Hangover Potato Soup

Borrowed from here

Last night my husband and I might have gotten carried away at my sister-in-laws Stag and Doe.  And by might I mean, we absolutely did. Once the bottle hits my lips...Anyway, our 'condition' this morning has changed from rough, to great, to so-so, back to rough in a matter of minutes.  My husband slowly dragged his feet back up stairs to bed because a delayed hangover bitch slapped him straight across the face. As I sat here staring at the TV not able to process anything on the screen I decided that soup was going to be my only saving grace today. Soup with bacon and cheese. Yes, that was going to make it all better. It only took about 30 minutes total including prep to dishes and everything in between. Now I sit here with a delish bowl of red potato soup and I'm starting to rebound for the third time today.  Typically, cream based soups are made with a shitload of butter and heavy cream but I figured the bacon and cheese would be enough so I used 1% milk and cornstarch to thicken it up. I am really happy with the results of this make shift, rushed recipe.  I adapted this recipe and also 'borrowed' their picture because I couldn't get my shit together to take a picture today. Too much effort. I will absolutely be using this recipe again. Hope you like it!

Yields: 1 large pot of soup (about 8 servings)

Ingredients
8 medium red potatoes, washed and cubed (peels on!)
1 large onion, diced (I used red but use whatever you have)
5 strips bacon, cubed
4 cups milk
2 cups water
3 chicken bouillon cubes
3 tablespoons corn starch mixed with 1/4 cup of cold water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
grated old cheddar cheese to garnish
sliced green onion to garnish (if you are fancy like that)

Method
Wash potatoes and cut into bit sized cubes.  Toss into a large pot and boil until tender.  In the meantime dice up onion and bacon and cook in a fry pan over medium heat until onions are translucent and bacon is cooked through.  Do not drain fat. Drain potatoes and return to large pot.  Transfer bacon and onion to potatoes and add remaining ingredients except cheese and green onion. Simmer soup for 15 minutes. If you want your soup thicker, add more cornstarch mixed with cold water to it. Serve in bowls with cheese and green onion on top. Enjoy!

Twice-Baked Potatoes

I promised you I'd be back to give you the inside scoop on the twice-baked potatoes I made a few nights ago for the freezer. The verdict - YUUUUUMMY! They are super easy to make and you can toss them in the freezer to use when you don't feel like cooking. My husband and I both agreed that you could easily get away with eating 1/4 of one of these since they are so filling. Your call. Umm, I should also tell you that I think I'm obsessed with freezer cooking.  I came home from work yesterday and made a ridiculously large batch of spicy sausage pasta sauce for the freezer.  There will be a lot of lazy woman freezer recipes coming your way over the next few months. You can always count on me for ways to cut corners. You.are.welcome. 

Yields: 6 halves

Ingredients
3 large baking potatoes, washed
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup cream cheese (fat free or regular)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup milk
1 green onions, chopped
salt & pepper
1/2 cup old Cheddar cheese, grated

Method
Lightly spray washed potatoes with cooking spray and place on a cookie sheet.  Bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes on 350 degrees. Remove from oven. Using a serrated knife, carefully cut potatoes in half lengthwise.  Spoon out the inside of the potatoes leaving a thin layer of potato attached to the skins. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer combine potato guts, butter, cream cheese, garlic, milk, onions, salt and pepper until creamy.  Spoon back into potatoes and top with grated cheese.
If cooking immediately: Bake in oven for 15 additional minutes at 350 degrees
If freezing: Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and put into a freezer bag.
If cooking from frozen: Cover slightly with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Uncover for 15 additional minutes.

BOO to the YA. 
 

Freezer Cooking

For Christmas my ridiculously generous and thoughtful Mother bought us a stand up freezer for our basement - BOOYA!  We picked it up last weekend and I have been dreaming about what to fill it with (that's what he said) every since.  The thought of being able to buy multiples of an item when it goes on sale and tossing it in the freezer makes me more excited then it should. I know, I know. I'm a loser. Shut it. Today I scored some pretty great prices on some meat so I decided to put together 10 crock pot freezer meals that I had pinned over on my Pinterest page.  I have to say it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.  It took me 2 hours total, that's with prep and clean up.  I had wished to do more however I didn't plan all that well and ran out of tomato sauce.  Chicken wasn't on sale this week so I only did beef and pork meals. I'm not going to post recipes until the hubster and I actually try each of them --- that way if they are ass I can adapt the recipe I post so you guys don't end up making something nasty.  Tonight we are trying one item I made so I will keep you posted.  It wasn't for the crock pot but they do keep well in the freezer apparently.  Twice-baked potatoes -- sounded like a good side to go with chicken wings while we watch the football games on this COOOOOLD Sunday.  I will be back shortly to do a potato update. Peace out kids. 

Green Smoothie with Oats

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I would be jumping back on my green smoothie bandwagon after my holiday bingefest. I've been back to work for a week and have had one every morning since.  The thing I love the most about these smoothies is that you can add whatever fruit your heart desires (or whatever you freezer is stocked with).  The one downfall to my smoothie recipe --- it only has 2 food groups; fruits & veggies, and dairy.  I'm a firm believe (and preacher to my students) that if you are going to eat a meal you should have at the very least, 3 food groups.  I decided to spend some time yesterday morning experimenting with my smoothie recipe and researching nutritional information to see if it would be worth it to add oats into my smoothies.  Adult females need 21+ grams of fibre a day and about 45grams of protein a day. I put together the below chart -- check it out. My opinion is that adding oats is totally worth it.  While the texture changes just slightly when oats are added the flavour doesn't at all.  Tonight I'm going premeasure my ingredients in the blender (except for the frozen fruit) and give the oats the night to soak.  I think this will make the consistency a lot smoother. (update: it didn't make a huge difference at all). I always make a double batch in the morning because my husband and I both drink them.  Here is the nutritional information and recipe for ONE serving. 
*please note that I added water to this recipe because I've added the oats

Healthy-ish Squares

My husband is a sucker for baked goods, especially if they have coconut in them so I decided to make coconut cranberry oat squares for an easy to grab snack or breakfast.  While I love to bake I hate that recipes yield enough to feed a family of 76.  These bad boys freeze well so I pre-cut them and tossed them in to freezer so we can take them out one at a time. I adapted a recipe that we use at work for my Food and Nutrition students by decreasing the amount of butter and substituting for greek yogurt.  Here it is...Enjoy!

Yield: 12 bars

Ingredients
1/3 cup soft butter
1/3 cup yogurt (I used fat free vanilla Greek yogurt)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ½ cups rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup slivered almonds
½ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup raisins or chopped dried apricots
½ cup sweetened shredded coconut

Method
Grease a rectangular cake pan (I used my misto!) In a large bowl using the electric mixer, beat butter with brown sugar until fluffy.  Beat in egg, yogurt and vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together rolled oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in almonds, cranberries, raisins /apricots and coconut. Fold flour mixture into the butter mixture. Spread evenly in the pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting into bars.

Misto

For Christmas my Mother in-law gave me a Misto and I LOVE IT! I've had my eye on one for quite some time so I am super pumped to have a misto of my own. I have used it so many times over the last few weeks and highly recommend it.  Basically what it does is turns liquids like olive oil and balsamic vinegar into a spray by pumping the lid.  I filled mine with olive oil and use it as a replacement for a bottle of PAM and adding extra oil during the cooking process.  I've used it to cook cubed chicken in a fry pan, in muffin tins, when making pancakes, homemade french fries and to grease the pan when making Shepard's pie. Booya!

     

Homemade Floor Cleaner & Cleaning Schedule

A while back I made the decision to switch to all natural cleaning products and am beyond happy with my decision.  Not only am I saving mad coinage and significantly decluttered my cleaning supply cupboard but I feel such a peace of mind having zero chemicals under my sink (actually I lied - I have dishwasher tablets, which are my next mission to get ride of).  It has been a learning experience and I have spend hours upon hours reading reviews and experimenting.  It's been a slow transition, adding a new homemade product every few months (all purpose here, and endust/furniture polish here).  Today I decided to add a concentrated floor cleaning solution to my collection.  I've been holding onto an empty 'Simply Orange' juice jug because I thought I'd be able to use it for something (I'm a freak and love containers).  Today was the day!  Here is my homemade recipe I came up with after reviewing 20+ recipes and reading some reviews. This is safe for hardwood floors, tile and linoleum. Happy Cleaning!

Ingredients
5 cups pure white vinegar (or distilled vinegar)
1 1/2 cups borax
15-20 drops of essential oil - Optional (covered up the vinegar smell though. I used lemon)

Method
In a pot over high heat warm vinegar.  Slowly add borax and stir often to let it dissolve.  This should take 4 minutes, tops.  Let cool.  Pour into a leak proof jug and add essential oil. Shake.  When ready to use shake then add 1/4 cup to a bucket of warm water. Happy scrubbing.  No need to rinse floors when done. Woot woot!

My husband and I also decided that in the new year (gulp! It's here already!) that we would start to follow a cleaning schedule. I hate schedules but I hate spending 3+ hours every weekend cleaning my house far more.  I also hate that by Friday our house feels and looks dirty.  Our hope is that by following this schedule our home will always been clean and tidy and if we have any friends or family pop by unexpectedly that we won't be concerned with how gross our house is. Here is the document I put together.  Feel free to use it and adapt it to suit your family.

*for some reason blogspot isn't letting me attach files/pictures properly.  I took a screen shot of my schedule so you can see how scheduled everything.  This schedule takes about 15 minutes a day if two people are completing the tasks.  Once blogspot is up and running properly I will try to attach a file that you can alter.  Sorry folks.

Basic Quinoa Salad

I've had a cup of uncooked quinoa hanging out in my cupboard for months.  Every time I see it I think 'hmmm I should make something with that', and toss it to the back of the cupboard. A few days ago I reorganized my cupboards and found the quinoa sitting there...staring at me...all like 'you're lazy. Just make me.' Lets just say the guilt trip worked.  Now I have about 4 premade lunches. Woot woot.  You can add any of your favourite things to this salad but this is the stuff I had hanging around my house. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed thoroughly
1 1/2 cups water
dash of each cumin, garlic powder, coriander, and Cayenne pepper
1 cup corn (canned, fresh or frozen - thawed out)
1 cup black beans, rinsed
1/4 red onion, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
splash red wine vinegar
juice from 1/2 lime (or 1 teaspoon lime concentrate)
1/4 teaspoon salt
pepper to taste

Method
After thoroughly rinsing quinoa toss in a medium pot and add water, cumin, garlic powder, coriander, and Cayenne pepper.  Cover and bring to a boil over high heat.  Deduce to low and simmer for 14 minutes.  Do not open the lid!  After 14 minutes turn heat off and keep pot on burner for 10 more minutes. Do not open the lid!  After the resting time remove lid and add remaining ingredients.  Mix thoroughly.  Serve warm or chilled. Yummy!

Hello 2013!

Happy New Year!

 

  While I didn't write nearly as many posts in 2012 as I did in 2011 (my bad!), I had far more hits on my blog than ever before! Thanks to all of you I have had over 20,000 views since I started writing this blog.  I know that's not a lot in the grand scheme of things especially when compared to blog who get that many hits in an hour, but I am very happy that people are reading my crap and using a recipe or two from here. Thank you all for visiting and reading -- it gives me the encouragement and motivation to keep on truckin' along with this little project.

 

All the best in 2013.

xoxo