Potato Soup

Hello everyone busy time of the year again!! Christmas shopping, holiday parties, family get togethers and in my family's case ...birthday parties! But you know what is the best part is....it is soup season! We love soup around here. I make a lot of home made soup in the fall/winter. It is so easy, and you can eat it for more than 1 meal. I usually make enough to eat for dinner lunch and than dinner again...and if you get sick of it before then you can always freeze it for later!


Potato soup you will needs:

Medium onion
6 celery sticks
Garlic clove crushed
6 medium red potatoes
1 lb Jimmy Dean regular sausage
6 cup chicken stock
2 c cream or milk for lighter soup
6T Butter
6T Flour
Salt, pepper, garlic other seasoning if you feel the need


I start by cutting up the celery and onion, peeling and cubing the potatoes(about 1/2 inch pieces) and browing the sausage.

 

Once the veggies are cut up, put them in a stock pot with your 6 cups of chicken stock. This is when i would season my soup, including the clove of garlic! You could also wait until the cream is added. Drain browned sausage and set aside.

 



Boil the veggies until they are soft. Then add your cream. It is also time to make your roux. Melt the butter in a seperate pan, and mix in the flour, heat through. It should look like wet beach sand! Once the soup mixture with the cream has heated back to boiling add the roux. Mix in quickly with a wire whisk and let cook for about 3 minutes. Add the sausage and mix.

Soups on!

If you dont like pork sausage, you could try bacon, or ham, or turkey sausage! This is a really good fill you up soup and as always, super easy! You gotta try this soup!

 

 

SIDE DISHES

It has been a while since I have written anything. Lets face it sometimes we all get in to a food funk, frozen pizzas and chicken nuggets out of a bag! I needed to find a way out of this funk  and it always seems like a cook the same side dishes over and over! So I have been experimenting lately to come up with something that goes with pretty much anything and also stands tall alone! This is my new recipe! Its super easy!

1/2 C Acini De Pepe pasta
1 half onion
5 small sweet peppers
1 can diced tomatoes
splash of milk or cream
salt, pepper, garlic



First, I start by getting the water going to boil the pasta. Also, I chop up the pepper and onion and saute it in a large non-stick pan.

 

I have decided to grill some nice center cut pork chops to go with my new recipe! They are pretty thick so I put them on now as well.

 

 

Once the water is boiling,add the pasta you only need a 1/2 cup, a little of this stuff really does go a long way! I found 12-13 minutes is the perfect time to boil. Drain then add to the saute pan with your peppers and onions. Now is also the time to add your canned diced tomatoes. I like the fire roasted garlic kind! I only add half of the can and later I can decide if it needs more! It would also be a good time to season the dish!

 

 

 

Okay, now mix it all together, and add your splash of milk or cream. like maybe 2 tablespoons.

 

 

Now heat through and its ready to eat!

 

 

Here I have paired it with my grilled pork chops.....

 

 

We have also had this is a main dish I added some bacon, but it is really not necessary it is good on its own! You could add cooked cut up chicken or steak. Very versatile! We love this around here! I am always looking for new side dishes, if you have an ace in the hole please share!

 

 











Stuffed steak rolls

I am always looking for a way to dress up cheap steaks. For some reason I am a meat stuffer....that doesn't sound good...oh but it is! Pork chops, pork loins, chicken breasts, burgers you name it I have probably, put cheese or something inside of it! ...and why not Cheese and bacon make everything tasty! One day I came up this stuffed steak recipe, we love it at our house!





Here is what you need:


Cheap steaks...I say like 2 chuck tenders
1/2 LB bacon
1 small onion
4 button mushrooms
4 slices provolone cheese
tooth picks


here is what you do...

Pound out your steaks to about 1/3 in thick sometimes if they are really thick I will butterfly them before I pound them out. In this case, I did butterfly them!

Next I put them into my Tupperware marinating thingy ( I don't know the name) after sprinkling with salt, pepper, garlic, and worcestershire sauce. Then I put it in the fridge and let it sit anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight!

Meanwhile... I mince onion, mushrooms and bacon and saute until onions are soft. The bacon does not get crispy in this recipe...I like it this way. Some may prefer to have crispy bacon...I would recommend cooking the bacon seperate if you want it crispy. It is also time to chop up the cheese. I mix the cheese in after the bacon mixture is cooled a bit, and drained

After allowing the mixture to cool enough to touch I load some on to one of my prepped steaks.

Then I roll it uptucking the sides in as I roll, then I secure it with toothpicks.

Time to go out to the grill. They cook fairly quickly since the meat is pretty thin. The cheese will start to sneak out the sides! yum...when they are done to your liking, remove from grill and let rest for 5 minutes before cutting into!

 Pair with your favorite sides and chow down!







Sausage Stars!!

So I was on the phone with my mom earlier tonight and she tells me that my grandmother is throwing herself a birthday party tomorrow at noon. So we talk about it, and eventually it dawns on me...I should probably bring some food since the only thing planned is turkey and buns. What to make? More like what do I have on hand considering I do not want to go to the store because its 8:00PM and Dan is already sawing logs in the recliner! I look around it just so happens I have wonton wrappers in the fridge ( I use them quite often actually) and everything else for sausage stars! Actually mom kinda suggested them and luckily I had the ingredients on hand. I remember having these when I was a kid, I kind of always thought they were a family recipe but when I got out in the real world I saw them more and more! Family recipe or not they are still a holiday staple around here and in my opinion very tasty!

Here is what you need:

2 LB Jimmy Dean hot sausage
2 c shredded cheese cheddar jack
6 oz can black olives (minced)
1 Hidden Valley Ranch powder dressing mix
1 c milk
1 c mayo
1 package wonton wrappers

Here is what you do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Get the Sausage into a pan and start browning it...

Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray. Put 1 wonton wrapper in each muffin hole...

Put the wontons in the oven (once preheated) and bake for like 5-10 minutes until the start to brown

while the meat is browning and the wrappers are baking, mix up the dressing. I find it helps to throw the dressing in the fridge for 10 minutes it will thicken a little. At this time I will also chop up the black olives. I use my Tupperware quickchef to mince my olives.

When the meat is done browning I drain it on to some paper towels to get the extra grease off it.

Next, I mix the cheese and olives in with the ranch, then I mix the meat in with the ranch mixture.

Now it's time to put the mixture into the wonton wrappers, only fill the ones you want to eat right away. You can make a little or a lot! You will want to heat them before you eat them, microwave a small amount 2-6 for 15 to 30 seconds. If you you are entertaining you might want to fill up a cookie sheet and throw them in the oven at 350 for 5 minutes or until bubbly.

Store the sausage mixture in the fridge and the wonton wrappers in a air tight container at room temp.

I love to make these for parties, they are easy to mingle and eat with and always seem to be a crowd pleaser! Try them, love them...

CHEX SCHOOL FUEL!!!

This is a recipe I have been making for years! It is one of my favorite snack type foods. I sort of lost the recipe for a while...Well actually I didn't really lose it, I just left it in my mom's recipe box when I moved out! So, one day when I was over at her house I reclaimed it when she wasn't looking. (if you are reading this mom...sorry!...no i'm not). This recipe is so simple and so good it is really worth a try! Carmel and chocolate from the microwave in less than 10 minutes!....I think so!

Here is what you are going to need:

3/4 Cup packed brown sugar
6 Tablespoons butter or margarine (the spread crap doesnt work just trust me on this one)
3 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 Teaspoon baking soda
8 Cups Chex cereal (you can use corn or rice, I use rice usually and it doesn't have to be chex brand!)
1/4 Cup chocolate chips


Start out by covering a cookie sheet with waxed paper or spraying it with Pam.

Then, in a very large bowl combine butter, sugar, syrup, and baking soda.

Microwave for 1 minute, or until melted then stir.

Add the cereal...

Stir to combine. I will not be fully covered in the carmel mixture at this point, but not to worry it will turn out. Microwave 3 minutes, stirring after each minute. The carmel will bubble up and by the end of the third minute it will cover all the cereal.

Now you are ready to spead the mixture on that prepped cookie sheet!

 

Next you melt the chocolate chips. 1 mintue in the microwave should do it!

 

Drizzle the chocolate over the cookie sheet of goodness...

I can hardly wait!!! I have to though, because now it is time to let it cool so the chocolate can harden!

When it is cool and the chocolate is solid, break it up into chunks and store in a plastic bowl with a lid, or a ziploc bag. ENJOY!!!



 

 

 

BANANA BREAD

I love baking in the fall! Not only are there good flavors like pumpkins, apples, pomegrante, and cinnamon, but there is just something about the warmth of goods baking on a crispy fall night! I guess I wouldn't exactly call banana bread a fall treat, but the trick is adding Reese's Peanut Butter Cups minis...ah ha! Trick or Treat banana bread! So it is a fall treat after all!


Here goes nothing

Preheat oven to 350
grease and flour two bread pans (you can use just one but it kinda overflows)

In a bowl combine Dry Ingredients:

3 1/2 C flour sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder

In a seperate bowl combine wet ingredients:

3 bananas mashed
1 1/2 C sugar
1/2 C water
1/2 C milk
2 eggs



after you have mixed the wet ingredients well, slowly add the dry until it looks something like this:

Then, Add 1 C of Reese's Minis! (maybe 2)

 

 

Fold them in. Divide the batter in to the 2 greased and flour bread pans. Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes, the top will be golden brown. Depending on your oven you may need to cook less or more time! Cool on a cookie rack!

 

 

Nothing left to do but enjoy!

 

 

 

YUM!

 

 

 

 

 

I have always thought I should start writing a blog. Mostly to write down my recipe successes...and failures. It always seems like I am getting compliments on how good my food is, but how many people actually get to sample it? As I was sitting at my second job this past weekend (loathing every minute of it). I was scrolling through some pictures stored on my phone, and I came across some pictures of an hors d'oeuvre party I have helped or have been in charge or catering for the previous 8 years. I said (out loud without thinking) what am I doing here, I am really wasting my talent! The guy I was working with asked to see what I was looking at then said "um yeah, what the hell are you doing here?" I didn't answer him. But that question has been burning in my brain for the last 2 days. What the hell am I doing? Well the reality is, I am filling the good old money gap. So, until I find the one job that I absolutely love that showcases all my talents, and the money gap is non existant...I have decided to share my talents right here for everyone to see, and try...well everyone who reads this...


Here are some of those pictures: