Captain Nobody & the Cat in the Hat

Today was dress as your favorite character from a book day in school to promote literacy. The boys picked Captain Nobody and the Cat in the Hat (with only a little arm twisting from me). I used a piece of poster board for the hat, fabric scraps for the bow, and batting for the belly. Not bad for homemade in one evening!

Clam Chowder

I've been searching for a clam chowder recipe for a while by special request of my 9 year old son. Both of my boys love soup! We had been making it from an envelope mix where you add water and clams but the company stopped making it so I was looking for something homemade. Most recipes have half and half or cream which I wanted to avoid to keep it a bit healthier. Luckily, my mom helped me convert an old tuna chowder recipe to this clam chowder. It turned out fabulous! Enjoy!

The recipe is:
3/4 cup green onions, diced
3/4 cup celery, sliced
4-6 cups raw, peeled, diced potatoes
Whole bottle clam juice
2 cans clams
3-5 Tbsp. flour
2 cups milk (I used 2%)
1 1/2 cups water
3 Tbsp. butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Soften celery and green onions in butter. Add potatoes, all of clam juice, and water . Bring to a boil and cook over a medium heat until potatoes are cooked (be careful here, I cooked my potatoes to mush so I would say err on the side of firm). Put 1 1/2 Tbsp. of flour in 1/4 cup of milk and whisk. Add to soup. This is the thickener and it's important to mix the flour into the cold milk before adding it or it will be lumpy. (You might have to do this two or three times to get it to the thickness you like - I did.) Add the rest of milk. Add clams last. Add salt and pepper to taste.