Hodge Podge Soup

This is what our backyard looked like this morning... we got about 4 inches of snow yesterday. It's beautiful, but unfortunately we also got about 1/2 inch of ice last night which compacted it down and made it not so fun for snowman making and we don't have a sled (why would we? We live in TN!).


So, we are holed up in our house with movies, basketball games, and an entire season of LOST to watch before the season premiere this week. Since we aren't going outside much and we certainly aren't driving to the grocery store we decided to make soup to warm ourselves up. It was basically a "whatcha got stew" or "hodge podge soup".

Here's what we had:

Hodge Podge Beef Soup
1 lb beef stew meat
2 stalks of celery, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can (14 oz) fire roasted tomatoes
1 can (14 oz) corn1 small can mushrooms
1/2 cup barley
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
1 tsp italian seasoning
Beef Broth - 2 cups
Water - 4 cups

Brown the beef over med-high heat with a little olive oil. Once brown on all sides, add the veggies and garlic. Cook until veggies are tender, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Drop to a simmer and cook for 40-45 mins with lid slightly cracked on the pot. Scoop into bowls and serve.

It was really good if I do say so myself!!!! And later, we'll have some hot chocolate or apple cider... yum!

Finn (our beloved dog) didn't get to taste the soup, but he has gotten to experiment with the snow, and he definitely seems to like it!


Harley (our beloved cat) isn't allowed outside--not that she cares. She just wishes we would leave her alone and stop taking her picture while she's trying to sleep!

Cauliflower Yummy... who knew?!?

A few weeks ago I had a Kappa friend in town for a training at a local chapter and I decided to make a yummy dinner for her (and us)! I thought it turned out really well, and it contained cauliflower... A risky vegetable to make for someone whose tastes I wasn't keenly aware of. She told me the recipe was a keep though.

So, for dinner we had:

- Roast Chicken (Thanks Costco)

- Garlicky Butternut Squash (Thanks Henry and Brenda for the bushels of squash)

- Pan Roasted Cauliflower (I used dried chives, because I didn't have real! I think it would be even better with real!)

- Dump Cake (Thanks Pioneer Woman... man I say that a lot lately!)

It was an easy meal, and quite pretty if I do say so myself!

Sour Cream Pancakes

I don't have pictures of this recipe. I am never awake enough in the morning to take them, and the pancakes are always gone before I can take any of the final product. Forgive me! But trust me, you'll want to make these.

I've rarely ever used (if ever) boxed pancake mix. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's just that these are my favorite. They have the perfect texture and taste in my opinion, and are so easy!!! We've recently figured out that they are actually very good as waffles! (That we found out on a lazy morning where it just seemed easier to make waffles instead of pancakes since it seems I gave away our flat griddle to the movers over a year ago... OOPS!)

At any rate, here's the recipe. Do let me know if you try it!

Sour Cream Pancakes
1 cup flour
2 eggs
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ cup sour cream
3 Tbsp. butter, melted
½ cup milk

Mix all ingredients together. Preheat electric frying pan or flat griddle(or just a pan) to medium high. Pour into pan and cook until bubbles form. Turn and cook on the other side.

**Add chocolate chips if you want to... it's a yummy treat when you do :-)

Standing Rib Roast

Oh... this is a favorite in our house. It's absolutely delicious and well, almost magical!!!! We have made it a tradition to make it at Christmas time. Partly because it's when Publix puts it on sale for about $5.49 a pound--at least that's what it was this year--and you can't go wrong with that!!!

Here's how we do it:

3-5 lb Standing Rib Roast
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Garlic Cloves, pressed/minced/crushed - one per pound of roast
Italian Seasoning (I use about 1/2 TBL per pound maybe more)
Salt
Pepper

Season Roast with salt and pepper. Combine garlic, italian seasoning, a little more salt and pepper, and some of the olive oil until it looks like a paste. Rub over the roast generously... and I do mean generously.

Heat oven to 450!

Place on a roasting pan with the fat side up. Cook at 450 for 20 mins and then drop the oven to 350(you don't have to take the roast out), and cook for about 18 mins per pound for medium rare.

You should *absolutely* use a meat thermometer for this because it can get too done sometimes even at the 18 mins per pound. If you do use a meat thermometer, take the meat out when it hits 127! Trust me on this. Every cookbook I've seen always says 145 or something crazy like that. If you let it go till then, you'll feel bad that you've just wasted your money. Unless of course you like your meat to taste like a leather boot...

Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 mins. Carve and serve.

I serve with both gravy and horseradish sauce. To make my horseradish sauce I use horseradish (a good 1-2 TBL), sour cream - double what I used of the horseradish, some dill(fresh or dried), salt, pepper, and lemon juice... Oh, so good!!!!

This is a wonderful wonderful glorious dish... trust me! (Even if I forgot to take pictures!)

Cookie Exchange

My neighborhood Bunco group had a Cookie Exchange for our last Bunco event of the year. It was a great success as far as yummy cookies go... not so much for waist lines :-) The ladies in our neighborhood sure know how to cook!!!!

These are the cookies that I made. I was going to make these, but my inlaws came in town that weekend and it was our anniversary, and I just didn't have time! These were just as good - I promise! I got the recipe from this blog which is a great blog if you haven't visited it!

Oatmeal Cranberry White Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Adapted from the back of the Craisins Sweetened Dried Cranberries package
Makes approx. 2-1/2 dozen cookies
INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
2/3 cup brown sugar2 large eggs
½ tsp Vanilla
1-1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 6-ounce package sweetened dried cranberries
2/3 cup white chocolate chunks or chips (I used 1/2 whole bag of white chocolate chips because I like chocolate chips)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375°F.*
Using an electric mixer, beat butter or margarine and sugar together in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. Combine oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Add to butter mixture in several additions, mixing well after each addition. Stir in sweetened dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

This is one of the recipes I got... My hubby tasted these and said they were better than mine, and his favorite so I made a batch for him! Thanks Dot!!!!

Melt Aways

1 cup butter (don't use margarine)

1/3 cup confectioners sugar

3/4 cup cornstarch

1 cup flour

1/8 tsp salt

Mix with mixer until batter is formed. Roll into small balls (flour hands if necessary). Put on buttered baking sheet or parchment paper(I used my silpat sheet). Press finger to make indentation. Preheat oven to 350. Bake only until lightly brown around edges. (about 10 mins but every oven is different)

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

1/4 cup buttermilk

2 drops food coloring

Mix together. Put in sandwich bag. Cut small hold in the tip of a corner. Squeeze small amount into indentation. (TIP-make sure it's thick enough. If not, add extra sugar)

When it sets up, store in an air tight container.

This was my "loot".

There were the above mentioned Melt Aways, Cinnamon Chip cookies, Buckeyes, Sandies, Coconut Pecan Cookies, Pecan Nut Cups, Ginger Cookies, Chocolate Snowball Cookies, Sugar Cookies, and Chocolate Peppermint Cookies. I'll post some of the other recipes that I got for you all if you would like.

Things I Made Over the Holidays

The holidays aren't always a time for eating "lite"... and in our house I took the time to make some favorites before the new year settled in and we got back on track...



Here are some of the things I made:



From the Pioneer Woman
- Bacon Wrapped Jalapenos

- White Chicken Enchiladas (Oh my are these good... and I used a rotisserie chicken from Costco rather than making my own)

- Enchiladas with Red Sauce

- Mexican Rice

- Buttered Rosemary Rolls (I added chopped garlic to the butter)

- Cheese Muffins



From Our Own Kitchen:

- Standing Rib Roast (Oh so yummy, and it smelled and looked divine, but I forgot to take a picture... I'm sorry! I'll post a recipe though in a little while)

- Corn Pudding

- Toffee Tiramisu Torte

- Banana Pudding (My mother-in-law's secret family recipe that is wonderful)

- Sour Cream Pancakes (Recipe to be posted later)



It was a wonderful couple of weeks, but my pants are feeling tighter and therefore it is back to eating lite we go!!!!

Okra and Tomatoes

Okra can be a strange thing, and some people are afraid of its slime... not me, I embrace it! Seriously though, I think it's a really yummy vegetable. My mom cooked it all the time growing up, either by using the recipe I'm about to give you(or something similar) or by frying... that's good to!!!!

If you've never tried okra, it's likely best to wait till summer when it is actually fresh (fresh tastes better), but in a pinch you can use frozen which is what I've been doing the last few weeks!

Okra and Tomatoes
1 bag of frozen okra(or 1 lb fresh) chopped
1 large (28oz) can tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced, pressed... your choice
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp olive oil

Heat olive oil in skillet (use something that has a lid). Add onion and saute for a few minutes. Add in the garlic, and then the okra. If using frozen okra, allow to heat up just a minute or 2. Add the tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer with the lid on for about 20 mins... Serve :-)

See... I told you it was easy!

If you are using fresh then put everything in the pot together after adding the onion and simmer.

Friends and Babies :-)

So... I'm a people pleaser... A friend's friend... someone who loves other people and gives as much as I can to hopefully make their life better... Sometimes I would/do get hurt because I want people to give as much to me as I give to them, and it just doesn't happen that way. This bugged me a lot in high school--not so much now that I'm older and wiser (Yes, I'm almost 30... ACK!)!!!

My mom always told me that when I was older (30 is older, right? Yes, yes it is!), that I would be luck if I could count my good friends on one hand. Of course, I didn't believe her because I'm everyone's friend (or at least I was when I was growing up)... but she was right. (Yes, mom, I said it!) I am very lucky to be able to consider the women I call friends my friends. I can be real with them and they still love me, and I can give myself to them and they feel loved by me (I think). There aren't a ton of them, but I'm ok with that because I realize that having good friends is important, and the one below is a precious precious friend who I am blessed beyond measure to know!!!!

This is my best friend Kristi... there are tons of pictures I could show you over our 14-15 yr friendship that began at Camp Crestridge for Girls one summer. But I'm choosing this one. Why? Because it's the most recent one, and it's from her shower a few weeks ago. You see, she's going to be giving birth soon... to my "nephew" Carver Jacob! (I'm not entirely convinced that the Jacob isn't because of her obsession with the Twilight series, though I'm sure she's Team Edward as most sane women are!)... Anyway - she's pregnant... and due at the end of December. I'm so excited for her I can barely stand it. I only wish that I lived closer to her now--She's in GA, and I'm in TN--so that I could be there when the Carver decides to make his appearance. Have no fear, I will be around shortly there after... because I won't be able to resist.

She's going to make a wonderful momma! How do I know? Because she's a wonderful friend, and I know in my heart of hearts that being able to open your hear and be a wonderful friend is the makings of a wonderful momma!

So, here are some pictures of our most recent encounter at her shower. It was at the home of another former Crestridger, Rebecca! We Crestridgers stick together... it's almost like our own little sorority...

Kristi holding the blanket that I knitted for Carver. (There was a hat and booties too... and TONS of other gifts... the budget thing I posted about earlier kinda went out the window :-) )

These are all of Carver's awesome gifts... and NO, I didn't purchase all of these... I promise!

This is the wonderful spread that Rebecca put together for the event. There were even some deliriously awesome Oreo Cake Balls (recipe at the bottom)...

And these were the star of the show (Well, besides Kristi and Carver of course!)... These cupcakes, with Carver's initials were flavored in Chocolate, Vanilla, Red Velvet, and Key Lime... they were delicious!!!!

And now for the Oreo Cake balls. I'm warning you on this... these are great, but only make them to give away because the one thing they are NOT good for is your waist line... SERIOUSLY!

Oreo Cake Balls
- 1 bag of oreos
- 1 box of cream cheese (8oz I believe)
- white almond bark, melted (You can color this with food coloring to match whatever theme you are doing... Christmas, baby shower, etc...
- parchment paper
- a cuisinart...

Seriously, it's that easy.

Grind the Oreoes in the cuisinart(or similar equipment). Blend together with the cream cheese (works best with slightly softened cream cheese). Let this mixture chill in the fridge for a little while. Scoop out and roll into balls, and dip completely into the melted almond bark. Place on the parchment paper and allow to cool... perhaps over night in the fridge...

Eat... Share... seriously, share them... I command you to share them, and so do your favorite jeans!

Orange Cranberry Bread

This bread is a favorite in our house around the holidays... you can make it any time of the year (as long as you have cranberries - which could of course be frozen)... we just like it best with fresh ingredients :-)

I have to be careful and give some away because my darling hubby and I like it too much!!!



Orange Cranberry Bread
1 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. Salt

2 large eggs

1 large orange

4 Tbsp. butter melted

2 cups cranberries, coarsely chopped

3/4 cups broken walnuts

Preheat over to 375. Grease 9 x 5 loaf pan. Grate peel from orange and squeeze 1/2 cup juice. Combine dry ingredients. Beat eggs, butter, orange peel, and juice. Stir egg mixture into flour mixture. Fold in cranberries and walnuts. Bake 55-60 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Special Peanut Butter Cookies

I am making these for my Bunco Cookie Exchange in my neighborhood... They are a combination of my mom's peanut butter cookie recipe and these cookies that bakerella made... (I LOVE BAKERELLA!)

I would have just made Bakerella's recipe, but for our group we have to have a cookie that contained flour... which is where my mom's recipe came in. They turned out really yummy... and my coworkers, and my darling husband's coworkers all seemed to like them!

Peanutty Peanut Butter Cookies
¾ cup peanut butter
1 egg
½ cup shortening
1 ¾ cup flour
1 ¼ cup brown sugar
¾ tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. milk
¾ tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
Almond Bark (Chocolate)
Chopped Peanuts

Heat oven to 375. Cream butter, shortening, sugar, milk, and vanilla. Add egg and blend. Combine flour, salt, and soda and add to creamed mixture. Drop heaping teaspoonfuls on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with form in crisscross pattern. Bake for 7-8 minutes. Do not overbake.

Once cookies have slightly cooled, melt almond bark (according to package directions). Dip opposite sides of the cookies into the melted almond bark(or melted chocolate chips) and then dip into the chopped peanuts. Allow cookies to cool on parchment paper.

Green Bean Side Dish

This was our dinner tonight... the yummy Chili that I just posted about and then this next recipe... YUM!

I like green beans, and I like shallots... I also like mushrooms, so this seemed like it might be right up my ally!

I like Ellie Krieger a lot. I have her cookbook, and my Curried Butternut Squash Soup recipe that I love comes from her.

We decided to make this as a side dish for dinner this week...

Green Beans with Mushrooms and Shallots

Ingredients
1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces (We used frozen because the fresh ones didn't look so fresh!)
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup sliced shallots (about 2 medium)
3/4 pound assorted fresh mushrooms, (ie: button, baby bella, shiitake, oyster, chanterelle), sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Put green beans in a microwave-safe bowl with the water. Cover tightly and microwave on high for 4 minutes. Carefully remove the cover, drain in a colander, shaking off any excess water, and set aside.

While the beans are cooking, heat the oil over medium-high heat in a large nonstick skillet. Add the shallots and cook, stirring, until softened slightly, about 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until the water they release has evaporated and they begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Add the green beans and stir to combine and rewarm. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Per Serving: Calories 80; Total Fat 5g (Sat Fat 0.5g, Mono Fat 3.5g, Poly Fat 1g); Protein 4g; Carb 11.5g; Fiber 3g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 7mg

Saute the shallots in olive oil

Add the mushrooms and cook 10 mins until brown

Add the green beans that were heated in the microwave (that process wasn't an exciting picture)

And this is what you get...

Chili

It's a tad bit warm out today... 75... but we are making chili. It's going to be dinner for the week (At least 4 meals)... It's smelling really good already, and I've decided to get a head start on the post about it so that I won't get behind. I'll report back on the taste as well.

We modified the original recipe slightly... I'll post the original recipe at the bottom in case you'd rather use that. We also doubled most things to make extra.

Ranch Chili with Cheese (Inspired by the book Protein Power)

Ingredients
3 TBL Canola Oil

2 lbs ground sirloin - 93/7

2 cups chopped onion

4 garlic cloves

4 TBL chili powder

1 tsp crushed dried oregano

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 cup tomato puree

1 cup strong leftover black coffee (we had to make extra... coffee NEVER goes to waste in this house)

Cheese for topping

Heat the oil in a large skillet... I used my Le Creuset pan so it didn't have to get too hot - only medium. Add the beef and brown it. Then add the onion, garlic, and all the spices. Stir and cook until mixed through and onions start to get translucent or limp. Add the tomato puree and coffee. Cover and simmer the chili for an hour... checking often to make sure it doesn't go dry. If it does, add some water. At the Serve in bowls and sprinkle with cheese.

Brown the Beef

Combine the spice mixture together

Add the spices, onions, and garlic

Add the coffee

Add the tomato pureeBring all that together

Cover and wait....

This is what you get :-)

The original recipe

Ranch Chili with Cheese from Protein Power by Michael and Mary Dan Eades

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons Peanut oil

1 lb ground chuck

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbl chili powder

1/2 tsp crushed dried oregano

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 cup tomato puree

1/2 cup strong black coffee or canned beef broth

1 Tbl masa harina/cornmeal, optional

3 Tbl grated cheddar cheese

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the beef and brown it, then add the onion, garlic, and seasonings. Stir and cook until well mixed and the onions are limp. Transfer to a covered saucepan and add the tomato puree and coffee. Cover and simmer the chili for an hour, adding a little water if it becomes dry. The chili should be thick and soupy. Add the masa and simmer for 10 more minutes. Serve in bowls, sprinkled with cheddar.

Options: You can add chopped bell peppers -- one medium pepper when you add the onions.

Chicken Parmigiana ala PW Style!

Recently I've become slightly obsessed with the Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. I love her confessions, her photography, her homeschooling site(I'm determined to win a Smarty Pants quiz one day!)... and I thoroughly enjoy her cooking site. I hadn't made anything from her site. Partly because of the aforementioned ankle issue, and partly because I didn't want to mess it up.

But, she has a cookbook out now and is on her book tour. She comes to Nashville in December, and I couldn't, in my right mind, be the proper stalker--I mean fan--if I hadn't cooked something.

So, to make us feel better--we've been stuck with a slight cold this week at the Gaddis house--and just to give us an excuse to cook something super yummy, I made her Chicken Parmigiana.

It was yummy... My pictures aren't quite as good as hers, but I gave it the old A for effort try :-)

Chicken Parmigiana

Ingredients --- this is the full recipe, I used about half because I was making it for only 2...

4 whole (up To 6) Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, Trimmed And Pounded Flat (we used 2, and they were entirely too huge so we shared with a friend!)

½ cups All-purpose Flour

Salt And Pepper (to Taste)
½ cups Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 whole Medium Onion, Chopped
4 cloves Garlic, Minced
¾ cups Wine (white Or Red Is Fine)
3 cans (14.5 Oz.) Crushed Tomatoes (I used diced... it was what I had)
2 Tablespoons Sugar
¼ cubes Chopped Fresh Parsley
1 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 pound Thin Linguine

Preparation Instructions

Mix flour, salt, and pepper together on a large plate.Dredge flattened chicken breasts in flour mixture. Set aside.

At this time, you can start a pot of water for your pasta. Cook linguine until al dente.
Heat olive oil and butter together in a large skillet over medium heat. When butter is melted and oil/butter mixture is hot, fry chicken breasts until nice and golden brown on each side, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.Remove chicken breasts from the skillet and keep warm.

Without cleaning skillet, add onions and garlic and gently stir for 2 minutes. Pour in wine and scrape the bottom of the pan, getting all the flavorful bits off the bottom. Allow wine to cook down until reduced by half, about 2 minutes.Pour in crushed tomatoes and stir to combine. Add sugar and more salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cook for 30 minutes. Toward the end of cooking time, add chopped parsley and give sauce a final stir.

Carefully lay chicken breasts on top of the sauce and completely cover them in grated Parmesan. Place lid on skillet and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer until cheese is melted and chicken is thoroughly heated. Add more cheese to taste.

Place cooked noodles on a plate and cover with sauce. Place chicken breast on top and sprinkle with more parsley. Serve immediately.

We used this wine... Pioneer Woman said red or white, we like reds... and we visited this winery in Paso Robles a few weekends ago so we bought it... and, yes, I'll have a glass or two with dinner thank you very much :-)

We were so hungry by the time it was finished that I forgot to take a picture on the plate... forgive me!!!!

Quick and Easy Dinner

Mom and Dad Cowart came over for the weekend to see my brother and sister-in-law and my niece and nephew for Halloween. They stayed with us, and after a crazy Sunday which included a speaking engagement at the local Kappa Chapter, we didn't quite know what we were going to do for dinner... So, being the crazy person I am, and wanting to be a good hostess...

I went to Publix... :-) I grabbed a rotisserie Chicken for $7.39 plus tax, and a 16 oz package of mushrooms... I had some red potatoes and onions at home, and this is what I did...

Sauteed Mushrooms and Onions:

Crispy-ish Red Potatoes:

And then the meal itself... a little bit of the sides and some chicken... quick and easy!

To make the mushrooms and onions I did the following:
- used 2 thinly sliced onions
- 16 oz of sliced mushrooms
- 1 clove of garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp of olive oil

Let the olive oil heat up, add the mushrooms, onions, and garlic... let them saute down and hopefully get a little carmelization going :-) Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve!

For the crispy-ish potatoes:
- 8 small red potatoes, diced (I'm sure you could use frozen diced potatoes)
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 tsp olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- a little bit of water...

Let the olive oil heat up. Add the diced potatoes, garlic, salt and pepper. Let them brown... tossing frequently to avoid burning them on the bottom of the pan (I forgot to do this and had potatoes stuck... oh well)... once they are slightly browned on the outside, add a little bit of water to create steam and cover them for a few minutes... they should be crispy on the outside and nice and fluffy on the outside!!!!

For the chicken:
- Richie took it out of the bag
- Richie carved it
- Richie put it on plates :-) Thanks hubby!!!!