January 12, 2012: Low Cal Potato Cheese Soup Recipe

Although cheese isn’t the most diet-friendly food, it is packed with protein and you can’t deny yourself (myself) all the time. This recipe is very filling; a little cheese goes a long way.

Low Cal Potato Cheese Soup

1 t. butter

¼ cup chopped white onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 green onions, chopped

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced

1 small Roma tomato, peeled and diced

1 roasted green chile, peeled and diced

3 red potatoes, cut into 1 ½” chunks

1 cup water

1 t. chicken bouillon

2 ounces Velveeta cheese, cubed

½ t. garlic salt

½ t. black pepper

1 cup 1% milk

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add white onion, garlic, white parts of green onions, and celery. Sauté for five minutes, until vegetables begin to soften. Stir in tomato, green chile, and potatoes. Add water and chicken bouillon; bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium low, gently boiling potatoes for about 15 minutes or until soft.

Add cubes of cheese, salt, pepper and milk. Reduce heat to low and stir together just until cheese melts. To serve, top bowls of soup with green onions.

Serves 2 – 4 (two as a main dish, four as a side dish or appetizer) with calories of approximately 265 in a one-cup serving.

Tip: For a thicker soup, let it cool, then reheat slowly over low heat.

December 30, 2011: Biscuits and Sausage Gravy Recipe

While I had company for Christmas last week, I made everyone breakfast one morning that consisted of biscuits and sausage gravy along with hash browns. The hash browns were dehydrated – we get them from a store in Clay Springs that sells lots of “survival” type food and containers. All you do is add a bit of hot water and they reconstitute so you can fry them. Those hash browns are very tasty!

When everyone ate the biscuits and sausage gravy I got lots of compliments and even one, “Those are the best biscuits and gravy I’ve ever tasted” from my dear father-in-law (and he’s old enough to have tasted lots of biscuits and gravy!). I think the secret to these being so good was the addition of whipping cream. Try this recipe and see if you don’t get compliments, too.

Biscuits and Sausage Gravy Recipe

2 cans Pillsbury Grands biscuits

2 pounds breakfast sausage roll, such as Jimmy Dean

1/3 cup flour

2 cups 2% milk

1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 t. dried sage

Prepare the biscuits as directed on the can.

Meanwhile, cook sausage in a large skillet over medium heat. Drain excess fat, reserving at least a couple tablespoons in bottom of skillet. Sprinkle sausage with flour. Cook and stir for a couple minutes to thoroughly cook flour so it doesn’t taste raw. Slowly add the milk and cream, stirring constantly. Add the seasonings. Slowly bring to a boil. Boil, stirring constantly, for about five minutes, until gravy is the right consistency. You may need to add additional milk if the gravy is too thick.

To serve, spoon sausage gravy over hot biscuits, sliced in half.

Serves 8 – 10

December 3, 2011: Rice Alfredo Recipe

If you want to sneak more veggies in to the food your family eats, this recipe for a yummy rice side dish just might fit the bill. Because the cauliflower is the same color as the rice, chances are no one will even notice it's there!

Alfredo rice served as a side dish with Parmesan Chicken and fresh green beans.

Rice Alfredo

1/2 cup white rice
1/3 cup finely chopped cauliforets
1/2 t. dehydrated garlic
1/2 t. garlic salt
1/2 t. dried parsley
1 cup water
1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup prepared Alfredo sauce (or just use bottled, such as Ragu)
1 T. butter
2 T. milk

In a medium sized saucepot, add rice, cauliflower, garlic, parsley, garlic salt and water. Bring to a boil; cover and reduce heat to simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes, until rice is done. Add pepper, butter, Alfredo sauce and milk. Heat through.

Serves 3 - 4

November 30, 2011: Meatballs in Mushroom Sauce Recipe

Here’s a favorite winter dish in my family – Meatballs in Mushroom Sauce. It’s hearty, filling and quite delicious. I usually serve it over plain, buttered white rice because that’s what my husband prefers, but feel free to spoon it over the top of buttered egg noodles or mashed potatoes. The leftovers are even better!

Meatballs in Mushroom Sauce

1 recipe Meatballs

4 ounces fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced

1/3 cup diced onions

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 t. Worcestershire sauce

1 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

¼ cup milk

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Prepare meatballs as directed in my Baked Meatballs recipe but instead of baking, fry them in a large or electric skillet. When cooked through, remove to a paper towel lined plate. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of drippings. Add mushrooms and onions and sauté over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add remaining ingredients. Cook just until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Serve over hot rice, noodles or mashed potatoes.

Serves 4

November 25, 2011: Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

When you need a little something to fuel your Black Friday shopping, try making these homemade cinnamon rolls the night before (or even several days earlier and store them in the freezer until ready to thaw).

My recipe for cinnamon rolls simply uses a basic sweet roll recipe that is spread with lots of butter, cinnamon and sugar.

Cinnamon Rolls

Yeast dough:

½ cup milk

¼ cup sugar

2 t. salt

3 T. butter

3 packages yeast (6 ¾ teaspoons)

1 ½ cups warm water

5 – 6 cups flour

Place milk, sugar, salt and butter in small saucepan. Heat over low heat until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool to lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water in warmed bowl of a stand mixer. Add lukewarm milk mixture and 4 ½ cups flour. Attach bowl and dough hook to mixer. Mix on Speed 2 for about one minute. Add flour, half cup at a time, and continue to mix until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl, about 2 minutes. Knead on Speed 2 about two minutes longer until dough is smooth and elastic. Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and and let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 15 minutes.

Filling:

1 stick butter, melted

½ cup sugar

¼ cup cinnamon

Mix together sugar and cinnamon.

Roll dough out on floured surface to large rectangle, about 12 x 24 inches. Brush with melted butter; sprinkle with sugar-cinnamon mixture.

Starting with long side, roll up into a cylinder shape. With a very sharp knife, cut pieces one inch thick. Place on one or two buttered baking sheets with rims. Cover and let rise until doubled, about a half hour.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Bake cinnamon rolls for 15 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Allow rolls to cool. If you are freezing the rolls, place cooled, unfrosted rolls in airtight containers and store in freezer.

To frost cinnamon rolls, stir together 2 cups powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla and about 3 tablespoons milk or water. Adjust as necessary to make a medium thin frosting that easily drips from a spoon. Drizzle over top of warm rolls.

Makes about 24 rolls.

October 31, 2011: Canadian Cheese Soup Recipe

Happy Halloween! Are you dressing up this year? Do you have kids you’ll be taking out trick or treating tonight? Stay safe and have fun!

If you’re planning a special menu for the ghouls and goblins in your life and want a black and orange food theme, try making this soup which fulfills the orange part of your menu. You might want to serve it with black olives and black grapes (which are on sale at Safeway today).

Canadian Cheese Soup

2 T. butter

½ cup finely chopped carrots

¼ cup finely chopped celery

¼ cup finely chopped onion

¼ cup flour

2 cups milk

1 ½ cups chicken broth

Dash paprika

Salt and pepper

1 ½ cups shredded American cheese

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium low heat. Add vegetables and sauté until tender. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute to ensure it’s well incorporated. Slowly stir in milk and chicken broth. Add paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly. Stir in the cheese and continue stirring until melted. Do not boil.

Serves 4 as a side dish, 2 as a main dish.

October 25, 2011: Baked Meatballs Recipe

I’ve recently figured out that there’s an easier way to cook both bacon and meatballs – and that’s by baking them. Cooking these meats on a baking sheet in the oven results in less mess and actually should be healthier because you can drain away all of the grease.

I had a large jar of leftover homemade pizza sauce recently. In order to transform it into spaghetti sauce, I thinned it down with water and added these baked meatballs to give it extra Italian flavor.

Baked Meatballs

1 T. dehydrated minced onion

1 T. Italian seasoning

1 t. garlic salt

1 slice of day old sandwich bread, torn into small chunks (the heel works great)

¼ cup milk

1 egg

1 T. ketchup

1 pound 80% lean ground beef

Combine onion, garlic salt, Italian seasoning, bread cubes and milk in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Let stand for five minutes to rehydrated ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and mix with thoroughly with your hands.

Shape balls out of the meat mixture (make them small or large, depending on your preference. Mine were medium-sized and I made about 13 of them with this recipe; you'd get about twice as many by making them walnut-sized or half as many by making them the size of tennis balls).

Place on a baking sheet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake in a 400 degree oven about 20 minutes, or until completely browned. Add to spaghetti sauce during last half hour of simmering.

 Note: You can also use a half pound of ground beef and a half pound of Italian sausage, if desired.