Creamy Ham and Potato Soup

Creamy Ham and Potato Soup
I adapted this from a recipe on allrecipes.com and it was SO easy and savory!! YUM!!

3 1/2 cups diced red potatoes (or peeled white potatoes)
2/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 can of corn, drained (optional)
3/4 cup diced cooked ham
3 1/4 cups water
6 chicken bullion cubes
1/2 tsp salt (to taste)
1 tsp ground white or black pepper (to taste)
3-5 TBS butter
5 TBS flour
2 cups milk
Chives

Combine potatoes, celery, corn, ham and water in a large stockpot. Like Kim's yummy Minestrone, I am sure you can get creative with what vegetables you add. Bring to boil, then simmer until potatoes tender (about 10 minutes). Stir in chicken bullion, salt and pepper (I added the whole tsp of white pepper and loved it, and David like it but said it was a little strong, so add to taste!). In a separate saucepan, melt butter (the recipe called for 5 TBS, but I thought 3 was plenty savory...) over medium heat. Whisk in flour and stir about a minute, until thick. I actually used wheat flour and it was good! Slowly add milk, whisking to avoid lumps. Continue stirring about 5 minutes until thick. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot and cook until thoroughly heated. Pour into bowls and garnish with chives. Serve warm!

Vegetable Garden Fritata

This is a yummy dish that can go for almost any meal and has endless variations depending on what is in your kitchen or garden! It's loaded with veggies and has plenty of protein to boot!

1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic (or generous sprinkling of garlic salt)
1/2 TBS minced onion
1/2 of a small zucchini, diced
1/4 to 1/2 cup chopped cauliflower
1 small Roma tomato, diced
1 whole egg and 2 egg whites
1 TBS milk
a sprinkle of rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F custom broil. Saute garlice, onion, zuchinni, and cauliflower in olive oil in a small nonstick frying pan on medium heat with a lid on, lifting lid occasionally to stir. Meanwhile, whisk egg, egg whites, and milk in a cup. When veggies are soft and starting to brown, pour the egg/milk mixture on top evenly. Top with diced tomatoes and sprinkle on rosemary, salt, and pepper. Leave on medium heat on stovetop for a few minutes until you see the egg cooking on the sides (meaning the bottom is cooked). Then put the whole frying pan in the oven on the top rack and let broil for about 5 minutes, or until the top is cooked and starting to brown. Remove from oven (don't forget to use a hotpad!) and invert onto a plate. Set a second plate over it and turn onto the second plate so it is now right-side-up. Serve and enjoy!

Variations: you can use almost any veggies in your fritatta--green onions or crooked neck squash are great to throw in at the start, and fresh spinach is fabulous when you weave it in with the diced tomatoes. Feta cheese (which I am out of) is also amazing when added with the eggs. Get creative and enjoy all of those healthy colors!! You can also vary the spices. I often use minced, dried onion (a sprinkling of it) and if I do not have garlic, I just use a lot of garlic salt instead of salt. I love rosemary, but try something you like and let me know if it's better! I can eat this whole dish myself for lunch, plus a couple of homemade biscuits, so you can obviously increase the veggies and eggs to fit your family size!

Feeling Adventurous anyone?

Well, I know I'm known for being a little adventurous on the food thing . . .

So, here's our latest new recipe. Jake ate a lot of Indian food in England and LOVES it. I tried it when we were first married and HATED it! So he hasn't gotten too much of it over the years! But, it's amazing how your tastes change and I agreed to go to an Indian restaurant with Jake and some friends of ours a month or so ago. To my surprise, I LOVED the food! So, of course I had to attempt to make it. And, this dish turned out great.

Some things to know: as with all Indian food, the flavors in this dish are quite different from the norm. But, this dish does not have a lot of "heat". In fact, that's the only thing I would do different next time is make it spicier, but if you don't like the hot/spicy, just leave it as is (the recipe calls for chili powder. Regular chili powder is Mexican chili powder, and works fine but is not hot. If you want some more heat, find some Indian chili powder, but use sparingly!).

It's worth a walk on the "wild" side, this is really yummy!

Another note, some of these spices are a little tricky to find. Try the international isle, the baking isle, the natural foods isle, or if necessary, I know there are Indian food groceries in Salt Lake that you can go to and find any of these ingredients.

CHICKEN KORMA

1/4 c cashew halves

1/4 c boiling water

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1 (1/2") piece fresh ginger root, peeled

3 T vegetable oil

2 bay leaves

1 large onion, minced

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp chili powder

3 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, diced

1/4 c tomato sauce

1 c chicken broth

1/2 c coconut milk (comes in cans-can use regular or low fat)

1/2 c plain yogurt or sour cream (low fat is fine)

1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tsp water (can use more if you want dish thicker)

Place cashews in small bowl and pour boiling water over nuts. Set aside for 15-20 minutes. Chop ginger root roughly. Process ginger and garlic in food processor or press through garlic press. Set aside. Heat oil in wok over medium heat. Cook bay leaves in hot oil for 30 seconds. Stir in onion and cook until soft, about 3-5 minutes. Mix in garlic/ginger paste, and season with coriander, garam masala, cumin, turmeric, and chili powder. Stir in chicken and cook about 5 minutes. Pour in tomato sauce and chicken broth. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, place cashews (along with water they are in), coconut milk, and yogurt in food processor or blender. Process until smooth. Stir cashew mixture into chicken and onions. Simmer 15 minutes more (uncovered), stirring occasionally. Stir in cornstarch mixture and continue cooking another 1-2 minutes, until thickened and bubbly. Remove bay leaves and discard. Serve over rice. Source: allrecipes.com.

Chocolate for Breakfast...

Fudgey Peanut Butter Chip Muffins
The kids loved these, and if it is too early to have chocolate in the morning, they sure brighten up a sack lunch! I don't love peanut butter chips, so I may do chocolate or butterscotch next time...

1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup quick oats
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup flour
1 cup peanut butter chips
1/4 cup powdered sugar for dusting (if desired)

Heat oven to 350 and line 12 muffin cups with paper bake cups. In small bowl, stir applesauce and oats together. In a separate bowl, beat egg, vanilla, sugars, and butter. Add applesauce mixture to this and combine well. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and cinnamon and add this to butter mixture. Stir in peanut butter chips. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full and bake for about 22 minutes, or until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Gobble up and enjoy!
Source: Diane Hepburn on allrecipes.com

Desserts in Ramekins!

CHOCOHOTOPOTS (I got this recipe from Mom who got it from Becky!)
1 stick + 1 T butter

¾ c superfine sugar (can blend regular sugar to make it superfine)
5 oz semisweet chocolate
2 eggs

3 T flour

Heat oven to 400. Butter 4 ramekins (2/3-1 c capacity), or you can use teacups or mugs if you don’t have ramekins. Either in microwave or in bowl suspended over pan of simmering water, melt chocolate and butter. Set aside to cool. Mix eggs with sugar and flour and whisk. Beat in cooled chocolate mixture. Divide evenly between ramekins. Bake 20 minutes, tops will be cooked and cracked and chocolate gooey underneath. Serve plain or with ice cream. WILL BE HOT! If desired, can let cool before serving, but they will sink a little. (We refrigerated some overnight and before cooking the next day, set them out for 30 minutes. They cooked up just as yummy, but maybe not quite as fluffy. The pic above is ones that were in the fridge!)

Pazooki's!

Just throw some cookie dough in the ramekins (or you can buy little pie pans) and undercook a few minutes. Top with ice cream (sorry about the blurry pic, I was in a hurry to eat it! ha ha).

Here's our favorite cookie recipe!

Sandy's Cookies
1 cup butter flavored shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup oatmeal (regular works best, but you can use instant if it's all you've got!)
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 bag toffee chips (heath chips are at Safeway or Walmart)
1/2 bag chocolate chips (Guittard Maxi chips are my favorite!)
1/2 bag white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans (optional- I did not add them today)

Preheat oven to 375. Cream together the shortening and the sugars. Add remaining ingredients, mix well. Bake at for 8-9 minutes. (6-7 for Pazooki's!)