A FRIDGE FULL OF FOOD...

Creamy Vegetable Soup for the Crock-pot/Slow Cooker

 I love soup. I particularly love cream soups, although I often feel guilty for eating them.  There's something ultimately wintery and comforting about soups with creamy heartiness that feels so good and yet so decadent.  But.  Using a trick I learned from a Pinterest recfpe for creamy chicken chili, creaminess doesn't have to equal loads of cream, flour, and butter. It's amazing what cream cheese can do in a slow cooker to transform a simple vegetable woup into a creamy feast on a cold winter's day.

Creamy Crock-pot/Slow Cooker Vegetable Soup

Recipe by Glenna Anderson Muse

Ingredients:

• 4 medium Yukon Gold (or russets or red-skinned) potatoes
• 1 cup green beans
• 1 cup carrots, julienned
• I cup celery diced
• 1 mdium onion, diced
• 1 red or green sweet pepper, cut into strips
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 1 14.5 oz can Kidney, Pinto, or Navy Beans
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 15.5 oz can chicken broth
• 8 oz pkg light cream cheese
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions:

In heavy-bottomed skillet over mdium heat, saute garlic and onion in olive oil.  Add celery and pepper and saute for 3-3 minutes.  Add all  to crockpot along with rest of vegetables, beans, and spices.  Pour over chicken broth and lay cream cheese on top.  Cook on high for 2 hours and hten turn to low for 6-8 hours. Stir to mix cream cheese.

Makes 10 cups.

Nutrition per 1 cup serving:  Calories:    167;   Protein:    6.3;    Carbs:    16;    Fat:     6;       Fiber:     4.2;    Weight Watchers Points:      3

 

 

Home-Made Buttermilk Herb (Ranch) Dressing

 I know that in some circles "ranch" dressing or dip is considered passe' but, to me, it ranks up there will all my favorite comfort foods like mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, chicken pot pie, and all the rest of the delicious, non-pretensious things that are so lovely and comforting to eat.  I do admit, though, that ranch dressing out a bottle from a grocer's shelf doesn't thrill me but making it home-made with fresh herbs is definitely the ticket! 

It's also much better for you.  Think about it.  Sure, it's a little more work to put the ingredients together but when you make it from scratch, including the mayo, you're talking about eating eggs, cold-pressed oil, buttermilk, dill, parsley, garlic, etc., all whole foods  not tons of chemicals and preservatives. That, and the fresh creamy herby taste make it worth every one of those 15 minute spent preparing it.

New Year's Day: Get your Black-Eyed Peas on!

I'm not a huge fan of black-eyed peas but this is one recipe I love and make every year: Cowboy Caviar.  With its mix of black-eyed peas, black beans, corn, celery and other vegetables, it's a wonderful cold side dish, you get your New Year's Day good luck black-eyed peas, and it's a great do ahead recipe for New Year's Eve or New Year's Day parties!

While black-eyed peas are grown in many countries, they are particularly eaten here in the southern United States.  There are two southern traditions that explain the superstition of eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day for luck, both grew out of the Civil War. The first is the legend that whenever Sherman's Union troops sacked cities or plantations and raided the food supplies, the northeners considered black-eyed peas and field corn to be food for slaves and stock, and left it, so all the starving southeners felt "lucky" to have any food left to celebrate New Year's Day with at all.

The second is a much more pleasant legend.  Again placed during Civil War times, legend has it that many slaves celebrated the New Year's day that the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect by eating Hoppin' John, a common, hearty dish, made of a combination of black-eyed peas, rice, pork, and greens (also yummy). 

Other legends place black-eyed pea eating as far back as the Talmud and the Egyptians but having grown up eating very southern-ish, my favorite is the thought of celebrating the Emancipation Proclamation and the hope of great strides in civil rights of all men and women of all everything in our country's future.

Good & Good For You: Sweet and Sour Mushrooms

 

 I've been making Sweet and Sour Mushrooms for years but I added one "secret" ingredient this time that made Gene say "Oh YEAH! THAT'S the stuff!"  The secret ingredient?  Country Bob's All-Purpose Sauce. We eat it on everything: steak, pork chops, chicken, meatloaf, and even toasted walnuts, but the Sweet and Sour Mushrooms are truly out of this world:  tangy, sweet, spicy, the taste trifecta. 

Good & Good For You: Creamy Tomato Soup

 

 After such a long hot summer, fall is a welcome relief!  With fall, come the cravings for great fall foods:  pumpkin and apple dishes, warm chewy breads, and thick soups.  Two of my favorites are leftover from grade school:  beef vegetable soup with peanut butter sandwiches and creamy tomato soup with grilled American cheese sandwiches. 

Campbell's or Progresso?  I could do that but for just a little bit more time I can have creamy tomato soup from my  pantry that still has tomato-y goodness but with a much more complex herby fresh taste I yearn for as an adult. 

 

Folks Who Use My Recipes: Lisa's Potato, Onion, and Thyme Tart

 My friend, Lisa, of   The Cardboard Schoolhouse  sent a pic of the Potato, Onion, and Thyme Tart she made from a post I did a little while back.  How cool does that lool?  So pretty! Makes me want to make it again. Soon. So yummy!

 

Copycat Benihana Fried Rice

 Just like a kid, I love having dinner at Japanese steakhouses like Benihana but sometimes I want the rice and/or veggies without the 1 1/2 hour program and all that food in the different courses.  When I have the desire but not the patience, I make my own at home.  Chicken Fried Rice is a great one-pot meal in the style of Jambalaya or other stove-top one-potters.

Easier and faster than it looks, just think about how quickly those Japanese chefs whip up the fried rice before moving on to the steak/chicken/shrimp entree.  And the leftovers are great for lunch the next day or my work lunchbox.

 

Welcome Fall: Pumpkin and Roasted Red Pepper Soup

  I woke up this morning to a chilly house with open windows and a definite fall breeze wafting through the air and guess what I said?  "Yipeeeeee! It's finally fall!", which just happens to be my very very favorite season of the year.  I love the crispness, the colors of the "dead or dying leaves" as a friend calls them for the  tourists who travel to see the fall colors, the smell of wood fires, wearing hoodies, and even the slight decay in the air.  Spring, Summer, and Winter are all great, but Fall is, by far, the best time of the year.

And the cooking? Ahhhhh, the cooking:  Crockpot Chili, pumpkin fudge, Apple Pie in Finnish Cream Pastry, Baked Acorn Squash with Apple Butter, cranberry bread-- all the good stuff, Baby.  Here's to pumpkin-flavored EVERYTHING!

This Pumpkin & Roasted Red Pepper Soup is one I found on Jackie Mills' blog:  Delcious Diabetes Cooking.  Great soup recipe and fabulous blog. Stop by when you get a chance. Diuabetic or not, you'll find lots of Good & Good For You recipes to make throughout the year.

 

 

 

 

 

Kraft Foods Inc: Pasta with Creamy Garlic & Walnut Sauce

Photo by Kraft on Kraft Foods website

These days I'm having a particularly good time paying attention to what my friends and family are eating and posting about on Facebook.  Why?  Because I can't eat right.  Well, not much or much of anything yummy.  I'm on the plain, boring non-functing gall bladder diet, looking forward to surgery next Tuesday.  After month of intermittent pain and vomitting followed by the last few weeks of non-stop vomitting and pain, I'm ready for them to get this little troublemaker out of my body!

So in the meantime, until I can eat/cook again, I'll be blogging lots of goodies my friends are eating.  This pasta dish comes from Janna, who made it for her family this week and said they'all liked it so much it's going to be a permanent fixture in her recipe box.

Looks delicious!  Can't wait to be able to make it myself.  Thanks for sharing, Janna!. 

 

Jordan's Hand-breaded Shallow Fried Mushroom Caps & Home-made Honey Mustard

The number one great thing about teaching kids to cook is that they learn how to make their own snacks!  Plus, they can help with dinner, but making their own snacks is at the top of the list.

Niece Jordna had jones for fried mushrooms the other night and, let my little heart beat with pride, instead of buying pre-breaded 'shrooms, she bought fresh white buttons and breaded them herself.  Way to go, Jo! Very proud. From scratch over boxed any day.