So I'm not very good at keeping up with this blog :-/ But a very blog worthy post, I think, is that last night I made dinner with NO RECIPE and it was super delicious. So, naturally, I want to brag...and share!
We had company this past weekend and we intended on grilling hamburgers (gotta love that its still warm enough to grill here!) one day. We also were going to have bacon for breakfast one day. Neither happened so I had these items in my fridge. I was trying to think of a way to use them in a casserole or soup of some kind. I wasn't sure exactly how to...and of course we could have had bacon cheeseburgers but it is getting a tad chilly out (50's is chilly to me lol), so I wanted some soup! So...I started throwing stuff together and made what I will call Cheesy Bacon Cheeseburger Soup. Again. Great reviews from the hubs, which is always a good sign!
Cheesy Bacon Cheeseburger Soup
1 lb hamburger meat, fully cooked
7-8 strips bacon, cooked and chopped up into small pieces (I used hickory smoked)
1 small onion, or half a large onion
1 medium tomato
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 (10z) cheddar cheese soup mix + one can milk
3 additional cups milk (I used 1% because that's what we had on hand)
2T flour (for thickening)
salt and pepper to taste
pinch garlic
1.) Cook hamburger meat and add onions until meat is fully cooked. Set aside.
2.) In a large pot, dump can of cheddar cheese soup mix + one can of milk + 3 additional cups of milk. Turn heat on medium/low.
3.) When mixture starts to heat up, add salt and pepper, and flour
4.) Keep stirring (don't let the milk burn!!) the mixture until it starts to bubble at sides
5.) Dump in hamburger, bacon, pinch garlic, and cut up tomato
6.) Stir in cheddar cheese until melted
7.) Enjoy!
You could add less meat if you wanted. I have a carnivore at home so I added the full lb of hamburger meat. You could also use ground turkey to be a little healthier! There are a lot of ways to tweak this recipe...but it was really good :-)
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Tastes (Nothing) Like Lasagne Soup...
Update: Cake was delicioso. Definitely for those who have a sweet tooth. Oh you're eating it for your tooth? I think your tooth owes your A$$ a bit of an explanation! (Sorry. Another Jim G reference)
Things I'd change : only use half a can of sweetened condensed milk. It made the cake pretty gooey. Which was pretty good, but I think half a can would have been sufficient.
Things I'd add: I wouldn't add anything, given that this cake already had so much in it. However, the hubs and I decided it would be good heated up a bit with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. YUM!
Ok. Onto the next recipe to try. This one got rave reviews from my worst critic...my husband! Even though the recipe calls for making it on the stovetop, I made it in my crockpot instead. (Remember, I like things EASY!) I threw everything in as the recipe called for except the mozzarella cheese. I waited until about an hour before we were ready to eat for that.
I snagged this recipe from the DeenBros .
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 pound Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (32-ounce) container chicken broth
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 ounces broken whole-wheat lasagna noodles (about 4 noodles)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded mozzarella cheese
8 Whole-wheat breadsticks or grissini (optional)
Instructions:
Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick saucepot or Dutch oven. Add the sausage, onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is crumbled and browned, 8 – 10 minutes.
Add the broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, salt, and crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the flavors are blended, about 20 minutes. Add the noodles; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the soup thickens slightly and the noodles are tender, 10 – 12 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in mozzarella, basil, and the Parmesan. Serve with the breadsticks, if using. (whole-wheat lasagna noodles take a little longer to cook.)
Nutritional Information:
Per Serving (1 cup) 225 Cal (27% from Fat, 42% from Protein, 31% from Carb); 23 g Protein; 7 g Tot Fat; 2 g Sat Fat; 2 g Mono Fat; 17 g Carb; 2 g Fiber; 4 g Sugar; 108 mg Calcium; 3 mg Iron; 826 mg Sodium; 53 mg Cholesterol
Ok this soup was seriously awesome. While it tasted NOTHING like lasagne, (at least not what my mom makes!) it was so good. It was more like a spicy gumbo/chili-ish dish. I used diced tomatoes that had the italian seasonings already in them which gave an extra kick, and I left the basil out, because I didn't have any! haha. This recipe was a bit of a stretch because it was 15 ingredients, but many of them were spices that I had on hand :-)
Things I'd change : only use half a can of sweetened condensed milk. It made the cake pretty gooey. Which was pretty good, but I think half a can would have been sufficient.
Things I'd add: I wouldn't add anything, given that this cake already had so much in it. However, the hubs and I decided it would be good heated up a bit with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. YUM!
Ok. Onto the next recipe to try. This one got rave reviews from my worst critic...my husband! Even though the recipe calls for making it on the stovetop, I made it in my crockpot instead. (Remember, I like things EASY!) I threw everything in as the recipe called for except the mozzarella cheese. I waited until about an hour before we were ready to eat for that.
I snagged this recipe from the DeenBros .
Bobby’s Lighter Tastes Like Lasagna Soup
Ingredients:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 pound Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (32-ounce) container chicken broth
1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 ounces broken whole-wheat lasagna noodles (about 4 noodles)
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded mozzarella cheese
8 Whole-wheat breadsticks or grissini (optional)
Instructions:
Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick saucepot or Dutch oven. Add the sausage, onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is crumbled and browned, 8 – 10 minutes.
Add the broth, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, salt, and crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the flavors are blended, about 20 minutes. Add the noodles; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the soup thickens slightly and the noodles are tender, 10 – 12 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in mozzarella, basil, and the Parmesan. Serve with the breadsticks, if using. (whole-wheat lasagna noodles take a little longer to cook.)
Nutritional Information:
Per Serving (1 cup) 225 Cal (27% from Fat, 42% from Protein, 31% from Carb); 23 g Protein; 7 g Tot Fat; 2 g Sat Fat; 2 g Mono Fat; 17 g Carb; 2 g Fiber; 4 g Sugar; 108 mg Calcium; 3 mg Iron; 826 mg Sodium; 53 mg Cholesterol
Ok this soup was seriously awesome. While it tasted NOTHING like lasagne, (at least not what my mom makes!) it was so good. It was more like a spicy gumbo/chili-ish dish. I used diced tomatoes that had the italian seasonings already in them which gave an extra kick, and I left the basil out, because I didn't have any! haha. This recipe was a bit of a stretch because it was 15 ingredients, but many of them were spices that I had on hand :-)
Friday, October 26, 2012
Cake...Well I Guess I'll Try It!
(If you don't get the title, you first need to understand my love for Jim Gaffigan. 2nd, Watch This)
For my first post, I thought I'd make you all drool a little.
Like 99.9% of the female population, I am a Pinterest-o-holic. I can't get enough of it! I love that it organizes all of your ideas in one location. Maybe someday I'll actually make a cookbook, but for now I rely on my iphone at all times to keep me organized, especially via the pinterest app! I can't tell you how many times I've gone to the store and forgot my shopping list. Just last week my husband said, "how do you know what you need for the recipe?!" Have no fear husband, iphone+pinterest app. Life saver.
One of the more recent pins I have tried was Better Than ...Pumpkin Poke Cake. (Add "poke" to that really makes it sound even dirtier...) Since we are carving pumpkins tonight, I thought I would try a festive dessert. I was delighted when I stumbled across this delectable dessert. Nevermind that it's basically diabetes in 9x13 size pan....
I made it and made a few tweaks. I wanted to avoid Satan's Palace (WalMart) and the store I went to (I live in modern day Mayberry for those of you who don't know) didn't have whipped cream, but they did have the next best sugary thing--marshmellow cream. I also couldn't find Heath bits so I used white chocolate chips instead, because I LOVE white chocolate. Although I haven't tried it yet, it's sitting in the fridge and it looks amazing. I'll update you tomorrow if anyone dies of food poisoning while carving their pumpkin tonight.
Thank you to SomethingSwanky.com for the recipe!
For my first post, I thought I'd make you all drool a little.
Like 99.9% of the female population, I am a Pinterest-o-holic. I can't get enough of it! I love that it organizes all of your ideas in one location. Maybe someday I'll actually make a cookbook, but for now I rely on my iphone at all times to keep me organized, especially via the pinterest app! I can't tell you how many times I've gone to the store and forgot my shopping list. Just last week my husband said, "how do you know what you need for the recipe?!" Have no fear husband, iphone+pinterest app. Life saver.
One of the more recent pins I have tried was Better Than ...Pumpkin Poke Cake. (Add "poke" to that really makes it sound even dirtier...) Since we are carving pumpkins tonight, I thought I would try a festive dessert. I was delighted when I stumbled across this delectable dessert. Nevermind that it's basically diabetes in 9x13 size pan....
I made it and made a few tweaks. I wanted to avoid Satan's Palace (WalMart) and the store I went to (I live in modern day Mayberry for those of you who don't know) didn't have whipped cream, but they did have the next best sugary thing--marshmellow cream. I also couldn't find Heath bits so I used white chocolate chips instead, because I LOVE white chocolate. Although I haven't tried it yet, it's sitting in the fridge and it looks amazing. I'll update you tomorrow if anyone dies of food poisoning while carving their pumpkin tonight.
Thank you to SomethingSwanky.com for the recipe!
Pumpkin Better Than… Cake
Ingredients
- 1 box yellow cake mix (just cake mix, don't use oil/eggs, etc!)
- 1 small can pumpkin puree
- 1 - 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 - 8 oz. tub cool whip
- 1/2 bag Heath Bits
- Caramel Sundae Sauce
Instructions
- Pour batter into a well greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 350ยบ according to the directions for a 9x13 cake on the cake mix box.
- Let cool for about 10 minutes after baking. Using the bottom of a wooden spoon, poke holes all over the top of the cake.
- Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the cake, filling the holes. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Spread the cool whip over top of cake. Sprinkle on the heath bits, and drizzle caramel over top (just to your liking). Refrigerate for 3-4 hours, or overnight (best).
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