Broccoli Soup

This recipe makes the perfect amount for a family of 4 or 5 (That is, 2 adults and kids). We didn’t have any leftovers and I got requests to make this again.

Broccoli Soup

2 tablespoons butter
1 medium sweet onion, diced
1 stalk celery, chopped finely
4 cups chicken broth/stock
8 cups fresh broccoli florets (2 heads)
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups skim milk (or any milk)
ground black pepper to taste
Directions:

1. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in medium sized stock pot, and saute onion and celery until tender.
2. Add broccoli and broth, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Scoop 3/4 of the soup into a blender. Pulse quickly a few times and scoop about half back into the pot.
4. Pulse the remaining soup in blender until pureed smoothly. Add soup back into pot. Stir.
5. In small saucepan, over medium-heat melt 3 tablespoons butter, stir in flour and add milk.
6. Whisk until thick and bubbly, and then add to soup.
7. Stir and season with salt & pepper.
8. top with finely shredded cheddar cheese.

Broccoli Soup with Cheese

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

My kids BEG for this soup.
Of course, HT & OC simply call it “cheese chunk soup” but no matter what you call it, it’s delicious!

• 1 large onion (about 2 cups), diced small
• 1 can pinto beans (~15 oz)
• 1 can black beans (~15 oz)
• 1 can tomato sauce (8 oz)
• 1 can beer (I normally use Yuengling)
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1 can diced tomatoes with chilis (~10 oz)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (~15 oz)
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder (or minced)
• 2 whole skinless chicken breasts
• cubed Monterrey jack cheese
• cubed avocado
• sour cream
• broken tortilla chips

1. Add onion, pinto beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, beer, and taco seasoning to slow cooker.
2. Stir to blend.
3. Place chicken breasts on top but press down slightly just until covered by liquid/ingredients.
4. Set on low for 5 hours.
5. Remove chicken and using 2 forks, shred the chicken.
6. Stir chicken back into the soup & continue cooking for 2 hours.
7. Place a 4-6 pieces of cheese in each bowl. Then add some tortilla chips & a few pieces of avocado. Ladle soup into bowl. Let sit for a few minutes so chees gets soft.
8. Top with a spoonful of sour cream.
9. Enjoy!

It’s so easy and so amazing!

Pictures to follow

Baked “Fried” Chicken Tenders

My kids are weirdly picky eaters. They do not eat things like macaroni & cheese, casseroles, tater tots, jelly, Cheez-It’s or sweet potatoes. They do like things like sushi, calamari, oysters, tofu and the stinkiest cheeses you can find. They have unusual tastes but I shouldn’t expect any different from the kids of 2 people who appreciate food the way we do.

Me? I’m picky too but in a different way. I was vegetarian for about 7 years with about half of that time being vegan. My finickiness comes in meat form. I generally don’t like anything bone-in. I don’t like anything that can look back at me. I am very picky with my chicken. It needs to be very cooked. It needs to be very clean and very white. Another reason I’m a picky mickey is that I am a “supertaster.” I always had a keen sense of taste but once I got pregnant with my eldest, I guess my papillae grew (is that possible?) because since then game is super “gamey”, beef is really “beefy”, and poultry is super “fowl”. Unless chicken doesn’t taste like chicken, I can’t eat it.

That being said, I’m always on the lookout for new recipes. I see some, and in true me fashion, I rip it apart and change the whole thing. Basically, I look at recipes for what ingredients they blend together and how long they cook it for. I don’t follow proportions very much at all. I also try and “healthify” things. I want my boys to live long, healthy, happy lives.

So here is a baked chicken tender recipe that rivals the fried restaurant kind. I saw this once on in Martha Stewart years ago but here again is my ripped apart version.

Baked “Fried” Chicken Tenders

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs
• seasoned salt (we love Lawry’s) & pepper
• 8-10 cups crisp rice cereal
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 pounds boneless chicken breasts, cleaned & cut into kid-friendly strips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 475.
2. Bowl 1: Add flour. Season with salt & pepper.
3. Bowl 2: Add eggs. Lightly beat with a fork. Season with salt & pepper.
4. In 2 batches, pulse the cereal & oil (4-5 cups cereal per 2T of oil) until crumbs are fine and it’s well incorporated. Season with salt & pepper.
5. Bowl 3: Add cereal mixture.
6. Coat chicken in flour. Shake off excess.
7. Dip chicken in egg. Let excess drip off.
8. Place chicken in cereal mixture and press the chicken to help coat.
9. Place chicken on a baking sheet. Allow pieces room on all sides for better cooking.
10. Bake for 8 minutes minutes, turn chicken. Bake for an additional 8-12 minutes until lightly browned & cooked through.

Bowl #1

Bowl #2

Bowl #3

Chicken cleaned & cut

Chicken ready to bake at 475.

Chicken out of the oven.

Plated and ready to be eaten. I serve it with a homemade ranch dipping sauce YUM!

Versatile Chili

I have a major issue. I am highly allergic to bell peppers. They instantly make me throw up. I mean, it could be worse, I don’t go into anaphalaytic shock or anything.. I just get sick.

What stinks about such an allergy is that I need to watch ingredients. I read labels. When we go out to eat, I need to ask the server if the food I want has bell peppers in it (if it’s something that might have some like spinach dip, or crab bisque). Generally, I can not eat chili out unless it’s the all meat kind that is more of a sauce that us North Carolinians smother our pink hot dogs in (which also has chopped onions and mustard on it).

That’s how we get here. I need to make my own chili. Now that I got 3 smallish kids, I also gotta watch the spice content. So, here is my family-friendly, no pepper, loaded with beans, healthy chili. Wow, that makes it sound liek it would taste terrible but i assure you, It’s AMAZING!

VERSATILE CHILI

2 lbs ground turkey
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
3-14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
1T cumin
1/2t sugar
1t paprika (smoked)
1t oregano
2 t garlic powder
6-oz can tomato paste

(1) Brown the ground turkey & drain.
(2) Add turkey and all all ingredients into a slow cooker.
(3) Stir.
(4) Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
(5) Serve as-is or over a bed of white rice. Can be topped with shredded cheddar cheese and/or sour cream.

Pumpkin Bundt Cake

The first thing I baked in my Friday Pumpkin Madness was this pumpkin bundt cake. This recipe is adapted from a tasteofhome.com’s Moist Pumpkin Bundt Cake.

Moist Pumpkin Bundt Cake Recipe

Ingredients

• 2-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
• Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine sugar and oil until blended.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cloves.
4. Add to egg mixture alternately with pumpkin, beating well after each addition.
5. Transfer to a greased 10-in. fluted tube pan.
6. Bake at 350° for 60-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
7. Cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack.
8. Remove pan and cool completely.
9. Dust with confectioners’ sugar.
   

VERDICT: While the cake tasted awesome, it wasn’t very moist. I mean it was and it wasn’t. It wasn’t moist like a brownie, it was a drier moist that yielded a lot of crumbing. Overall, very good. Easy to make and store  Middle son LOVED this as did the youngest who asked that I make it for his birthday cake (which he wants designed in Umizoomi)

Pumpkin Biscotti

Oh biscotti, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways… your delicate flavor and crunchiness is a perfect balance.

When I decided to bake pumpkin stuff this past weekend, I was going to try my hand at pumpkin biscotti. I’ve made a wide variety of biscotti in the past but never had I even heard of pumpkin biscotti.

This is another recipe I didn’t venture too far off the path of. I found it on simplyrecipes.com and made minor alterations which I found to be perfect.

Pumpkin Biscotti Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/2 cups of flour
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
• Pinch of ginger
• Pinch of cloves
• Pinch of salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup of pumpkin purée
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift together the flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, and spices into a large bowl.

2 In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin purée, and vanilla extract. Pour the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Give it a rough stir to generally incorporate the ingredients, the dough will be crumbly.

3 Flour your hands and a clean kitchen surface and lightly knead the dough. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper. Form the dough into a large log, roughly about 15-20 inches by 6-7 inches. The loaves should be relatively flat, only about 1/2 inch high. Bake for 22-30 minutes at 350 F, until the center is firm to the touch. (Feel free to also form two smaller logs for cute two-bite biscotti; just cut the baking time to 18-24 minutes.)

4 Let biscotti cool for 15 minutes and then using a serrated knife cut into 1 inch wide pieces. Turn the oven to 300 F and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Cool completely.

Biscotti may be still a tad moist and chewy, so if you prefer it crisp let it sit uncovered overnight in a dry space. Serve and enjoy.

Yield: Makes approximately 15 cookies.

VERDICT: These were so super yummy I am sure they’d look and taste great dipped in white chocolate but I like mine naked (as all biscotti should be IMHO). These were so well-balanced and they are going into my “Very Keep” part of my recipe binder.

RECIPE: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

My oldest is a HUGE Snickerdoodle fan. He has also been begging me to make pumpkin pie. So I decided to make a few pumpkin recipes and when I came across a pumpkin Snickerdoodle recipe, I knew I had to give them a try. I didn’t alter the recipe at all (I know y’all are shocked but I actually followed a recipe)

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Yield: about 3 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

COOKIES:
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup pure unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

ROLLING SUGAR:
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice

Directions:

1. Cream the butter until fluffy. Add sugars and pumpkin puree and beat well. Mix in egg and vanilla, scraping down sides of the bowl to incorporate all of the ingredients.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon. Beat flour mixture into liquid mixture a little at a time just until incorporated.

3. Cover dough with plastic and chill at least an hour, or until dough becomes fairly firm.

4. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (or spray with nonstick spray). Mix rolling sugar ingredients in a small bowl.

5. Remove cookie dough from refrigerator. Use a medium cookie scoop (1 1/2 Tablespoons) or a large spoon to scoop out dough and roll into balls. Roll the balls in the cinnamon sugar and make sure they’re coated really well. Place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Use a glass with a nice, flat bottom to dip in sugar and flatten the balls.

6. Bake at 350°F. for 10 to 14 minutes, or until they are slightly firm to the touch (mine were perfect at 12 minutes). Let cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes or so, then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Tips:

*Store in an airtight container. These cookies freeze well too. Place them in freezer zip bag and remove from freezer when the craving hits.

Source: RecipeGirl.com

VERDICT: My middle son didn’t like these but I have no clue why. My eldest LOVED these. They have such a light pumpkin flavor; it’s not overwhelming, so it’s just nice.

STAWBERRIES GALORE

The Day before Easter (aka Holy Saturday), we went to Richland Creek Community Church for their annual Block Party & Egg Hunt. Afterward, we went strawberry picking at Hunt’s Strawberry Farm here in Raleigh. We bought 2 large buckets which weighed a total of just under 20 pounds of fresh, succulent strawberries. The next day (Easter), we had brunch here… sweet, fluffy waffles topped with vanilla ice cream, the strawberries, and whipped cream. Simple and so yummy!


But now what to do with the rest of the berries? I had plans. 


Strawberry Muffins
Strawberry Sauce
Strawberry Quick Jam
Strawberries in Syrup (just chopped berries with some sugar to create a syrup)
Strawberry Fruit Leather

RECIPE: STRAWBERRY QUICK JAM

I picked up a packet of Ball’s  RealFruit instant pectin to have on hand about a month ago and I found a use for it today. Following the recipe on the back, I made the quickest jam. I wasn’t super pleased with the results in that it didn’t gel up hardly but I think it will still work on those English muffins I bought. I might redo it but it’s my fault for roughly chopping in the food processor instead of crushing it by hand. 

STRAWBERRY QUICK JAM

makes 16 ounces

1 packet of instant pectin

2 cups of chopped, crushed fruit (strawberries in this case)

2/3 cup sugar

1. Stir sugar and pectin in a bowl
2. Add fruit.
3. Stir for 3 minutes.
4. Ladle into jar(s) and let stand for 30 minutes.
5. Enjoy now, refrigerate up to 3 weeks, or freeze up to a year.

RECIPE: STRAWBERRY SAUCE

This can be stored for about 3 weeks in the fridge, although it can be frozen up to a year. You can use it atop ice cream or pancakes/waffles. You can use it to drizzle over cheesecake, pound cake, or angel food cake. You can add it to some fresh lemonade for an amazing glass of strawberry lemonade. It’s really a versatile things to have on hand. 

STRAWBERRY SAUCE

yields about 16 ounces

3 cups roughly chopped strawberries

1/3-1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Puree berries in a food processor.
2. Pour berry slush into a medium saucepan.
3. Stir in sugar and extracts.
4. Bring to a boil/simmer over medium heat.
5. Stirring constantly, simmer for another 5-8 minutes.
6. Remove from heat & let cool.
7. Pour into jar and refrigerate.

I love the plastic Ball Jars. These are 16 ounces. Dry Erase markers work perfect & leave no marks.