Mushroom Gnocchi Soup with Chickpeas

& Paul McCartney, the desert, and San Diego

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Hi! Welcome to “good mood food” from Kale Me Maybe’s Carina Wolff. If you’ve made it here and aren’t yet a subscriber, come join! You can expect recipes, musings, and faves in your inbox every Wednesday! Paid subscribers get even more on Fridays — right now I’m doing a 30-minute budget meal series! Learn more about the paid tier of my newsletter here. You can also try a week for free!

CATCH UP!

I feel like we have so much to catch up on, but at the same time, so little. I took the week off last week to fully immerse myself in time with Sagan, and it was much needed. Much of my brain space right now is occupied with thoughts of balancing my new life, adjusting to the time I haev available to me and pondering what the future looks like. But this is the same old thing I discuss every week, so we won’t focus on that any further.

We had an active week, and it put me in a really good mood! We took Sagan on our first trip out to Palm Desert, and Grant and I went with my dad and brother to see Paul McCartney in concert. We had such a fun time, and although Sir Paul is certainly past his prime, he is still extremely impressive, especially considering he is 83 years old. I also got to spend some time swimming in our Air BnB, which was so refreshing to move my body like that and get some sun.

Sagan did well traveling, which only emboldened us for the next weekend, when we drove down to San Diego to see some friends. I enjoyed my time a lot, and I went from feeling overwhelmed the days before to feeling so calm, relaxed, and more settled into my new role.

I historically love being out of the house, and I tend to get stir crazy, and these feelings have not changed since having a baby. I love when we take Sagan out, even though it’s a lot more work, but it always fills my cup. I’ve also learned that one day can be so stressful and overwhelming, and the next calm and smooth, and I have to be accepting that each will happen. It has been important for me to let go of the idea of perfection.

THINGS I’M LOVING!

I was very excited for Wildgrain to partner with me this month, because if you follow me on Instagram, you know how much I’ve been all about the baked goods. This month, I received their fall box, and it has been so fun baking different items each week, especially since it’s very difficult for me to make things from scratch right now. Wildgrain is a bake-from-frozen subscription box that partners with small bakers and pasta makers across the country! In this month’s fall box, I received everything from bread, to ravioli, to apple cider and donuts and my personal favorite, these pumpkin biscuits!

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It’s no secret I love all things Gap, including (and especially) Gap Factory. I find so many amazing 100% cotton items there, and they’re always such a steal. My latest find — well, TikTok’s latest find — are these wide-leg cotton track pants. They call them “linen-blend,” but they’re actually 100% cotton! I got the brown color, but they come in navy as well, and they’re only $28. I’m usually a small/medium in pants, and I ordered the medium in petite for a more cropped fit.

I had to throw away my eye makeup after I got both a stye and a chalazion in the same month, and when I was on my way to a birthday party this weekend and realized I didn’t have any eyeshadow, I stopped into CVS and picked up this Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow in Caramel. At first, I was hesistant about a cream eyeshadow, but became quickly convinced. I like this more than the Mac eyeshadow I just bought recenly! It’s a beautiful, shimmery bronze, and it not only glides on so easily but stays on really well. Drugstore makeup for the win!

DISCOUNT CODES!

Thank you Wildgrain for sponsoring today’s newsletter! Visit https://wildgrain.com/CARINAWOLFF & use code CARINAWOLFF at checkout to receive $30 off your first box + free croissants for life!

Supplements

• KALEMEMAYBE25 gets you 30% off your first order with Ritual!

• Use my link to get up to 45% off Grüns gummy vitamins!

• KALEMEMAYBE gets you 15% off Armra Colostrum!

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Food

• KALEMEMAYBE gets you 10% off Fishwife products

• KMM10 gets you 10% off your first purchase with Ground Up Nut Butters

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RECIPE!

As you can see from this viral Substack note, I love a hearty, chunky soup, and this seems to be a popular opinion — although everyone loves to remind me that maybe I just like stew?! I’m still not entirely sure the difference.

The base of this soup (yes, I’m going to call it that), is made with mushrooms, onions, garlic, and thyme, which gets blended up with a little cream and soy sauce. You reserve some of the mushrooms for some texture, and then gnocchi and chickpeas are added at the end, so you can feel good about getting in your protein and enjoyinh some pillowy carbs.

If you want to make this recipe fully vegetarian/vegan, you can skip the cream! You can opt to substitute coconut cream, but I didn’t test it out this way myself, so I can’t say how much it will affect the flavor. Whenever I use coconut milk instead of cream, I just make sure to balance it out with more savory elements like salt, garlic/onion powder, etc.

Mushroom Gnocchi Soup with Chickpeas

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 yellow onion, diced

• 6 cloves garlic, minced

• 6 cups sliced white mushrooms (16 oz)

• 1 tsp dried thyme

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

• 4 cups vegetable broth

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 16 oz gnocchi

• 2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained

1. Heat up olive oil on medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic, and sauté for 5-6 minutes until onions have softened and become translucent, stirring occasionally.

2. Add the mushrooms, thyme, and soy sauce, and mix together. Turn the heat up to medium, and cook for 8-10 minutes until mushrooms are soft and have cooked down, stirring regularly.

3. Add the vegetable broth, bring to a boil, and then simmer for 15 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove half of the mushrooms and set aside. Mix in the cream and salt, and let simmer for a minute or two.

4. Use an immersion blender (or transfer to a blender), and blend until broth is smooth.

4. If you used a blender, add broth back to the pot, and bring to a simmer. Add in the gnocchi and chickpeas, and simmer for 3 minutes until gnocchi is cooked. Mix back in the remaining mushrooms, and serve warm!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!

Last week, paid subscribers received a recipe for Loaded Red Curry Wonton Soup, another 30-minute budget meal! I love this one — so low-maintenance, yet full of rich flavor.

As a reminder, anytime you become a paid subscriber, you get access to ALL of the past recipes in the archive, plus one exclusive recipe a week. New subscribers also get a free 7-day trial!