Potato Cheese Soup

I got this recipe from a friend when we were in Dental School in Cleveland.  They made it for us for dinner and it was sooo delicious.  Friend - I'm sorry I don't remember which one of you it was!  I'd love it if you'd remind me!

I had some baby potatoes that needed to be used, so I tried to think of what I could do with them and remembered this delicious recipe I used to make a lot but haven't made in years.  Instead of the veggies it calls for, I used some chopped broccoli I had in the freezer and another bag of carrots/cauliflower/broccoli mix and I happened to have some celery in the fridge!  Score!  I've told you this before, but I don't chop onions anymore.  I only use the frozen chopped onions from the freezer.  Its just not worth the pain it causes my eyes - I'm super sensitive to it.

I also love that this soup is meatless - you could add ham if you wanted and I'm sure it would be great, but I love having some meal recipes that don't use any meat.

This recipe is super easy, and even more tasty.  And a huge hit with my kids!  My 4-year-old little girl says "Mmm.... I can't believe how yummy this is!"  And, later in the meal, she asks, "Can you put this on the yummy list?"  (I actually do have a 'yummy list' I keep on the inside of a cupboard door of things that were big hits in our family - very handy!)  Isn't that cute though?  And, don't you LOVE it when your kids LOVE a meal that's full of veggies?!  How awesome is that??

I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Potato Cheese Soup
Carrie Horlacher

Ingredients:
  Soup base:

• 4 c. water
• 2 T. chicken bouillon
• 3c. cubed potatoes
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 stalk broccoli
• 1 large carrot, cubed
• 2 stalks celery, chopped

  White sauce:

• ½ c. butter
• ½ c. flour
• 4 c. milk
• ½ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. pepper

Add to completed White Sauce:
1c. grated cheese

Process:
Simmer soup base till tender.  Make White Sauce.  When sauce is completed, add cheese.  Add White Sauce with cheese to soup base.  Mix & serve.


If anyone knows how it would turn out without/with less of or an alternitive to using an entire cube of butter, I'd love to hear it.  The soup makes a TON, which is my only consolation for using so much butter, but I'd still love to hear of an alternative if anyone has one.


Happy Eating!

Meatball & Noodle Casserole

So, I accidentally left the meatballs out of the freezer long enough to thaw completely the other day, so I stuck them in the fridge not wanting to re-freeze them.  (Can you re-freeze cooked meat?)  So I had to use the meatballs, so I tried to think of something I could make with them.  I looked up some 'meatball casseroles' but couldn't find anything that used already made meatballs.  So I decided to just to wing it on my own. (I do that a lot... luckily, somehow my mom's skill of it rubbed off on me and I'm pretty good at it.)  So here's what I came up with, using the rest of the pasta sauce in the fridge and some mozzarella I had on hand from the week before, that also needed to be used.  Since I 'winged it' I really don't know about measurements... use your best judgment and what looks right.  I'll estimate, but use those exact measurements at your own discretion.

Since I made it up, I had no idea how it would turn out, but my family GOBBLED it up!  Both my kids (ages 2 & 4) loved it, and my husband actually put it on the same level as his two all-time favorite meals I make!  I couldn't believe it.  He ate the leftovers every day for the next two days and loved it. Pretty simple meal, but a HUGE hit!  Gotta love that!

Ingredients:

• Pasta - probably about 2 C uncooked - I used some tri-color (probably vegetable) fusilli I had
• Pasta sauce - our favorite brand is Safeway, although I've started shopping differently and probably won't be buying it anymore.  The flavor was artichoke pesto.  I used a jar and about a half cup of what I had left in the fridge.
• Meatballs - as many as you like - I probably had about 10-15 in the bag still - frozen meatballs
• Mozerella cheese - probably about 2 C
• Bread crumbs - I used homemade ones I had, but any would work

Process:

1. Cook pasta an put in 3 qt. casserole
2. Warm and add meatballs, dispersing as desired
3. Cover with pasta sauce
4. Cover with shredded mozerella
5. Top with bread crumbs
6. Bake till heated through - probably about 30 min. at 350 degrees.

Happy Eating!

CrockPot Apricot Chicken

We had this for dinner tonight and it was oh-so-good!  I wish there was more, but sadly, there were no leftovers tonight.

Since I only had regular mustard and no minced onion flakes, I used part of an onion soup mix I had.  Turned out great.  I also didn't have red chili flakes so I used a bit of red pepper flakes instead.  (Are those the same thing?  Hum...)  I served it with brown rice and broccoli (obviously from my picture.)  It was an awesome combo.  The sauce (there's lots of extra after the chicken is cooked) is way yummy on the broccoli.  The "I" below isn't me.  I think it might be my friend Olivia, but I'm not sure.  (Olivia, let me know if it is!)

Ingredients:
•    11 oz jar of apricot preserves
•    1 t dried minced onion flakes
•    1 T Dijon mustard
•    1 T soy sauce
•    1/4 t ginger
•    1/4 to 1/2 t red chili flakes (optional)
•    6 chicken thighs or equivalent body parts

Process:
     I used frozen thighs.  Drop the chicken into your crockpot.  In a small bowl, mix all the other other ingredients and pour over chicken.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, high for 4-6.  Note: If your chicken isn't frozen, your dinner will cook faster.  Serve with white or brown rice and veggies. In our case, we had leftover cabbage and potatoes.


Let me know how it turns out!  Happy Eating!

Edit: This recipe is from the food blog, A Year of Slow Cooking.  Thanks Olivia!

Honey-Lime Enchiladas

This is one of my favorites, and I'm making it for my BIG family (Aunts, uncles, grandma, cousins...) on Sunday so I thought I'd put it up here.  I'll have to take my own picture when I make it on Sunday.  For now, here's the picture from the blog where I got it, shared with me by my friend Angie.

And I'll add a tip for cooking chicken that I learned recently and LOVE.  For a SUPER EASY way to cook and shred chicken, put it in the crock pot the night before you'll need it, with just a tiny bit of water.  Let it cook on low all night and in the morning, it is so tender, practically all you have to do is stir the chicken (after you've removed it and those nasty little fatty pieces) and it totally shreds apart.  Amazing, and sooo easy!  (I LOVE easy... don't you?)

One more note: The last time I made it I didn't have time to buy the chicken before I had to make the meal, so I just boiled it.  I used my Pampered Chef food chopper to chop up the chicken instead of shredding it, and a friend who also ate the meal said she really liked it that way.  I do too.  It gets it chopped up pretty small which gets the honey-lime sauce all over the chicken.

Click the picture for the recipe.  And prepare for your tummy to be very happy with you.

Happy Eating!

Croissant and Chocolate Bread Pudding

This dessert was sooo yummy.  Unfortunately when I made it a few months ago, I didn't take a picture.  (frown)  But a friend requested it, so I found the picture from the book online.  Trust me, you're gonna want to try this!

NOTE: DO NOT USE THIS VERSION... SEE EDIT BELOW AND USE THAT VERSION!

Ingredients:

• Unsalted butter for the baking dish (I probably just used cooking spray)
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1 C heavy cream
• 1 C granulated sugar
• 1 t pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 t ground nutmeg
• 6 croissants, cut into 1-in. pieces (about 1 lb.)
• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, cut into chunks (important note here: I just used chocolate chips, and I ONLY use Guittard chocolate chips now... once you taste them, you'll know why.  They're amazing.)

Process:
1) Heat oven to 375.  Butter an 8-in. square baking dish or other shallow 2-qt. baking dish.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks, milk, cream, sugar, vanilla, salt and nutmeg.  Add the croissants and chocolate and mix to combine.  Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish.  Bake until set and knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 30-40 min.  Serve warm or at room temperature.


Apparently its from Real Simple - Best Recipes.

I imagine it would be amazing with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or doused in milk... Mmmm....

If not, make sure to at least have a glass of milk close by... it is RICH!

Happy Eating!

Edit: I wondered why, the first I made this it was sooo dry.  I got great reviews about it, but I thought it was way too dry.  Well, in making it this time (and I don't know why I didnt notice before...) when it said "whisk together... milk... salt..." I wondered, there is no milk or salt in the recipe... So, thinking it was my mistake in the typing (I had printed out my typed version), I went upstairs to check the original recipe from the magazine I tore it out of (a local magazine) and sure enough, I had typed it correctly.  So, I googled it (my spell checker still doesn't recognize 'googled' as a word yet... get with the times!  Shiesh! :) )  And, sure enough, the magazine had left two whole cups of milk out of the recipe!  Along with some salt.  NO WONDER IT WAS DRY!!  So sorry to all of my Bunco friends who had to endure the dry chocolate croissant bread pudding.  It won't happen again.  But in any case, here is the updated and correct recipe:


Ingredients:

• Unsalted butter for the baking dish (I probably just used cooking spray)
• 6 large egg yolks
• 2 C whole milk (I used 1% because I didn't know about the extra ingredient until after I went shopping, and it turned out great.  I'm glad it ended up that way because I wouldn't have probably tried the 1% otherwise, and I'd much rather use that.)
• 1 C heavy cream
• 1 C granulated sugar
• 1 t pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• 1/2 t ground nutmeg
• 6 croissants, cut into 1-in. pieces (about 1 lb.)
• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, cut into chunks (important note here: I just used chocolate chips, and I ONLY use Guittard chocolate chips now... once you taste them, you'll know why.  They're amazing.)

Process:
1) Heat oven to 375.  Butter an 8-in. square baking dish or other shallow 2-qt. baking dish.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks, milk, cream, sugar, vanilla, salt and nutmeg.  Add the croissants and chocolate and mix to combine.  Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish.  Bake until set and knife inserted in the center comes out clean, 30-40 min.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Chicken Piccata Pasta

I swiped this recipe card from my sister (thanks Janeal!  You can have it back now.) because this pregnancy has made me seriously crave lemon and it looked delicious.  Its a Pampered Chef recipe, but (sorry PC) I'm going to take out all of the pampered chef specific words they bold like cutting the chicken on the 'cutting board.'  Seriously?  Because I was going to cut it up on my counter.  Lol.

It was simply delish, even though the chicken turned to 'blackened chicken' (when I got distracted on the phone - it didn't have a burned taste though... it was still good) and I didn't have artichoke hearts or fresh parsley and I don't like capers.  Oh, and I just (now) realized, I HAD Parmesan cheese, but I forgot to put it on.  Nice.  Oh well, I'm definitely going to be making it again, so I'll try again next time.  Enjoy!

"Creamy and lemony, this dish is a fresh take on piccata and is made in a fraction of the time!"  (I don't actually know what piccata is, but I don't care because this dish was awesome.)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 T olive oil, divided (I use coconut oil and its yummy and smells like a pina colada!)

1 1/2 T Lemon Pepper Rub (I use a Wild Tree one that was awesome)

3 cans 33% reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/2 medium onion

12 oz uncooked angel hair pasta (my favorite kind of pasta)

1 lemon

2 oz cream cheese, softened

1 can (14 oz) quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained

1/4 C capers, drained and rinsed

Chopped fresh parsley and grated fresh Parmesan cheese (optional)

Process:

1) Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces.  Combine chicken, half the oil and all of the rub in a bowl and toss to coat.  Heat remaining oil a large skillet over med-high heat 1-3 min. or until simmering.  Add chicken to skillet; cook and stir 10 minutes or until chicken is golden brown and centers are no longer pink (duh.)  Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.

2) Meanwhile, pour broth into pan (they say to put it in the microwave but I just did it on the stove) and bring to boil.  Chop onion (unless you use frozen chopped onion like me... no more tears!) and add to skillet; cook 10-20 seconds or until onion is fragrant.  Carefully add broth and pasta to skillet; cook, uncovered, 7-8 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally.

3) Zest lemon to measure 1 T.  Juice lemon to measure 2 T.  Add zest, juice and cream cheese to skillet; stir until cream cheese is fully incorporated.  Add chicken and artichokes to skillet.  Cook, covered, 1-2 min. or until heated through.  Remove skillet from heat; stir in capers.  Garnish with parsley and Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Lemony and delicious!  (I think I used that word like five times in this post.)  Happy eating!