think of that?



Kale Corn Chowder

E-Thank you for the roses. They were quite beautiful. And I am quite grateful when you use flowers to cover all manner of things. However, am I a really terrible person if I still think (in my head), "yes, but they have some beautiful unique local ones often at the Farmer's Market" ?

• 10 cups of homemade vegetable broth- $1.00
• 1 tsp salt*
• 2 tsp ground pepper $0.10
• 1/2 bunch of large kale $1
• 4 red potatoes $0.50
• 1 large ear of roasted corn $0.90
• half a pint of cream $2.50
• 6 sprigs of rosemary tied in a bundle $1 (Free from my garden)
•  1/2 tsp of cayenne $0.15

Total:  $6.15

I'm trying to slowly undo my dependence on store bought broth. Especially because it's so ridiculously easy to make my own. So now when I'm chopping or prepping green beans/potatoes/squash/peppers/carrots/celery/cruciferous vegetables/beets I'm trying to just save the peels and plop them in the freezer till I have enough to half fill the crock pot. Then I just cook it all day on lowest setting with some spices and salt in the crock pot and strain it and freeze it to use later.

Roast the corn at 375 for seven minutes with oil on it in the toaster oven.

Dice the kale and potatoes.

Mix all but the cream and simmer for 30-40 min. Set on lowest setting or remove from the burner and add in the cream.


Tangy Nectarine Crumble

• 2 large nectarines (At my farmer's market, but from Texas) $1.00
• 1/4 c. juice (I used the yummy stuff left at the bottom of my canned spiced peaches- Free)
• 1/4 c. of honey (optional)= $1.00
•  1/2 lime (not local) $0.10- Omit or reduce if not using the honey.
• 1/3 c. oat or wheat flour $0.30
• 1/4 c. oats $0.27
• 1/3 c. butter $1.65
• 2 tsp sugar $0.10

Total: $4.32

With a crumble you don't have to spend extra time roling dough or making it look just right. Thank goodness, because that is really hard to do with a hungry baby. In fact, this dessert might be a good metaphor for this stage of my life- a jumbled ooey gooey mess yet utterly delicious.

Put several pats of butter on the bottom of a glass or non-stick pan. Slice the nectarines as thinly as possible and put in a single layer on the bottom. Add the juice honey and lime on top.

Use a pastry cutter or two butter knives to slice the butter, flours and sugar into pea sized lumps. Bake on top of the crumble at 375 degrees for 45 min.

Menu Total: $10.37
$1.73/ person!