Hearty Vegetable Soup

This soup is easy to make.  Not only is it delicious, it is even better on the second day.  Try it!

1. Fry:

Fry in a pot with a little bit of olive oil for 5 minutes
1/2   Onion, chopped
2      Potatoes, chopped
3      Stalks Celery, chopped

2.  Add:

3 cups   Vegetable Stock
1/2 cup Brown Rice
1 cup    Julienned Carrots
2 cups   Frozen Corn
1/2 cup  Frozen Green Beans
1           12 oz can of V8 Juice
1/4 tsp   Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp   Pepper
1 tsp      Salt

3.  Simmer 40 minutes

4.  Add:

1/2 cup Frozen Peas
2    Roma Tomatoes, chopped

5.  Simmer 5 more minutes, then serve.

Pumpkin Pie Shake

This is a yummy fall dessert.  The best part is that I skipped using the blender altogether because it is a pain to blend and scoop, blend and scoop.  I am totally pumped about my new milkshake making strategy using an electric mixer instead.

1/3 C canned pumpkin
1/3 C milk
1/4 t vanilla
3/4 t pumpkin spice
2 T brown sugar
2 C vanilla ice cream
1 graham cracker, crushed

With electic beaters mix first five ingredients.  Soften icecream in microwave.  Mix into pumkin mixture.  Serve with crushed graham crackers on top.

*This is a pretty mild version.  I think I am going to jazz it up next time with more pumpkin spice and more brown sugar.  Can't go wrong with more brown sugar, right?

Corn and Cheese Chowder

Sorry for the lack of pictures but this soup is terribly delicious.  To add a little spice and some delicious spunk, substitute the monterey jack cheese for pepper jack.

4 TB butter
1 onion, chopped
3 slices bacon, chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped (preferably red and green)
1 lb bag frozen corn (thawed)
1/3 cup flour
3 cups chicken stock
1.5 cups half and half
1 cup grated monterey jack cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese

1.  (cook veggies and bacon) In large pot melt butter over medium heat.  Cook onions and bell peppers for 5 minutes.  Add bacon.  Cook until bacon is no longer raw.  Add corn and cook until warmed through.

2.  (make broth and thicken) Sprinkle flour evenly over veggies and stir to combine.  Pour in broth.  Cook and stir until flour is dissolved and broth begins to thicken.  Add half and half.  Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring until thickened.

3.   (add cheeses and season) Stir in cheeses until they are melted.  Add salt to taste.

Homemade Giant Soft Pretzels

Holy yummy.  I thought these turned out quite well.  I especially liked how they had that neat texture on the outside like a bagel.  These pretzels were dense but that's how I like them.  For lighter, more fluffy pretzels let the dough rise for an hour before dividing into balls and forming pretzels. 

Homemade Giant Soft Pretzels

1 cup plus 2 TB water

1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

3 TB brown sugar

3/4 tsp salt

3 c all purpose flour

2 quarts boiling water

1/2 cup baking soda

Kosher salt (coarse)

Dissolve yeast in water (70-80 degrees).  Let sit for 5-10 minutes.  Add brown sugar, salt, and flour.  Mix dough until a ball forms.  Add more flour if necessary (if dough is too sticky).  Knead for 7-8 minutes until dough is elastic and smooth.  At this point, for lighter pretzels, let dough or rise for 50 minutes in a bowl greased with vegetable oil.  Or, for dense pretzels skip rising and move on with recipe.  Divide into ten equal-sized balls.  Form into pretzel shape.  Dissolve baking soda into boiling water.  Dip pretzels into boililng water one at a time for 15-30 seconds. (They will come out looking like sad, wrinlkly, doughy pretzels but that's okay). Pat dry with a paper towel.  Cook on greased baking sheet for 8-10 minutes in a 425 degree oven until pretzels are golden (the more golden the better).

Brush with melted butter.  Sprinkle with kosher salt.  Or try sprinkling with cinnamon and sugar.

We like to eat ours with this delicious Tostitos spicy cheese sauce.  Enjoy!

Chinese Food: Lemon Chicken

  

Here is a delicious recipe for chinese style lemon chicken.  The best part of this recipe is that the breading is so crisp and light.  You can also try other sauces instead of lemon, like sesame or sweet and sour. 

Below are some pictures and steps to explain the process.  The actual recipe is at the bottom.

Step 1-  Mix up batter

Step 2-  Pour about 1/3 of cubed chicken into batter.  Make sure chicken is completely dredged in batter

Step 3-  Transfer chicken to pan with hot peanut oil.  Fry until golden brown on one side then flip and continue frying until golden brown and chicken is completely cooked through.

Step 4-  Fry remaining chicken in batches until all cooked
Step 5- Cover with sauce and serve.

Lemon Chicken

2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces

Peanut oil

Batter:

1/2  c Flour

1 tsp  Baking Powder

1        Egg

1/2 c  Water, cold

3 TB  Corn starch

salt

Lemon Sauce:

1/4 c Lemon juice

2 TB Corn starch

3/4 c Water

1/2 tsp Chicken bullion powder

3/4 c Sugar

1/4 c Corn syrup

1/4 c Vinegar

2 TB Soy Sauce

1/2 tsp Salt

For Chicken:

Mix up batter.  Dredge cut chicken in batter.  Split into two or three batches.  One batch at a time, fry in hot peanut oil on one side until golden brown, flip and fry on other side until golden brown and chicken is cooked.

For Sauce:

Combine sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat.  Stir and simmer for approx. 10 minutes and until sauce thickens.

Serve sauce over chicken. 

Taco Soup (EASY!)

A recipe really can't get more simple than this.  And because of the two seasoning packets involved, it tastes very flavorful.  Try it!

Taco Soup

1 lb ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 package taco seasoning
1 package ranch dressing seasoning
1 can corn, drained
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans diced tomatoes


Fry ground beef and onion until the meat is browned.  Add seasonings, corn, beans, and tomatoes.  Add extra water if needed.  Simmer 30 minutes.

Serve with fritos, sour cream, or cheese.

Brownie Cookies

**This recipe is attributed to the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.  See this link.

Really I don't know what the best title for this recipe would be.  Fudge Cookies?  Chocolate Chocolate Cookies?  Cookies For A Chocolate Lover?

All I know is that they are pretty much PURE chocolate (minues the 1/2 cup of flour or so).  In other words.  Yum!

Ingredients:
1   12-oz package of semisweet chocolate chips (about 2 cups)
2   oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2   TB butter
2   Eggs
2/3 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Flour  (Original recipe calls for 1/4 cup but I found they firmed up better with a little more flour)
1   tsp Vanilla
1/4tsp baking powder
1   cup Chopped Nuts  (Optional, I don't add them)


In a sauce pan over medium heat melt 1 cup of the chocolate chips, the unsweetened chocolate, and butter.  Remove from heat.  Mix in other ingredients, and then the remaining cup of chocolate chips.

Drop dough onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake on 350 degrees 8-10 minutes or until edges are firm and surface looks dull and cracked.