Recipe: Corn Chowder

The weather is changing here in Illinois and I am kinda diggin' the fall air. I love fall, the leaves changing, the chill in the air, wearing sweatshirts and its finally okay to drink the super hot tea I drink every morning, even during 100 degree days in the summer. So, along with the pumpkin white russian, I decided to indulge in another fall favorite. I used to make this recipe over a fire, in a cast iron pot because I am pretty awesome. It's one of my favorites, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. (be warned: I never said it was healthy, but man, it's tasty!)

What you need:

• 4 slices of bacon (chopped up) I think I added more like 5 or 6...we like bacon
• 1/2 medium onion, we don't like onion that much, so you can always add more
• 4 medium potatoes
• 4 cups of corn, we used frozen 
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup of butter
• 2 and 1/2 salt
• 1/4 tsp of pepper
• 2 cups of milk 

 What to do:
Saute the bacon. Once cooked all the way through, cut up into bite sized pieces.Drain most of the fat. Add onions, potatoes and 1 cup water to pot (or a bit more to cover the potatoes). Bring to a boil, then simmer ten minutes. In a second pan, combine corn, cream, sugar and butter. Simmer for ten minutes. Combine the two pots and mix together with other ingredients. Keep coking until the potatoes are tender. I added more salt and pepper for taste on mine. It yields a lot, like 6-8 servings.

Stay warm out there kids.

recipe: delicious waffles recipe for two

Guys, I really like waffles. Every weekend when we lived out in the burbs, Keith made me waffles. You see, we went from not having a single day off together to having Sundays together. It was like a special treat! So, to spoil me, he made me waffles for our Sunday breakfast. And then he went above and beyond by buying me a mickey shaped waffle iron. 

WHAT? I know, great husband, right? So, anyway- yesterday I was a bit down so he whipped me up a batch of waffles to cheer me up. It worked. Here is his easy (but tasty!) recipe for two people!

What you need:

 

Dry Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• (Optional) Dash of Nutmeg
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 Tbsp Sugar
• 1 Cup Flour

Wet Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp melted Butter
• Vanilla (to Taste)
• 3/4 Cup of milk
• 1 Egg

Equipment: Waffle iron

Sift together all the dry ingredients, then add in the wet ingredients.  Scoop into the waffle iron and cook until finish.

I am not the biggest syrup fan, so I put on powdered sugar. Delicious!

Hope everyone has a GREAT week!

Recipe: Bread Machine Italian Herb Bread

Blog world, I have been away for a week! But I have some good excuses. I was sick, then I got a new job, and then my sister had her baby. SO, Bottom line, things are coming up (aunt) Jenn. So, I apologize for the lack of posts recently, but I promise I will be better.

Tonight, I decided to make my favorite bread machine recipe. Italian herb bread! The photo is not great, BUT this recipe is awesome.

What you need:

• 1 cup of water
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of white sugar
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of salt
• 2 and 1/2 cups of bread flour
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of italian seasoning blend (I added more)
• breadmachine

Place everything in bread pan, make sure you follow your machine's directions. Select white bread cycle (or light crust) My machine makes you add the "add-ins" i.e. seasoning and pepper in after the initial rise and mixing.  (about after 45 minutes) but every bread machine is different so read your instructions.

Enjoy!

Cold weather recipe

This winter has been brutal in Illinois, almost to the point where I don't want to go out once the sun has set. The snow has come down really heavy and the cold has been REALLY cold. We even had cold days at work, COLD DAYS! Keith had 4, I had 2. CRAZY. Now, people have somewhat adjusted to the cold, but everyone is in a bad mood and wear way too many layers, myself included. One of those really cold nights, I reached for one of my favorite recipes. It always warms me up, and it makes me think of my mom's dad, my Grandpa L. This is his recipe for Tater Tot Casserole

What you need:
1/2 a bag of frozen tater tots
1 lb of ground beef
1 can of cream of mushroom soup (we used reduced fat)
milk
2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese

What to do:

Brown the meat. While browning the meat, preheat the oven to 350. Once you cook the meat, drain and place in the bottom of a casserole dish. Like so: 

Next, layer on half the bag of frozen tater tots-still frozen

In a bowl mix the can of cream of mushroom soup and half a can of milk together. Then pour on top the layers of beef and tater tots.

Next, add the cheddar cheese on top. Place in the oven and cook for about 30-40 minutes. I always start checking at like 20 minutes just to double check.

Pull out of the oven and eat! It really is so delicious and filling. It's not great for you, but it's not as bad as it sounds either and it really is perfect on those cold nights where all you want to do is cuddle with a blanket, drink tea and stare at the tv.

Stay warm out there kids.

Recipe: crockpot pork chops

You guys! I made the best dinner ever yesterday. So, Keith has been REALLY busy this semester with his promotion at work and a harder semester at school and now, his show got picked up for another run; we barely see each other!So, I haven't felt like cooking much for just one and I have been making easy food. So, this weekend I wanted to try something new (and still easy)

Okay, I didn't take any photos of the making, just the finished product. So, here's what you need!

• 4-6 pork chops (I got boneless)
• 1 can of cream of chicken soup
• 1 can of chicken broth (we got organic, low sodium)
• 1 packet of brown gravy
• 1 packet of onion soup 
• Crockpot

Put the pork chops in the bottom of the crockpot.  In a bowl, mix the other ingredients together until its all blended. Pour the mixture over the pork chops. Cook in the crockpot for about 8 to 10 hours on low, or until the pork is tender and ready to fall apart. I cooked ours for 8 hours on low. Then I also served with homemade mashed potatoes and zucchini.  Of course use the gravy from the crockpot on top of the mashed potatoes. DELICIOUS.

Keith said this is one of the best meals I have ever made and it was so so so easy.

Anyway! Enjoy.

Recipe: Crockpot Creamy Italian Chicken

Keith and I are doing a lot better on our resolution to eat at home. We have been cooking more and eating up leftovers, which is always the hard part for me. We want to lose weight and save up some money to travel soon, so we thought eating at home could help with both of those things.

I'm going to jump right into it. Here is today's recipe for Crockpot Creamy Italian Chicken.

You need:

• A crockpot
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1 italian seasoning package
• 1 block of cream cheese (we used light)
• 2 cans of cream of chicken soup

 Place chicken in crockpot, put seasoning on top of it. Then mix in cream cheese and soup. Cook on high for 4 hours or until chicken is cooked all the way. Serve on rice or noodles. 


This recipe was one I got from my mom. Over the fall we visited my parents and my mom served this for dinner, but used rice instead of noodles. It was delicious, but I prefer egg noodles myself.

Enjoy! :)

Recipe: Sausage Rolls

Well, ladies and gentlemen- It's horrible in Illinois. It's freezing and is well below zero. The snow is deep, and the windchill is like negative 40. Keith just ventured out of the house for the first time since Saturday afternoon. Anyway, we have spent the time doing work, watching movies, cooking food and enjoying each others company.

We have been cooking quite a bit in the new year, even though some of our meals has consisted of chicken nuggets and mac and cheese, we have had some gems in there. Keith made a really tasty sausage rolls dish, which was seriously delicious and reminded me of my summer in Scotland. I also was totally impressed with Keith's cooking ability. Anyway, let's get to the recipe.

Recipe: Sausage Rolls

What you need:
One package of puff pastry
1 lb of ground beef
1/2 pound of pork sausage (I got Italian Pork Sausages from Trader Joes)
1 and 1/4 teaspoons of salt
3/4 tsp of black pepper
3/4 ground coriander
1/2 tsp of nutmeg
1 cup bread crumbs
1 beaten egg to brush pastry with

So, here's how:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut open around three sausages and mix them in with the ground beef. Add the seasonings and the breadcrumbs along with 1/2 cup of water to meat mixtures and blend together. Place defrosted puff pastry rolls on cutting board and cut into rectangle pieces. Place meat and spice mixture into the puff pastry, closer to one side, fold together and crimp sides with a fork to hold them together. Make three to four slits in the pastry dough. Brush with egg. Bake for roughly 25 minutes. Check on the meat to make sure it cooked all of the way.

We ended up with roughly six to eight sausage rolls from two sheets of puff pastry dough (or one box). and Boy, they were DELICIOUS.

Sorry, we don't have more photos. You just have to trust me they were so good.

Stay warm you guys. 

Recipe: Crockpot Mac and Cheese

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I know there hasn't been a blog post in awhile, I had some personal things come up and wanted to deal with them away from the computer. Keith and I changed our plans and ended up heading to my parents to celebrate Thanksgiving. After a normal 5 hour drive turned into a 8 hour drive, we finally got to Detroit.

We had a small dinner, only my mom and dad and Keith and I. My sister, brother-in-law and niece were visiting his mother, and we all needed a small dinner since only a week ago we gathered to say goodbye to my Grandpa. So, my mom and dad cooked a feast for us! Look at the spread.

However, I wanted to share with you my contribution. I made the best mac and cheese in the crockpot. And lucky you, I am willing to share my recipe!

What you need:
-One box of noodles, I used cavatappi this time but shells also are good
-2 cans of Cheddar Cheese Soup
-4 tablespoons of butter
-1/2 cup of sour cream
-1 bag of Colby jack cheese shredded
-1.5 cans of milk
-salt and pepper

Okay, now how do you cook it?
1.) Add noodles to a pot of boiling water. ONLY COOK FOR 6 MINUTES. You don't want to over cook, trust me
2.) Spray the crockpot with cooking spray. Put in the cheddar cheese soup. Measure out a can and half of milk and put that in. Place butter in and sour cream and mix well.
3.) Add noodles and stir well. Add salt and pepper to season
4.) Cook for about an hour on low. Then add bag of cheese and turn crockpot to high setting for 45 minutes.

Do not overcook the macaroni, I cooked it for about an hour and 45 minutes. If you overcook it, the noodles turn all mushy. I have done this recipe twice now and both times it turned out great! It was a big hit at thanksgiving and was always requested for an upcoming family weekend.

Enjoy!