I omitted a few of the ingredients that I don't particularly like when I made this recipe, so this photo is not an example of what I made just so you could see the salad as a whole. 

Mexican STREET CORN PASTA SALAD

INGREDIENTS

Salad

• 2 cups (uncooked) miniature farfelle pasta
• 3 cups (2, 15-ounce cans, or 3-4 corns on the cob)
• 1 large avocado
• 3 green onions
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped jalapeno
• 6-8 strips hardwood smoked bacon
• Cotija cheese (or queso fresco, or feta -- add to preference about 1/2 cup or more as desired)
• Optional: 1/2 cup canned black beans

Dressing

• 1/2 cup full fat regular mayo, no substitutes
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice, 1/4 teaspoon lime zest
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha or hot sauce
• Pinch of salt and ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water. Make sure the pasta is completely dry.
2. Corn: if using corn on the cob: Heat the grill to medium. Pull back the husks to the base and take off all the silk from each ear of corn. Fold back the husks into place.
3. Place the ears of corn in a large bowl of water with 1 tablespoon of salt for 10 minutes and then remove from water and shake to dry. Place the corn on the grill, cover the grill, and cook for 15-20 minutes turning the corn every 5 minutes.
4. You'll know the corn is done when the kernels are tender and easily pierced with a fork.
5. Alternative #1: use pre-roasted canned corn -- drain and allow to dry. Alternative #2: use regular canned corn: heat a large cast iron skillet on medium high heat for 3-4 minutes or until very hot. Drain corn and place in a single layer and cook for about 5 minutes stirring once in between or until browned. Avoid stirring too often as this will keep the corn from getting a good roast.
6. Meanwhile prep the veggies: chop the avocado into small pieces, chop the green onions, coarsely chop the cilantro, very finely chop the jalapeno, and cook then crumble the bacon. Crumble the cheese. Add black beans if desired.
7. In a large bowl combine the completely dry and cooled pasta, cooled corn, avocado, onions, cilantro, jalapeno, bacon, and cheese.
8. Toss together.
9. In a small bowl combine all of the dressing ingredients and whisk together until completely combined.
10. Toss with the salad

CREAMY CHICKEN AND MUSHROOM SOUP

YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

(Sorry this is a stock photo.....  I forgot to take pictures of mine before I dove right in.)

·       

INGREDIENTS:

            1 tablespoon olive oil

·         8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks

·     Salt and freshly ground black pepper

·         2 tablespoons unsalted butter

·         3 cloves garlic, minced

·         8 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced  (Sorry.  I had to use plain old white button mushrooms because we cannot buy the cremini ones here)

·         1 onion, diced

·         3 carrots, peeled and diced

·         2 stalks celery, diced

·         1/2 teaspoon dried thyme  (Yeah. No......  Only use about 1/4 t.  It was pretty strong)

·         1/4 cup all-purpose flour

·         4 cups chicken stock

·         1 bay leaf

·         1/2 cup half and half, or more, as needed*

·         2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

·         1 sprig rosemary

DIRECTIONS:

1.      Heat olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper, to taste. Add chicken to the stockpot and cook until golden, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.

2.      Melt butter in the stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic, mushrooms, onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in thyme until fragrant, about 1 minute.

3.      Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Whisk in chicken stock, bay leaf and chicken thighs, and cook, whisking constantly, until slightly thickened, about 4-5 minutes.

4.      Stir in half and half until heated through, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste. If the soup is too thick, add more half and half as needed until desired consistency is reached.

5.  Take the bay leaf out before serving.

6.     Serve immediately, garnished with parsley and rosemary, if desired.

*Half and half is equal parts of whole milk and cream. For 1 cup half and half, you can substitute 3/4 cup whole milk + 1/4 cup heavy cream or 2/3 cup skim or low-fat milk + 1/3 cup heavy cream.

A good old-fashioned Southern dinner for two.

Pork Chops & Spicy Chow Chow (a pure Southern recipe) with Sweet Potato Salad side (for 2)

2 boneless pork chops, center cut
6 oz tomatillos
4 oz colorful little peppers
2 sweet potatoes
1 ear of corn
1 bunch parsley
2 T mayo
2 t whole grain dijon mustard
1 jalapeno pepper
1 shallot

Chop everything up. Cut corn off cob. Dice sweet potatoes and put them to boiling (about 10-15 min until tender).

When the sweet potatoes are done, drain, and let cool. After they are cooled off, add the mayo, the mustard, and some of the parsley. Gently fold in and put in the fridge until ready to eat.

Heat 2 t olive oil in a skillet. Add peppers, shallot, corn, and jalapeno (to taste). Cook, stirring occasionally,  until tender.

While the chow chow is cooking, you can cook the pork chops. Heat 2 t of olive oil in a skillet and add chops. Turn over when brown, and insure with a meat thermometer that they are done.  (will take about 10-15 min depending on the thickness of the chops) When they are done, remove from heat and let rest for 5 min

Add tomatillos and cook until softened.  

Add 1/2 cup water...

.....and cook, mashing the chow chow with the back of your spoon until thickened and saucy.






Plate your dish, garnish with remaining parsley, and voila` - a good, old-fashioned Southern dinner.

More Meatballs... Different country

OK  Remember those meatballs you made and froze during my last post?  Try them in Stroganoff....


Meatball Stroganoff

• Meatballs (either a bag of frozen Rosina meatballs, or homemade)  Generally you will need enough to cover the bottom of your large skillet... It depends on who is home.

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil    1+ Tablespoon..  just enough to brown the meatballs

• 2 c. Beef Broth  (Use more for more meatballs..  just go with it.  Don't over think it.)

• Seasoning
• Salt and Pepper to taste.  I use Sea Salt and grind some Multi-colored Peppercorns.
• Dried Herbs....about 1 T. each  parsley, oregano, basil

• 2/3 to 1 cup Sour Cream

• 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

• Wide Egg Noodles ....enough for whoever is eating

Thaw meatballs if you are using frozen.

Start water for the noodles in a big pot.

Brown the meatballs in a large skillet with the olive oil.  This is best done in a black cast iron skillet.  That is where you get all the good flavors-- especially a skillet with plenty of fond.  You can do it in any skillet, though.

After they are browned nicely, deglaze the pan with about 2 cups beef broth.  Bring to a boil.  Season generously with salt and pepper and your dried herbs.  When it has reduced (about 10 minutes or so) and the meatballs are hot clear through  (Don't let them boil dry.  You can add more broth if it looks like it is getting too dry), add the sour cream and whipping cream.  These will make the sauce creamy and act as a thickener.

Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the package directions  (or make your own noodles... that will be a different post later...  It is EASY peasy, I promise)  You want the noodles just a bit al dente.  Drain the noodles and mix together with the sauce and meatballs.  The noodles will finish cooking in the sauce and soak up a lot of all that goodness.

Serve with fresh steamed broccoli.  Yum

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

This can be homemade or almost homemade if you are in a hurry.  If you want to make it totally homemade, the best way is to make the meatballs ahead of time and freeze them.  If making semi-homemade, you can buy a 12 oz. bag of pre-made fully cooked (I suggest Rosina brand Homestyle) frozen meatballs.

Homemade Meatballs:
    *  1 lb. ground meat --your choice
    *  1 egg
    *  1/2 cup milk
    *  1 cup breadcrumbs or finely crushed cracker crumbs
    *  1 t. salt
    *  ground pepper to taste

Beat egg and milk.  Add rest of ingredients and mix thoroughly  (I use my hands)  Form about 1 inch balls.  Brown all sides in a HOT skillet with a little oil.

 Arrange in a single layer in a cake pan and cover.  Bake at 350 degrees until cooked clear through.  20 to 30 minutes depending on how long you had them in the skillet.

Alternately, you can  leave them in the skillet, pour in about a cup of water,  lower the heat and cover.  Cook until cooked clear through.  This works well in a cast iron skillet.  OR leave them in the cast iron skillet and put them in the oven.  Just cook them all the way through without browning them more.

To freeze, place cooled balls on cookie sheet so they don't touch each other.  Cover and place in freezer over night or until frozen solid.  Move to zip lock bag and store in freezer.

Sweet and Sour Meatballs:

    *  Bag of meatballs  THAWED
    *  Large green pepper cut into about 1 inch pieces.  (I also use colored pepper sometimes... they are a bit sweeter)
    *  20 oz. can pineapple tidbits
    *  3 Tablespoons cornstarch
    *  1 cup cold water
    *  3 Tablespoons cider vinegar
    *  1 Tablespoon soy sauce
    *  1/2 cup brown sugar

Drain Pineapple reserving juice.  Set chunks aside.  Add enough water to juice (if needed) to make 1 1/2 cup.  In a large skillet, combine meatballs, peppers, and juice.  Cook on medium until heated through and peppers are the crispness you like.

In the meantime, cook some rice to serve with the meatballs.

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, cold water, vinegar and soy sauce.  Whisk until smooth.  Add brown sugar and mix.  Add mixture and reserved pineapple chinks to the pan of meatballs.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 2 minutes until sauce is thickened.  If it gets too thick, add some water.  (It seems I always have to do that.)

Serve with rice.

I have made this several times, and I always say that "next time" I will double the amount of sauce.   We seem to want more...... I always forget.  I think I would use 1/3 cup cornstarch, 1/3 cup vinegar, 2 T. soy sauce and 2 cups cold water.  I would also double the brown sugar.  Maybe next time I will try this.  Remind me, OK?




    

Holy Buckets, the clan is starving.......

Someone needs to post a recipe.   It has been almost a 6 month famine......

OK, Mom's on a Roll

I made another new recipe tonight.  Kids-- you will get all of these posts in pages for your Suggestion books later, but if you want to go ahead and make them now, here is your chance......

Crockpot Italian Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts cooked and cubed
• 1 to 1 1/2 cup cooked cut broccoli
• 1 packet Zesty Italian Dressing (dry)
• 1  8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
• 2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

• Pasta  (I used Rotelli, but any shape will work.)

About cooking the chicken:  I use flash frozen chicken breasts.  I bake them in the oven, but after I cube them, I like to throw them into a screaming hot skillet with a little olive oil just long enough to give them some color.

Combine all ingredients EXCEPT pasta in crock pot.  Cook on low 4 hours.  ( I actually only cooked it 3 hours because I was late getting started, but it worked fine)  If it seems too thick, add some milk.  I did not have to do that.  Maybe after 4 hours it might be different.

Cook pasta according to package directions.  Serve Chicken mixture over pasta.  (or I just mix it all together.  I like it better that way, but it is not as "fancy schmancy.")

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

Oh yeah... you can see mushrooms in the above picture, huh?  Wow.  You are observant.  I had some fresh mushrooms I needed to use before they went bad.  I just sauteed them in butter and stirred them in when I stirred in the pasta.  You can add whatever you want... that is the reason this is just a suggestion.

Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes

OK.  Here I go messing with the mighty Philly Cheese Steak again.

Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:
l lb. ground beef
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 medium green bell pepper (seeded and chopped)
2 tablespoons steak sauce
1 cup beef broth
salt and pepper to taste

4 hamburger buns

1 Tablespoon of butter
1 Tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1 cup Provolone cheese (shredded)  (We had to chop up slices.  They don't sell shredded here)

Cooking Instructions:

1.  Brown hamburger, breaking up into small pieces while cooking.
     Add chopped onion and bell pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes, until the onion starts to become tender.  Drain excess liquid. 
     Stir in steak sauce and beef broth.  Season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil and cook until the mixture is thick and bubbly. 

2.  Melt butter in small saucepan over medium high heat.  Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute whisking constantly.  Whisk in milk and cook until mixture is thickened.  Remove from heat and stir in cheese until it is melted and incorporated in the the sauce.

3.  Butter buns and toast on hot griddle or in heavy skillet.

4.  Fill bottom bun with meat, top with cheese sauce and top sandwich.  Enjoy

Simple Mini Monkey Bread

Christopher loves Monkey Bread.  I have never made Monkey Bread until today.  The only time I ever ate Monkey Bread, the pieces I got were not done.  Unless you are Amanda, raw bread dough is disgusting, gaggy, gross, ewwwwww and all the other awful things I could say.  So when I saw this recipe for making it in muffin tins, I thought, "Hey... this way it would get done in the middle," and decided to try it.  I made an AWFUL mess, but I am getting ahead of myself.........

Simple Mini Monkey Bread

Ingredients:

12 Rhodes Dinner rolls, thawed but still cold.  (You could make your own roll dough and use that, but then it would not be as "simple" now would it?)
6 Tablespoons butter, melted  (go ahead make your own butter... but do it the day before so these are still simple.)
2 Tablespoons Karo Syrup
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons Cinnamon

Icing (I did not do this .. they are sweet enough without it)

 1 cup powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
1-2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Spray 12 cup  muffin tin really well with cooking spray.

Cut each dinner roll into 6 pieces.  I used my kitchen shears for this step.

In a bowl, combine melted butter and Karo.  Mix well.

In another bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.  Mix well.

Dip dough pieces 6 at a time first into the butter mixture, then the sugar mixture.  Place 6 pieces in each cup of the muffin tin. Repeat until they are full.

Cover with sprayed plastic wrap (oops, I did not read this part.  I did not spray the saran wrap, and it worked fine).  Set in a warm place and let rise until double in size.

Now some advice:  Don't get busy doing other stuff and let them rise too high.  I ended up with two pieces in the bottom of the oven because they rise higher when they bake, and it got claustrophobic in the cups, so the others threw them overboard.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.  I baked mine about 17.  I wanted to be sure they were done!!  Cool 3 to 4 minutes before removing from pan.  Mine did not stay together all nice like a muffin as shown on the original recipe, but we took them all out of the muffin tins (we did 36 at once because that is a package of Rhodes Roll Dough) and dumped them into a cake pan.  Now they are just like the original stuff Christopher likes, but DONE in the middle.  *I have to say, they are pretty NUMMY.






<==ours





                    The picture from the recipe.

I think next time, we will just put 3 or 4 in a cup, and not coat as thick with the sugar mixture.  Maybe then they will be "pretty" instead of just pretty tasty.  Oh, and I have to say, The muffin tins were a sticky gooey mess, plus it dripped sticky sugar all over the bottom the oven.  (Thank goodness all I have to do is set the oven to "clean" huh?)  Maybe that and the suicidal jumpers would not happen if there were fewer pieces in the muffin cups.  *BTW... the jumpers were not burned to the bottom of the oven.  They were just as good as the rest.

Note to clcphd... I know, I know..... too sweet, but that is why I left the icing off.  They are no worse than a cinnamon roll.

Banana Frittata - photos by request

Banana Frittata Part 2


So, in August, I posted a couple sentences about a use for one ripe banana. I had not thought it would be blog-worthy when I started, so there were no pictures. Dennis requested pictures. This morning, I had one ripe banana. I actually had to go to the blog to read how I had made this before, so thanks goes to Georgi for giving me a place to put all my crazy cooking logs.

Anyway, I made one substitution this morning that made this frittata non-blog-worthy, but Dennis wanted pictures.....


Ingredients:

Smash the banana and add one egg, a quarter cup of flour, a tablespoon of sugar, and a splash of milk. I substituted almond flour for the flour. This was a tasty mistake - as you will see later, the frittata batter lacked the cohesion needed to hold together for cooking. Nonetheless, I think the almond flour added to the appeal. One might try cooking a few smaller ones or using less milk when using almond flour.

I sprayed the griddle and preheated it.

Just pour it on the preheated griddle and cook on Med High for a little bit.....

It got too brown while I was trying to figure out how to turn it without breaking it. 

As you can see, all the thinking in the world did not help. 

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy! 

Doctors Without Summer Homes

Japanese Chicken & Mushroom Broth (a cure for all that ails ya)

So, here is the soup as promised....(not sure why all my pictures decided to be long and skinny)

First thing I did was to bake the wings at 375 degrees for awhile (until they were browned - about 40 minutes). Then I put them in a pot.

I chopped up some ginger (about a 4 inch piece of a root about as big around as...I don't know...enough to get a pile this big (about 3 T). I also chopped up some green onions - about a cup or so. 

I put this all in the pot with about 6 cups of water, brought it to a boil, and then, simmered it for, oh say, 30-40 minutes to get all the goodie (read healthful properties) out of the chicken bones. 

Cool it off a little so that you can stick your hands in it to fish out all the bones. 

Chop up a considerable pile of assorted mushrooms - this pile has shiitake, button, and maitake - about 2 cups. I had the pak choi ready to go in, but once I realized the healing properties of this soup, I decided to leave it out to try it without with the intention of putting it in the next day to change up the taste. Throw in the mushrooms, bring it back to a boil, turn down to simmer, and cook for about 10-15 minutes more.

I gotta say, I have now had three bowls of the stuff and have yet to say, "gee, let's change up the taste." This stuff is amazingly good (you might want to add a tad bit of salt in that last step, though). And given that it has most of the immune boosters the planet has to offer (ginger, onion, chicken marrow, chicken fat, and mushrooms), I would wager that it would cure whatever ails you. 

And of course, you can serve it up with a toasted piece of homemade bread. However, this is probably not a low cal dish so easy on the side additions! Here's to your health!!

A use for all that butter you just made...

Hey, this stuff is called CHRISTMAS CRACK.    Make it.  You will see why it is called that (Well, I don't know about the "Christmas" part...  I would make it year round.)

1   12.8 oz. box of Rice Chex cereal
1   12 oz. box of Golden Grahams cereal
1   7 oz. bag shredded coconut
1   4 oz. bag slivered almonds (notice mine are pecans instead)
1 1/2 cups butter  (yes that is 3... I said 3) sticks of butter
2 cups sugar
2 cups corn syrup

Combine cereals, coconut and nuts in a VERY LARGE bowl.  (Next time I will use a dish pan)  Stir to combine.

In a large saucepan cook butter, sugar, and corn syrup to the "soft ball" stage.  In case your mother did not teach you how to determine soft ball stage (and I don't remember that I did), this stage can be determined by dropping a spoonful of hot syrup into a bowl of very cold water. In the water, use your fingers to gather the cooled syrup into a ball. If it has reached soft-ball stage, the syrup easily forms a ball while in the cold water, but flattens once removed from the water.  Or just use a candy thermometer, and wait until the mercury is up to the soft ball line at about 234 degrees.

Remove from heat and pour onto the cereal mixture, tossing until everything is evenly coated.  Spread out on two cookie sheets to cool.  The recipe says to stir it around occasionally to keep it from "clumping," but we found it was easier to eat if we just grabbed a clump. 

Now I dare you to stay out of it long enough to need to know that it should be stored in an airtight container.  Experiment with different nuts and cereals......

Hey... You Should Make Some Butter

Now you are asking, "Why on EARTH would I make butter?"

4 reasons:
1.  Because it it FUN
2.  Because it is EASY
3.  Because it is WAYYY healthier than say....MARGARINE...   (plus it tastes a WHOLE lot better in your recipes)
and 4.  Because I said, "Hey, you should make some butter."

You need 2 things:

cheesecloth  (or any loosely woven clean cloth)
Mixer  (Use your Kitchen Aid with the wire whip)
     I suppose if you do not have a mixer with a wire whip, you can do it by hand with a whisk or with a butter churn, but that makes it work instead of the "EASY" I mentioned above.

Ingredients:  Oh wait--- there is ONLY ONE ingredient!!

Heavy cream  (How ever much you want.  You can usually plan on about half as much butter as the amount of cream you start with, depending on the fat content of the cream.)

Directions:

Whip the cream.

When you get whipped cream, DON'T STOP, just keep whipping it another 5 minutes or so.  At some point, you will hear the tell tale splashing noise indicating that it has separated.  Stop and drain the liquid. (That is the whey. You can save it and use it for recipes that call for whey, but I don't have any of those, so I just drain it off and dump it.) 


Gather up the solid parts into a cheesecloth.  Twist the top of the cloth and give it a mighty squeeze.  Squeeze  out as much liquid as you can.  Rinse under running water and squeeze again.  Rinse until the water runs clear.  If it is not rinsed well, it will spoil faster.

Look.  You have butter!!




  Now go make some cookies... or mold it into pretty blocks of butter for your next dinner party.  Or just leave it in a blob and spread it on your toast.

Beans & Chard

So, another "use-what's-in-the-fridge" night...I took a couple cans of beans (one black, one white). Drained and rinsed them. Put them in a pot with two little cups of leftover green salsa from Moe's (about 3 T), juice of one lemon (or 3 T. Real Lemon), some freshly ground sea salt and white pepper, and about 3/4 cup water.

While that was heating to a boil, I chopped up some very wilted Swiss chard that had been in my refrigerator since I got back from Africa.

When the pot was boiling, I tossed it in and cooked it until the stems were tender (about 5-10 min).

Since it has so few calories, it is fair to serve with some freshly grated parmesan and some chunks of homemade bread toasted with butter and garlic......(trust me, this was really good).

Fried Green tomatoes

Our school has a ranch run by the Special Education students as part of their Life Skills program.  They sell vegetables from it all summer, and usually have a pumpkin patch for the elementary students.  They grew lots of tomatoes this year, and many are still green.  Because it is time to shut the heat off in the greenhouse, the guy who runs the ranch gave me a bucket and told me to go out and pick what I want.  I did.  I now have a bunch of green tomatoes, and having never eaten "fried green tomatoes" I decided to give them a try.

Here is the recipe I used:  (I looked at about 10 recipes, and most of them were basically the same)

Fried green tomatoes

4 to 6 green tomatoes, cut into 1/4" slices  (some recipes say as thick as 1/2 inch)  I tried both.
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup milk
flour for dusting
Panko bread crumbs (or just make cracker crumbs in your food processor so they are really fine)
salt and pepper

In shallow dishes (I used paper plates--- easy cleanup) set up a dipping station: 
1.  flour
2.  eggs with milk mixed in
3.   Panko or cracker crumbs with salt and pepper mixed in

Heat about 1/2" oil in a large frying pan (cast iron is best) to about 375 degrees   (OK.  I did not take the temperature.  Throw in a cracker crumb and when it starts to sizzle, it is probably hot enough)

Coat both sides of each tomato slice with flour, then egg, then crumbs.  Carefully put into hot oil and cook about 3 minutes on each side until lightly browned.  (If it cooks too fast, turn the heat down, and vice versa)  Carefuly lift out of oil and drain on paper towels  (I did this on a paper plate also, stacking them with paper towels between)

If you are doing a bunch of them, you can put each batch into a 200 degree oven to keep them warm while you finish the rest.

Now here is the kicker...  I did not like them.  They are tart like a green apple (which I do not like either)  If you like green apples, you will probably like these.  I think I will let some ripen, and do this with red tomatoes and see how that works.  The problem I see with that is that as they ripen, they lose their stability, so maybe they won't hold together in the oil.  We will see.

Speaking of letting them ripen.....  Before, when we had green tomatoes, we took the entire vine with the tomatoes on it and hung them over the rafters in the cellar.  I do not have the vines this time, so I am going to try something (so they don't all ripen at once).  When I was a kid, we took the green apples off the tree and wrapped them in magazine pages or newspaper and put them in the dark in the cellar.  They ripened a few at a time, and we had apples all winter.  I am going to try that with the tomatoes.  I have read somewhere that it will work, so why not give it a try?  I will let you know what happens.

It is getting colder....

You need to make soup and crackers. 

Crock Pot Potato soup--- the Cheaters way....

Ingredients:
1 bag of frozen country style  hash browns
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 box chicken stock
 1/2 cup dried onion (or cut some fresh ones if you like)
1 pkg. (8 oz) cream cheese
Salt and pepper
                   
Directions:
Put the potatoes, stock, soup, and onion in a crockpot.  Salt and pepper to taste (I always use fresh ground pepper and sea salt).

 Cook on low for 5-6 hours.  Go do something else (like make the crackers below)

 Set out the cream cheese to soften and add it 30 minutes before serving.  Stir it in well and let cook the last 30 minutes.  Check salt and pepper levels and adjust. 
Curl up with a blanket in front of the fireplace and enjoy with the Dilly Ranch Crackers below.







 Dilly Ranch Crackers











Ingredients:
1 pkg. oyster crackers
3 T. Ranch dressing powder (or use a 1 oz. package of Ranch Dressing Mix)
1 (scant) teaspoon dill weed (or to taste.  This is a pretty strong dill flavor.)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 c. canola oil (or use vegetable oil--  I like the flavor of the canola)
Salt if you want it.  I did not.




Preheat oven to 275 degrees. 
In a large mixing bowl, combine dry Ranch, dill weed, garlic powder, salt if you want it, and oil.  Mix well.  Toss  crackers in and coat well.  Spread onto cookie sheet in one layer.

Bake for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.  Cool.  Store in Zip lock baggie when completely cool.