Easy Garlic Alfredo Sauce

Serves 4 people, makes about 2 cups of sauce.

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2 tablespoons butter

1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

4 ounces cream cheese, softened and cut into 6-8 pieces

1 cup milk

3 ounces parmesan cheese, grated (or combination with asiago)

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt, more to taste

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In a medium pot or deep skillet, melt the butter over medium low or low heat. Add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, taking care not to let the garlic burn. Add the cream cheese, stirring carefully with a whisk until the mixture is smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Add the milk gradually, about 1/4 cup at a time, whisking constantly. Stir in the Parmesan cheese (and or asiago), and pepper and stir until the cheese is melted. Continue to simmer until it reaches your desired consistency. Taste and add desired amount of salt. Serve immediately over hot, cooked noodles or cover to keep warm until ready to serve.

Adapted from melskitchencafe.com

Macaroni and Cheese

Smooth and creamy comfort food. Leftovers reheat very well. Great dish to take to a party or potluck. Recipe can easily be doubled. Serves 6.

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2 cups elbow macaroni noodles (9 oz by weight)

4 tablespoons butter 2 cups shredded orange cheddar cheese 1 can condensed cheese soup 1 cup milk (2% or whole) 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper (white or black) 1/2 teaspoon mustard

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Bring large pot of water to boil. Measure two cup of elbow macaroni (9oz by weight) and cook for 6 minutes exactly. Remove from heat and drain. While cooking the macaroni, combine the remaining ingredients in a large saucepan and heat over medium low heat until melted and well combined. Add noodles to cheese sauce and stir. Keep covered and cook on low, stirring occasionally, until noodles reach desired tenderness. Should take about 10 minutes.

If making for a potluck or party, keep warm in a slow cooker.

Slightly adapted from Sis Sister's Stuff.

Split Pea Soup with Parmesan and Sweet Potato Hash

I've always loved split pea soup, but adding the parmesan and roasted sweet potatoes just takes it over the top! This recipe uses a lot of broth and an immersion blender to make a perfectly thin and smooth texture.

Ingredients:
½ pound dried split peas
1 box chicken broth (4 cups)
1 carrot, roughly chopped
1 small onion, roughly chopped
1-3 teaspoons garlic
1-2 pieces ham or bacon, optional, remove before puree

Optional toppings:

dried or fresh parmesan cheese 

roasted sweet potato cubes (400 degrees tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper until tender)

chopped cooked bacon

croutons

sour cream

Serving Suggestions:

cornbread muffins, grilled cheese, garlic toast,

Directions

Combine all ingredients in pot and cook according to direction options below. Puree with an immersion blender until smooth. Serve immediately with optional toppings. Leftover soup with thicken. Reheat by microwave or stove top and adding water or broth to thin. 

Electric Pressure Cooker - Easiest and Fastest Method:

15 minutes high pressure, quick or natural release. Remove ham or bacon and discard. Puree with an immersion blender.

Stove Top:

Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cook covered for 45 minutes - 1hour until everything is very soft. Remove ham or bacon and discard. Puree with an immersion blender.

Slow Cooker Option: 

Cook in slow cooker on high or low for 3-4 hours, until everything is softened and ready to blend. Remove ham or bacon and discard. Puree with an immersion blender.

Updated 1-12-2020

French Onion Soup (with Chicken Broth)

This soup can be finished on the stove or in a slow cooker. The longer it cooks the softer the onions and richer the flavor. This recipe is a great variation from the traditional recipe made with beef broth. Serves 6 people. 

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4 large onions, sliced into thin rings

6 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon sugar

2 quarts chicken broth

French bread, sliced and toasted

mozzarella or romano cheese, shredded

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Melt butter in large soup pot. Add onions and cook over medium heat, for at least 15 minutes, stirring often until onions are tender and golden brown. Add sugar and cook while stirring for 1 minute. Add broth, cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 15 minute or transfer to slow cooker and cook until ready to serve. Ladle into bowls and top with toasted french bread slices and shredded mozzarella or romano cheese.

Adapted from here.

Summer Squash Bake Over Rice

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5 cups thin sliced, quartered summer squash (zuchinni or yellow mix)

1 tablespoon dried minced onion

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup sour cream

4 tablespoons melted melted butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

herb seasoning blend (fish spice or other favorite other herb medly)

French-fried onions (optional)

white rice (cooked)

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Preheat oven to 350. Sprinkle bottom of little smaller than 9X13 casserole dish with herb seasoning. Combine squash, minced onion, sour cream, cream of chicken soup, melted butter, salt, and pepper in large bowl. Pour over seasoning in the casserole dish and spread evenly. Sprinkle top with herb seasoning. Sprinkle top with fried onions. Cover and bake for 1 hour. Let sit at room temp for at least 5 minutes with lid off before serving. Spoon over white rice.

Alternate version: use 1 box stuffing mix instead of herb seasoning mix and omit all onions and rice.

Baked Tomatoes

My favorite summertime meal when our garden tomatoes are in abundance! Also works well for tomatoes from the store that aren't fully ripe and juicy, it will literally transform them!

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8 medium or large tomatoes

olive oil

garlic salt

Italian seasoning

dried Italian bread crumbs

dried parmesan cheese

fresh cracked pepper

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Preheat oven to 425. Cut top 1/4 of tomatoes off and discard and a tiny slice off the bottom if they don't sit flat. Remove very center core of each tomato and discard. Place in lightly greased baking dish. Brush tops with olive oil. Sprinkle garlic salt, Italian seasoning, and fresh cracked pepper on top of each tomato. Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour until very soft and starting to brown. Remove from oven and sprinkle bread crumbs and parmesan cheese on top. Bake for an additional 5 minutes or broil for 2 minutes. Serve immediately over a bed of pasta. 

Broccoli Spinach Soup

I saw this recipe in the Real Simple magazine while waiting for my car to be fixed. I looked it up online and read the reviews and saw it might need some adaptation to make it more flavorful. I made it tonight with a few changes and it was excellent. It's a keeper and it's pretty healthy. It primarily tastes like brocoli as the spinach flavor came out to be pretty subtle. I served it with these breadsticks.

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1 med onion, chopped
4 T butter
1/2 t salt
few cracks of pepper

1 box chicken broth (about 4 cups)
2 cups water
2 chicken bouillon cubes

1 large or 2 small heads of brocoli, chopped
1 large potato, peeled and chopped
1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 bag of spinach leaves (about 5 oz)

Additional seasoned salt to taste and sour cream for serving.

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Saute onion, butter, salt, and pepper over med high heat in a large stock pot until onions are tender (about 10 minutes). While sauteing onions chop the broccoli and potato.

Add chicken broth, water, and bouillon cubes to pot and bring to boil. Add broccoli, potato, and garlic and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until vegetables are very tender. Add spinach and stir until wilted.

Puree soup with immersion blender (I wish I had one) or in batches in a blender or food processor.

***If you are using a blender or food processor let it cool a little first or carefully do small batches as hot liquid can cause the lid of the blender to pop off and you might be burned (no experience here). This time I did small batches and held down a layer of towels over the blender lid to prevent any accidents.

Pour through strainer back into stock pot to get rid of any remaining chunks. Reheat if necessary and add any additional salt/pepper or your favorite seasoned salt to taste.

Serve each bowl with a dollop of sour cream.

Creamy Cheesy Potato and Vegetable Soup

I really like vegetable cream soups but most of the recipes I have tried turn out ok but not amazing like what you get at some restaurants. So last week I decided to make some cheesy potato soup and just happened to have some left over heavy cream in the fridge and decided to use it up instead of using regular milk like I usually do. The difference was amazing! This soup tasted ten times better than any other cream soup I have made before.

Since I basically made it up I figured I should jot down the recipe before I forgot so here it is. I used potatoes, carrots, and zuchinni, but you could use any other vegetables in place of the zuchinni like broccoli or cauliflower.

1 box chicken broth (they sell them at my Dollar Tree for $1, best deal ever, so check out yours)
about 10 small yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed (or about 2-3 cups of any cubed potato)
3 carrots, peeled and sliced into circles
1 zuchinni chopped into small bite size pieces

In a large pot bring chicken broth to boil and add carrots. Boil about 3-5 minutes. I added the carrots first because they tend to take longer to cook than the other vegetables. Add potatoes and cook until you can easily poke them with a fork or toothpick (but not falling apart, about 8-10 minutes). Add zuchinii or other vegetables and cook until tender then turn down to simmer. 

While cooking the vegetables make the Cheesy Cream Part in a small sauce pan:

1/2 stick butter
1 cup heavy cream
3 T corn starch dissolved in some cold water
1 tsp seasoned salt (like Lawry's)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1-2 cups shredded orange cheese

Melt butter and slowly whisk in the cream over medium heat. Slowly add the dissolved corn starch and let simmer until it starts to thicken, stirring frequently. Add the seasonings and stir in 1 cup cheese until melted. Slowly pour cream mixture into the pot of broth and vegetables and stir well until everything is well mixed and heated. Then add up to 1 cup more cheese and stir until well melted and mixed in.

Serve with bacon bits if you have them (even the fake kind are good in this soup).