Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Ingredients:

-1 TBS Butter

-1/2 Onion Diced

-4 TBS Butter

-1/4 cup Flour

-1 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream

-1 Cup Milk

-2 Cups Chicken Stock

-1/2 lbs ish of fresh Broccoli, chopped

-1 Cup Carrot, julienned or shredded (I like julienned cause then the carrots are in longer thin strips, but both will achieve the flavor you want)

-1/4 tsp nutmeg

-8 ounces of cheddar cheese (I did 4 oz sharp and 4 oz mild)

-Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In your soup pan (I used my dutch oven, but you could use any large sauce pan) saute your onion in 1 TBS butter until translucent. Set aside for later use.

Melt 4 TBS of butter in your pan over medium heat, then whisk in four stirring constantly until you have one smooth mixture (3-5 minutes). Add cream and milk, stirring constantly until well blended. Now add the chicken stock and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Next, add the broccoli, carrots and onions and allow it to cook on low for another 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure nothing burns of the bottom. Now add cheese and salt and pepper to taste. Once cheese is melted, stir in your nutmeg.

I swear this taste's just like Panera's broccoli cheddar soup, and it is made with stuff I ALWAYS have in my pantry. We ate it with warm bread for dinner on a snowy night and it was fabulous. Makes enough soup for 4 LARGE servings. Enjoy!

French Onion Soup w/ Homeade Croutons

Ingredients:

Soup

-32 Oz of Beef Broth (or 32 oz of water an 3 beef bullion cubes)

-2 Cups Water

-2 TBS Butter

-2 Onions, Chopped (I like to leave them in large pieces)

-1 Tsp Dried Thyme

-2 Cloves of Garlic, minced (or about 1 tsp garlic powder) ( I like more, but I LOVE garlic)

-1 Tsp Onion Powder (I like more, but I like it strong)

-1 Bay leaf

-Salt & Pepper to taste

Croutons

-Stale Bread (I use left over french bread, but you can use any stale bread)

-3-4 TBS Olive Oil

-1 tsp Salt

-1 tsp Pepper

-1/3 to 1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a sauce pan or dutch oven, combine all ingredients for the french onion soup. Bring to a rolling boil, then turn down the heat and allow it to simmer for 30-45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 250 Degrees. Cut bread into about 1 in cubes. In a mixing bowl, pour olive oil, salt, pepper, and cheese over the bread and stir to ensure the bread is even coated. Spread croutons out on a banking sheet and allow them to cook for 30-40 minutes until crunchy, turning occasionally. Once crunchy, remove them from the oven and let them cool.

Serve the soup with your yummy croutons on top! I like to serve this soup with melted cheese on top, as seen in picture. I actually used a kitchen torch to melt it, but most people don't have that. You can use a toaster oven, your broiler, or just let the soup do it for you. Your favorite cheese will do, but I suggest Swiss, white cheddar, or provolone!

This is one SUPER easy soup that will make you look like a "souper" star! Hehehe...

Sloppy Joe Pizza

This recipe is really easy to make and takes hardly any time at all. It doesn't really taste like a sloppy joe but its just as messy as one!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
  
• 1 1/4 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce (I like sweet baby ray's)
• 1 1/4 cup of frozen corn
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Boboli Pizza Crust

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350
• Brown meat and drain
  
• Return meat to skillet and turn burner on med/low, add in the BBQ sauce and corn
• Mix and warm through
• Put the meat mixture on top of the pizza crust
• Sprinkle the top with cheese (as much or as little as you like, I prefer a nice thick coating)
• Place the pizza in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the crust is a little crispy and the cheese is melted and bubbly - ENJOY!
  

Stuffed Chicken Parmesan

I sort of made this recipe up on the fly, so I'll try to be as exact as possible with the measurements! I saw a similar recipe on cooks.com and modified it to the ingredients I had on hand at home.

*Sorry the picture sucks, my camera died and I had to take it with my phone*

Ingredients:

• 2 - 4 chicken breasts pounded 1/4 inch thick
• 1 can of diced tomatoes (you can cut cherry tomatoes in half to use if you have fresh ones on hand)
• 1, 2 cup bag of mozzarella cheese
• 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
• Italian seasoning (a few dashes)
• 2 cups of bread crumbs (Italian style)
• 1 cup of Parmesan cheese
• Toothpicks
• Your choice of pasta (normally I would have used spaghetti, but I was out so I used riggatoni)
  

Directions:

• Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees
  
• Take the pounded chicken breasts and lay out on a cutting board. Down the middle of each place some of the tomatoes and cheese and sprinkle the top with some italian seasoning.
• Roll up each piece tightly starting with whatever is the smallest end. Hold ends together with toothpicks.
• Take each rolled piece and coat in the breadcrumbs mixed with the parmesan cheese
• In the bottom of a large baking dish (size depends on the number of pieces you are making) add some of the pasta sauce, just enough to coat the pan and place each piece of chicken into the pan.
• Pour some of the pasta sauce over the top and sprinkle more cheese on top.
• Cook for 35-45 mins until chicken is cooked through. The thinner it is pounded the faster it will cook and mine took about 38 mins to be totally done.
• Serve over pasta and enjoy!
  

Beef n Noodles

This was a staple dinner in my family growing up and still one of my favorite comfort meals. This makes enough for 2 big dinner portions and left overs for the next day!!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs tip steak cut into bite sized pieces - or - 1 1/2 lbs of stewing beef (this can be a little chewy if over cooked)
• 1 can of Cream of Mushroom Soup + the empty can filled with milk
• A few shakes of parsley
  
• Salt and pepper
• 1 envelope of Onion Soup Mix
• 1 Tbsp of Olive Oil (for cooking beef)
• 1 bag of Egg Noodles, whatever kind you like.
  

Directions:

• Salt and Pepper the meat in a bowl and add the olive oil to the pan. Brown meat in a large, deep skillet until cooked through. Drain off any water or fat that is left in the pan.
• Reduce the heat to Low/Medium and add in the mushroom soup, can of milk, parsley and onion soup mix and stir until combined. (You can add a little more pepper if you like it, but I wouldn't add more salt)
  
• Bring to boil a large pot of water and add in noodles, cook according to package.
• The beef mixture will reduce and thicken some, you can let it get really thick if you want, but I like it in between.
• Spoon over noodles and enjoy!
  

Pepper Steak

Prep: 10-15 mins, plus doing stuff while meat is simmering. Cook time: 50 mins to an hour, maybe a little more if you're slow like me.

Pan size: Large. I make it in my almost wok-sized frying pan, and it practically overflows.

Ingredients:
- 1 package of round steak (best) or 1 package of stew meat (inexpensive)
- A lot of paprika
- 1 medium onion
- Not too much of your favorite cooking oil (ex: I prefer olive oil, but plain old canola will also work)
- Soy sauce
- Corn starch
- Tomatoes (I used 5-6 roma tomatoes for four adults, 3-4 big ones will probably be ok.  How much do you like tomatoes?)
- Bell peppers (2-3 for four adults)

Directions:

Cut steak in strips (about 1x2 inches, maybe thinner) or stew meat into bite-sized pieces. COVER in paprika. Use a lot of it. You don't have to flip it over and do the other side, but the top should be invisible beneath paprika and then some. Roughly chop onion.

Put a little oil in your pan, enough to cover the bottom. Put onion and meat into pan, cook until meat is just browned and onion is getting tender. Once meat is brown, cover with an inch or so (depending on how much you like sauce) of water. Bring to a boil, turn down heat. Cover. Simmer for 45 mins.

Start rice at whatever point it will be done about the same time as the dinner.

Meanwhile, cut tomato and bell pepper into bite-sized pieces and. After meat has simmered 45 mins, stir in about 1/4 cup soy sauce. Note: the soy sauce is absolutely essential to this meal. It and the paprika are the key to the savory flavor. Taste after you add the 1/4 cup, because you can add more if you want. In a measuring cup, mix two HEAPING spoonfuls of corn starch with COLD water (1/4 cup-1/2 cup) until the lumps are gone. Slowly stir cornstarch/water mixture into pan. The mixture should thicken into a sauce (about as thick as you'd expect a sweet and sour or another Asian sauce). Give it 3-5 minute to thicken. If it does not, make cornstarch (focusing more on the cornstarch) and water mix and repeat until desired consistency is reached.

Place tomatoes and peppers on top of the stuff in the pan, cover, and cook for 5-10 more minutes. Do not stir them in. My mom does five, so they're just heated through, but I like them to actually cook a little, so I do 10-15.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

There you go Diane!  It's pretty simple, but good!

Amanda's Stir-fry

I just kinda make this recipe up every time I don't have something to cook for dinner, its a little different each time and can be made with a variety of ingredients.

Ingredients:
1 red bell pepper sliced into 2 inch pieces
1/3 of a large red/yellow onion sliced into 2 inch pieces
1 large or 2 small carrots shredded (I just use the vegetable peeler to do this)
3/4 cup of frozen peas
2 cloves of garlic diced small or put through a garlic press
2 Tbsp of Olive Oil
Pinch of Cumin
Pepper to taste (the sauce has a ton of salt)
2-6 Tbsp of Stir Fry Sauce (you can get this in the Asian section of most grocery stores)

Meat: 1 lb of shrimp (what I used this time) - or -1 lb of tip steak cut into thin pieces - or - 1-2 chicken breasts cut into thin pieces

Serve over: Rice Noodles (made by Thai Kitchen, I found them at Meijer) or two servings of Long Grain White Rice cooked according to the bag.

Cooking instructions:

• Put the olive oil, seasoning, cumin and pepper in the bottom of a large skillet and warm.
• Once warmed add all of the vegetables and the garlic to the mixture and cook until softened.
• Add in the shrimp and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes (if you use any other meat, cook it first and then add veggies, the shrimp I bought were already cooked and just needed heated through)
• Meanwhile, cook the rice noodles/rice according to package instructions.
• Serve the veggies and meat over the noodles or rice and enjoy! I also like a little soy sauce on mine.
  

Black Bean & Corn Soup

Ingredients:
1 onion
little bit of oil (2 TB?)
Garlic (2-4 spoonfulls?)
1 28 oz can crushed or diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
2 15 oz. cans black beans
Frozen corn (1-2 cups?)
Any other seasoning that you want (oregano, pepper, basil are favorites here)


Directions:
Chop the onion and heat it, the oil, and garlic on medium heat until soft/translucent
Add in the tomatoes and chicken broth
Drain and rinse the beans, add them
Add the corn (I just eyeball it when I stir in straight from the bag, which is why the measurement is a guess) and spices

Cook until it bubbles a bit, then serve. Husband swears it tastes best with some mozzarella cheese on top.



Original recipe here, but you can see I made alterations.

Ignore the potatoes; those were for another soup

Amazing Dip (it doesn't have a name)

I was eating this, realized it was perfect for this blog, and decided to post it. Sorry it's not Pepper Steak, Diane. We haven't made it since you asked me for the recipe. Soon. Soon.

Dip:
1 - 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 - Normal sized can of chili
A bunch of cheese. Enough to cover the top in a nice, thick layer. Any kind of cheese you like. We usually use cheddar or the Mexican mix stuff.

First, find a microwave safe dish with a fairly large flat bottom (I used a pie plate). Spread cream cheese in an even layer on the bottom of the dish. Spread the chili on top. Cover with cheese. Microwave until cheese is melted and dip is warm through. Our pie pan is 8 or 9 inches and I did three minutes, but I probably could have done up to three and a half.

Done. Eat with corn chips.

Do not underestimate the deliciousness. Jordan's friend just ate most of this by himself. After his first bite he did a happy dance. Oh, yes.