Day 16 Recipe: Winter Soup

Well, I have to tell you about my excitement for today’s recipe. I am a person who has never liked soup. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I actually hate soup. ALL soup. So imagine my excitement when I came up with this wonderful plan to make an amazing and delicious soup that I would actually eat and enjoy! Oh all last night and all the day I have been dreaming and scheming and planning this wonderful meal....


I thought how wonderful it would be to make this soup with veggie stock, and some great veggies that I like, oh ya, add some pasta and bake some toasted bread on the top with cheese! What could be better for this silly vegetarian who loves nothing more than bread/pasta and cheese! (A.K.A. carbs and fat...haha...could account for my less than perfect butt!)


So, the journey to perfection started last night with the idea, and this afternoons romp to the grocery stores. I did some research and started the perfect soup late this afternoon. The excitement was building and building! Finally it came out of the oven looking AWESOME! I could hardly wait. In fact, it seemed I could not wait at all! I was sneaking bites and burning my mouth! Once it had enough time to cool sufficiently, I dug in!


Well, it was not long before disappointment set in, and I realized, my quest to find a soup that I can eat and enjoy is not over. Perhaps I will just surrender to the fact that I just don't like soup.


Whatever the case, here is the recipe from tonight. I am asking that perhaps one of my fabulous readers will be able to make a suggestion for me. Aside from not liking soup in general, I found this recipe to be a little on the sweet side. It is missing something, it needs something to balance the sweetness from onions….I would be grateful to have some suggestions! Hopefully you soup lovers out there will find this more enjoyable than the soup hater(me). Definitely think of something to balance out the sweet if you embark on this soup journey! And let me know how it turns out!


DAY 16 RECIPE:
WINTER SOUP

INGREDIENTS:
3 Onions, thinly sliced (I used 1 red, and 2 Spanish)
2 tbsp Butter or margarine
1 tbsp Flour
12 Fresh mushrooms, Crimini or Button, sliced
2 Garlic cloves, minced
2 cups Broccoli florets
2 cups Cheese Filled Tortellini Pasta
1 tsp Thyme
2 Bay Leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 cups Cheese, grated (I used Havarti, but you could use a variety of different cheeses)
4 Cups Toasted Bread Cubes, or stale bread cubes

DIRECTIONS:
Melt butter in pan. Add onions and cook on medium heat for 45 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
Add garlic and mushrooms and cook 15 minutes more.
Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir in, cook for one minute.
Add broth and seasonings, cook 20 minutes more.
Remove from heat and stir in broccoli and pasta.
Laddle into oven safe dishes. Put bread cubes over the tops and sprinkle with cheese.
Place dishes on a foil lined sheet pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Put under the broiler for a few minutes at the end to brown up the cheese.

Day 15 Recipe: Baked Chilli Cheese Buns

BAKED CHILLI CHEESE BUNS

A very quick and easy twist on leftovers. Hearty and homey. Kaiser buns work well; or if I have some, I use home made buns.

INGREDIENTS:


4 Good sized Buns (Kaisers work well)
2 Cups Chilli (leftovers or from a can)
1 Cup Cheddar Cheese, grated

DIRECTIONS:


Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.
Heat chilli either on the stove top or in the microwave.
Slice tops off of buns, reserve for later. Hollow out the bottom portion of the buns.
Fill the hollow in the buns with chilli, coming up over the top (about 3 generous tablespoons each)
Cover with cheese.
Place on a sheet pan (I cover it with foil or parchment paper, less mess)
Bake in oven for about 6 or 7 minutes. Broil for an additional 2 minutes.
Serve with bun tops for dipping/scooping.
If you happen to have any chilli left, heap a little extra on the side of the plate!

New Look

Well, my kids are sleeping and I am actually still awake, with about 1/2 an ounce of energy left, so I decided to play around with the blog a bit. Happily I have found a new template. It feels much more "Brandy"! Hope you all like it as much as I do! YAY PINK!

PILLSBURY BAKING CHALLENGE

So, in case anybody reads this that has not been hounded by me already, I thought I would put this out there...
My sister and I have entered a contest. It is called the Pillsbury Baking Challenge. We both need some votes to place; and it would mean so much to both of us if EITHER of us could place! So I am asking my fabulous readers a favour. If you find some time, it would be great if you could go vote for us:)
There are actually a lot of great recipes on the site if you have some time browse around!
Anyhow if you go to this link:
http://www.bakingchallenge.ca/index.php

 and then look up :

Swiss and Sage Turkey Bites
and
Individual Peach Cobblers
rate ech one(preferably a 5!)
 THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME AND SUPPORT!

Day 14 Recipe: MEAT LOAF

DAY 14 RECIPE:

MEAT LOAF


This is a recipe interpretation of a recipe from my Grandma Pat.

INGREDIENTS:
1 lb Ground Beef
¾ Cup Oatmeal or Fine Bread Crumbs
1 Egg
3 Garlic Cloves, Minced
½ Small Onion, Minced
1 Tbsp Mustard
1 Tbsp Ketchup
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp Thyme
½ tsp Paprika
½ tsp Pepper
1 tsp Salt
1 cup Baked beans (homemade or from a can)


DIRECTIONS:
Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl combine all ingredients except beans. Mix together.
Press into a loaf pan.
Bake for 1 hour.
Remove meat loaf from oven. Drain any excess fat. Cut about 6 ½ inch deep slices across the top of the meat loaf.
Spread beans over the meat loaf and return to oven for 20 minutes.

For Dinner Tonight...

So tonight I will make meat loaf. My Gradma Pat used to make it the way I will try tonight. Meat Loaf with a layer of baked beans on top. Of course this works wonderfully because I have left over beans from last night! My hubby, James, and my daughter Brooklyn are both requesting that we have a side dish of french fries. What a gourmet meal! Oh well, sometimes I think that is the best side dish of any! Another night of comfort food! Take heart, I will one day make something that is healthy!
Once the weather takes a turn for the better, I generally tend to start making healthier, lighter meals. Hopefully that will come aropund sooner than later!
See you all tonight for the new recipe!

Day 13 Recipe: Grannys Baked Beans

Well this recipe takes a little longer to make than I would normally spend on any one dish. However I felt it was ok this time, as this is an old recipe of my Grannys, that people rave about! Thought I had better try it out. In all honesty, the work is not all that difficult or complex, it just requires alot of cooking time. Well worth it though!

DAY 13 RECIPE:

GRANNYS BAKED BEANS

This recipe was from my Granny. The way she had a written was a little, shall we say vague? So this is my interpretation of it!

INGREDIENTS:


1 Ham Bone
4 cups Cubed or chunks of Cooked Ham
2 Cups Uncooked Navy Beans
1 (14 oz) Can Tomato Sauce
2 medium Onions, cut into chunks
2 Bay Leaves
¼ Cup Molasses
½ Cup Brown Sugar
3 Tbsp Ketchup
2 Tbsp Mustard
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
Water

DIRECTIONS:


The night before:
Put beans into a bowl and cover with water. Make sure water is at least 2 inches about beans. Cover and let sit over night
In a large Dutch oven, place your ham bone and chunks of ham. Add tomato sauce and one onion. Fill with water until it is about an inch from the top of the pot. Stir everything together, add bay leaves and simmer this mixture overnight.

Day of serving:
Drain all water off beans.
Pull ham bone out of the stock.
Add beans to pot.
Put pot in a 300 degree oven and bake for about 6 hours.
Now, add the other onion, molasses, brown sugar, ketchup, mustard and salt and pepper. Mix together. Return to oven and continue baking about another hour.
Check beans to make sure they are tender, and sauce is thick before serving. They may need a little more time in the oven.
Remember to pull out the bay leaves before serving!

Day 12 Recipe: Sunshine Noodles (Mac n' Cheese)

Well, it took a lot longer than I had originally intended. Had an unexpected outing interrupt the preperation process. Anyhow, that is also the reason why I am posting this so much later than usual. Here it is:

DAY 12 RECIPE:

SUNSHINE NOODLES (MAC N' CHEESE)

INGREDIENTS:
8 Cups Boiling water
1 Tsp Salt
3 Cups Elbow macaroni
3 Cups+ ½ cup Aged Cheddar (White or Yellow), shredded
4 oz Cream cheese, cubed
½ Cup Parmesan cheese
2 cups Milk
4 Tbsp Butter
1/2 Tsp Ground mustard
4 tbsp Flour
¼ tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Garlic powder
Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Bring water to a boil.
Add salt and noodles. Cook until just barely tender. Drain noodles.
Using the same pot, melt butter. Add flour, cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add milk all at once. Add cream cheese. Stir constantly and continue to cook until thickened, about 15 minutes.
Add cheddar and parmesan and seasonings. Keep on medium low heat and continue mixing until cheese is all melted and sauce is a nice smooth texture.
Add noodles into cheese sauce. Mix together until all noodles are evenly coated.
Transfer into a casserole dish, sprinkle the top with remaining cheddar and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
Just for an added lovely browning of the top, broil for about 5 minutes.

I need MY favourite!

Well, it always seems as though I am trying to make something for dinner that James likes or the kids like; something to make someone else happy. Today I thought I would make my absolute hands down favourite:
Mac n' Cheese. Good old stand by tasty Mac n' Cheese. Not Kraft Dinner (though I do really enjoy that too!) but the old family favourite. Everyone loves it, but definately my favourite! My daughter (Brooklyn) really loves it too, but she calls it "Sunshine Noodles", which I think is quite sweet! Perhaps that will be the nae for the recipe!
I can hardly wait. Been dreaming of this deliciousness all day! I am about to get started on this and I will post the recipe later on tonight. Hope you all enjoy as much as I do!

Day 11 Recipe: Ham and Cheese Biscuits

Well, today we are having leftover chicken noodle soup and made some delicious Ham and Cheese Biscuits using SOME of the leftover ham from last night. Tonights recipe is for the biscuits. I hope you all enjoy!

DAY 11 RECIPE:
HAM AND CHEESE BISCUITS

INGREDIENTS:
½ Cup Margarine or butter
¾ Cup Milk
2 Cups All purpose flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
½ Tsp Salt
½ tsp Garlic powder
1 tsp Dried Dill
1 Cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, ¼ inch cubes
1 Cup Cooked Ham, ¼ inch cubes

DIRECTIONS:
Pre heat oven to 400 degrees.
Combine flour, baking powder, salt, garlic powder and dill.
Cut in margarine or butter until a coarse crumbly texture is achieved.
Toss in ham and cheese.
Add milk and gather into a ball using a fork and/or your hands.
Form with your hands into about 12 balls. Place on a parchment lined sheet pan.
Press down slightly to flatten the tops.
Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Another leftover experiment....

Hello everyone!
Ham was lovely last night, but now I have even more leftovers to contend with. So I felt for tonight, I will take the leftover chicken noodle soup from the freezer, heat that up and make some Biscuits. I LOVE biscuits. My experiment will be with the biscuits. I think I shall make ham and cheese biscuits. I cannot imagine this to be too lofty an aspiration...Will post the recipe tonight, hopefully it will be as wonderful as I imagine!

Day Ten Recipe: Holiday Ham

A quick note before the recipe....I always Seem to get so super stressed when I am making a big dinner on the holidays, with family and friends sitting around my house enjoying the day. I am hard at work in the kitchen becoming more and more stressed with every minute. By the time dinner is finally on the table I am sweating, tired and crabby. Thankfully my friends and family are almost always there to help, but the stress is there none the less.
ANYHOW, the point of this endless babbling, is that to my great surprise, this dinner; almost exactly the same as I would make for Christmas eve; came with basically no stress what so ever. What a nice difference.
SO take this recipe and enjoy and enjoy it even more if you can make it on a non holiday occassion!


HOLIDAY HAM

INGREDIENTS:


7-10 Lb Bone in Ham
3 Cups Brown sugar, Packed
¼ Cup Prepared Mustard
1 &½ Cups Cola
1 14 oz Can Sliced Pineapple, drained juice reserved
½ Cup Apple Juice
10-12 Maraschino Cherries (Optional)
Whole Cloves

DIRECTIONS:


Pre heat oven to 325 degrees.
Score Ham Crosswise and lengthwise; ¼ Inch deep and about 1 inch apart.
Put one clove in the middle of each square.
In a bowl, combine brown sugar and mustard. I use a small spoon and sometimes even my hands to get this to the right consistency. Should be like a super thick paste.
Now, Place ham flat side down in a large roasting pan. Squash the sugar mixture onto the ham. Some of this will fall into the pan and that is OK.
Put ham in the oven.
After 30 minutes remove from oven, pour cola over the ham and mix everything in the bottom of the pan with a fork. Baste ham and put back in the oven for another 20 minutes.
Mix together apple juice and reserved pineapple juice.
Now pour juices over the ham, mix with the bottom of the pan stuff and baste again. Put ham back in the oven.
NOW, your ham has been in the oven for a total of 50 minutes so far. Time to do a bit of math…..your ham should cook for a total of 20 minutes PER POUND. Take your total cook time (pounds X 20 Minutes) minus 50 minutes, and you have how long there is left to cook.
Example: If your ham is 7 pounds, it should cook for a total of 140 minutes. It has been in for 50 minutes already, so it should bake for another 90 minutes.
Baste every 20 minutes.
For the last 20 minutes, put the pineapple rings on the ham (use some toothpicks to hold them on).
Remove ham and place on a platter. Put a cherry in each of the pineapple rings, and you are ready to rock!

Sunday Dinner style....

Well, it is Sunday, So I thought I would go with an old school tradition of the nice big family Sunday dinner. Not normally something I would do. Usually do not view Sunday as a day for making something extra. However, I did have a lovely giant ham sitting in my freezer begging to be cooked. So I brought it out to thaw yesterday and have just placed it in the oven for the begining of its journey ...will post the recipe and photo tonight....Hope evryone enjoys my Sunday Dinner....Perhaps it will become a new tradition!