Amazing! They ate the minestrone.

This week marks a milestone in our family.  Or maybe it's a speedbump perhaps. I'll be working full time for a week, in training really, for the US Census. Grandmother is watching the toddler while I'm at work except for one day when Grandma is off volunteering.  At which point Emma will be playing at our Old Order Mennonite friend's farm. The children will be at the grandparents for a couple of hours until Dad gets off work, and then they'll follow my simplified instructions for making dinner, which I will have started earlier in the morning before leaving for work at 8:15.  My 13 year old son looks at me like it's the last supper, cooked by mom.

Working a four day shift compresses all the rest of my real work, as many working mothers nod sagely.  I prefer the more relaxed day I usually have.  I like time to shop for bargains, and to hang the laundry to dry on the line. Today I went shopping to several Mennonite markets with my friends Bertha and Jill and three children.  We sampled some delicious and varied bulk foods (sweet potato chips, bacon dip, sesame crackers, some yummy corn relish, and tortilla chips). I love to purchase the horseradish pickles they sell there - a national brand I'm sure. Nathan's horseradish pickles, delicious! In times of $4.00 gallon gasoline, I even sliced cucumbers and kept refilling the jar to make it stretch further.

But today, my favorite find and dinner inspiration, was the cheese at Zimmerman's Meat Market on Lovejoy Road near Penn Yan, NY.  It's just a wee little butchershop that now carries a few bulk foods as well. I didn't even see meat, but it was in the back and some pretty kapp wearing Mennonite teen girls wrapped and labeled my order for me with smiling efficiency.

I bought 4 lbs. of Farmer's cheese, some of which we used for dinner. But my favorite find was Extra Sharp, New York Cheddar cheese. The label says Cuba cheese, from Cuba, NY. I paid no more than $2.40/lb for the 10 lbs I had cut into manageable size pieces for our family of 7. I think it comes in 10 lbs. blocks, but that's too hefty for our bunch. They vacuum sealed it and labeled it for me, and gave me an order sheet for their fresh and frozen meat and fish, as well as the multitude of cheeses they sell.  I bought 6 lbs. of whiting fillets too, so that will be dinner another week.

Tonight - I wanted to do something substantial with Farmer's cheese. Now it tastes like Mozzarella to my tongue, but it's not as squeaky, and it doesn't melt smoothly like cheddar. 

For my wedding anniversary on Friday night we had dinner at a favorite steakhouse - and I started dinner with a lovely bowl of French Onion Soup. It was divine, and I savored every last drop of that rich brown broth, and the gruyere cheese I had to cut with a knife. That was my inspiration for this combination.

KelliSue Minestrone Soup - that they'll eat
1.5 lbs. of sweet Italian sausage (I used venison sausage)
1 diced sweet onion
1 can of mixed vegetables (like veg-all) including liquid
1 quart of home bottled tomatoes or a large can of diced tomatoes including liquid
1 quart of spaghetti sauce (I used Hunts' chunky vegetable which contained zucchini slices)
1 quart of water
1 can of garbanzo beans with liquid
1 cup of macaroni
Salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons of sweet basil
or mixed Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon of minced garlic (I used jarred)

Saute' the Italian sausage until no pink remains. You may need to add a little olive oil if it's as lean as ours is.  Set aside.

In a dutch oven sized pot, drizzle a little olive oil or use butter, and sautee the diced sweet onion until softened. Then add the can of mixed vegetables, liquid and all, and the quart of canned tomatoes.  Cook for 5 minutes and then using a stick blender, puree until mostly liquid with few solid bits remaining.  Add the spaghetti sauce, the quart of water, the can of beans with liquid, the precooked sausage, and bring to a rolling boil. Add the cup of macaroni, and simmer until tender, about 7 minutes. If it's too thick, thin with some water or broth. The sausage adds quite a bit of salt and flavor, so be cautious in using broth if it's salted.

Now add the spices and seasonings to taste, beginning with the amounts suggested.  Taste again for salt and pepper, and then ladle into large bowls.

We added a large handful of shredded farmer's cheese to each bowl, and topped it with a few oyster crackers, but saltines will go nicely too. The cheese melts to a stringy delight, and made the soup disappear like magic.

If you don't have available farmer's cheese, I'm told the classic is to use parmesan, shredded into the pot of soup, or you can add chopped parmesan cheese rinds to the pot early on in the cooking.  But we had great fun with our Farmer's cheese today.  Hat's off to farmer's and their cheesey goodness.

If you try this recipe, I hope you enjoy it like we did. Even the toddler ate it right up. If you prefer Vegetarian cooking, you can leave out the Italian sausage, and use a vegetable broth instead of the quart of water.

Honey Mustard Chicken

This is a family favorite. We make it sometimes with cut up fryers and sometimes with chicken breast or tenderloin pieces. There's even a vegetarian version! Whichever you try, I think you'll be pleasantly delighted with it.

And if you are vegetarian try this sauce recipe with some tofu that has been prepared to be more meatlike. I freeze Nori Nu Extra Firm tofu for a day or longer, then I thaw it in the refrigerator. This eliminates the jello/egg feel of the tofu. Open the package, drain it, slice it thickly and set in a colander. Put a plate on top of the tofu, and add a large can, let sit for half an hour to press the water out. This gives it a meatier texture. Now cut it into chicken strip sized fingers and cook in the oven on 400* with the honey sauce of this recipe until the tofu is browned and has soaked up the delicious juices.

Honey Mustard Chicken for Six

6 chicken breast sections (1/2 breast each), or cut up chicken pieces of your choice

1 tsp. salt or season salt of your choice

1 cup melted butter
1 cup honey
1/3 cup spicy brown or dijon mustard or grainy hearty mustard

Preheat oven to 400*. In a baking pan with sides, lay chicken portions, season with your salt and some pepper. Combine butter and honey and mustard in a microwave safe bowl, heat for 30 seconds until it stirs easily to combine. Pour over the top of the chicken breast pieces. Cook until the chicken pieces are done, (which could be as soon as 15 minutes) and meat temperatures register 160* with a meat thermometer, and the sauce has reduced a little. Remove the chicken from the oven, and let sit for a few minutes for the juices to settle back into the meat. This also raises the temperature to 170* internally. Spoon the sauce into a gravy boat or syrup pitcher and pass with the chicken.

Serve with risotto or mashed potatoes, and drizzle a little of the sauce over the top of your chicken and rice or potatoes.

This feeds my family of seven, because the children are little and don't eat a full adult sized serving of meat. Add or subtract how much meat your family will need.

P.S. I can often find boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale for $1.40/lb. when bought in bulk, and leg/thigh combos for .69/lb. So we rotate these using this recipe.

Butternut Squash Risotto

1 medium butternut squash (about 1 pound whole or 12 ounces cut up) or 1 thawed pkg. frozen squash

24 sage leaves (or use 2 tsp. dried sage, or omit completely - which is what I do)
Salt and pepper
7 to 8 cups chicken or vegetable stock, I prefer low sodium
1 medium onion, finely minced
2 T olive oil
1 T real butter or margarine if you prefer
2 cups uncooked Arborio rice
Scant 1/2 cup apple or white grape juice, plus 1 T of white vinegar
1/2 cup parmesan or romano cheese, grated



1) Peel squash, then dice into very small (1/4- or 1/3-inch) cubes. Combine squash, a few sage leaves, 1 cup stock, and a little salt in a heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to a simmer and cook until just barely tender (but not too soft) about 5 to 10 minutes. Drain and reserve liquid, just in case.

2) Put the remainder of the stock into a sauce pan, add 1 cup of hot water, then bring to a simmer, and keep it just barely simmering or steaming.
3) In another, larger, heavy-bottomed dutch oven sized pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over med. high heat. Add sage 1/2 the sage leaves, and cook for 30 seconds until crispy. Remove, and set aside on a paper towel for the end of the recipe. To the same pan add onion, the other 1/2 the sage and cook until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Turn heat to low, add rice and a pinch of salt and cook for 3 minutes, stirring often, until rice has turned slightly translucent. Turn the heat back up to medium, and add the juice and vinegar. Once the juice has been absorbed, add two-three ladles full of the simmering stock, just enough to reach the top of the rice. Stir well and reduce the heat back down to medium-low.

4) Gently simmer the rice, stirring occasionally, until stock is absorbed. Add another 1/2-to-3/4 cup warm stock, and stir occasionally until new stock is absorbed. Repeat the process until all the stock has been absorbed by the rice, and rice has a bit of a bite still, but is tender on the outside. You want just a little resistance in the middle, this is what separates risotto from American rice. If you run out of stock, add a cup of water it will be fine.
5) If you're using frozen squash, now is the time to heat it in the microwave until it's heated through. Otherwise, have a glass of apple juice and stir the rice occasionally.

6) When rice is mostly tender, add cooked squash, parmesan, and a tablespoon of butter. Cook 3 to 5 minutes, until dairy is melted and squash is heated through. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot, using sage leaves as garnish.

If you don't have butternut squash, you can also use canned carrot cubes, or shred raw carrots and saute' it with the onion. They're both delicious. And I usually dislike cooked carrots.

By the way, the second and third time I made this I used simple short grained rice from my food storage buckets, which reduces the price considerably. My family is lactose intolerant, and we find that we can use Sheep Milk Romano cheese (read the label) instead of parmesan and nobody gets a belly ache. During our milking season we also use a homemade parmesan cheese made with goat milk.

Risotto goes really well with Honey Mustard Chicken, home bottled green beans, and a smile.

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, and Price Per Serving
371 calories, 10 g fat, 1.4 g fiber, $1.77 or less

Chicken Teriyaki Rice Bowls

Yesterday was a grey, rainy winter day, suitable for melting the snowpiles we saw as we drove to church, but not for much else. I had some boneless, skinless chicken breast pieces that were thawed waiting for me to decide how to use them, waiting in the refrigerator when we returned. Here's what we came up with. Just to give you an idea of the response to this meal from my family - here's how it went.

Emma, 3, cleaned her bowl completely. Merina - asked for seconds on the rice and green beans and gleefully drizzled teriyaki sauce over her second bowl. The big kids (9, almost 12, and 12) all had seconds, and my husband said WOW! High praise from half my family who were raised on pizza and wings and canned ravioli before I married in.

So here's my new favorite, somewhat reduced sugar Teriyaki sauce. And following you'll find how we used it last night and ideas I have for the future. Because I ate the leftovers for breakfast at 5:30 this morning. I named it because in the cities where I lived in Washington there were teriyaki places in every strip mall. Nearly every place served their meals similarly, a scoop or two of rice, stir fried veggies including cabbage, garlic and broccoli, and a portion of grilled chicken thigh or breast with a nice glaze of teriyaki sauce.

I Miss Seattle Teriyaki Sauce

Ingredients:

1 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup splenda (or substitute other low sugar sweetener)
1 cup of sugar free soft drink

*I used a generic of Crystal Light in peach, but have used Orange Early Rise previously too. You may also use Sugar Free Sprite, 7UP or other sugar free drink. You can substitute Pineapple juice, but then it's not suitable for diabetics, at all.

1 teaspoon grated ginger, very fine or use 1 hunk of candied or crystallized sugar ginger, like I did, minced
1 large garlic clove, minced or 1 tsp. jarred garlic
3 scallions, chopped fine - I skipped that, the refrigerator was out and we don't shop on Sunday

Bring the soy sauce and sugar free soft drink to a simmer in a sauce pan, add the ginger and garlic and add sweeteners and stir until it's dissolved. Add the scallions just before serving. Makes about 2 cups of teriyaki sauce.

Now where do you use this teriyaki sauce? Everywhere. Here is what we had for dinner last night:

Chicken Teriyaki Rice Bowl

1/2 cup of steamed white rice per person
1/4 lb. of sautee'd chicken breast or thigh (do not salt)
1/2 cup of steamed veggies of your choice - piping hot

In a bowl, mound 1/2 cup of steamed rice like an icecream scoop, arrange 1/2 cup or more of steamed veggies around this. We like broccoli, or a stir fry mix, but even canned green beans from last year's garden are really good this way.

Then drizzle Teriyaki sauce, to taste, over the top of each rice bowl. Reduce in size appropriate to the age of the eater.

How else can you use this delicious sauce? How about baking some chicken wings, sectioned, until crisp. Toss them in a bowl, drizzle with sauce and stir until well-glazed. Or, when your hamburger or turkey or venison burger is almost done to your liking, brush this teriyaki glaze on it for the last two minutes of cooking.

Teriyaki Beef from Leftovers:

In a large skillet, heat a tsp. or so of heart healthy oil on high heat. Add one or more sliced sweet onions and sautee' until just turning golden. Slice leftover steak or roast into bite sized portions, sautee' with the onions until warmed through. Now drizzle some teriyaki sauce over the meat, and turn the meat down a little so the sauce won't burn, and glaze the meat. Serve this teriyaki over a scoop of steamed rice with salad or a steamed or stir fried vegetable along side. And that will be the end of your leftovers, quickly.

If you're eating lower carbohydrate, you might consider serving the teriyaki over stir fried cabbage and zucchini and broccoli cut into thin slivers instead of rice. Vegetarians will find this is really good to use for a marinade for pressed tofu, and in fact makes a delightful sandwich with diced fried tofu, shredded veggies and lettuce stuffed into a pita.

It's bliss. What's your local food favorite? What do you find on nearly every corner, and at every strip mall in your community? It's one thing I just don't see any more... teriyaki restaurants. In rural upstate New York, it's pizza places, sub shops, and the occasional overcooked Chinese fast food.

Enjoy Mouthwater Mondays' Chicken Teriyaki Rice Bowl, in whatever version you try.

Carrot Cake Pancakes

Carrot Cake Pancakes?!?

I was reading a  cooking blog the other day and I grew intrigued by his carrot cake pancakes. 

I made a test batch, and as I mixed the batter I said, hmmm these proportions are missing something.  I made one wee test batch, and sure enough, they were tough or heavy, and a little oddly textured to my point of view.  I revised the recipe tonight  and made a very large, new and improved version.  They're still not light and fluffy buttermilk pancakes with this much shredded provider of betacarotene and other vitamins, but they're better.  They taste so good.. quick, go make some.

My critics occupy the dinenr table.  We're talking 7 people eating carrot pancakes.   And they devoured them. 

But wait, back up. I personally dislike cooked carrots. Oh I do like carrot cake, and thus carrot cake pancakes are a luscious thought.  But what if I ended up with surplus carrots? Then what? I would have to ::shudder:: use up a bunch of carrots as a moral necessity.  Necessity being the mother of invention - I opted to peel half a butternut squash and shred it quickly.  I love squash and I can imagine hundreds of squash use ideas. But the carrots would go to the goats.. no carrot salad for me.

The original recipe, when quadrupled for my crowd, produced heavy, but delicious lead weight pancakes. I opted to lighten them with a bit more leavening, add 1/4 cup of oil for the proper texture and to prevent unreasonable stickiness/gloppiness. These taste great!  I used an artificial sweetener Splenda, and a touch of molasses for the brown sugar flavor.  It reduced the carbs a little, and still tastes really yummy.  Please, feel free to try this on your crew for brunch, 'breakfast for dinner', or a weekend breakfast treat.  A dish of applesauce, some lean turkey sausage, or scrambled eggs makes a nice accompaniment, whatever time of the day you're serving these.

Carrot Cake Pancakes

But really, they're made with shredded butternut squash.  Did I mention they're low fat too?

Ingredients:
1 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour (or use all white flour if you don't have whole wheat in the house)
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups milk (or buttermilk)
2 eggs
1/2 cup splenda sugar free sweetener or brown sugar
1 Tablespoon of molasses (omit if using real brown sugar)
1/4 cup vegetable oil or melted butter or margarine
2 cup shredded raw butternut squash

Optional Topping:
8 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
6 tablespoons maple syrup
powdered sugar to taste

Directions:
First take your average size butternut or other winter squash, and cut it in half.  The butternut confines its seeds to the bulbous, so for speed, avoid that part, and peel just the longer neck portion. See, speedy! Now toss into a food processor on shred, and Bzzt, you're done. Or like me, use your box grater and 5 minutes later you have 4 cups of shreds. That wasn't too time consuming. Watch those knuckles though. Now on to the batter.

1. Mix the flour, leavenings, and spices in a very large bowl. Not that one the larger one. Ok, thanks.

2. Mix the milk, egg, oil, sweetener and shreddy squash in another bowl.

3. Mix the wet and dry ingredients making sure to not over mix. Over mixing causes tough pancakes.

4. Heat your skillet or large griddle (we have a huge nonstick electric griddle that cooks 6 pancakes at a time).

5. Pour 1/4 cup of the mixture into the pan and heat until the surface starts to bubble and the bottom is golden brown, about 2-3 minutes.

6. Flip the pancake and cook the other side until the bottom is golden brown, about 1-2 minutes.

We served these with margarine and sugar free or reduced sugar maple syrup or real maple syrup from our trees. There are diabetics at my dinner table each night.   The children are also sensitive to cream as in cream cheese, so we'll be making the topping another night, from goat cream cheese. But do try it, because the thought of cream cheese frosting on carrot cake pancakes makes you drool - doesn't it?

Optional:  Mix the cream cheese and maple syrup and add some powdered sugar to get it as sweet as you like. Then spread your cream cheese frosting onto your carrot cake pancakes.  I'd use it as filling and just sprinkle some powdered sugar on top, myself. 

The family reviews were unanimous.  WOW, good carrot cake. And that's with sugarfree syrup and diet margarine.  Imagine, if you made these with sugar and real maple syrup on top.. they'd be over the top FABULOUS.  Try them however you prefer. They're delicious.
Psst.. have you tried Butternut slaw?  That's right, you make coleslaw with shredded butternut squash, and it's sweet, and delicious and leaves you saying:  now why didn't I think of that?

Butternut Slaw

To one shredded butternut squash (about 4 cups), add 1/2 cup of dried cranberries, and 1/2 cup of toasted chopped walnuts.  Then toss with your family's favorite coleslaw dressing or try this  variation. 1/3 cup of mayonnaise, 1 1/2 tablespoons honey,  3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 1-1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.  Taste and adjust it to your palate, then pour over the salad.  Or just substitute the shredded butternut squash in your favorite coleslaw recipe. It's really good.  Just try it. It's Autumn. It's good! 

Trim Healthy Mama! Cabrini Greenie Casserole

I revisited this recipe - Cabrini Greenie Casserole, after starting the Trim, Healthy, Mama Plan -- because it took just a little adaptation to be trimming and slimming and still delicious. I hope you give it a try. If you prefer, you can skip the pasta and make a side of Zucchini ribbon noodles and pour the sauce over the top rather than bake it, or you can use a Gluten Free option if your family is Gluten Intolerant, rather than following the THM plan. However you make it, I'm sure it's going to be a favorite. <3 KelliSue

I made this Greenie dinner tonight, after adapting it to my pantry and provisioning.  It is so delicious.  I'm posting the original Cabrini Spinach recipe, and then the alterations I made so you can make one or both or even your own version. I reduced the fat in this dish by cutting out one cup of cheese, switched up the frying fat to coconut oil which raises your body's ability to burn your energy, and used low fat sour cream.  Extra sharp cheese has reduced or no lactose, which gives us here a little dietary wiggle room here in using sour cream in a dish. You can substitute Greek Yogurt for 1 cup of the sour cream without affecting the flavor and you'll increase the protein. THIS is a One-Pot wonder!

KelliSue's Cabrini Greenie Casserole - with my apologies to the Junior League
1 16oz. or so box of rotini - I use Dreamfields brand rotini, (with 5 grams available carbs) cooked in well-salted water until barely tender, drained
1/2 cup butter or coconut oil
3 cups of chopped cooked swiss chard, stems finely chopped, or spinach, drained
2.5 to 3 cups of shredded extra sharp cheese or your favorite
1 diced onion
1 cup of diced mushrooms (I used foraged wild mushrooms)
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed - sprinkled with season salt
2 cups of sour cream (low fat works perfect here) or Greek Yogurt for even less fat
6 grinds of freshly ground black pepper
For those following the THM plan please grind up some On Plan bread crumbs from Joseph's lavash bread or pitas, etc.,
For those not on this plan Panko style bread crumbs work well.


In a large bowl, stir together cheese, sour cream, pepper.  Pour the not fully cooked, hot drained pasta over the top, and gently combine. Meanwhile, saute  the onion, mushrooms, and chicken in 1/2 cup of coconut oil or  When the chicken is cooked through and the onions are softened, combine with the pasta mixture and place in a 9x13" casserole dish. Top with a layer of Panko style bread crumbs, and spray with butter flavored or coconut oil spray.   Bake uncovered at 400*F for 30 minutes.  The breadcrumbs get nice and crunchy and the casserole becomes one delicious pan of cheesey melty goodness.  Makes 8-10 servings.  The original calorie count is below. I'm sure my version was improved! You can keep this vegetarian by omitting the meat. 

My family's reaction to this casserole, which goes nicely with homemade bread by the way, was "make this one again Mom".  My husband liked how delicious it was, and was happy that the chard came from the garden.  As for me - I like one dish meals.  You might want to put in 1 lb. kielbasa, cut into coins, instead of the chicken breast, or use some leftover ham cubes another time.  This wasn't an expensive dish, using garden produce, 1 box of pasta, 1 lb. leftover or planned over meat, 3 cups of shredded cheese, and a .99 pint of low fat sour cream.  I'll be blanching swiss chard and putting it in the freezer so we can enjoy this one again in the deep freeze of the winter months in Upstate New York.

KelliSue Kolz


Cabrini Spinach
Recipe From: Creme de Colorado by The Junior League of Denver


9 oz spaghetti, broken into pieces, cooked al dente and drained
1/2 cup butter, melted
20 oz frozen spinach, cooked and drained (2 boxes cut-leaf spinach)
4 cups shredded Monterey jack cheese
1/4 lb mushrooms, sliced
2 cups sour cream
1/4 cup diced onion
1 dash dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4tsp freshly ground black pepper

In a large bowl, stir together all ingredients. Place in a 9x13" casserole dish. Bake uncovered at 350oF for 45 minutes. Makes 8-10 servings.
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 461 Calories; 33g Fat (63.8% calories from fat); 18g Protein; 24g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 85mg Cholesterol; 458mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1-1/2 Grain(Starch); 1-1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 5-1/2 Fat.

Opie Taylor goes to Iraq

With fourteen children in my family during my formative years, I'm surprised that it seemed like Robbie was the baby for the longest. Maybe it was because I was in high school when he was born and that makes all the difference. He was fun to play with, and of course more happy to see me at age 2 than my siblings who were within a year of age to me. I see that in Emma now. She runs to the door hugging and kissing her Andy, Gerard, Sarah and Merina when they return home from school.Robbie was born pretty bald like most of my birthed in siblings. The adopted ones all had dark hair. Robbie grew in the brightest head of redhair and with his big grin and freckley face he quickly resembled Opie Taylor of The Andy Griffith Show.

As my little children (12 and under) have grown I've been reminded of Robbie's childhood several times. Emma is redhaired and destined to be freckley some day. One morning she came to me in her blue footy pajamas and said Mama, I wet. As I changed her out of her soaked diaper and wet pajamas and put her into the shower I was flashed back to when I was a teen and Robbie was a wee toddler.All the children's rooms were upstairs, like in this old house we live in here. Robbie's room was down the hall from me, but Mom was way down the steep stairway, or so it seemed when we were small.

On the occasion when 2-3 year old Robbie would wet the bed, he'd shed his footed pajamas and soaked underclothing on the bathroom floor and make a speedy, dark, dash down the hall to my room. I slept on the bottom bunk of our bunkbeds shared by my sister and I, and I could reach the bottom drawer of my dresser without much stretching. When Robbie woke me up I'd reach over, grab an old Tshirt out of my bottom drawer and pop it over his head for a makeshirt night shirt, tuck him into the bottom of my bed and go back to sleep.That's what I remembered as I was changing Emma one morning.

Robbie called me with news a few mornings ago. He told me he loves me and that he is being shipped to Iraq with the U.S. Army. Oh sure, he likes the Army life, and he's a good cook keeping both his culinary skills sharp and the army soldiers well-fed, but he's my baby brother. This is not what I envisioned as I encouraged him during culinary school. There's no safe place in Iraq. Even Army cooks have to drive along those roads with those roadside bombs. Even Iraqi children fall prey to the sadistic terror of their countrymen gone wrong. War is Hell.I do not want my baby brother in Hell. I want him exchanging recipes for things we wish we made more regularly, and trying new techniques for things we do repetetively.

I want Robbie kissing my children and milking my goats and coming with surprises for holidays and asking for my prayers about things with which he's struggling. God bless our Troops. May God bless my baby brother who I love so much.

I would appreciate it if when you read this that you would pause and say a heartfelt prayer and ask God to please watch over Robert Brown, the freckle faced boy from Kent, Washington who really wants to make a difference in this world. And maybe one for his mother and his sister who cry over him and want him safe and home.I'll be praying for our president and other leaders who need to fix this situation and get the U.S. Army out of Iraq. Nevertheless, not my will, but God's be done. KelliSue Brown Kolz