Broccoli Cheddar Soup

We have all been sick this past week, so all I've wanted to do was make a big ole pot of soup. This was probably the best soup I have ever made. I was extremely proud of this- especially since I winged the whole recipe. I made a huge pot of this - so feel free to cut the recipe in half if it seems like it'll be to much. You can also freeze the leftovers. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 diced onion
• 5 tablespoons flour
• 32 oz chicken stock
• 2 cups half and half 
• 3 cups fresh broccoli chopped
• 1 1/2 cup shredded carrots 
• 8 oz shredded sharp cheddar
• salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste

The first thing I always do before I cook is set up my "miss en place", which essentially means to gather up all the ingredients and prepare them before you start cooking.

Chopped broccoli- 

Shredded carrots-

Shredded cheddar- 

Diced onions-

And the stuff for my soup base-

This way everything is set up and ready to go. 

No running around to find everything at the last minute. 

In a large pot melt the butter over medium high heat.

Add in onions and sauté until softened, 3-4 minutes.

Add in the flour and stir to make your roux.

Slowly add in the chicken broth. Allowing to thicken as you add it in.

Do the same with the half and half. 

Reduce to medium low and allow to simmer and thicken up. 

Add in broccoli and carrots. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes until veggies are tender. Stirring every few minutes. Reduce heat if to hot. 

Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. 

I served this with grilled cheese sandwiches. In my opinion the perfect friday night meal. The kids really loved this. I probably had 4 bowls over the course of the weekend. Ill only admit that here. Cheers!

Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Cashew Chicken

                                             

Huge fan of slow cooker meals over here. Set and and forget it! I found this recipe and as it cooked I had to tweak the seasonings a bit. It came out pretty good, I would try it without the potatoes next time, or maybe swap out for sweet potato.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped into bite size pieces
• 1/2 red pepper diced
• 1/2 green pepper diced
• 1/2 onion diced
• 2 potatoes peeled and chopped 
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons red curry paste
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 can coconut milk.
• cilantro, cashews, pineapple chunks (for garnish)
• jasmine rice (for serving)

Place chicken, peppers, onions and potatoes in crock pot.

In a bowl combine the chicken broth, curry paste, curry powder, garam masala, cumin and salt/ pepper to taste. Adjust seasonings if needed. Pour over chicken and veggies in crock pot.

Cook on low for 5 hours. 

Stir in coconut milk.

In a measuring cup combine cornstarch and 1/3 cup of cold water. Whisk to combine. 

Add cornstarch slurry into crock pot, and cook on high for 15-20 minutes until sauce has thickened. 

Season if needed.

Serve over jasmine rice, garnish with cilantro, cashews, and pineapple chunks.

Great new recipe to try! Another solid slow cooker recipe to add to my Fall rotation. Cheers!

Adapted from: Slow cooker curry cashew chicken

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

This was my Grandfather's recipe. Passed down to my mom, then to me. This really is the only beef stew recipe you will ever need to know. It's classic. Tastes the exact same every time. Perfect for this long cold season we've been having. I've literally made this 3 times in the past month.

We always serve our beef stew with Blueberry Muffins. It's the perfect combination of sweet and savory. The recipe above is a quick, easy, delicious 30 minute muffin that can easily be made while this beef stew is simmering away in the crock pot all day. Or even whip up really quick when you get home from work, before you eat. 

I promise this recipe won't let you down. Cheers!

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 pounds stew meat
• 4 red potatoes diced (I leave skin on)
• 1 cup baby carrots cut in half 
• 1/2 cup diced celery 
• 1 whole onion chopped 
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups beef broth
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire 
• 1 tablespoon gravy master
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic 

Place stew meat in crock pot. Sprinkle flour, salt and pepper over meat. Stir to combine.

Add the potatoes, onion, carrots and celery. 

Add the beef broth, wocestershire, garlic and gravy master.

Stir well to combine all ingredients. 

Cook on low for 10 hours or High for 5 hours.

Do not open slow cooker while its going.

Stir thoroughly after time is up.

Serve with blueberry muffins or corn bread.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Chicken Tiki Masala

A few weeks ago I made Slow Cooker Coconut Curry Chicken- and it was amazing. I came across this recipe about the same time and couldn't wait to try this out. I really don't know which recipe was better- because this came out just as amazing. So good... I'm making it again later this week :) 

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 28 oz can diced tomatoes
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons peeled and minced ginger
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons garam masala
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• fresh chopped cilantro (for garnish)

Cut chicken into bite sized pieces. Add to slow cooker. Add in tomatoes, garlic, ginger, paste, garam masala, salt, and paprika. Stir to combine. Cook on low for 6- 8 hours.  Last 15 minutes of cooking add in coconut milk and leave slow cooker uncovered. Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve over rice. 

Just typing this recipe out- makes me want this so bad. So glad I'm making this again this week! Cheers!

Adapted from: Slow Cooker Tiki Masala

Corn Chowder with Ham and Bacon

Yesterday was Sunday- and football was on. It's starting to get cold up here in New Hampshire - so I wanted to do some warm, game day friendly comfort food. This is a really easy chowder- that is perfect for this time of year. I threw it together in 20 minutes then just let it simmer on low until we were ready to eat. Of course you can not use bacon or ham and have a super yummy vegetarian chowder too!

INGREDIENTS:

• 6 slices of bacon (uncooked - diced)
• 1 large onion finely diced
• 1 small ham steak (edges trimmed) chopped
• 1 can creamed corn
• 1 small bag frozen corn (about 2 cups)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 1/2 cups half and half
• 4 large potatoes, peeled and diced into bite sized pieces
• salt and (white) pepper to taste
• fresh parsley for garnish

In a medium pot get your diced potatoes boiling in some water, cook until almost done- drain and set aside.

In a large pot over medium heat start cooking bacon until it starts to crisp- add in the onions and cook until softened. Add in the ham and cook with the onion 1-2 minutes. Add in the milk, half and half, chicken broth, cooked potatoes, creamed corn and frozen corn. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes, then reduce to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper (I used white pepper) to taste. Serve right away or keep warming on stove on low. 

I served the chowder with grilled cheeses, and salad. It was the best dinner on a cold November night. Next time I think I'm going to try my hand at clam chowder, yum! Cheers!

Split Pea and Ham Soup

This is one of my hubby's absolute favorite. Every time I make a ham I save the bone and a little of the extra ham, and whip this up a few days later. Really good and hearty soup, perfect for this cold weather coming in. I actually used the recipe off of the split pea bag but adjusted it a bit, still pretty straight forward.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 16 oz bag of split peas (2 cups)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup diced potatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped ham
• 1 ham bone
• 2 quarts of water
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme

Wash peas through a colander, and sort through any shells or bad looking ones. Add cleaned peas to a pot and add the water. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 2 minutes, remove from heat and cover pot. Let sit for an hour.

Add ham bone, bay leaf, thyme and Veggies. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer covered for about 2-3 hours, until the peas are soft. Remove bone and cut the ham off (discard bone), add the bone ham and reserved ham (if any) back into soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

We ate our soup with some yummy grilled cheese sandwiches. Perfect fall meal. Cheers!

Chicken and Dumplings pt 2

I attempted to make chicken and dumplings back in March, and it came out decent. I was trying to duplicate the way my friend Kristy does it- of course it didn't come close to the original. So when I set out to try it again, I wanted to find a completely new recipe. I found a really awesome one on Pinterest- and the result was amazing! Here we go...

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 bone in split chicken breasts ( You can use left over shredded chicken/ pre cooked rotisserie chicken- you need about 2 cups of shredded chicken)
• 1 small onion- diced
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 container (32oz) chicken stock
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup of half and half
• 1/2 cup of frozen peas and carrots
• 1/2 cup of frozen corn
• 1/2 cup diced mushrooms
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups of Bisquick
• 2/3 cup warm water

Start off by preparing the chicken. I had two bone in/ skin on chicken breasts. So the first thing I did was take the skin off and discard. Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic powder- and bake at 325 for about 30- 40 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked all the way through. Remove from oven, let the chicken cool. Take the meat off the bones, and shred. Put chicken aside.

Place a large pot on the stove, add a little olive oil and sauté the mushrooms and onions over medium heat until tender- about 5 minutes. 

Add in the chicken stock, cream of chicken soup, half and half- season with salt and pepper. Stir and bring to a boil- then add the frozen veggies and the shredded chicken.

In a medium sized bowl combine the Bisquick and the warm water, stir until combined well.

Drop tablespoons of the Bisquick into the pot, try to space the dumplings evenly. Cover the pot and cook the dumplings for about 10 minutes, on medium/ low heat. Remove from heat and serve.

Before I served my chicken and dumplings, I carefully removed the dumplings from the pot with a slotted spoon- and placed on a plate. I did this so I could keep the dumplings from absorbing to much moisture and get soggy. We ate this in bowls- with a few dumplings on top and cranberry sauce on the side. The broth was so flavorful and all the veggies in it made me feel a little better about eating so much of it. The kids went crazy for it. This dish was more like a soup, but there isn't anything wrong with that. Believe it or not, it was even more flavorful the next day. Cheers!

adapted from: easy chicken n dumplings

Vegetable Alphabet Soup

This was my meatless Monday installment from last week. I know I've been slacking with the posts lately- that just means I have to do a bunch of posts at once. This recipe was super easy to do- and the kids adored it! The kids had theirs with grilled cheese. Me and Mike had ours with grilled caprese (fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and tomato) sandwiches. So so good. The original recipe called for adding a cup of water at the end, but I didn't. So mine ended up more like spaghetti-o's, or a pasta dish- rather than soup. Depending on how you want it- add or don't add water at the end. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 46-ounce bottle tomato juice
• 1 14.5 oz can Diced Tomatoes, undrained
• 1 14.5 oz can Del Monte® Whole Green Beans
• 1 14.5 oz can Carrots (diced)
• 1 14.5 oz Del Monte® Whole Kernel Corn
• 1 14.5 oz can of cooked potatoes (diced)
• 1 -2 14.5 ounce can full of water (I didn't add this and it ended up like spaghetti-o's rather than soup so add water if you want a thinner soup)
• 2 tablespoon bullion base (beef, chicken, or vegetable)
• 3 tablespoons parsley
• 2 tablespoons dried basil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 12-ounce box alphabet pasta
• salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat- cook the onions until translucent. Add in the rest of the ingredients except the pasta. Bring to a boil, then add in the alphabet pasta. Continue to boil for about 10 minutes, string frequently- until the pasta is cooked. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

This takes less than 30 minutes to make and literally made a shit ton. We ate it for days afterwards- on top of me giving some left overs to my friend Kristy. So be prepared to have a lot of left overs. Also- this was kid friendly, the alphabet pasta was a hit. Plus it is packed with veggies! Cheers!

Maxx approved

Ollie making a mess 

Adapted from: Healthy 30 minute alphabet soup

Chicken Stew With Butternut Squash and Quinoa

I made this last friday and it came out fabulous. I'm just now starting to get a hold on making soups, stews and sauces - so I was quite surprised when this came out looking just like the picture in the recipe. On top of tasting as good as it looked. It made a ton! It fed us all weekend long, on top of giving some to my dad and my friend Kristy to take home. The recipe was pretty easy to follow and didn't really take to long to throw together. 


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded & chopped into 1/2-inch pieces (I actually bought 2 halves of a butternut squash already peeled and seeded at the grocery store)
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used about 4 thighs)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 can (14 oz) petite diced tomatoes
• 2/3 cup uncooked quinoa
• 3/4 cup pitted and quartered kalamata olives
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

In a medium sized pot, steam the cut squash until barely tender (about 10 minutes), remove 1/2 of the squash and set aside, then continue to steam the remainder until you can mash it with a fork. Mash whats left in the pot, and set aside.

In a large sauce pan bring chick broth to a simmer, and add in the chicken thighs. Cover and cook until chicken is done, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate to cool, set aside. And pour chicken broth into a bowl, set aside.

Return sauce pan to medium heat, add olive oil. Add onions and cook until they start to brown, about 10 minutes. Add salt, garlic and oregano. Cook for an additional minute. Add in diced tomatoes, butternut squash pieces and mashed squash. Stir to combine.

Add in the reserved chicken broth and quinoa- stir. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the quinoa is translucent. While the quinoa is cooking, shred the chicken with a fork or your fingers. Once the quinoa is cooked, stir in the chicken and olives. Season with pepper if needed. Let simmer together for 5-10 minutes, stir in the parsley and serve.

If you're looking for a nice, hearty, warming soup on cold day - this is perfect! The kids ate their stew with buttered  crackers and we ate ours with grilled cheese. It was amazing. This is going to be my new way to poach chicken too. It came out so moist and delicious. It would be perfect for any recipe you need for shredded chicken. I would omit the olives if you don't like the briny taste of them. Especially if you'll be eating this stew for a few says, because it just flavors it more and more as the olives sit in it. Cheers!

Credits: Chicken stew with butternut squash and quinoa

Shredded Beef Stew

When I make beef stew, I make my grandfathers recipe. In the crock pot, low and slow for 8 hours. I've never even attempted to make any other variation of this tried and true recipe. Until today. 

I made a roast last week in the crock pot to make shredded beef for burritos. I had a good amount of shredded beef left in the fridge from this and today was probably the last day it'd be good to use. So I decided to make some soup. Its February in New England, so why the hell not. 

INGREDIENTS:
 (For shredded beef)

• boneless roast ( any kind will do, I just happened to use a 3 pound eye roast. Remember this was left over beef from something else I made, so If you're just making beef for this stew than a small 1 pound roast would do. I only used about 2 cups of shredded beef for this stew).
• 1/2 can of pickled jalapeños and carrots with the juice (The kind I used for my spicy steak tacos)
• 3 beef bouillon cubes
• 2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 10 peppercorns

Add all of these ingredients in the crockpot together, then add enough water to just cover the top of the roast.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove the roast from the crockpot and let cool until it's easy to shred by hand.

Strain the broth from the crock pot and set aside (this will be used for the soup).

INGREDIENTS:

(For Stew)

• 2 medium onions chopped
• 3 medium carrots chopped
• 4 medium celery stalks chopped
• 2 medium red potatoes chopped
• 4 garlic cloves chopped
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup of red wine
• reserved beef broth from crock pot (see above)
• 2-3 cups of water
• 3-4 beef bouillon cubes 
• 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon gravy master
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine onions, carrots, celery, garlic and potatoes in a large pot. Add in 4 tablespoons of butter and over medium high heat cook the veggies down. This will take about 15 minutes. Cook until the veggies are softened and the potatoes are pretty much cooked through. Add more butter during the cooking process if more moisture is needed.

Once the veggies are cooked and soft, add in the red wine and deglaze the pot. Scrape up all of the browned bits at the bottom of the pot (this is a ton of the flavor), cook for an additional 3-5 minutes until everything is unstuck from the bottom of the pot.

Add in your reserved beef broth from when you cooked the beef in the crock pot. And depending how much of that broth you have left add anywhere between 2-3 cups of water and 3-4 beef bouillon cubes. Finally add in your shredded beef. Bring everything to a simmer then reduce the heat to low. Everything is fully cooked, so just leave it on low/ warm until it's ready to be served.

If you have saved a ton of the reserved broth you might not need any water at all for more broth.  It's up to you on the broth/ veggie & meat ratio you want. I like a good amount of broth, because I could just drink it warm by itself. Especially now with this cold that I'm coming down with, the warm broth really helps my throat. Theres only so much tea I can drink, ya know? Also, when I make soup I like to keep it on the stove on low/warm through out the day. For lunch, a snack for the kids with some crackers or a little cup of broth. Its the perfect thing to have available all day long. Cheers!