Potato Soup from our Christmas Party

POTATO SOUP  (obtained from Betsy Brannon Green’s Copycat)

P.S. This is used in the book as a remedy for morning sickness…J

P.P.S. I can’t find my original copy, so I went from memory for our party. It seemed to work out.

1: 5 Lb Bag           Potatoes

2: 10 Oz Cans      Chicken Broth

1: 8 Oz Block       Pepper Jack Cheese, shredded

1: 10 Oz Can        Cream of Chicken

1: 10 Oz Can        Cream of Celery (or other flavor)

1: 16 Oz Tub        Sour Cream

1: Pint                   Half & Half

                                Ham, cubed (my personal addition)

 

Cut up potatoes and cook them in both cans of the chicken broth until they are no longer hard. Do not drain. Add shredded cheese and melt. Once the cheese is melted add the cream of soups, sour cream and half and half (and ham if you would like more of a main dish). Heat the soup through and enjoy.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Melissa and I made these today and they are yummy!  Perfect for the fall!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins plus 12 mini muffins

ingredients:

1 15 ounce can 100% pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips, optional
1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional

directions:

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray muffin pans with cooking spray or use papers.

2. Bring pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon and cloves to a simmer in a medium saucepan, stirring occasionally, until puree thickens about 5 minutes. Pour into a mixing bowl & allow to cool for a couple of minutes. Whisk in brown sugar and oil, then slowly whisk in eggs.

3. In a separate bowl whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips & pecans, if desired.

4. Divide batter among the muffin cups and bake until golden and cooked through, about 10 minutes for the mini muffins & 13 minutes for the regular sized muffins.

Alternate version:
Leave out the chocolate chips and pecans and glaze with an orange drizzle instead:

Orange Drizzle
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp finely grated orange zest
4 tsp orange juice

Mix together and drizzle over warm muffins.

From: http://sprinklesomesunshine.blogspot.com/2011/10/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-muffin-party.html and allrecipes.com

Cheryl's Carmel Apple Salad

Cheryl Higbee brought this yummy Carmel Apple salad to Jaelin's baby blessing.  Yummy :-)

16 oz Cool Whip
1 small box Instant Vanilla Pudding
Mix together

Add:
6-8 Granny Smith apples, diced into small pieces

Stir in just before serving:
6 Snickers candy bars, chopped (can also try other candy bars like Twix or Whatchamacallit)

Skillet Summer Vegetable Lasagna

I made this tonight and it was delicious! It's a good recipe to put your garden veggies to use, and it's meatless. However, Steve said that it would be good with ground beef, of course. I got it off of melskitchencafe.com.

Skillet Summer Vegetable Lasagna
*Serves 4-6

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped fine
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (28-oz.) can diced tomatoes
Salt and pepper
10 curly-edged lasagna noodles, broken into 2-inch lengths
1 small zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 small yellow squash, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1/4 cup shredded fresh basil**
1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large 12-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Drain tomatoes into a 2-cup liquid measure. Add water to tomato liquid to make 2 cups. Add tomato/water mixture and 1 teaspoon salt to skillet.

Scatter noodles into the skillet, layer tomatoes over the noodles and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, covered, stirring occasionally (so the noodles won’t stick!) for about 10 minutes.

Stir in zucchini and squash, cook, stirring now and then, until noodles and squash are tender, about 8 minutes. Add basil and half of the rictotta cheese and half of the Parmesan cheese to the noodles, stirring until the sauce is creamy. Dollop remaining ricotta cheese over the noodles, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.

**I didn't have fresh basil so I used dried and added it just before adding the zucchini and squash to the skillet. I just filled my 1/4 cup measuring cup 1/3 full (whatever measurement that may be). I also ran out of parmesan cheese so I used half mozerella with good, cheesy results!

Spinach Pasta Salad

Here is the recipe for the best pasta salad ever.

8 oz bow tie pasta
8 oz penne pasta
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cups fresh parmesan cheese, grated
4 bonesless chicken breasts, optional
1 6 oz bag baby spinach
16 oz bottle paul Newman's Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing

Boil pasta noodles, drain and rinse with cold water. In a large bowl, mix pasta with spinach, red bell pepper and Parmesan cheese. Cook chicken breats in olive oil and season with garlic salt and pepper. Chop chicken into small pieces, cool and then add to salad. Add salad dressing.

BBQ Meat

This is what I made at Julie's cabin.

1 lb Italian Beef (from the deli- do not use regular roast beef).
1 c Russian dressing
1 c BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Rays is the best)
1/2 c sugar
Rolls

Heat all ingredients in the crock-pot on low for about 2 hrs. Serve meat on rolls.

Buttermilk Syrup

Buttermilk Syrup:

1/2 Cup Butter
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Buttermilk
1 TBSP corn syrup

Boil 1 Minute

Stir in 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp vanilla.