kittyred's Creamy, Chunky Potato and Cheese Soup

My Creamy, Chunky Potato and Cheese Soup

2 cups of water

4 Tablespoons of butter

1 can cream of celery soup

1/2 cup sliced carrots

1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped onions

1/2 cup sliced celery

1/4 teaspoon garlic from a jar

1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons salt (whatever you like)

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 cups of peeled and chopped potatoes

2 cups of milk

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

In a large sauce pan (Dutch oven) mix the water, soup, butter, salt, pepper, garlic, carrots, celery and onion.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 15 min. or until veggies are almost tender.  Then add the potatoes and cook until they are tender.

In a large bowl put in 2 cups of  milk (use cold milk or you will have lumps) sprinkle the 1/4 cup flour over the milk and whisk in well.  Add the shredded cheeses and stir well. 

Add the cheeses, milk and flour mixture to the veggie mixture and stir well.  Heat just until mixed well and cheese is melted.  Garnish each bowl with whatever you like -  crumbled bacon, cubed ham, smoked paprika, etc.

Click on pic for a larger image.

Squash & Potato Corn Chowder

I'm fighting bronchitis again for the second time this year and before I felt too bad I made some soup over the weekend. I'm tired of not being able to do much so I thought before I ate lunch I'd make this post and give you my recipe.


kittyred's Squash, Potato & Corn Chowder

A perfect soup for Autumn days and nights. I prepared mine in a crock pot.

Ingredients:

As a base, instead of using a chicken broth or veg. broth I used 1 box (4 cups) of Butternut Squash Soup by Pacific Foods that I purchased at Walmart.

5 medium potatoes peeled and cut into small pieces or cubes
16 oz of frozen corn
1/8 teaspoon celery seed
1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder
2 teaspoons of dried parsley
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 small green pepper, chopped into small pieces/cubes
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup of milk (stir in after soup is done) I also added some cooked bow tie pasta.

I set the crock pot on high while I filled it with all the ingredients minus the milk and pasta and then turned it down to LOW and let it cook/simmer just until the potatoes were done. I took the lid off occasionally to check potatoes and the soup was ready in about 5 hours. Then, I stirred in the 1 cup of milk and cooked pasta and let it warm for 15 min. or so.

kittyred's Mustard Potato Salad

I think everyone's favorite potato salad tastes a bit different. I started with a recipe from the vintage Kitchen-Klatter COOKBOOK. I wasn't happy with it so I reworked it to my tastes. And, I don't think most leave the skins on their potatoes. I like doing that if you have good, smooth, unblemished potatoes.

kittyred's MUSTARD POTATO SALAD
- Make it at night, ready for your picnic the next day.

5 medium, cooked russet potatoes/skins, diced larger than rest of ingredients.
6 hard-boiled eggs, diced a bit smaller than pototoes
1 medium green pepper, diced small
3 stalks celery, diced small
salt and pepper
paprika

Boil whole potatoes just until tender, don't overcook. Cool and dice into a large bowl leaving the skins on. Add diced eggs, green pepper and celery. Salt and pepper to taste.

DRESSING

2 Tbls. catsup
2 Tbls. yellow mustard
1-1/2 cup salad dressing

Mix with a fork until blended well and add to potato mixture.

Mix well and garnish with paprika. Or leave one egg out, slice in an egg slicer and use along with the paprika as a garnish.

Chill overnight.

Asparagus Mushroom Quiche

Yesterday on hubby's day off I made this yummy quiche.

When I was younger I never liked asparagus, but I love it in this quiche. I just think way back then I didn't really know what to do with it or how to prepare it properly. I found the recipe HERE, but I made a few changes to it like I do to almost any recipe I find. You could also replace the asparagus with chopped broccoli. I don't know how her quiche was done in only 30-35 minutes.

Asparagus Mushroom Quiche

Yield: 8 servings

1 sheet refrigerated pie pastry
1 pound fresh asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium purple onion, chopped
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
3 eggs
1 cup heavy whipping cream plus 1/3 cup of 1% milk
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon of spicy brown mustard (next time I'm trying a whole teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

Unroll pastry and firmly press into a 9-in. deep-dish pie plate; flute edges. Note: I used a metal pie crust guard while I baked this for one hour.

Cook asparagus in a covered dish in the microwave for about 3 minutes or until crisp-tender.

In a large skillet, saute onion and mushrooms in butter until tender. Stir in asparagus. Transfer to crust.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, cream/milk, basil, mustard, salt and pepper; pour over top.

Bake at 375° for about 1 hour or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

My Mexican Casserole

I just took this out of the oven this morning - All ready for dinner tonight when hubby comes home from work.

Grease your dish - Add a little of this and a little of that; whatever your definition of Mexican is - Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 min. and you have Mexican Casserole.

Kale Plus Soup

I posted a Kale Soup recipe that I created at my other blog...

Here it is - My Kale Plus Soup.

But, I want...

Cupcakes for hubby's birthday...Click on the pic and you can almost reach for one.

Actually, it was ME that wanted the chocolate cupcakes. :o) He wanted Oatmeal Scotties - cookies (which I did make too). I told him to take the cookies to work with him and leave them in the car so they wouldn't be around here for me to snack on. :o)

I've found the secret to super moist cupcakes - Only use a cake mix that has pudding in it and don't over bake them. Hershey's chocolate frosting in a tub is wonderful too. It's the only one that I buy anymore.

A Trip To Sam's Club

Check-out Amazon's reviews for this book - here...

Hubby and I made a trip to our Sam's Club yesterday to check-out the new remodeling project at the front of the store that seemed to take forever to complete.

I picked-up this really cool book on making ALL kinds of muffins. I'm so going to love this cookbook.

I'm Calling It A Masterpiece!

I'm really happy how this turned out since I usually hate working with sheets of phyllo dough.

And, it was really tasty too!

I got this recipe from the PBS Everyday Food show that Martha Stewart produces. Here's their web site. http://www.pbs.org/everydayfood

I love that show and nearly all the recipes prepared there which is a lot in a half hour span of time.

Ground Beef Pie Serves 4-6 Prep Time: 35 minutes Total Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
1 pound ground beef (I used ground turkey instead)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for dusting
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3 tablespoons sliced almonds
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
5 large eggs
3 tablespoons milk
8 phyllo sheets, thawed
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook onion until translucent, about 4 minutes. Add beef, cayenne, cinnamon, and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until beef is browned, about 10 minutes. Add almonds and parsley; cook 3 minutes more. Let cool slightly.

In a bowl, season eggs with salt and pepper; add milk, and whisk to combine. Fold into beef mixture.

Lay 1 phyllo sheet on a clean work surface. Brush lightly with oil; lay another sheet on top, staggering corners. Repeat with remaining phyllo sheets and oil, rotating sheets slightly each time. Gently place dough in an 8-inch pie plate; fill with mixture. Fold edges over top. Brush with oil. Bake until golden brown and filling is set, 20 to 25 minutes. Dust top with sugar and cinnamon. Serve hot, sliced into wedges