Veggie Soup with bite

This is a new twist on Veggie soup. It has just enough zip to it. This recipe is for a 6 qt pot.

1/2 of the pot filled with water
6 Beef Bouillon cubes
1 Can Tomato sauce
1 Can Tomatoes & Green chili's
1/2 head of Cabbage , chopped
1 Bag Mixed vegetables, frozen
2 Celery stalks, chopped
Mix together in a pot the water, beef cubes, tomato sauce and celery. Bring to a boil and add tomatos and green chilis, cabbage and mixed veggies. Cook on medium for 1/2 hour at least. I let mine simmer for 2 hours. Oh yum!!!

Loaded potato soup

I dont have any photos because lets face it I am a mom, to a toddler. When I have time to cook supper I dont have alot of extra time to take photos. But I assure you its yummy! I got the original recipe from my friend Casondra but I tweeked the recipe a bit to fit our taste. I love it!!

So here is the recipe, WITH my tweeks

2 LARGE potatoes, shredded or small bag of hashbrowns, cook until soft, drain.
3/4 small box Velvetta cheese
Onion flakes, few dashes
2 teaspoon Garlic powder
1 Sausage link, the long ones, cut into slices then into small chunks
4 oz Sour Cream
Mix all together in a Pot on the stove and add half milk and half water until everything is covered. Cook on medium until cheese is melted. Then add 1 Cup shredded cheddar cheese. Stir til melted.

Turkey Cranberry Wreath

This is my favorite way to use up leftover turkey. Its fairly simple and packs alot of flavor. The cranberries add a unexpected tartness.

2 Cresent Roll tubes
2 Cups turkey, shredded or chopped
1/2 Cup Cranberries, chopped
1/4 Cup chopped Celery
1/2 Cup Mayo
2 Tablespoons Mustard
1 Cup Shredded cheese
2 Tablespoons Parsley
On a baking sheet lay out cresent rolls so that the tips are pointing out. Combine all the other ingredients together and spoon out onto the center of the cresent roll braid. Now over lap the tips of the cresent rolls over the filling so it makes a braid look. Brush with a egg white and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Cinnamon Pretzels

My cousin Abby posted this recipe on facebook and I thought why not try it? It was shockingly good. A very different combination but very good. I tweeked the recipe a bit so its not exactly like the one she had linked to. I plan to use it for christmas gifts for our neighbors this year instead of making a ton of cookies.

1 16oz bag of pretzels
2/3 Cup Oil (I use canola oil but you can use any kind of veggie oil)
1/2 cup Sugar
2 T. Cinnamon
In a large bowl combine oil, sugar and cinnamon. Stir until combined. Pour whole bag of pretzels in the bowl. Stir until all the pretzels are covered. Place in a flat cookie sheet and bake at 300 for 15 minutes. Stir pretzels and bake another 15 minutes. Let cool and store in air tight containers.

Sweet potato fries & Fish

Sweet Potatoes are so much healthier then regular potatoes and they actually make really good fries. The other night I also used them to make baked potatoes and they were yummy!!

Sweet potato Fries
2 medium size sweet potatoes, peeled
2 T. Olive oil
1 teaspoon Seasoning salt
few dashes salt
few dashes pepper

Cut the sweet potatoes into strips fry size. Put in a bowl, pour olive on, put lid on and shake to coat. Put the rest of the seasonings in and shake again. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Turning every 5-8 minutes.

Fish
2 Fish fillets- we used cod cause it was on sale but I usually use tilapia, I think it taste better
1/4 cup orange juice
1 T. Lemon juice
few dashes lemon pepper seasoning
1 garlic clove crushed or 1 teas. garlic powder
In a ziploc bag place fish fillets inside and add all the remaining ingredients. Shake bag to cover all fish pieces well. Place in fridge to marinate at least 30 minutes. We usually cook them on the grill. If you do them on the grill place some aluminum foil down first. Cook them about 15 minutes. Flipping them twice. If you do them in the oven pour fish and marinade in a baking dish and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Fall Menu!!!

Its fall!!! And that means its time for soup and pumpkin!! The first recipe is for Chili soup. This is a new recipe I tried, its a knock off of Wendy's chili recipe. I liked it, its really spicy/zippy so if you dont like spicy I would suggest not adding a few things. . Ill mention them in the recipe
Chili
1/2 # Ground meat (I used ground turkey but you can use ground beef)
1 can Tomato sauce
1 can Green chilis (I would only use 1/2 can of these if you dont like spicy)
1 can Kidney beans
1 can diced tomatoes
3 cups water
1 teaspoon Chili powder
1 teaspoon Garlic powder
1 teaspoon Cumin

Brown meat in a skillet until cooked. Add 1/2 package of taco seasoning mix. In a saucepan combine all the other ingredients and add the meat. Cook on medium low for 2 hours or so. Serve with Shredded cheese.


Fall also means PUMPKIN!! I love pumpkin! I found this recipe on allrecipes.com. Its called
Pumpkin Fluff Dip
8 oz Pumpkin
1/2 carton of Cool whip
1/2 box of vanilla instant pudding mix
Combine together and add some cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice or both. Chill a few hours. Serve with Graham crackers and apple slices.

Another recipe I tried this week was this Pumpkin cake for my moms birthday.
Its a really easy recipe and it taste very good.
Pumpkin Spice Cake
1 box Spice cake mix
12 oz. Pumpkin
3 eggs
Mix together and pour into a greased cake pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. Cool for 30 minutes. Frost with cream cheese frosting.

And last but not least-
Pumpkin Pie Latte
In a saucepan on the stove add 1/2 cup milk,1 T sugar, few drops vanilla and 1 T pumpkin pie spice. Cook on low until it gets steamy. Meanwhile make 1 very strong cup of coffee using your favorite coffee. When the milk mixture is steaming pour it into a blender and blend on high for 1 minute. Pour coffee into the bottom of a coffee mug and pour blended milk on top. Sprinkle cinnamon on top. Enjoy!

Baby Food

I have been making Kianna's baby food for a while now and Thought I would share a few recipes/combos I use. The main concept to making baby food is to blend the foods to a puree. If they are harder foods like apples, pears, carrots you steam them for a few minutes until they are soft. Chicken is also cooked before blending of course.

BananaCado
1 Banana, cut into 3 chunks
1 Avacado, cut into chunks
Enough water to blend
Blend together til smooth. Freeze in Ice cube trays until solid. Place in freezer safe containers.Freeze.

Kiwi Strawberry
2 Kiwi- Peeled and chunked
6 Strawberries
Enough water to blend.
Blend until smooth. Freeze in Ice cube trays until solid.

Pumpkin Pie
1 Can Pumpkin (I use homemade canned pumpkin but a store bought works too)
1 Cup Vanilla yogurt
Dash or 2 of Cinnamon
Blend together in blender. Freeze in Ice cube trays.

Chicken Applesauce
1 Cup Cooked Chicken
3/4 Cup Applesauce
Blend in Blender with enough water to blend. Freeze.

Pear Raspberry
2 pears, cut into quarters and steamed until soft.
1/2 cup Raspberries, fresh or frozen
Blend together with enough water to blend. Freeze

Sweet Potato Greenbeans
2 Small Sweet potatoes, chunked and cooked until tender
1 Cup Green beans, Cooked
Blend together with water until smooth. Freeze.

Peach Mango
2 Peaches, chunked
1 Mango, Chunked
Blend both together with water til smooth. Freeze.

Pear Peach
2 Pears, Chunked and cooked until tender
2 Peaches, Chunked
Blend together with water until smooth. Freeze.

Strawberry Banana
1 banana, chunked
6 Strawberries
Blend together with a little yogurt and some water. Freeze.

Plum Applesauce
1 Cup Applesauce
2 Plums, cut into chunks
Blend together. Freeze.

Chicken Pumpkin and Carrots
1 Can Pumpkin
6 Baby Carrots, cooked until tender
1/2 Cup Cooked Chicken
Blend together until smooth. Freeze.

Pot Roast
1/2 Cup cooked Roast meat
2 Potatoes, cooked and cubed
8 Baby Carrots, cooked
Blend together with water until smooth. Freeze.


You can also add cleaned Uncooked Spinach to any of these blends while blending it to add extra nutrients to them. You cant taste the spinach at all.