“Baked” Potato Soup

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One of my favorite appliances in my kitchen are my Crockpots! I use them a lot. It is so easy to prep dinner while my son is eating lunch. I simply turn it on, and dinner is pretty much done. I love not having to worry about dinner once 5 o’clock rolls around.

 “Baked” Potato Soup 


Ingredients
5 lbs. Russet Potatoes, peeled & chopped into cubes
1 lb. Ham, cubed (I simply buy one of those air sealed packages of cubed ham at the store)
1 1/2 C. chopped onion
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
48 oz. container chicken broth
1/4 C. butter
2 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. pepper
1 C. whipping cream
1 C. shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
 1. Combine first 8 ingredients in crock pot. Cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 8 hours. (Make sure you have a BIG crockpot, mine is a 5 or 6 quart, and it was plenty big).
2. Mash mixture until potatoes are coarsely chopped and soup is slightly thickened. Stir in cream and cheese. 3. Top with additional cheese and/or sour cream if desired.

This makes a ton, but if you’re like me…. you’ll be happy to have a yummy soup to eat for lunch all week!

** The soup pictured did not have any cheese in it, it tasted great without!

Beef Stroganoff

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There are definitely fancier stroganoff recipes, but this is perfect for a quick weeknight meal and it’s kid-friendly (at least, there is only one ingredient my 7-year-old picks out – the onions).

Simply slice a half-cup of onion (the recipe says to chop, but I keep ’em big so my daughter can easily find them) and your red meat of choice. Sautee them ’til cooked through in a pan with a little vegetable oil, or I sometimes just spray the pan with cooking spray because it’s gonna get pretty juicy in there.


Then you’ll add the soup, sour cream and paprika. Feel free to add more paprika; it really makes the dish. Mix together well and heat through.

[I don’t have a picture of those added ingredients because I ended up transferring this to a larger pan. Maybe you suspected that was going to happen.]

Then you dish out some of these yummy egg noodles onto plates and top with the stroganoff.

Beef Stroganoff

1 lb. boneless beef sirloin steak
1/2 cup chopped* onions
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp paprika
Hot cooked egg noodles

1. Cut steak into thin slices across the grain.
2. Brown the steak and onions in a small amount of oil.
3. Add soup, sour cream and paprika. Mix and heat until smooth.
4. Serve over noodles.

*Or large slices if someone wants to be able to pick them out.

Source: My mom, Beverly

Three Cheese Roasted Vegetables

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This is one of our family’s favorite side dishes and is actually healthy and easy to prepare.  I read an article–I think it was Family Circle, but it could have been Woman’s Day–by a mother who was trying to prepare healthy, tasty food for her family.  I clipped several of her recipes so maybe you will see some more in future blogs.  This recipe is also visually appealing.  Try it.

Ingredients:
2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 medium carrots, pared and cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon each basil and oregano, crushed
1/4 teaspoon each salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups (8-oz.) 4-cheese blend (I use Mexican)

1.  Place potatoes and carrots in greased 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Drizzle with oil; sprinkle with basil, oregano, salt and pepper.  Toss lightly to coat.
2.  Bake at 425 for 20 minutes.  Add zucchini, red pepper and garlic; stir vegetables.  Return to oven and bake 20 minutes more, until vegetables are tender.
3.  Sprinkle with cheese; return to oven about 2 minutes more to melt the cheese.

This could have been a full picture including a lovely dish, but we dug in before I could get the shot!

TIP:  When I need to save time, I cut up my vegetables ahead of time and place them in plastic bags and store in the fridge until I am ready to use them.


Source:  Family Circle or Woman’s Day Magazine, 1990’s


Spinach Salad

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After all of the holiday treats I have been eating, I thought I probably should throw in a salad..or 3! This spinach salad was served at our Relief Society Enrichment Night (women’s group at church) with lasagna and garlic buttered french bread. It was really delicous! I changed the recipe to fit our likes and thought I’d share it with ya’ll! The recipe calls for oil, but was substituted with water! So refreshing!

SALAD:
1 pkg. of spinach
1 pkg of iceburg garden salad
1 small red onion, 1tsp grated for dressing and slice the rest
1/2 lb. any white cheese
1/2 lb. bacon crumbled

DRESSING:
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vinegar
1/2 cup oil OR 1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. grated red onion
1/2 tsp. dry mustard

Dump all of the salad packages into a huge bowl. Slice red onion over top and sprinkle cheese and bacon over top. Toss with dressing..really well!

Maple Hill Manor Harvest Day Soup

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Ingredients:

1 lb. sausage
1 onion, finely chopped
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 (15 oz) cans pumpkin
2 t. lemon juice
2 cups hot milk
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. cinnamon
salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley

Directions:

1. In large frying pan, brown and crumble sausage.

2. Remove sausage and saute onion in drippings.

3. In large pot or crock pot, add all ingredients.

4. Heat until hot.

5. Serve sprinkled with parsley.

Source: bedandbreakfast.com

Crockpot Cubed Steak

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My aunt would make this and my uncle would rave about it. My mom finally got the “recipe” from her and it was delicious. This is one of my favorites on Sunday (is there anything more wonderful than lunch/dinner just waiting on you to get home from church?).

Crockpot Cubed Steak

desired number of cubed steaks
Lipton onion soup (approximately 1 package for every 4-5 steaks)
cream of mushroom soup (approximately 2 cans for every 4-5 steaks)
Your crockpot

1-Put the cubed steak in the crockpot
2-Pour onion soup mix on top of cubed steak
3-Cover with cream of mushroom soup.
4-Can turn crockpot on low or high-it just depends on how fast you want it ready.

We serve this with rice and usually sauteed green beans. It’s a pretty easy recipe. It makes its own gravy and you just kind of “eye ball” how much of the soup mix and cream of mushroom soup you want.

Source: Patti Branham

Creamy Potato-Cheese Soup

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Does winter have you chilled to the bone? A bowl of this easy soup will warm you right up!

Ingredients:
6 to 8 large baking potatoes
4 celery stalks, chopped (optional)
1 onion, chopped (optional)
2/3 C. flour
2/3 C. butter
2 C. milk
4 C. chicken broth
8- 12 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 C. sour cream
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 C. chopped green onion to garnish
Directions:
1. Peel and cube potatoes to desired size for soup. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add potatoes, celery and onion (if desired) to the boiling water and cook until tender (about 10-15 minutes depending on the size of the potato cubes).
2. Using a colander, drain the water from the vegetables.
3. Place the empty pot on the stove at medium heat and combine butter and flour to make a roux. Cook for 1 minute, roux will be bubbly and thick.
4. Slowly whisk in milk, and chicken broth. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Add the potatoes (and celery/onion if using), bacon, and cheese to the soup. Mix well.
6. When the cheese is melted, stir in the sour cream. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
7. Garnish bowls of soup with chopped green onion and any leftover bacon pieces and cheese.
The soup will be thick. Add a touch of milk to reheat leftovers.

Take Care of It Now

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When I was a young child I did not like doing certain chores. I would often go to great efforts to make it appear that I had completed my task when it would have been much easier to do it right the first time. I would have to go back and “redo” things. My parents would say “if you take care of it now you don’t have to worry about it”. I have said something similar to my own children telling them they will also have more free time to do other things.

I believe that there are times in life where we put more effort in trying to explain why we can’t do something instead of just getting started on what we need to do. I have reflected on this much over the past year especially as it pertains to the gospel and life.

In his early teen years our oldest son decided to read the scriptures everyday for a year. When he had completed that goal it had become such a part of him that it was just part of his day. It is even more of a benefit to him now as he is serving a full time mission. At that time, I didn’t want him to be the only one reading every day instead of most days, so, I started out small – just a month, then two until I had read everyday for a year. It really makes difference in my day.

Asking myself what else do I need to take care of now I realized that ” Taking care of things now” fits in many situations. If we repent now, forgive now, read our scriptures each day – now, Keep the Sabbath Day Holy – now, show more kindness now, help someone now, follow the promptings of the spirit now, etc. we are blessed. We have more “freedom”. There is protection in obedience to the laws of the gospel. We gain more knowledge when we study the scriptures but most importantly we become more Christ like.

I generally don’t make New Years resolutions just adjustments along the way. However, my goal this year is to take care of more things now. To take care of what is essential first, to enjoy family and friends more and the rest will fall in line.

Happy New year to you and your family!

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