Garden Chowder

Garden Chowder

1-1/2 teaspoons dried sage
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/3 cup flour
2 cups milk
2 cups chicken broth ***
2 Tablespoons grated onion
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
2 cups diced sweet potatoes
3/4 cup frozen sweet corn (from the can is also acceptable)
2 cups thinly sliced fresh spinach
salt and pepper to taste


Slice carrots thin (thinner than my photo here!) and dice sweet potatoes

In medium size pot add the sage (rub between your fingers to break up as needed), thyme, flour, milk, and chicken broth.  Whisk to disperse the flour. Dump in carrots, sweet potatoes, and onions.

Bring to boil, turn down to simmer stirring occasionally.  Simmer until veggies are soft.  My carrots took longer than the sweet potatoes so check them.  Slicing them thinner than I did will speed them along.  Look how the soup starts to turn a beautiful orange.   Takes about 30 minutes.  Be sure to stir here and there so it doesn't stick to the bottom.  Your chowder will lose a little liquid and thicken up nicely.

Add spinach (make sure to the cut the opposite way so they are not long strips) and corn and cook for 5 minutes more.  

Serve.

My husband likes meat in his soups so he added some grilled chicken to his.  

***Use vegetable broth for a vegetarian version.

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Squash Pancakes

My friend Rachel gave me this recipe.  What a great way to get your kids to eat veggies! We eat these as a side with supper.

Squash Pancakes

4 cups shredded squash (zucchini and/or yellow squash are best)

1 cup shredded cheese (pick your favorite)

1/2 teaspoon salt

few dashes of pepper

2 eggs

1-1/2 cups Bisquick (GF also works!)

Stir all the ingredients together. (I pulled my veggies out of the freezer but fresh can certainly be used.)

I used Mexi-blend here.

Drop by scoopfuls onto hot griddle.

Cook until golden brown on the outsides and done on the inside.

Yum Soup

This recipe is courtesy of my first grader.  They made this as part of a social studies project.  Some of the students in her class brought something to add to the pot and since it's made by kids you know it's easy and for it's simplicity it is tasty!  I use my homecanned vegetables, juice and broth in ours.

Yum Soup

1 pound cooked ground beef, drained

1 can mixed vegetables, undrained (2 if you want more veggies, drain the second one)

2 cans beef broth or ~4 cups homemade beef broth

3 cups tomato juice

salt and pepper to taste

saltine crackers 

Throw in a pot, heat, and eat!

Here is a scan of the recipe she brought home.  Luckily she was able to give me more details and measurements. 

Baked Potato Soup

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Thank you!!

Mollie's Tender Chicken

Mollie's Tender Chicken 

(originally known as Parmesan Chicken but renamed by my niece)

1 cup plain breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons white flour

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup milk

6-8 chicken breast strips (1/2 inch thick)

Oil for frying

Mix breadcrumbs, flour and Parmesan cheese together.  Put milk into a dish deep enough for dipping the chicken pieces.  Dip chicken in breadcrumb mixture, then in the milk and then back into the breading mixture.  Press the chicken pieces with your hands at this point to flatten them a little.

Heat oil in a frying pan and heat to a medium high temperature.  Place chicken pieces into the pan and lower temperature to medium.  Fry pieces until chicken is done and pieces are a crispy golden color.

Baked Chicken Tenders

Baked Chicken Tenders 

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley or a heaping 1/2 Tablespoon of dry

salt and pepper, optional

1/4 cup milk

6 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

olive oil or melted butter

(Additional ingredients for Garlic Lover's Version)

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1 to 2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Slice chicken breast halves into nice strips or leave whole.

Dip in milk.

Then in mixture of bread crumbs, Parmesan, parsley, and salt/pepper. For a thicker crust you could dip in dry, then wet, then back in dry.

Lay on greased cookie sheet.  Mist/drizzle with a little olive oil spray or drizzle with melted butter.
(If you are doing the garlic lovers version mix melted butter, garlic, and lemon to drizzle over instead.)

Bake tenders at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  If you do whole halves then bake for 25-30 minutes.

Enjoy on a salad or dipped in your favorite dipping sauce (like Honey BBQ ) Great cold for school lunches.

Ham and Corn Chowder

Ham and Corn Chowder

drizzle of olive oil

1 cup onion diced

1-1/2 - 2 lbs ham, chopped

4 cups chicken broth

2 cans creamed corn

2 cups whole corn, drained (or you can use 1 can drained)

3-4 cups Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and chopped (use more or less as you like)

4 cups milk (or half and half)

6 Tablespoons butter

8 Tablespoons flour

Fresh parsley

Salt/Pepper (to taste)

Drizzle olive oil into soup pot and cook onions until translucent.  I try not to brown mine but it's ok if it does. Add ham and stir to heat through.

Add broth, both corns, and potatoes.  Bring to boil and simmer until potatoes are done.  My Yukons take longer than russet potatoes and seem to differ each time.  You'll need to pull a piece out and test it.  

Add milk.  I use our goat's milk which is very creamy so you could use half and half or whole milk if you want a richer soup.  Otherwise 2% or less would be ok as well.  

While the milk in the soup is heating up make a roux in a small sauce pan.  This is done by melting the butter and whisking in the flour.  Let it cook for about a minute then whisk into the soup. This will thicken your soup.  If you use russets you could leave out some or all of the roux and just smash your potatoes with a potato masher. Yukon golds don't break down much so I needed the roux in mine. 

I added a sprinkle of fresh parsley on my soup the first time we make it and after that I added it to the whole soup. I didn't add salt to ours as the ham had enough.

Feel free to experiment with flavors as you like!

Chili Mac and Cheese

Ditch HH boxes and skip the preservatives and ingredients you can't pronounce!

Chili Mac and Cheese

8 ounces pasta (you can use macaroni or here I used GLUTEN FREE penne)

2 pounds ground beef

1 to 2 Tablespoons oil 

3/4 cup diced onion

3/4 cup diced green pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1-1/2 to 2 Tablespoons chili powder

1/2 Tablespoon cumin

28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes

3/4 cup water (or pasta water if you can remember to keep it)

8 ounces Mexican blend cheese, shredded

Cheeseburger Rice

Cheeseburger Rice

1 pound ground beef
1/2 small onion diced or 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
2-1/2 cups water**
1/2 cup ketchup
2 Tablespoons prepared mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
Few cracks black pepper
3/4 cup INSTANT brown rice (if you want to use instant white use 1.5 cups each rice and water)
1/2-1 cup shredded cheese

This can be made two ways.  You can start with raw beef cooked with the onion and drained or here I had already precooked hamburger and used onion powder.  Add rest of ingredients except cheese and stir.

Bring to boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes for brown rice.  Watch the water and add any if needed.  Test rice and cook until tender.  If you use white rice bring to boil and cover and let set for 5 minutes until rice is tender.

Turn off heat, sprinkle on cheese

 and place lid on top to melt cheese.

**Amount of water correlates with the directions on your box of rice.  I found out through a friend who made this dish that not all rices are created equal! Her rice required less water than mine and she had to cook it longer to get the liquid out.

Tuscan Roma Pizza

This is my favorite pizza at the local pizza joint.  It's easy to make at home.  Fresh tomatoes take it over the top!

Tuscan Roma Pizza

Your favorite Pizza Crust or my grilled pizza dough that has been made ahead and frozen**
One 1/2 recipe of Garlic Cream Sauce
Fresh Spinach leaves
Thinly sliced Roma Tomatoes
Fresh mozzarella or other Italian blend cheese, shredded
Grilled chunks of chicken (optional)

Spread sauce onto pizza crust.

Place spinach leaves down, use as much or little as you like. I tore the stems off mine so they weren't chewy.

Layer sliced tomatoes

Chicken next if you are using it.  True "Tuscan Roma" does not have it but my husband likes a little meat on his pizza. I used fresh mozz here.

Bake according to your pizza crust directions until lightly brown.

** Preheat pizza stone in an oven at 450*.  Assemble pizza and slide onto hot stone.  Cook for 10 minutes.  Slide back onto flat cookie sheet.  Allow to cool a bit before cutting.  Enjoy!

Cheeseburger Soup

Cheeseburger Soup

1 pound lean ground beef
3/4 cup onion, chopped (or 2/3 cup diced)
3/4 cup carrots, shredded
3/4 cup celery, diced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
8 ounces Velvetta, chunked or 1 to 1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1-1/2 cups milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded Mexi blend cheese or cheddar
croutons

Dice veggies.
Add along with basil and parsley to beef and cook until veggies are tender.

Add broth and potatoes to beef mixture.

Bring to boil and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile make your roux. Start by melting butter in small saucepan.

Add flour

and cook for one minute.

Add roux to soup stirring so as not to have lumps.

This is what is should look like so far.

Add milk...

Velveeta....

and sour cream.

Stir until blended and everything is melted in. Ladle into bowls and top with shredded cheese and croutons if you like.

If you leave the potatoes out you can freeze the rest of the soup.  While it is heating on your stove throw in your cooked potatoes!

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