Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Over the past several days, my friends and family back home in Chicago have been getting a lot of snow. While it was in the 60s here today, I still felt cold overall. Maybe it was me missing(or not missing) those snowy winter days. So, to all my friends and family back home, this one's for you.

 

Here are the ingredients you will need for this soup. All that is missing is a little bit of butter, salt and pepper.

To begin, start to melt your butter in the bottom of a 4 quart pan. Throw the diced onions in and let them cook until they are translucent. Next, add the chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, salt, pepper, and hash browns. Now, you can use regular diced potatoes, but I was feeling lazy today so I cheated. Let the mixture come to a boil and then reduce heat. Depending on your preference for consistency, you can either use a masher, immersion blender, or leave the hash browns whole to achieve the texture you would like. After letting simmer for ten minutes, add the cream cheese and a cup of the shredded mild cheddar cheese. Once melted, your soup is ready to serve.  Top with bacon bits, shredded cheese, and a dollop of sour cream. Enjoy!

Recipe:

Ingredients
1 bag (30 oz) of hash browns
3 cans of chicken broth
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1/2 to 1 onion, diced
1 package of cream cheese
1 cup (plus a bit extra) of shredded mild cheddar cheese
Salt
Pepper
Sour cream for topping
Bacon pieces for topping


Directions

1. Start to melt your butter in the bottom of a 4 quart pan. Add onions and cook until translucent. 
2. Add chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, and hash browns. Salt and pepper liberally.
3. Let cook to a boil and then reduce heat. Cook for ten more minutes.
4. Add cream cheese and shredded cheese. Stir until melted.
5. Serve and top with more cheese, bacon, and sour cream.

Crock Pot Ham with Pineapple

Ingredients
Spiral sliced ham
A can of crushed pineapple in own juices
3.5 cups of brown sugar


Directions

1. Rub one cup of the brown sugar all over the ham and let it marinade overnight.
2. Put the rest of the brown sugar at the bottom of your slow cooker. Add the ham and the can of pineapple. Cook for 8 hours on low. 

Picky PC's Paleo Chili

I love trying new things, but PC, as we know, is the picky one. I decided to try out the Paleo diet and convinced PC to do it with me. So, I will be making a lot of meals geared towards him so that he will be happy. Some of these ingredients are not typical of chili, but it is the only chili he will eat.

Here is what you will need for this recipe.

Cut up the meat and add chili powder, salt, and pepper to the meat and give it a good rub. Add your diced onions, mushrooms, and garlic and let sit with the meat for a bit.

Begin to heat your oil in a pan. Once heated, add your meat mixture to the pan and let the meat brown. 

Once the meat is browned, add your tomatoes, broth, and spices. Give it a good stir, cover, and let simmer for an hour and a half. 

Serve and enjoy!

Recipe:

Ingredients

1.5 pounds of skirt steak

3 (14.5 oz) cans of no salt added diced tomatoes, undrained

3 cups of fat free beef broth

2 cups of diced onions

2 cups of diced mushrooms

3 tablespoons of minced garlic

3 tablespoons of chili powder

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon of thyme

1 teaspoon of cayenne

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of pepper

Directions

1. Cut up your meat and add half of your chili powder, salt and pepper to it. Give it a good rub and then add your mushrooms, onions and garlic. Let sit for a bit so that flavors can marinade the meat.
2. Heat your oil in a pan and add your meat mixture. Let cook until your meat browns.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients. Give it a good stir, cover, and let simmer for an hour and a half.

Nannah's Sloppy Joes

When you think of sloppy joe's, Manwich probably comes to mind. While I may have had a can or two of Manwich in my day, my favorite kind of sloppy joe's is definitely my Nannah's. Not only is this sloppy joe recipe easy to make, it's also easy on the wallet. The sauce is so simple, I bet you have all the ingredients in your pantry. All you will need is a pound of ground beef, hamburger buns, ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. All together, this meal cost me just under $4 and it made 6 sloppy joes.

Start by browning your beef in a skillet on medium-high heat.

While your meat is browning, mix together your ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard.

Once your meat is cooked all the way through, turn your heat to low and add your sauce. Put a cover on it and let it simmer for several minutes. 

After letting simmer, give it a quick stir and it is ready to serve! You can serve it on the bun alone, with cheese like my dad prefers, with diced onions like PC loves, or with crushed Doritos which is my personal favorite. Enjoy!

Recipe:

Ingredients

1 pound of ground beef

2 cups of ketchup

1 cup of light brown sugar

1 tablespoon of mustard

Hamburger buns

Directions

1. Brown your beef in a skillet on medium-high heat.
2. Mix together ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard.
3. Once meat is cooked through, add sauce and cover. Turn to low to let simmer for several minutes. Serve on a bun once finished.

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

After carving pumpkins yesterday and baking the seeds afterward, I wanted to continue my pumpkin trend. I knew I had pumpkin puree in the cabinet, but wasn't wanting just the usual pumpkin bread. I needed something sweet. At the time, I was watching one of my favorite shows, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, and Guy was making donuts with the chef. So what did I do after wanting both pumpkin and donuts? Googled "Pumpkin Doughnuts." I came across Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins recipe and had to make them. I tweaked them to what I wanted, but the same concept none-the-less. Like Martha Stewart stated, "These muffins capture the essence of doughnuts with their cake-like interior and sugar-coated exterior." Who wouldn't want to make them after wording like this? Best part about these is that you can individually freeze them. So a perfect and easy breakfast that's already made! All you have to do is heat them up and add the glaze! Helllllllloooo Fall!!! 

Here is what you will need for the muffins. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Add and mix all your dry ingredients in a bowl.

Add and mix your wet ingredients in a separate bowl. In another separate bowl, whisk your eggs and butter together. 

Start to add your wet and dry ingredients to the butter and eggs bowl. It's a lot easier to put in a little of each at a time while mixing. 

Once your batter is mixed, distribute evenly into a greased cupcake pan. Cook for 30 minutes. They will make about 16 muffins.

While letting cool, melt butter into a bowl. Add sugar and cinnamon into another bowl. Dip your muffins into the butter and then the cinnamon and sugar mixture. Enjoy!

Recipe:

Ingredients

3 cups of flour

1 1/2 sticks of butter

2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup of milk

1/4 cup of vanilla greek yogurt

1 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree (from a 15 oz. can)

3/4 cup of light brown sugar

2 eggs

Glaze: 1/2 stick of melted butter, 1/4 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease your cupcake pan.
2. Mix your dry ingredients into a bowl. 
3. Mix your wet ingredients, excluding butter and eggs, into another bowl.
4. Whisk together eggs and butter in a separate bowl.
5. Start to add your wet and dry ingredients to the butter and eggs bowl. Alternate mixing in wet and dry ingredients to the butter and eggs. 
6. Once completely mixed, add to the cupcake pan filling a third to half way full. Cook for 30 minutes.
7. In two bowls, melt butter in one and combine cinnamon and sugar in the other. After the muffins have cooked, dip into the butter and then the cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Crock-Pot Jambalaya

With high temperatures only reaching the low 50s this weekend, I thought we could use something to warm us up. 50 degree temperatures may seem warm to my Chicago friends, but after a week of temperatures in the 90s, this was quite a cool down.

Here is what you will need. This may seem a bit much for the recipe, but I was making a bigger batch.

Dump everything but the shrimp and the rice into the Crock-Pot. Cook on low for 8 hours. 

Take some of the juices from your Crock-Pot to save to make your rice.

Here is what is looks like with half the time surpassed. 

With about 45 minutes to an hour left, cook your rice with the juices rather than water according to the box. You can also choose to cook the rice in the Crock-Pot, but I feel its safer to add at the end.

With about 15 minutes left, take out the bay leaves and add the shrimp.

Stir in your rice that you have cooked. You can let it sit and cook with the mixture for several more minutes or serve right away.

Cornbread is a great side to this dish.

Recipe:

Ingredients

2 pounds of medium shrimp, tail off

2 pounds of chicken, cut into bite sized cubes

1 pound of andouille sausage, sliced and halved

4 cups of instant rice

2 cups of reduced sodium chicken broth

2 (28 ounce) cans of diced tomatoes

2 medium onions, chopped

2 stalks of celery, diced

2 green bell peppers, diced

2-3 jalapeno peppers, diced (leave seeds)

1 1/2 tablespoons of creole seasoning

1 1/2 tablespoons of oregano

1 tablespoon of hot sauce

3-4 bay leaves

1 teaspoon of thyme

2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Add everything to your Crock-Pot but the rice and shrimp. Save some of the juice to use for your rice. Cook on low for 8 hours.
2. With about 45 minutes left, use juice you saved and make your rice with it instead of water. Follow directions according to box.
3. Remove the bay leaves and add shrimp with 15 minutes left. 
4. Once the 8 hours is up, stir in the rice and serve.

Oven Fried Zucchini Chips

It is hard to believe that these are good for you. They are so addicting and perfect by themselves or dipping in ranch. I even got my picky fiance, who hates zucchini, to like them. Looks like this dish will be a new normal around the house. This simple recipe calls for zucchini, Italian breadcrumbs, garlic powder, parmesan cheese, salt, flour, and milk. 

Start by cutting your zucchini into slices about one half inch in thickness or smaller.

Cover each piece in flour.

Dip it into the milk.

And finally, cover the zucchini in the breadcrumbs. If you can, try and pack down the breadcrumbs on both sides as much as you can. I added parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and salt to my Italian breadcrumbs. 

Place the zucchini on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. I like to spray just a little bit of cooking spray on top of them as well to give it an extra crunch. Place in a 425 degree oven and cook for 30 minutes. Watch for the tops to turn to a golden brown.

Enjoy by itself, with ranch, or with whatever sauce your heart desires.

Recipe:

Ingredients

1 large zucchini or 2 small ones

1 1/2 cups of Italian breadcrumbs

1/2 cup of parmesan cheese

1 teaspoons of garlic powder

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of flour

1/3 cup of milk

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Cut your zucchini in slices of one half inch in thickness or smaller. 
3. Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, salt, and garlic powder.
4. Dip zucchini in flour, then to milk, then to breadcrumbs. Pack down as much breadcrumbs onto the zucchini slice as you can. Place on baking sheet. Repeat until all of the zucchini is covered.
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until they turn golden brown.