Holiday Portrait Card Special

Thought I’d pass along the holiday card special my sister-in-law, Amanda, and I are offering: 

October Wrap-Up

53 Mondays

Panera’s Creamy Potato Soup

Adapted from Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures

6 cups chicken broth

6 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed

1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 (8 oz) cream cheese, cut into chunks, room temperature

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Combine broth, potatoes and spices. Boil on medium heat until potatoes are tender. Smash a few of the potatoes to release their starch for thickening. If you like it smooth smash more, if you like it chunky just smash a little of it. You can decide the texture of it. Reduce to low heat. Add cream cheese. Heat, stirring frequently, until cheese melts. Ladle into bowls. Sprinkle a little bacon over each bowl of soup.

I don’t know that I’ve ever had Panera’s version, but this was alright.  I added the paprika and LOVED that little kick.  I don’t know if I did something wrong, but the consistency was neither smooth or chunky, just a little of both.  That was a little off-putting, but the taste was good. 

53 Mondays-Week 41? Meatloaf—yes, you read that right!

Today’s recipe was by The Pioneer Woman.  I bought her cookbook after cooking several wonderful recipes from her website.  Not a meatloaf fan myself, I was intrigued by her LOVE of the stuff.  This recipe seemed easy enough, so I gave it a try.  You know what?  She was SO right!  This was so good.  I am a convert.  My only change is that the bacon I put on the top was thick.  I would use thin bacon next time (and there will be a next time) so that it crisps up.  I halved this recipe and there was still more than enough for Justin and me.  Give this a try! 

 

MY FAVORITE MEATLOAF

Recipe and Photo from The Pioneer Woman

Meatloaf:

1 cup Whole Milk

6 slices White Bread

2 pounds Ground Beef

1 cup (heaping) Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese

¼ teaspoons Seasoned Salt

¾ teaspoons Salt

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

⅓ cups Minced Flat-leaf Parsley

4 whole Eggs Beaten

10 slices Thin/regular Bacon

Sauce:

1-½ cup Ketchup

⅓ cups Brown Sugar

1 teaspoon Dry Mustard

Tabasco To Taste (I didn’t have any so I didn’t add)

 

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour milk over the bread slices. Allow it to soak in for several minutes.

Place the ground beef, milk-soaked bread, Parmesan, seasoned salt, salt, black pepper, and parsley in a large mixing bowl. Pour in beaten eggs.

With clean hands, mix the ingredients until well combined. Form the mixture into a loaf shape on a broiler pan, which will allow the fat to drain. (Line the bottom of the pan with foil to avoid a big mess!)

Lay bacon slices over the top, tucking them underneath the meatloaf.

Make the sauce: add ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, and hot sauce in a mixing bowl. Stir together. Pour 1/3 of the mixture over the top of the bacon. Spread with a spoon.

Bake for 45 minutes, then pour another 1/3 of the sauce over the top. Bake for another 15 minutes. Slice and serve with remaining sauce.

Serve with mashed potatoes. Yummy!

53 Mondays–Week 40 Chicken, Rice, and Vegetable Soup

I’m a little behind on this posting. 

Fall always makes me want soup.  I love rice and vegetable soups, in particular.  This is a adaptation of a recipe found in the Favorites recipe book.  I had never cooked with leeks before.  To me, they reminded me of more mild green onions.  I must state that I do not think my husband would have liked this soup, but I knew that and made it for me during the week. 

2 medium leeks, white part only

4 Tbsp butter

3 medium carrots, sliced thin (I LOVE my mandolin for this)

8 medium-sized mushrooms sliced (I used more because I Love mushrooms)

2 ribs celery, thinly sliced

3 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth

1 cup water

1/2 cup white grape juice

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

handful pecans

salt and pepper to taste

Cut leeks in half lenghtwise and rinse well to grit.  Drain and thinly slice.

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat.  Add leeks, sliced carrots, sliced mushrooms, and sliced celery and saute until tender.  Add rice and stir to coat with butter. 

Add one can of chicken broth and one cup of water and bring to a boil.  Cover; reduce heat and simmer for 20 mins or until rice is tender. 

While rice is cooking, heat the remaining two cans of broth and grape juice. Add chicken breasts and simmer for 15 mins, uncovered.  Remove chicken and set aside. 

Strain broth from cooking chicken into rice and vegetable mixture. 

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Chop or shred chicken and add to soup.  Add handful of chopped pecans.  Heat thoroughly and serve! 

 

I had some leftover chicken in the fridge, so I skipped the whole cooking chicken step and just added the extra liquid to the soup earlier.  I only had a few pecans but a lot of pine nuts, so I threw those in as well.  The pine nuts had a stronger flavor than the pecans, but they worked in a pinch. 

LiveJournal Tags: 53 Mondays,recipe

Good Morning…Sunshine?

I knew this day was coming.  We’ve had such great weather here that I knew it was going to change.  This is what we woke up to and what Tyson felt the need to disturb my slumber to tell me about this morning!   Yes, we did go outside and make snowballs.  Plenty were thrown, but amazingly none at me!  Must be my frightening demeanor!

 

THIS toy!

Let me state that I do not like this Halloween toy.  I find it to be REALLY obnoxious.  So why did I buy it?  Because it makes Austin do this: