Parmesan Potato and Ham Soup

Tonight I came across an EXCELLENT potato soup recipe. We have been eating on ham the past couple of days, and I have been thinking of alternative meals to use up the ham. Last night I made lentil and ham soup which turned out pretty well. And tonight I made potato and ham soup. I am blogging the recipe before I forget it! I altered this recipe that I found on Allrecipes.com.

6 Tbsp. butter
1/2 med. yellow onion, finely diced
1/4 c. celery, finely diced
1/3 cup flour
3 c. water
1/2 tsp. season salt
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/4 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 to 1 tsp. salt
2 chicken boullion cubes
5 sm. to med. Gold potatoes, peeled and 1/4 in. diced
2 c. milk (1 c. whole, 1 c. 1%)
1 c. parmesan cheese
1 1/2 c. (or so) ham, diced

Saute celery and onions in butter. Add flour and stir for a couple minutes. Add water, seasonings, and boullion cubes. Once mixture in heated through and begins to thicken and the flour is completely dissolved, add potatoes. Cook covered for about 15 minutes over medium heat until potatoes begin to soften (stir every couple of minutes so they don't stick to the bottom of the pan). Add milk and parmesan cheese. Cook for another 10 to 15 minutes until potatoes are soft and soup is thickened. Enjoy!

I thought this soup was as good as any restaurant soup. It was very flavorful!

Green Tomatoes

Several weeks ago I found myself with a lot of green tomatoes on my hands.

I tried making fried green tomatoes, but none of us liked them very much...

So I thought I would make some pickled green tomatoes and find someone who liked them. But while I was looking for a good recipe online I came across a recipe for "Budget Berry Jam" that used exclusively green tomatoes as the fruit! I gave it a shot and it turned out pretty good, not even a hint of a tomato flavor! :)

This is not the best picture, but I am too lazy to take another picture. The texture and taste (due to the strawberry gelatin) are pretty close to the taste and texture of strawberry jam. I was able to make about 6 or so jars which has come in pretty handy making pb&j for the girls for lunch! :)

Homemade Granola

Here is a recipe that I make pretty often. It is a very hearty and delicious granola cereal that is relatively simple to make.

Ingredients:
8 cups oats
1 1/2 cups wheat germ
1 1/2 cups oat bran
2 cups finely chopped nuts (one or more of almonds, walnuts, or pecans)

3/4 cup brown sugar (or sucanat)
3/4 cup honey
1 cup coconut oil
1 Tbsp.m (or more) cinnamon
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1 1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups dried cranberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. In a saucepan combine next 6 ingredients; heat over medium heat stirring until everything is combined into a smooth liquid. Remove mixture from heat and pour over dry ingredients. Stir until dry ingredients are evenly coated. Spread granola on to two lightly oiled cookie sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Take out and stir. Bake another 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and stir granola well. Let stand on hot cookie trays until cooled (the granola will continue to dry out and become crispier this way). Once granola is cooled stir in 2 cups of dried cranberries. Store in an airtight container.

Whole Wheat "Sandwich Thins"

Remember a while back I was going to share with you some recipes that I like to use with coconut oil? Well, I never did, but here is one! This also uses my best friend (appliance) in the kitchen...my Cuisinart Food Processor. I use this appliance usually once a day or more!

1 T. yeast
3 T. brown sugar
3/4 c. warm water

2 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 T. gluten
3 T. nonfat dry milk powder
1 t. salt

3 T. coconut oil
1 egg

Mix the yeast and brown sugar into the warm water. Let stand until foamy. Place the next four dry ingredients in the food processor (with dough blade inserted). Turn on to mix. With machine going drizzle the oil, egg, and yeast mixture. Once dough has formed and has "cleaned" the sides of the bowl, let machine run for 45 seconds (this is in place of kneading the dough).

Turn on oven for about 2 or 3 minutes to warm. Turn off so that the temperature is not too hot. Place the dough into a slightly oiled bowl. Cover and place bowl in a warm oven for about 45 minutes to an hour for the dough to rise.

Punch dough down, roll out in sections on a slightly floured cutting board. I use the lid to my coconut container. It makes the perfect sized sandwich thins! Place cutouts on a slightly oiled baking sheet. Decorate the tops with a knife in a tic-tac-toe pattern, and bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.

When sandwich thins are mostly cooled, I go ahead and slice the bread with a bread knife and place the halves back to together. Then I put them all in a zip lock back and throw them in the freezer. When we need bread, I just take out what we need and defrost them for a few seconds. They are as soft as the day they were baked!

Tip: I usually don't roll my dough scraps back out more than once; they aren't as pliable. I just make a small loaf with the scraps to enjoy some freshly baked bread right out of the oven.

Granola Bars

I have promised a few people that I would post this recipe...so here it is!

My recipe kind of evolved from this recipe.

2 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup packed brown sugar (I use dark brown because that is what Jimmy bought)
3/4 cup Splenda
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup flaxseed meal
1 cup wheat flour
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup chopped nuts (I have used pecans and almonds)
1 egg, beaten
1cup applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
olive oil cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, mix together all dry ingedients. Add wet ingredients. Mix well using your hands. Press the mixture evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes in preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut.

Note: I make up several bags at once and keep the pre-made bags in the refrigerator. Then I just dump the wet ingredients into the bag, zip it closed, and mix by tossing things around until everything is moistened. NO DISHES messed up except the pan and that could even be lined with foil!!! :)

Also, for a slightly crispier granola bar you can use 1/4 c. oil and 1/2 c. applesauce instead of 1 c. applesauce.

And, lastly, you will want to refrigerate your granola bars to keep them fresh. I think they taste best chilled anyway!

ENJOY!

Whole Wheat Pita Bread

I recently ventured into making pita bread. The girls and I enjoy eating pita bread, but I had yet to attempt to make them. I found the following recipe here. They turned out pretty good. They are really soft to be 100% whole wheat. However, I did have a little trouble with getting a few of the pitas to completely bubble up. It just creates a little extra work when opening them. A knife can easily cut through the areas that don't separate.


Yield: 8 whole pita pockets (or 16 halves)

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup gluten*
1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast

Instructions:
1. In a large bowl, combine first 4 ingredients. Add the gluten and 1 cup of the flour, along with the yeast, and stir to mix. Add remaining flour and knead to make a soft dough. (Add additional flour if necessary during kneading.)
Alternately, if you have a bread machine, you can put the ingredients in the pan in the order listed and use the dough cycle. Skip to step 3 if using your bread machine! :)
2. Put your dough into a bowl, lightly oil the top, and cover. Set in a warm place to rise, until almost double (about an hour). I like to turn my oven on for a minute or two, then turn it off, and let the dough rise in there, since our house is cool.
3. Punch dough down and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Using a sharp knife, cut dough into 8 equal pieces. Form each piece into a ball. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 6- or 7-inch circle.
4. As you roll the rounds, set them aside on a lightly floured countertop or table, and cover loosely with a towel. Let rise for about 25-35 minutes, until slightly puffy. (The rounds will still be thin though! :D)
5. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place 2 rounds, side-by-side, onto a wire rack, such as is used for cooling things. Place rack in the middle of the oven. Bake for 4-5 minutes, until puffy and just slightly browned. (If bread is too browned, it will be dry and not pliable.)
6. Remove rack from oven and immediately wrap/layer pita breads in a damp towel, to soften. Continue baking the remaining breads, layering them between damp towels as soon as they're baked. Allow breads to completely cool.
7. Cut pita breads in half, or split the top edge, and fill as desired. :)
8. Store pitas in a plastic zipper bag in the fridge for a few days, or place in the freezer for longer storage. To re-warm pitas, wrap them in a damp towel and then wrap in foil. Place in a warm (200-250 degree) oven for about 20 minutes.
Additional Notes:
*May use whole wheat bread flour in place of the whole wheat flour and gluten.
Preparation Time: 30-45 minutes (faster using bread machine!) Cooking Time: 4-5 minutes

Bottom line: I doubled this recipe, and I will do so next time if I make them again. It is just too time consuming to only produce 8 pita breads. The pitas taste great and are really pretty healthy.

New Table and Baking Cookies

This is the new breakfast table we purchased a couple weeks ago. I think this weekend we are FINALLY going stain it. Well, Jimmy will probably be doing the staining this time because of the fumes. I will probably just "oversee" the project. We also bought a matching bookcase to the one we bought last year. It is REALLY going to help our office stay more organized.

Yesterday, I baked some cookies in celebration of me not having a smell-aversion to sweets anymore! :) Of course, we gave them all away last night, but at least I was able to enjoy baking them!

Here is the recipe for these cookies:

Neiman-Marcus Cookies

(with of few of my own modifications)

1 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 cups flour

2 1/2 cups blended oatmeal
1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

12 oz. Hershey Special Dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Measure oatmeal and blend in the blender to a fine powder. Cream the butter and both sugars. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Mix together with flour, oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add chocolate chips. Roll into balls, and place two inches apart on a cookie sheet or baking stone. Bake for 10 minutes. (I have found that on a baking stone I must add 3 to 5 more minutes to the baking time). Makes approximately 50 cookies.

Pumpkin Pizza

While reading a children's Thanksgiving library book to my girls, I came across this idea for a pumpkin pizza. After quickly googling the recipe, I found this one. It is pretty easy to make and is really yummy. It is kind of the fall version of a fruit pizza.

(please pardon my messed up fall arrangement, I have regular help rearranging it!)

Crust
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
some chopped nuts, pecans are good, optional for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla; mix until well blended.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, and baking powder. Gradually add flour mixture to the butter mixture and blend well on low speed. Remove and knead briefly into a smooth ball.
Place the dough on a pizza pan and pat out gently to the edges. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until the crust is golden brown on the edges. Let cool before topping.

Cheese Layer
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
12 oz. package of whipped topping, divided—save 4 oz. for topping

Unwrap cream cheese, place in microwave safe bowl and heat in microwave on high for 20 to 30 seconds. Mix sugar, cinnamon and vanilla into cheese. Fold in about 2/3 of the whipped topping. Refrigerate until ready to assemble pizza.

Sauce (Pumpkin) Layer
1 cup cold milk
2 small pkg. instant vanilla pudding mix (I used 1 large vanilla cook and serve)
1/2 cup sugar
16 oz. can pumpkin
2 tsp. cinnamon

Whisk pudding into milk (if using the cook and serve, follow cooking directions, but still only put 1 cup of milk with pudding mix). Mixture will be very thick. Stir in pumpkin, sugar and cinnamon. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

Assembling PizzaSpread cheese layer over the prepared crust. Top with the pumpkin mixture. Then spread the remaining 4 oz. of whipped topping on top. If desired, sprinkle a few chopped nuts over the top.

ENJOY!

Pumpkin Marble Cheesecake

This is a really easy and very delicious fall dessert. It turns out just fine with low-fat and fat-free cream cheese (1 of each).
Crust:
1 ½ cups finely crushed gingersnaps (I actually break the gingersnaps into 2 or 3 pieces then run them in batches through my coffee grinder)
½ cup finely chopped pecans
1/3 cup butter

Combine ingredients, press onto bottom and 1 ½ inches up the side of a 9 inch spring form pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

Filling:
2- 8 ounce packages cream cheese
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
¾ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
Combine cream cheese, ½ cup sugar and vanilla, mixing at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs one at a time. Reserve 1 cup batter. Add the rest of the sugar, pumpkin, and spices to the batter; mix well. Spoon batters alternately drizzling onto crust. Use knife to “cut” filling to swirl the two colors. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes. ENJOY!

Muscadine Grapes

Our neighbors have graciously encouraged us to pick the muscadine grapes from their vines that are growing into our yard. We picked a big bowl full and I got to work trying to make something out of them. If you know anything about muscadine grapes, you will know that they have a tough skin and seeds...not really the best fruit to just pop into your mouth and eat fresh. So, the first day Jewel picked a small bowl for us, I juiced them and then blended the juice with vanilla ice cream to make yummy fruit smoothies.
With this big bowl of grapes, I decided to find another way to use them. I came across a recipe for muscadine grape jelly that used unflavored gelatin. Since that is already what I had in my pantry, that is the recipe I chose to do.

It took me quite a while to juice the grapes. The skin and the seeds of the grapes were hard for my juicer to handle. However, juicing the grapes was far easier than the complicated process of separating the skins, flesh, and seeds of the grapes, then cooking and straining everything to extract the juice. I steralized some glass bottles that I alread had by boiling them in hot water for about 15 minutes.
This is the finished product. (I had two other large glass bottles that are not pictured).
I was slightly disappointed with how the jelly turned out. It was a little soupy, but the flavor is REALLY good so I am sure we will find a use for them. One mistake I made was that I used 28 ounces of juice instead of 24 ounces. I am sure that had something to do with the soupiness. Oh well, it was my first attempt at making jelly!

Baked Tuna Fish and Pasta

I have tried this recipe twice and it has turned out great both times. I have actually tweaked it a bit from the original recipe I found. My whole family really enjoyed it!

2 cups dry pasta (I used whole grain Penne)

2 6 oz. cans tuna fish

4 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup flour

4 cups milk (I actually used half water and it turned out fine)

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 1/2 teaspoons pepper

3/4 cup cheddar cheese (or Velveeta cheese)

1 cup bread crumbs

optional...I added about 1/2 to 1 cup halved grape tomatoes

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cook pasta and drain. Drain tuna fish. Toss 1 tablespoon melted butter with bread crumbs. Melt remaining butter in sauce pan. Add flour stirring constantly. Add milk, salt, and pepper. Stir periodically. Once mixture is brought to a boil, stir constantly. Sauce will begin to thicken. Stir in shredded or cubed cheddar cheese. Combine pasta, tuna fish, tomatoes, and sauce. Pour into a greased baking dish. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

I think this would probably serve 6 to 8. I only baked half of it and put the other half in the freezer for later use.

Homemade Bread

In all honesty, I haven't tried out TOO many bread recipes since I began making bread a few months ago. But this recipe has never flopped. When I first began making bread, I experimented a few different ways to bake the bread in order for Jimmy to be able to use it for his sandwich bread for work everyday. (*see tip below).

Yields: 2 loaves

Ingredients:
2 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)

2 tablespoon milk

¼ cup oil (plus 1 tbsp for greased bowl and greased pans)

½ cup brown sugar

2 teaspoon salt

3 cups (plus ½ cup for flouring kneading surface) all-purpose flour

3 cups whole wheat flour

4 teaspoons dry yeast

Instructions:
1. *Combine first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bowl; stir.
2. Add flours and yeast, and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10-15 minutes.

Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes. (I put my bowl of dough on top of my stove and turn my microwave surface light on to create warmth.)

3. Punch dough down; knead for a few minutes until smooth and then form into a loaf. Place in greased loaf pan and cover. Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
5. Remove bread from oven and allow to rest in pan for a few minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cover with a cloth. Slice and enjoy while still warm! Leftover bread can be stored in an airtight bag or frozen until needed.

Tips:

*Since sliced pieces of homemade bread tend to go stale quickly and are pretty crumbly and hard to handle as a sandwich, I have come up with an easier solution to make this bread convenient for sandwich making. Roll your dough out to about ½ inch to ¾ inch thickness. Use a pizza cutter to cut into desired size of squares for sandwiches. Bake bread for 25 minutes. Then when bread is cooled, put bread squares in a freezer bag and throw the bag into the freezer. Take out bread squares as needed.

*If you want to begin to bake bread regularly, consider buying yeast in bulk at Sam’s Club or Costco. It is literally 90% cheaper than buying yeast at the grocery store!

*I make bread about every other week and double this recipe. It makes the kneading pretty hard, but it is worth it to me not to have to do it every week. As soon as the baked bread has cooled, I package it up securely and freeze it. Homemade bread freezes really well and tastes fresh days later when you are ready to defrost and use it.

*Don’t try to stand on your hands for the first time in 10 years for your kids the day before trying to knead bread (it’s not very good on the wrists). :)

Chicken Marinade

We have been grilling quite a bit lately. Here is a recipe that I have been using lately to marinate our chicken. (I actually had to go pick some more parsley; the handful in the picture wasn't enough).

3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons finely minced fresh parsley

In a medium bowl, mix together oil, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, wine vinegar, and lemon juice. Stir in mustard powder, salt, pepper, and parsley. Use to marinate chicken before cooking as desired. The longer you marinate, the more flavor it will have.

Note: The last time I did this marinade, I put everything in the blender until everything was emulcified. It seems to stick to the chicken better that way.

Here is the marinade recipe I use for steaks:

1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons dried basil
1 1/2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Place all ingredients in the blender. Blend on high speed for 30 seconds until thoroughly mixed.
Pour marinade over desired type of meat. Cover, and refrigerate for up to 8 hours. Cook meat as desired.

Chicken Pot Pie

This is a yummy and pretty dish. I got the recipe from my friend Letha.

Filling:
6 Tbsp of butter
1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups milk
1 cup water
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 cup chicken (cooked and diced)
1 cup mixed vegetables
1 cup diced potatoes

Melt butter in large saucepan. Stir in flour then the salt and pepper. Add milk, boullion cube, and water. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes longer, then add chicken, vegetables, and potatoes. Let simmer 10 to 15 minutes or until vegetables are soft/tender. Cut up 1/4 stick of butter on to the pie crust before pouring in filling. Cut another 1/4 stick of butter on to top of filling after pouring into pie crust and then put on top crust.

Crust:
2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
a dash of baking soda (1/4 tsp or so)
2/3 cup Crisco shortening
7 to 10 Tbsp ice water

Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda. Cut in shortening until pieces are the size of small peas. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp water over mixture. Gently toss with fork. Repeat until all is moistened. Form into 2 balls. Flatten each on lightly floured surface and then roll from center to edge until 1/8 inch thick. Put one in pie pan. Pour in filling. Cut 2nd into strips to arrange in criss cross pattern on top...or you can just put it on top like it is and use knife to slit holes in top.

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.

(My note: this takes quite a while to make, so I suggest doubling or tripling the recipe and freezing the ones that will not be used. They freeze great.)

Homemade Pizza

Since the new year, I have made this pizza recipe several times. I have tweaked it a bit to be "half" healthy with half whole wheat flour. It is super easy to make.

The crust
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 ½ cups white flour (plus a little extra to knead with)
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Dissolve the yeast in the water. Then add in the remaining ingredients in order. Knead dough about five minutes until smooth. If dough is sticky, sprinkle a little more white flour and continue to knead until it is no longer sticky. Roll out and press down onto a greased pizza pan. Set pizza pan on top of the preheating oven (to be in a warm spot). You DO NOT need to let the dough rise before loading it with toppings. The 5 minutes or so that it takes you to prepare and load the toppings should be sufficient time for the dough to rest before baking.

The toppings
½ cup of 2 or 1 cup of 1 of the following sauces:

• Italian sauce (spaghetti sauce)
• Salsa
• Barbeque sauce

1 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp. diced/minced jalapeño peppers
1 cup diced chicken
8 oz. package of cheese (I like to use an Italian mix of mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, etc.)
1/3 cup diced onions
1/3 cup red or green peppers (or both)
1 small can mushrooms
¼ cup minced black olives
Sprinkle the following on top of the pizza before baking:

• Grated Parmesan cheese
• Garlic salt
• Pepper
• Basil

Spread sauce on pizza. If you choose two sauces, do each side of the pizza with a different sauce. The different sauces REALLY change the taste of the pizza. Then load on the toppings in the order they are listed (or choose your own toppings!). Bake at 450 degrees F. for around 13-15 minutes until the crust looks crispy and cheese begins to brown slightly.