Italian Sausage Soup

I go to work very early every morning so that I am home when the girl child gets home from school. It give us some alone time every day to just chit chat.

She walked in when I was making this and asked what I was making.
My evening went a little like this:

Me: It's an Italian sausage soup, my friend Rebecca gave me the recipe and I have been dying to try it.
Girl: Well, it sounds...um....interesting.
Me: If you think about it, with the exception of the carrots, it's everything that can be found in a pasta dish.
Girl: OK mom. I'm gonna get a snack.

Fast forward to an hour into simmering....

Girl: That smells soooo good Mom!
Me: Even though it was only "interesting" earlier?
Girl: :::sigh::: Mom, I meant INTERESTING like, I can't wait to eat it!

Even if she was a little "ugh" in the beginning, she ate it all up!

Ingredients:
1 Lb Italian sausage (casings removed)
1 Large onion (chopped)
1 Med carrot (chopped)
1 Stalk celery (chopped)
8 Cups chicken broth
1 (14.5 oz) Can of diced tomato
1 (8 oz) Can tomato sauce
1 Clove garlic (minced)
1 Tsp oregano
½ Tsp rosemary
½ Tsp basil
¼ Tsp thyme
1 Bay leaf
½-1 Cup orzo pasta

Directions:
1. In large pot cook sausage, onion, carrot, and celery over medium heat until the sausage is no longer pink. Drain.
2. Add chicken broth, undrained tomatoes, tomato sauce, garlic, and spices.
3. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Cover and simmer 1 hour.
4. Add orzo and return to boil.
5. Reduce heat and cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
6. Serve with parmesan cheese.

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Ingredients: I got sausage patties instead of pulling from the casing

Dinner...and then lunch for the next two days!

Mom's Brownies

These are the brownies I grew up on. They are gooey, chocolatey, and will completely ruin any diet you ever considered.

My mother and I have a life long brownie battle going. She feels all brownies should have walnuts, where as I feel like that is the most horrible thing you could ever do to such a food.

The solution?

Whoever made them got to decide. Sometimes one of us would be nice and make the batter half and half...sometimes.

I made a batch of them today and was amazed at how quickly I was transported back to my childhood!

The smell is just such a trigger. I don't mind....the 6 year old me doesn't have all these adult responsibilities. Being 6 again for a minute doesn't suck.

Ingredients:
8 oz unsweetened chocolate
1 Cup butter
5 Eggs
3 Cups sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 ½ Cups all purpose flour
2 Cups chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:
1. Combine butter and broken up chocolate in a microwave safe bowl
2. Microwave butter and chocolate for 2 minutes. Stir until smooth.
3. In a larger bowl, combine eggs and sugar. Beat on high for 2 minutes.
4. Add chocolate mixture a little at a time to begin with, and then add remaining.
5. Add vanilla, mix.
6. Add flour, ½ cup at a time.
7. Add walnuts (optional)
8. Pour into greased 9x13 pan.
9. Bake at 375 for approx 35 minutes.
10. Cool and cut into squares

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Ingredients

Choc-o-licious

Sweet and Sour Onions

My mother in law sent us a big box of Omaha Steaks for Christmas. They have been staring at us in the freezer ever since.

We decided to cook some up tonight as a treat for ourselves. (everyone deserves a treat after running errands and doing laundry, yes?)

I decided a yummy, new side dish was in order. I had seen this recipe and decided this was the perfect chance.

The initial boiling helps with the peeling process, but as well as I thought I had the onions peeled...I was lying to myself. On the plus side, as they are simmering in the balsamic reduction, whatever peels are left will start to peel off. I spent time fishing in hot, sticky glaze. Don't be like me. Make sure your onions are way peeled.

This recipe is worth the work though, they are aptly named and went over HUGE in my little family. Hm, maybe a contender for Thanksgiving next year?


Ingredients:
2 Lbs fresh white cocktail onions
2 Tbsp butter
¼ Cup firmly packed brown sugar
⅓ Cup balsamic vinegar
¼ Tsp salt

Directions:
1. Cook onions in boiling water (to cover) 10 minutes, drain.
2. Plunge onions into ice water to stop cooking process
3. Peel onions, set aside
4. Cook butter and brown sugar in saucepan over medium heat, whisking often, until butter melts.
5. Whisk in vinegar and salt
6. Add onions, bring to a boil.
7. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered 15 minutes or until thickened

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Ingredients

Sticky sweet dreamy!

Egg Drop Soup

My grandmother will drive all the way over to the mall to get Egg Drop Soup.
She is such a junkie about it, that is what she craves....ALL THE TIME.
Nana is the only person I have ever met who will go to an all you can eat Chinese buffet...and have 5 cups of soup!

She hasn't been feeling all so well as of late. I called the other day and my aunt told me that Nana was giving her the "I don't want to talk to anyone" signal. That's fine, when you live to be in your 80's, you can ignore the phone when you want...you have earned that right!

I am heading over to see her tomorrow and my mother taught me to never go to see someone empty handed.

Lately I have been making her breads, sweets, and applesauce. It's time for me to take a shot at her fave.

My dad made this a lot when I was growing up. Normally that would translate into "oh, if HE can do it, I can easily..." but my dad embraced cooking, he loved to make some pretty intricate food, and he made it well.

I just assumed this would be one of them.

Imagine my surprise when I realized how INSANELY simple this is to make!
I whipped it up in 10 minutes, and it will rival any take out joint I have ever been to.

Now...we need to find out if it is up to Nana's standards!

Ingredients:
4 Cups chicken broth
⅛ Tsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
¼ Tsp salt
1 ½ Tbsp cornstarch
2 Eggs
1 Egg yolk

Directions:
1. Set aside ¾ cup broth
2. Add remaining broth to a large sauce pan
3. Stir salt, ginger, and chives into saucepan
4. Stir together the remaining broth and the cornstarch until smooth. Set aside.
5. In a small bowl, whisk eggs and yolk with a fork.
6. Drizzle a little egg at a time into boiling broth using the fork. Egg should cook immediately.
7. One all eggs have been dropped, stir in the cornstarch mixture gradually until the soup is the desired consistency.

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Really? That is it for ingredients?

Soups cure the ailing Nana!

Original recipe can be found here

Cheese Muffins

My friend's aunt Clare sent me this recipe. I call her my aunt too. We are comfortable like that!

I had a good laugh at her instructions, I will add them in red with the "real" instructions. She never fails to make me laugh...a lot!

I made these last night, and almost half of them just seemed to disappear. The girl child managed to ingest a few of them for breakfast this morning as well. I see nothing wrong with this.

These are reminiscent of the Cheddar Bay biscuits I have made, so I added a little garlic powder (about 2 Tsp) to the mix for an extra layer of flavor. This is not a necessity.

Easiest, YUMMIEST, cheese muffins of all time

Ingredients:
2 Cups Bisquick
1 Stick butter (melted)
1 Cup sour cream
2 Cups shredded sharp cheddar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray
3. Mix all ingredients, fill muffin tins
4. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown

Eat entire batch, repeat.

Have never tried to make this low fat, one day I might try...but probably not.

Overfill each muffin cup, it's worth it.

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Feel free to ignore my garlic powder if you don't want to use any

These had not been out of the oven but a minute and I had eager hands grabbing at them!

Pork Chops and Gravy

I look for any excuse to use my crock pot. It's a staple in my busy life, it saves us from ordering out way more than we should.

I came across this recipe here and just knew we had to try it.

In my freezer was already a pack of pork chops, and everything else were ingredients I always have on hand anyway. Winner!
My pack of pork chops only had 4, and the recipe called for 6. Oh well.

After everything was said and done though, it was a good amount of gravy for 4...not so much for 6. (yes, I know I could have added more broth to make it stretch for 6, but it made me happy to have the right amount for 4)

We decided on rice to serve this with, and it went so deliciously well with the gravy. No salt or pepper needed for my crew, we liked the flavor just as is!

As a side note, I only had 2.5 hours to cook this...they came out super tender!


Ingredients:
½ Cup all purpose flour
1 ½ Tsp dry mustard
½ Tsp salt
½ Tsp garlic powder
6 boneless pork chops
1 (10 ¾ oz) can chicken broth
2 Tbsp vegetable oil

Directions:
1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a shallow dish
2. Dredge chops in flour mixture and set aside
3. Combine the remaining flour mixture with the chicken broth and pour into your crock pot.
4. Pour oil into large skillet and heat skillet
5. Cook chops in heated skillet until browned on both sides
6. Place chops in crock pot and cook covered on high for 2-5 hours or until tender
7. Serve with hot rice or mashed potato
8. Season with salt and pepper to taste

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Love recipes that call for "everyday" ingredients

This is a new comfort food fave. Easy enough to make in bulk if you were bringing a meal to friends/family.

Nacho Chicken Chowder

On the day I made this soup, I got up to leave for work...and it was 1 degree.

That weather is not fit for man nor beast!

I knew we had to have something warm, comforting, and delish. I had seen this recipe on Cooks.com and knew it was going to be the right fit for this cold, cold, COLD night.

I went to the store and could not find Mexican style stewed tomatoes, nor could I find nacho cheese soup. Did I let this get me down? NO!

I can handle this mini crisis. 

I ended up buying regular cheddar cheese soup and just regular stewed tomatoes. When I was putting everything together to cook, I added a sprinkle of cumin and a bit of chili powder to make up for what I was missing. At the end of it all, I didn't know any difference....tasted like I thought Nacho Chicken Chowder should.

Next time though, I think I will buy diced tomato...or dice up the stewed. Having the tomato a little more bite-sized would have been a little easier.

When I served the chowder, not only did I sprinkle it with some cheese, but I added a small dollop of sour cream. The cool sour cream was a nice contrast.

Not too sure how it is going to work in your house, but I dealt with lots of Cheez-It style "Nat-cho Cheese" bad jokes from the hubby ALL NIGHT.

He redeemed himself by coming home from work the next day and devouring an entire bowl for lunch. He is now forgiven for the cheesy jokes. (ha-ha, see what I did there?! Cheesy? Do I hear crickets? Whoops)

Ingredients:
1 Lb skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into ½ inch pieces
2 (14 ½ oz) Mexican style stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 (10 ¾ oz) can condensed nacho cheese soup
1 (10 oz) package frozen whole kernel corn
⅓ Cup shredded taco cheese or cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. In Crock Pot, combine chicken, undrained tomatoes, soup, and corn.
2. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or on high for 2-2 ½ hours.
3. Sprinkle each serving with cheese

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Ingredients: With my basic stewed tomato and regular cheddar cheese soup

Bubbly and crock pot-a-licious