Easy Veggie Soup

This is a super simple recipe for veggie soup, that is delicious.  Obviously, because I'm sharing it with you!  We're continuing with our fall theme with this recipe (even though it's still hot here) so snuggle up and enjoy the warmth this recipe brings. I like to freeze my extra veggies (you know those ones that you really don't know what to do with and they're about to go bad?) and keep them in a container just for soup.  Sometimes I get an interesting mix of veggies but this one contained onions, lots of mushrooms, carrots, celery, and green pepper.

*Side note, I made this dish at 6:30 am....that means you can do it anytime.

So, first get your slow cooker out.  Add to it three beef bullion cubes and 3 cups of water.  Next add a big can of crushed tomatoes (mind had basil added) and a small can of tomato paste.  Throw in your mixed veggies whether they are frozen or fresh.  Then season with 1/2 t. basil, 1/2 t. oregano, 1/2 t. salt, 1/4 t. pepper, 2 teaspoons of garlic, and 1/2 t. of jalapeno flakes (if you like a little extra pep!).  Turn the slow cooker on low, and let it heat throughout the day.  If you are using fresh veggies you may need to be careful that your veggies don't get too mushy.   Around 2:00 this afternoon, I came back home and tasted the soup.  I thought it needed a little something else, so I added about 2  T. of Worcestershire sauce...this give it a little bit of a smokey flavor...yeah.  And there you go!

See how yummy that is?  Beautiful? No. Yummy? Yes.

On another note, tomorrow will be the ill fated day of my tonsillectomy, so I will be MIA for at least the rest of the week.  I know it will be hard for you to go on without me, but at least you will have soup to keep you company.  I will be eating pop sickles, and mash potatoes, and lots of pudding.

Spiced Tea

Spiced Tea has always been a fall favorite of mine.  It warms the soul and offers a different option other than hot chocolate.  I first had Hot Spiced Tea at my friend T-shirts house, and have loved it ever since. This is super simple to mix together so you can have ready made whenever you would like.  Most recipes call for more Tang, than instant Tea but I like to do equal parts of both.  Next, 1 1/2 c. sugar (all this depends on how you like your tea, so you can play with the amounts some). Then add nutmeg and Cinnamon to taste.

Mix it all together in an air tight container and you're ready for easy access.

When ready for the steamin' cup of deliciousness, just pick out your favorite mug, add a couple teaspoons of your mix and some hot water.

And you'll have some lovely spiced tea.

Dish-o-the-Week: Chili Potatoes

What to do with the leftovers?  That's always the question.  Lately Speed Racer and I have been trying to get better about freezing dishes that we don't want to eat every day for a month, so that we might enjoy them later.  So say that you made some PW Chili, and say that you didn't freeze quite enough for two people...what should you do???  Add potatoes. This is a great recipe to get rid of some leftovers and enjoy on a cold day.  It's the prefect fall dinner, and very filling at that.

So start off with  your potatoes.  Speed Racer and I really could have shared one, we had MORE leftovers.  So you may want to do a half potato per person.  Prick your potato with a fork all over, then rub olive oil on the skin.  Next sprinkle some sea salt over the skin.  Preheat your oven to 450, and bake your potatoes for about an hour.  Note!!  This time can change depending on size of the potatoes, so you will definitely want to keep an eye on them to make sure they are not burning or getting underdone.

While the potatoes are taking forever to bake, especially since SOMEBODY didn't know to put them on a higher heat and had them at 350 instead...take a kitty break.

Maybe even sing the jeapordy song a little bit... doo doo doo doo...doo doo doo doo...DOO duh  doot doot doot doot.

Don't look at me that way.

Ding!  Potatoes are done.  Heat up your left over chili that you hopefully got out of the freezer to defrost already.

Put your chili on top of your lovely hot potatoes,and top with fixin's.

Finally be sure to unbutton your top pants button to make room for this warm, cozy, FILLING, fall dish.

10 Things...

about Fall.  Fall has taken hold of my heart and it won't give it back.  I know that it's a cruel mistress because really it's just the precursor to winter, but I'm going to enjoy it all the same.

So because I am enamored with fall right now...

And because someone greeted me with "Buenos Tardes" today...

I'm dedicating the next couple of posts to fall.  Hopefully there will be fall photos, fall dishes, fall deserts, fall colors, and anything else that pops into my twisted little noggin'.

10 Things I like about Fall.

1. The colors of the leaves.  I know this seems like a given but every year it amazes me.  It's like after August, the summer has burnt everything up and then finally, it all catches fire with a glory of colors.

2. Snuggling.  This is a trick I learned from my Grandfather, Chief Bald Eagle.  Colder weather means an excuse to get just that much closer to the one you love.

3. The food.  Do I even have to say it?  Pumpkin Pie.  Any kind of pie!  Sweet potato casserole.  THANKSGIVING.

4.  Fluff.  We keep our house pretty chilly and in the fall our cute little kitties become little fluff balls, and for whatever reason, it really cracks me up.

5. Clean.  Everything just feels cleaner.  Is that weird?  The air is crisp and fresh, after a rain everything just seems squeaky clean.

6. Planting bulbs.  This year I'm making an effort to really plan the garden for spring, so I'm excited about getting out there and getting my  hands dirty.

7. Hot Spiced Tea.  Nuff said.

8. Fires.  Obviously not the destructive kind, but bonfires,  and fires in the fire place.  :see snuggling:

9. Sky.  To me a fall sky is bluer, deeper, and could go on forever.

10.  Holidays.  This one is a little selfish, not because of presents actually, although they are nice.  I love that fall has several holidays close together (I'm going to lump Christmas in there too even though I know that's technically winter) because I love the opportunity to see my family.  I love that when it gets colder outside, and darker, we all huddle closer together, find reasons to celebrate, share in the bounty we have, and just try to make it through the winter.

Joy and Thanks

First my apologies for being away from the blog some this week.  It was quite the week, I started a different part time job, had a lot of meetings for photography, and it was my birthday...whew.  So it was quite busy.  But I warned you it was going to be that way for awhile, so hang in there, I promise I'm here and I'm not going anywhere.Now that apologies are out front and center, I want to say thank you to everyone for making my birthday such a wonderful day.  Thank you for all the facebook well wishes, for my husband for spoiling me like always, and all my friends and family that took the time to call.  It was a wonderful day and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So, speaking of spoiling, two of my presents that I got COMPLETELY spoiled with are shown in the above picture.  My parents got a 10 piece cooking set, which I was totally surprised by.  We never got one for our wedding and had been using a set from Speed Racer's bachelor days, and although that set was very nice too, it's nice to have a complete set.

The other really cool present I got was from my friend T-shirt.  She ordered these spices from Penzeys Spices, with a cute note that said "Hope this inspires a Dish-o-the-Week!"  I can't wait to try them out, and I'll have to think of a new dish and call it the T-shirt :)

So there you go, I've officially been spoiled.  There's no going back.  I love birthdays, not just because of gifts, but when I get down to the heart of the matter it's because I love any excuse to celebrate whether it's for me or someone else.  Thanks again to everyone for such a wonderful day, and keep your eye on the blog for some new cooking recipes now that I am armed and ready to go!

Dish-o-the-Week: Homemade Granola

I love homemade granola.  It's such a great and healthier way to start the day.  Granola just makes me think of good things, and smells AMAZING when it's baking in the oven. I was raised on this recipe and can still remember my Mom baking it fresh on Saturday mornings.  It took me awhile to appreciate it, what small child wants granola when they can have Cinnamon Toast Crunch!  But now it's one of my favorite breakfasts: it's healthy, it's filling, it's delicious.

My Mom got this recipe from the "More with Less" Cookbook, sold HERE.  If you haven't ever seen this cookbook you are missing out.  It is a Mennonite community cookbook and it has great, natural recipes in bulk.  It's not the best on deserts because a lot of their recipes are low sugar, which I mean if I'm going to eat desert, I want the sugar.  But it has fabulous soups, main dishes, breads, and cereals.  Definitely check it out.

Granola is really pretty basic.  You're mixing your dry ingredients with your wet ingredients and baking it together.  You can add dried fruits, different nuts, or anything else to your hearts content.  Here I started with 10c. of rolled oats, 1c. wheat germ, 1c. cornmeal, 1c. peanuts, and 1 c. of coconut flakes.

For the wet ingredients I used, 1 1/2c. honey, 1c. peanut butter, 1 T. cinnamon, 2/3c. oil, 1/2c. water and 1T. salt.

MMmmm...so delicious.

You want to combine them on low heat until the peanut butter is completely melted.

Then combine the dry and wet ingredients until they are all mixed together.

Bake at 350 on a greased cookie sheet for 30 min.  You will want to turn them every few minutes or so to keep one side from browning too much.

And ta-da! Delicious snack and breakfast all at once.  And it's really pretty easy.  Again, check out "More with Less," for other great recipes and how to work on keeping your grocery costs down while providing healthy meals.

Momma K

Last Friday evening we celebrated my Mother-in-Law, Momma K's birthday.  It was such a great time, and I really enjoyed just being able to relax and goof off with these ladies.

Even though it may not look like it right at this moment, we were having a great time.  People just got shy around my awesome lens.

We even corrupted some youth with scary tales of our early childhood.

There were more incriminating photos later, but I was too busy wrestling my sister-in-law...she had it coming.Have I mentioned that I love red hair on this blog? Once? Twice? Too many times?  But I do.

Dish-o-the-Week: Greek Pasta Salad

Nothing says simple and delicious to me like a pasta salad.  It's refreshing, filling, and super easy to put together...which is why there are no put together pictures here.  You just mix it, I think you guys can figure that out without pictures.  But by far, this is one of my favorite pasta salad recipes I have made.

You can view the full recipe HERE.  I use Allrecipes.com a lot, especially when I'm in a rush or just stuck on what I want to make for dinner this week.  It's a great site, and easy to use.  I love this pasta salad because it's got so much in it!  We're talkin' pepperoni, olives, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, and green onions.  My only tip for this recipe is that I would definitely let it sit over night to let all the flavors mix.  And although it won't make your breath smell good, it's well worth it.

Dish-o-the-Week: Steak Shish Kabobs and PW Twiced Baked Potatoes

Since it's fair well to summer, I thought we'd do a little grillin' tonight.  It's still hot as Hades here in the South, so we went with some nice marinated steak shish kabobs and some delicious Pioneer Woman twice baked potatoes.  I went a little over board though, so Speed Racer and I are pretty stuffed. There's nothing like some fresh veggies roasted over a fire to make your mouth water.  I used onion, green pepper, steak, cherry tomatoes, and mushrooms on our shish kabobs.  First I marinated the steak, green pepper, and mushrooms in some red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, and lemon pepper.

I decided to go with PW's twice baked potatoes for our side.  They are fantastic, although I should have cooked them longer.

Then I got the bacon and fixin's ready for the twice baked potatoes.

Next cut up all your veggies and layer them in order on your skewers.  Note!!  Make sure you soak your skewers for at least 20 minutes before you grill...or they will catch on fire...and that's no good.

Next be sure to take a bite of your extra twice baked potatoes fixin's while you think no one is looking, but really your husband is taking embarrassing photos of you really looking your worst.  But then go ahead and post them on the internet...because we like to keep it real here.

Once your shish kabobs are done, and your twice baked potatoes are all cheesy and gooey...go spend an evening watching the movie Star Trek with the hubby, because you know that's how you roll.

Dish-o-the-Week: Chicken Casserole with Biscuits

Who doesn't love biscuits in just about everything?  Mmmm...buttermilk biscuits.  The other name for this could be soup in biscuits.  It was a little runny, but once you mush up all the biscuits it thickens right up. As always, I kind of combined a couple recipes to go with what I had in the cupboard.  The recipe I used for the casserole called for store bought biscuits, but I had everything to make from scratch buttermilk biscuits.  So I did that.  You can find a great recipe for buttermilk biscuits in the Pioneer Woman Cookbook and it may be on her website as well.

As for the casserole, in a large sauce pan just add chicken, peas, mushrooms, salt, pepper, onion, and cream of chicken soup.  Heat it all up until bubbling and then pour it in the a casserole dish.  After that add the biscuits, store bought or not, on top and pop it in the oven for 25-30 min at 375.  It's great because it really is a simple dish, that will be great in those chillier months.