Beer Cheese Soup with Kielbasa Skewers

I hope you all have had a wonderful start to this Christmas season! Our house is decorated, the lights are up and tree is beautiful! I love the fresh pine smell throughout our house! I will post pictures soon!

A dear friend gave me this delicious recipe and I thought I would share it with you! 

Beer-Cheese Soup

Serves about 8

1 cup finely minced onion
1/2 cup finely minced celery
1/2 cup minced carrot
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter
5 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 bottle German lager
3 cups low-sodium organic chicken broth
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. Tabasco (or more if you’re super crazy like me)
1 cup whole milk
1 lb grated sharp cheddar
4 oz. cream cheese, cubed
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Kosher or sea salt & pepper to taste
Cook the onion, celery, and carrot in butter in a large pot over low heat until the veggies are tender but not brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in the flour, paprika, and mustard. Increase the heat a bit and cook the flour taste out for about a minute or so. Add the beer and simmer it all until it thickens up. Add the broth, Worcestershire, and Tabasco, stirring constantly. Bring soup to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer another 5 minutes.
Add the milk, Cheddar and cream cheese, stirring constantly until the soup is smooth. It’s very important that you don’t let the soup boil after adding the milk and cheese or it may curdle. Stir in your parsley, taste it and then season it all up with salt and pepper.

Kielbasa Skewers

2 packages kielbasa sausage (turkey or beef...they are both great!)

1 loaf or baguette Italian bread (I chose roasted garlic)
wooden skewers

Slice sausages into 1/2inch pieces and cook as directed on package. Slice bread it up into cubes and toast in oven at 350 degrees F until lightly browned. Then, alternate sausage and bread on skewers. Serve with soup. They are wonderful for dipping into the soup! 

Chicken Noodle Soup in the Crockpot!

  The weekend my hubby started showing symptoms of the flu, I decided to make a delicious homemade chicken noodle soup. Growing up we always made it on the stove but this time, I decided to try it in the crock pot. It actually turned out pretty well, with some minor adjustments for next time!

 

 

Here's what you will need:

• 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds chicken pieces
• 4 cups water
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste, depending on saltiness of broth
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 leek or small onion chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram or basil
• 1 bay leaf
• 6 ounces noodles  

How it's prepared:

 

Place all ingredients except noodles in the Crock Pot. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours. (Or HIGH for 2 1/2 to 3 hours) Remove chicken and bay leaf from pot; take meat from bones, dice, and return to broth, and add the noodles. Cook another hour or until noodles are done (about 1/2 hour on high). Or, cook the noodles separately and add them just before serving.

Here are my suggestions for next time....don't just choose any noodle! The ones I chose grew to be too big and consumed most of the broth! Just stick with your standard noodle or something small! Rice could also be given a try!

Also, you may notice that there are no carrots in our soup. I left them out because Mackenzie does not like cooked carrots. Oh well. :) 

Hope you enjoy it! 

My Hubby's Favorite Cookie

Oatmeal Raisin has always been one of my husband's favorite cookies. So, I decided to make them for him. He likes his cookies soft and chewy, so I went on my mission to find the softest cookie recipe.

Courtesy of Allrecipes.com, I think I found a good one!

In a large bowl, cream together until smooth, 1/2 cup softened butter, 1/2 cup butter flavored shortening, 1 cup packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 2 eggs, and 1 tsp vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Slowly turn the flour mixture into the wet mixture.

Then, stir in 1 cup raisins and 3 cups rolled or old-fashioned oats.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on to ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 9-10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool for 2 minutes before transferring to baking sheets. Enjoy!

Yum! They turned out soft and chewy. Best of all, they got my husbands stamp of approval!

Chocolate Cream Cheese Cupcakes

I'll be making cupcakes for my friend's baby shower coming up in a few weeks, and I wanted to do a trial batch. For the shower, I'm going to do three different cupcakes some sort of chocolate, lemon poppy seed, and a vanilla.

Here's s a recipe I put together from other recipes to make these chocolate cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting!

For the cupcakes:

• 1 cup baking cocoa
  
• 1 cup boiling water
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream

1. Dissolve cocoa in water; let stand until cool. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beating well. Add cocoa mixture; beat well.
2. Pour into lined or greased cupcake cups. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.

Of course, you need to let the cupcakes cool completely before frosting. Then, if you'd like to use frosting tips, just spoon the frosting into the bags or "frosting machine". I can't remember the exact name, haha! I found it best to start frosting from the inside out in a spiral-like motion! After I frosted the cupcakes, I crushed some Oreos and sprinkled them on top! I think it really helped the presentation of the cupcake! I hope you try this recipe, you can get really creative with cupcakes. I had fun making them!



Have a blessed day!

Twice Baked Potatoes for 2

Today I'm going to share this delicious recipe with you! It can be a little time consuming due to the amount of time it takes to bake a potato but it is well worth the wait and the work! My husband and I really enjoy them.

Here are the potatoes after they've already been baked. First, bake 2 medium baking potatoes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 1 hour or until they are tender. When they are cool enough to handle, cut a thin slice off the top of each potato and discard (or munch on it if you want a snack! haha) Scoop out the pulp, leaving a thin shell.

In a small bowl, mash the pulp with 2 tablespoons butter.

Stir in 1/4 cup milk, 1 teaspoon minced chives, 1/4 teaspoon salt, a dash of pepper, and 1/3 cup cheddar cheese.

Spoon the mixture into the potato shells and sprinkle top with cheese. Place on a baking sheet for 20-25 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Enjoy! Remember that the amounts I used in this recipe serves 2, feel free to change it as your number of people increase!

Have a blessed day!

Pay It Forward

A few weeks ago, my friend Andrea at My Chihuahua Bites hosted a Pay It Forward challenge on her blog. The idea behind this challenge is that you will “pay it forward” by sending three homemade gifts to other bloggers. They, in turn, agree to host the challenge on their blogs and “pay it forward” to at least three other bloggers. The cycle continues and the love is spread throughout the blogosphere. The only kicker? You have 365 days to send your package.

Andrea chose me to be a part of her Pay it Forward challenge! So now I, in turn, am hosting a Pay It Forward challenge on my blog. Here’s how it works: if you would like to participate, comment on this post. I’ll draw three names and will send you something handmade. Remember, I have 365 days to send it to you, so don’t hold your breath waiting on my package to arrive.

You Could Get:
Homemade Candles
Stamped Tile Coasters
Homemade Cookies
Cookie Mix in a Jar
or even something else!

Don’t forget that if you are chosen, you are agreeing to host the challenge on your blog and reciprocate to three other bloggers. Don’t enter if you aren’t willing to do that step. I’ll announce the winners next week.

On a quick side note - I have an interview for a better position with my work today. Please keep me in your prayers. This would really help Mackenzie and I out financially! Thanks so much! Have a blessed day!

The Pasta of Memories

Your probably wondering why I titled this post the way I did today.

Well, today I want to share with you a dish that fills my mind with memories of my mom cooking in the kitchen, of our one on one talks and special times together.

As you can probably guess, my mom made this dish while I was growing up. Particularly when I was in high school. Unfortunately my parents divorced when I was in 8th grade. Through this trying event, God brought great blessings into my life. Blessings of which, I didn't necessarily see at the time. Ones that I cherish now.

My mom and I grew closer in the midst of the trial. We cooked new dishes together and had many wonderful conversations. The biggest blessing in my high school years was my Mom accepting Christ into her life. It brings tears to my eyes as I'm writing this! Praise You God!

Anyway, on to the dish. I named this Pasta of Memories because we didn't have a name for it when I made it for my husband. He actually helped me come up with the name. It seemed to fit perfectly as a reminder of the wonderful times my mom and I spent together. It's very close to a Pasta Primavera.

Here's the pasta completed.

We simply cook the chicken in oil and garlic. One the chicken is cooked, remove from the pan and chop into bite size pieces. Using the oil and garlic, saute tomatoes, zucchini, fresh chopped basil and olives. Turn heat to low and let the vegetables simmer in their juices for about 5-6 minutes. While sauteing the veggies, boil your favorite pasta.

After sauteing the vegetables on low, place the chicken back into the pan with the vegetables. Pour over cooked pasta and grate some fresh Parmesan or Romano cheese and mix it into the dish. Enjoy!

Tomorrow I plan on sharing about that Crafty challenge I mentioned on Sunday!

Have a blessed day!

Easter Appetizers

In yesterday's post, I told you I would talk about the appetizers I brought to our family's Easter celebration! So, here you are!

First I made a spinach dip. This has always been a favorite in my family and I thought it would be nice to introduce it to my husband's family. The nice part about this recipe is that it is so easy! No cooking required. Plus the presentation in the bread bowl gives it 2 thumbs up! FYI, this is a different type of spinach dip than the Artichoke/Parmesan Spinach dip found at many restaurants. Both are very good.

You use the Knorr Vegetable Soup mix in this recipe. If you haven't used the Knorr soups in recipes yet, you'll have to try it! They have all kinds of wonderful recipes at their website.

Here's the recipe for the Knorr Spinach Dip:

• 1 package frozen, chopped spinach, drained and squeezed dry.
• 1 package Knorr's vegetable soup mix.
• 1 16oz container sour cream
• 1 cup mayonnaise
  
• 3 green onions minced (optional)
• 1 small can water chestnuts (optional...I left these out)

Mix the sour cream and mayonnaise together in a bowl. Pour in the soup mix, spinach, green onions (optional), and water chestnuts (optional). Mix thoroughly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Mix before serving.

For the bread bowl, just buy a round loaf of bread and cut out the center leaving a bottom layer. Cut the cutout bread into squares. Serve with bread or vegetables. Enjoy!

I also made deviled eggs (sorry you can't see too many left in this picture) and a really simple salsa over cream cheese. Everything was so tasty!

Mackenzie's family also asked me to bring rolls. I cheated on this one. I just bought the frozen ones and let them rise for a few hours in these muffin pans.

Voila! Here they are all done!

Hope you enjoy! Have a blessed day!

Easy Appetizer

We had friends over last Friday night and of course this was the only picture I took! I'm so bad about taking pictures sometimes. I served Pesto Pasta with Chicken, they brought a salad, and we had this amazing bread and vinegar/olive oil for dipping.

I love this appetizer because it is so simple, yet so good! It's served at many Italian restaurants in our area. You can use any kind of rustic or artisan bread. I bought a Kalamata Olive bread from a wonderful little bakery nearby. For dipping, you simply pour 2 parts olive oil in a bowl or on a plate and 1 part balsamic vinegar. You figure out what you like best and adjust it accordingly! I added a tsp of chopped garlic and a little salt and pepper to taste. Yum! It really makes a great presentation as well.

I hope you have a wonderful day today! After work, I'm going to catch up on laundry and work on an autobiographical essay that I need to submit with an application to a local bible college, that I'll be starting at in the fall to complete my bachelor's degree. They have a great program for working adults. I'm actually really excited to start the program and finally finish my degree.

Have a blessed day!

Chicken Pesto

I know what you're thinking, "She's done a lot of food posts lately!" I know! I'm sorry! It's just all I can think about posting on lately. We've been pretty busy with different things going on and I haven't been very creative about my posts.
I do hope you enjoy these scrumptious recipes anyhow!

Today I wanted to share one of my hubby's favorite meals.

Chicken Pesto Pasta

Pesto is probably one of his, if not the favorite sauce to put on pasta. I love it too.

Plus, it's so easy to make!

Here's what I use for the meal. Pasta of your choice (I used fettuccine this time but I use all different types.), cooked chicken, homemade pesto, and freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.

I use the recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook to make the pesto.
Here's how simple it is:

2 cups firmly packed fresh basil leaves
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup olive or vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts


1. Place all ingredients in blender or food processor.
2. Cover and blend on medium speed about 3 minutes, stopping occasionally to scrape sides, until smooth.

One important tip to remember: Do NOT heat up the pesto. Serve it at room temperature. If you heat it up, the oil will separate from the rest of the ingredients and it won't be the best. So, when your pasta is finished cooking just mix the pesto (room temperature) into the pasta.

Another thing I do (because we like pesto so much), is make a double or triple batch and freeze the pesto. It should keep for a couple months. Then, just place it in the fridge a few days before you want to use it.

We also enjoy pesto as a spread for sandwiches, substituted for mayo or mustard. Oh and I used the leftover chicken from the Roasted Chicken that I made. It was so nice to have it already cooked. It made this easy to prepare dinner, even easier!

I hope you've had a wonderful week and that you enjoy your weekend! Mackenzie and I have started going on walks after dinner. It has been so nice to get out of the house and have that quiet time together...and to help burn off some of those calories we just ate!

Yumm!

Have I mentioned that I love to be in the kitchen? Baking and cooking are so fun for me. I think it's because when I was in high school, my mom, sister and I would get together to experiment with a new recipe. We still do today actually. The only difference is, we're each in a different state. So now, we just exchange recipes that we've tried and like through email. It's so much fun.

Oh, and have I mentioned that I absolutely LOVE chocolate? Yep.

The other day I decided to try something new. I hadn't made a dessert
in a couple weeks and I had never used my bunt pan that we got as a gift from the wedding. So, I searched for a recipe for chocolate cake. The only problem was, I didn't have any eggs and didn't want to go to the store. But, I remembered that Mackenzie's grandmother had once made a cake that used mayonnaise instead of eggs. I thought there must be a recipe out there that uses mayo and found one!
It definitely sounds odd but trust me, it works wonders.

Here's the recipe:

Chocolate Cake

• 2 cups flour
• 1 2/3 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/3 cup water
  
• 1 cup mayo
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional, but great)
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease baking pan (if you're using a bunt pan, coat it with flour or cocoa powder as well, after you grease it.) Sift dry ingredients together, then add wet ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes. Add chocolate chips, if using. Pour into pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

This cake is so moist! It's delicious

Then, I decided that I wanted to drizzle an icing over it. I know, I could have stopped at just the cake but I didn't.

Here's the recipe for Vanilla Icing:

• 1/3 cup butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 2-4 tbs. water

Melt butter in sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla. Add water, 1 tbs. at a time. Mix until smooth and of desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cake. (Make sure the cake is completely cool!)

The recipe actually made more than I needed so I put it in the refrigerator to save for another use.


I've gotta say, Mackenzie absolutely loved this cake! He kept telling me I shouldn't make these things because he likes them too much. Made me smile.

I'll leave you with a picture of my mom, sister and I. Unfortunately, I don't have one of all three of us in the kitchen!

July of 2005 at my cousin's wedding...I should have a more recent one! Shame on me!


Have a blessed week!

Dinner with Friends and a Recipe!

We had this crazy, fun couple over at our house for dinner, about a week ago! This is Alisha and her husband Erick. Alisha is my best best friend! We've been friends since our junior year of high school and moved up to Oregon together, right after we graduated! We've been trying to find a time to have just the two them over since we've been married and finally found the night to do it!

Alisha and I always have something to talk about and Mackenzie and Erick are becoming closer friends. So,we had such a great time!

The funny thing is, I actually met Mackenzie through Erick. They grew up a town apart and knew each other from Campus Life events. Anyway, Erick was coming home from a study abroad program in Spain. We through a welcome home party for him, and Mackenzie showed up! I remember he stayed pretty late and we talked about politics with everyone...funny, huh?

So, I made dinner for the four of us, Alisha brought dessert and we talked and played monopoly! That game really goes on forever... We really enjoy having our friends over at our place. I enjoy the fellowship and even the preparations for dinner...I love to cook and bake!

Here's Mackenzie cutting the dessert. He was getting pretty annoyed with me taking so many pictures so, to get back at me, he acted silly in every picture! Man our husbands deal with a lot of pictures for the blog, don't they?

I wanted to share one of the recipes that I made for the dinner with you!

On the menu, Italian Sausage Lasagna, Ceasar Salad, and Rolls.

Here's the recipe for the yummy Lasagna!

Italian Sausage Lasagna – serves 8

1	pound bulk Italian sausage (hot)
1	medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
1	garlic clove, crushed
3	tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1	tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves or 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1	teaspoon sugar
2	cups Progresso® diced tomatoes (from 28-oz can), undrained
1	can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
12	uncooked lasagna noodles (12 ounces)
1	container (15 ounces) ricotta cheese or small curd creamed cottage cheese (2 cups)
1/4	cup grated Parmesan cheese
1	tablespoon chopped fresh oregano leaves or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
2	cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 ounces)
1/4	cup grated Parmesan cheese

1.	Cook sausage, onion and garlic in 10-inch skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sausage is no longer pink; drain.
2.	Stir in 2 tablespoons of the parsley, the basil, sugar, tomatoes and tomato sauce. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally; reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered about 45 minutes or until slightly thickened.
3.	Heat oven to 350ºF. Cook and drain noodles as directed on package.
4.	Mix ricotta cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, remaining 1 tablespoon parsley and the oregano.
5.	Spread 1 cup of the sauce mixture in ungreased rectangular baking dish, 13x9x2 inches. Top with 4 noodles. Spread 1 cup of the cheese mixture over noodles; spread with 1 cup of the sauce mixture. Sprinkle with 2/3 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat with 4 noodles, the remaining cheese mixture, 1 cup of the sauce mixture and 2/3 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Top with remaining noodles and sauce mixture. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
6.	Cover and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and bake about 15 minutes longer or until hot and bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting.

Now, typically, you would cook the lasagna in a 9x13 pan. However, since it was just the four of us. I decided to divide the recipe into two pans. I bought a square foil pan and put half of the ingredients into it. Then, I froze it for a quick and easy meal down the road!

Have a great Friday! I'm working today and going to relax with my hubby tonight. Maybe we'll watch a movie! Tomorrow, I have worship practice at the church and later, Sharon and I will be going to a jewelry party for one of her co-workers! It should be fun! Praise and Worship Sunday is coming up! I hope you'll join me this week!

By the way, thank you all so much for your input and sweet words about the photo shoot pictures! Also, thanks for all the suggestions on ways to cook the fish! I'll let you know what we try and what we like! :)