Panicked Baking

My husband suddenly remembers he needs to bring a treat to the families he Home Teaches. Six dozen cookies later...

Slow Cooker Potato Soup

This is my absolute favorite soup to make, it's not only incredibly delicious but it goes together quite quickly. And it's made even better and easier since it's cooked in a crock pot. I especially love it with a few dashes of hot sauce stirred in and copious amounts of french bread to dip in it. This is the perfect recipe for a hearty soup sure to chase any chills and hunger pangs away with the first spoonful. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Potato Soup

7-8 lbs. potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 small onion, chopped
2 TBSP. butter, softened
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. salt
4 tsp. chicken bouillon granules
6-7 cups water
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 -2 cups milk
1 lb. Velveeta, cubed (optional)


Place the potatoes, onion, butter, chicken bouillon, parsley, salt and water into a slow cooker. Set on low and let cook for 6 to 8 hours. At least 30 minutes before serving, whisk the milk and flour together until there are no lumps and mix into the soup. Cook for 30 minutes or until the soup is thickened. If you want a cheesy potato soup, right before serving add the cubed Velveeta, stirring until it's melted and well combined. Serve the soup with crusty french bread for dipping. 10-12 servings.
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38 weeks pregnant, and prepping for thanksgiving

Nope. Still no baby. Yet. But it won't be much longer. So...I am currently preparing as much of our Thanksgiving dinner ahead of time as possible. This way, even if I am still totally pregnant, I can enjoy the day and meal without knocking myself silly getting the food made and onto the table. I want to be able to enjoy the day as much as I can. I made the mashed potatoes using a make-ahead recipe with potatoes, cream cheese, sour cream, and milk. They will keep in the fridge and only need to be re-heated the day of, and they still taste like you made them fresh that day. The yam casserole is a new recipe I am trying out since I can make it ahead of time and store it in the fridge until the day of, where I just have to toss the pecan topping on top and then bake it. I have a turkey breast defrosting in the fridge that I will be cooking in my crock pot so as to free up the oven for the other dishes, as well as make my life, and day, that much easier. I made three pie crusts and tossed them in the freezer, and all I have to do is pull them out to defrost, throw the fillings together and bake them up the day before. I have a bag of Rhodes rolls that will be thawed and baked the day of, and some veggies that are simple to throw together, the recipes take next to no time, and they're all prepared on the stovetop so the oven will not be overcrowded. And the stuffing is half way prepared and I will only have to wait until the day of to mix together the onion/apple/celery base with the cubed bread, season it, and then heat it all up. I am so ready. This little baby has the green light to arrive anytime she wishes. Like now. Right now. This very minute. Tonight would be perfect. Please? I am so done with the waddling.

fondue fun

For dinner tonight, I decided that fondue sounded like a fun idea. The cheese fondue recipe was simple and fast, and I paired it with steamed veggies and cubed bread from a baguette. Seriously, my kids were crazy for it. You never saw little ones so excited to eat their veggies. I used a bag of frozen broccoli florets, a bag of frozen cauliflower pieces and a bag of baby carrots, which made my prep time even faster. I steamed the veggies to a crisp tender stage so that they were cooked, but not mushy making it easy for the kidlets to dip without everything falling apart. I also bought a 2-quart mini crock pot at Wal-Mart for $9.88 that was the perfect fit for the fondue. Seriously, this little gadget is the BEST for keeping hot dips hot, I love it!

soup’s on!

With Fall here and the weather quite chilly, I find myself making soup almost daily for supper. I love that you can make a seriously hearty, chunky soup with as few as 6 or 7 basic items from your pantry and freezer and toss it all into a crock pot where it can simmer all day so you don't have to fuss with it or even think all that much about it until it's supper time. Soup is also incredibly easy to make more or less of, without having to vastly increase your ingredients, which comes in especially handy since I am very often feeding several of my teenage son's friends along with my own mass of hungry hordes. We very often go through about 8 quarts of soup in a single sitting without even trying and we rarely have leftovers. My favorites these days are Beef & Barley, Chicken Tortellini, Chicken Tortilla Soup, Chicken Noodle, Hamburger Soup, and Cabbage Patch soup. I have also been making the 'Italian Hot Rolls' every night to go with our meals since they are the perfect combination with a good hot soup on a chilly Fall day, and my family loves hot fresh baked rolls anyways. I ran out of parmesan cheese earlier this week so I have been making the rolls without it, and sometimes omitting the garlic salt and just using 1 tsp. of salt instead, with the same excellent results. Those hot rolls are so good any way you make them, and I love that I can get them on the table fairly quickly from start to finish. Here is my basic Chicken Tortellini recipe, which has long been a favorite, and even converted my previously soup hating husband over to my soup loving ways.

Chicken Tortellini Soup

1 large onion diced

2 cups carrots sliced or diced

1 heaping cup celery, sliced

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 TBSP. olive oil

3-4 quarts chicken broth (either canned or homemade is fine)

2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed or shredded

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. thyme

2 bay leaves

Pepper to taste

2 (9-11 oz.) pkgs. frozen cheese tortellini

In a large stock pot, saute the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic in olive oil until onions are translucent. Add the broth, chicken, salt, thyme, bay leaves and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for 20-30 minutes to let flavors blend. About 10 minutes before serving, add the frozen tortellini, and cook until they are done, or float to the top. Remove bay leaves before serving. Enjoy!

*all ingredients can be increased or decreased  as you like, this soup is easy to fiddle with as needed.

(pictures courtesy of Google)

quick italian hot rolls w/ hamburger soup

Although I can't remember where I got this recipe, it has long been a favorite of mine and one I have come to depend on when I need some delicious dinner rolls in a jiffy.

Quick Italian Hot Rolls

 

  3 1/2 - 4 cups flour

  2 TBSP. active dry yeast (instant yeast works too)

  2 TBSP. sugar

  2 tsp. garlic salt

  1 tsp. Italian seasoning

  1 cup milk

  1/2 cup water

  2 TBSP. butter or margarine

 1 egg, lightly beaten

 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

topping:

  2 TBSP. butter or margarine, melted

 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

 

   Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, yeast, sugar, garlic salt and Italian seasoning. Mix well. Combine milk, water and butter in saucepan. Heat until milk is lukewarm. Butter does not need to melt. Add to flour mixture. Add egg. Blend at low speed until moistened. Beat 3 minutes at high speed. Gradually stir in 1/2 cup parmesan and enough flour to make a firm dough. Knead for 3 - 5 minutes until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, turning to coat top. Cover. Let rise about 15 minutes in a warm place. Punch dough down. Divide into 16 pieces. Form into balls. Dip tops into melted butter then into the 1/4 cup parmesan cheese. Place in well greased muffin tins, with the butter side up. Let rise, covered, about 10 minutes. Bake @ 375* F for 20-25 minutes, or util light golden brown. Remove from pan to cool. Enjoy!

We had these rolls for dinner last night along with 'this soup recipe' my Auntie found on 'Tasty Kitchen' and posted on her blog. I made it as directed except I used 3 1/2 qts. of tomato juice instead of 3 qts. of V-8 juice, I used 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef because I don't like my soup too meaty, and I used 2 (16 oz.) bags of coleslaw mix in place of the chopped head of cabbage because I'm all for shortcuts. The soup was delish and is a definite keeper. In fact when my friend stopped by in the afternoon, she couldn't stop commenting on how amazing it smelled while it simmered away in the crockpot, and was asking for the recipe almost as soon as she walked in the door. Thanks for bringing that gem to my attention Auntie, I will be leaving a glowing review on the Tasty Kitchen site for sure!

green tomatoes and banana jam

Yesterday the temperature outside was somewhere in the 80's. Not so today. It was somewhere in the 40's. First it rained, then came the hail, which turned into snow. None of the snow was sticking, and it was gone just as fast as it fell. But it was cold, windy, wet and miserable outside, so there was no canning today. And with the cold came the end of our garden, so in the only 20 minute window of sunshine we had today, I grabbed the kids and we headed for the garden to pick every last one of the green tomatoes left out there. It was a very cold, wet, and muddy job and I had to bribe them with hot chocolate, but they stayed and persevered.

In the end we managed to fill the wagon with all of the green tomatoes that were left out there, so I had better get busy figuring out some recipes for canning and cooking with them before long. Thank heavens the apples still left on the trees will keep in the cold weather.

I did go ahead and make two batches of 'Banana Jam', which was super simple and smelled delicious, not to mention a great way to use up a lot of bananas.

 

Banana Jam

 2 cups mashed bananas

2 cups sugar

2 TBSP. bottled lemon juice

   Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cook for 5 minutes at a moderate boil, still stirring occasionally. Ladle into jelly jars, secure lids, label, and store in the refrigerator. Use on toast, pancakes, waffles, or anything else you might think of. Yield- 2 jelly jars

 

Next on my list is 'Apple Pie Jam'. It sounds fun and since I am drowning in available apples, it's a perfect recipe fit. We are fairly certain three of our trees are golden delicious, but the other three, not a clue. They're a reddish gold color, so I will just have to pick a few and make a pie and a batch of applesauce to see if that yields any clues as to what variety they might be.

And I managed to sneak in a little sewing time during the weekend, and even though it wasn't much it was still heavenly, but more on that later.

skip the chocolate chips and head straight for the chocolate frosting

I hauled 6 of my kids with me to my Mom's once again so that Craig could finish tiling the floor in the laundry room in some semblance of peace. I arrived bearing two giant baskets filled with a bounty of yellow squash and zucchini from my garden. Since I have no way to cook it or use it up fast enough right now, I have been giving it away to anyone unlucky enough to come withing squash tossing distance of me. My mom was just that unlucky person. With all of that zucchini at our fingertips, Heidi and I set about making a veritable zucchini carnival in the kitchen. First we made the 'Chocolate Zucchini Cake', then we made 'Soft Zucchini Cookies', and for dinner we made 'Zucchini Casserole'. See? I told you. Total zucchini mania. Now, when I made the 'Chocolate Zucchini Cake' before, I topped it with the chocolate chips and nuts as directed in the recipe, which I thought was very tasty. But when we made the cake this time I asked Heidi to make her delicious chocolate frosting instead, which she did, and she frosted the cake with that. Well, let me just say that I will not be bothering with those lame chocolate chips and nuts again, because the chocolate frosting is where. it's. at. Hands down. Bar none. Uber alles. No competition. The frosting is the the only way to go. Just in case you're wondering that is. And Hedi shredded and sliced a ton of the zucchini and yellow squash for my mom to put in her freezer for later, so she is set for more zucchini love any time she gets a notion. Although after today, she just might be all zucchinied out.

chocolate zucchini cake recipe

I had several requests for this recipe, and since now is the best time for tasty zucchini recipes to be put to good use, well here you go! I hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

*note*-After making this cake again after I had already posted this recipe, I would now advise you to skip the chocolate chips and head straight for the chocolate frosting. You''ll thank me later. Believe me. It's the only way to go with this cake.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake 

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cups Sugar
1 tsp.vanilla
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups shredded zucchini (unpeeled), drained
3/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped (optional)
1 (12 oz.) bag chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate)

Preheat oven to 350* F. Cream the butter and sugar together. Add in eggs one at a time until well blended. Mix in the vanilla, applesauce, and buttermilk. Sift together flour, baking soda, powder, salt, and cocoa. Add to the butter mixture. Stir the dry ingredients gently but thoroughly into wet ingredients. Stir in zucchini until well blended. Spread batter into a 9? x 13? greased pan. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 25-35 minutes. Five minutes before the cake is done, evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips over top of cake. Return to oven. When done, remove from oven and sprinkle with chopped nuts. Let cool in pan on wire rack. Store any remaining cake in fridge.

*note*- like I said above, I recommend skipping the chocolate chips and nut as a topping and instead top baked and cooled cake with chocolate frosting. Seriously, it's beyond delicious!