Dump Soup

Have you ever looked into your pantry or refridgerator and thought, good grief what can I make with all these random ingredients?? Well that was TOTALLY me this week! I have been trying to use up some items in my pantry so I decided to just dump a BUNCH of stuff in a pot and call it soup....I was really thinking that this would taste horrible - HONESTLY!  But it turned out to be amazing! It's a little spicy so if you're making it for the kiddos, you may want to leave out a green chili or two ;)  

So for my benefit (and anyone else who may want to read this!) I'm typing it out - sadly I didn't even take a picture :(

Dump Soup - by Christy Msal :) (original no?)

*Do not drain any of your canned items!

2 cans diced Tomatoes with chilies
1 large can diced tomatoes
2 packets of onion soup mix
1 14 oz can beef broth
1 bag mixed frozen veggies
1/2 bag frozen green beans
1 small can diced green chilies
1/4 cup rice
1/2 tsp of garlic powder (I know right? I didn't have any fresh on hand! so unlike me!)

Put it all in a pan and let it get HOT took me about an hour or so - when it's hot strain out about 1/2 of the veggies with a slotted spoon and use the immersion blender to blend them until smooth. I'm sure a regular blender would work too - I just wanted to use my immersion blender ;) Caution - if you use a regular blender hold down the lid with a towel or something to protect your hand from the steam, and to hold the lid on - if you don't hold down the lid your blender WILL explode hot veggies ALL OVER YOUR KITCHEN...yes, I speak from experience! Then add 1-2 tsp of cornstarch to blended veggies - blend again so you don't have any clumps. The cornstarch will help thicken the soup. Return blended veggies to soup, mix well.  Continue to cook soup on low for another 2-4 hours until it starts to get thick (more like a chili)

Serve with shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream (although Brian liked it without anything extra!)

So there you go - that's what we had for dinner the last few nights :) Something I REALLY had no hope in WHATSOEVER, turned out amazing :)  FOR THE WIN!!!

March 5

Movie Monday!  This is SO hilarious - because it's TRUE! Thankfully I haven't got this infection........ yet ;)







Today I tackled a BUNCH of freezer meals - and I"m not even 1/2 way done :) I mainly did just the chicken recipes tonight - but here are the recipes that are heading to our freezer soon! 

Here are links to all the meals that I'm doing - lots of work, but hopefully it will be worth it to save some $$ and have everything ready for me! 

TIP: Alot of these recipes call for SHREDDED chicken - if you have a KitchenAid mixer - put your cooked chicken breasts in your bowl and use your PADDLE attachement - it shreds chicken SO fast - So happy I saw that pin on pinterest! 

Oh and yes, most of these I did find off of pinterest - you can see pictures there if you'd like (under my board "make ahead meals") - or just just follow these links. 

I am making all 10 of these recipes - she has an excel form that is downloadable - and it has a shopping list AND she created it so that you can put in how many people you need to feed and it will change the amount of ingredients you need for EACH recipe - she is one smart cookie!!

 http://dreamingofpoultry.com//content/10-freezer-meals-1-day

The Hawwiian Pork recipe - I didn't cook the pork before freezing it - I put it raw into a ziplock bag and put the juices and everything else in the bag - it can marinate while it freezes/thaws, and I don't mind throwing it in the crockpot on the day we'll have it for dinner. 

Here are the other recipes I'm doing - and only one of them was recommended to me (by the lovely Johanna P!) 

Hawaiian Chicken: http://pinterest.com/pin/251216485433911565/ (this one doesn't have a recipe - but basically it's all 3 ingredients in the picture - and you serve it over rice - this one is fantastic, I've made it before! Also - I just froze the chicken breasts separate, and have the BBQ sauce and the pineapple in my cupboard for future use)

Healthy Mama BBQ Chicken: http://mamaandbabylove.com/2011/04/05/freezer-cooking-with-slow-cooker-recipes/ - this one makes 2 meals worth - YAY! 

Smothered Pork Chops: http://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/05/smothered-pork-chops.html

Lazy Lasagna Chili - http://pregnant.livejournal.com/17071127.html

Chicken Spaghetti - http://pregnant.livejournal.com/17071127.html - this one makes 2 meals worth!! 

Baked ziti - http://pregnant.livejournal.com/17071127.html

Pork Chops Pizzaoila - http://joelens.blogspot.com/2011/09/pork-chops-alla-pizzaiola.html

Honey Spice glazed pork chops - http://joelens.blogspot.com/2011/10/honey-spice-glazed-pork-chops.html

Mini – Cheeseburger Meatloafs - http://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/01/mini-cheeseburger-meatloaves.html

Chicken Parm Meatloaf - http://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/06/chicken-parmesan-meatloaf.html

Chicken Chili - http://annies-eats.com/2010/03/10/chicken-chili/

White Bean Chicken Chili - http://annies-eats.com/2008/09/25/white-bean-chicken-chili/

Make 4-5 pizza dough recipes – freeze dough & buy toppings - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/quick-and-easy-pizza-crust/detail.aspx - this dough recipe is REALLY good! 

Creamy Chicken Taquitos  - http://annies-eats.com/2011/04/27/creamy-chicken-taquitos/ - this makes alot if you don't stuff the tortillas ;) 

I put everything in ziplock bags and freeze them as flat as I can - I can usually get 20+ meals in a regular fridge freezer.  I am in NO WAY an expert at this - but feel free to ask questions if you have them ;) If I don't know the answer I'll ask my friend Jessica - she IS the expert on this!! 

Also - I've only tried one of these recipes - but they looked like food that we would normally eat - and Brian checked off on them all ;)  So I'll come back and let everyone know if we end up liking them or not ;) 

Feb 5

So here are the promised pictures from my amazing weekend in MN - seriously I had SO MUCH FUN!

I love my girl's nights with these ladies - they refresh my soul :)

And here are a few pictures from my Pampered Chef Conference:
Currently I'm trying to earn a FREE trip to Nashville - So here is my incentive picture!

These ladies were all awarded during the conference - I want to say they were in the top 20 in sales for 2011

Of course today is The Superbowl - so Brian and I made some yummy foods he took to a Superbowl party.   These are the baked Zucchini Sticks with Marinara sauce - home made of course ;)  They are SUPER easy to make and super delicious - and weight watcher friendly - yay :)

First off I get the sauce going - simmering on the stove using my AMAZING Pampered Chef Executive Cookware. 

Then I cut up the zucchini with a super secret new PC product coming March 1st! 

 Then dip the zucchini into an egg mixture, then a bread crumb coating using PC's Coating Tray and tool 

 Then you cook them up on a PC stone

SO DELICIOUS!! Yum!

The recipe is found HERE

What is your favorite Superbowl Recipe?

Squeeek.....

Squeeeekkkk.........(looks around the door) is anyone still here?  Like I said in the beginning - I knew I wouldn't blog every day - but I really didn't think it would be MONTHS before you heard from me - sorry about that!

I was feeling quite domestic today and I thought I would share a delicious recipe with you - because, well, it's amazing :)

This recipe comes from The Pampered Chef's new "Cookbook For A Cause volume 2" that came out on September 1st.  It's chalked full of recipes from TLC's Stars and it benefits Feeding America!  For each cookbook sold The Pampered Chef will donate $1 to Feeding America to help provide eight meals to those in need.  The cookbook only costs $3 - so it's a super cheap way to help those in need - AND get some yummy recipes!! To purchase you can visit THIS website.



The Recipe I made was Randy's Blueberry-Lemon Scones (he's the star from Say Yes to the Dress)

Ingredients:
2 cups unbleadched all-purpose flour
1 TBSP baking powder
5-6 TBSP sugar
1 lemon's zest
1/2 tsp salt
5 TBSP COLD unsalted butter
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries - unthawed
1 cup heavy cream (plus a little extra)
Raw Sugar

1. Pre-Heat oven to 425'
 (this isn't in the recipe - but right now I cut up the butter into little chunks and stick it in the freezer until I'm going to use it - for tender, flaky scones the butter should be VERY cold when cutting it into the dry ingredients)


2. In a large mixing bowl, stir in: flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and lemon zest


3. With your fingertips, mix in 5 TBSP cold unsalted butter cut into 1/4-inch cubes.  Mix together until consistency of course meal with a few slightly larger butter lumps.





4. Stir in fresh or frozen blueberries and heavy cream






5. on a floured surface, form into ball and pat into an 8-inch circle, about 3/4 of an inch thick


6. Brush top and sides with heavy cream, and then sprinkle generously with raw sugar




7. Cut into 8 triangles (like you would slice a pie)


8. Spray baking sheet lightly with cooking spray and wipe of excess with a paper towel (I used my baking stone - so no extra oil there!)





9. Bake on cookie sheet at 425' for 12-15 minutes (the stone takes a little longer more like 17 minutes) until lightly golden


10. Resist eating them immediately. Let them rest about 10 minutes to firm up. ENJOY!!

 

 And just for the fun of it (and I didn't want to waste the rest of my heavy cream) I made butter for the first time since kindergarten! LOL it was fun, and it's delicious! ;) I sorta kinda not really used THIS  recipe/directions  - now if I could only buy raw milk in Iowa I would make my own ALL the time....Iowa needs to fix that!
 

Hopefully it won't be months before you hear from me again! Let me know how you enjoy these scones!!

Cooking with Christy #1

If you have known me for any period of time you would know that I am in love with Lisa Lillian aka Hungry Girl.

I first fell in love with her when I randomly bought her cookbook at a Bed Bath & Beyond.  I made her pumpkin caramel cupcake/muffin and was like 'WHERE HAS SHE BEEN ALL MY LIFE?"  and then I tried her Lettuce Cups - they were 10 times better than PF Changs.   

Everything she makes is low fat/calorie - and almost everything I've made from her cookbooks has been amazing!

So needless to say when I heard she was coming out with yet another cookbook - you know I HAD to buy it!  I have been trying different recipes the last 2 weeks and I thought I would share one with you :)

PUMPKIN PIE OATMEAL PARFAIT -
from Hungry Girl's 300 under 300 by Lisa Lillian
"The invention of oatmeal parfaits was a stroke of genius. This pumpkin pie version will leave you speechless" 


Per serving (entire recipe=1 serving)
292 Calories
7.25g fat
542mg sodium,
51g carbs,
7g fiber
7.5g sugars
7g protein

**(I made 4 servings at one time - so the pictures will show MUCH more than one serving)**

INGREDIENTS:
Oatmeal:
1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze milk
1/3 cup canned pure pumpkin
2 no-calorie sweetener packets (I used sugar)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup water
dash of salt

Parfait:
1 - 60 calorie sugar free vanilla pudding snack
1 sheet (4 crackers) low-fat honey graham crackers, roughly crushed (I used cinnamon grahams - and they were yummy!)
Optional Topping: fat free reddi-wip

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients for oatmeal in a small nonstick pot on the stove.

 

Mix Well.

Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer.

Stir often to prevent burning:

Cook for 9 minutes, stirring often, until somewhat thick and creamy (it will thicken more upon chilling) Allow to cool slightly. (Think Cake Mix - not Oatmeal at this point)
 Transfer to a bowl,

cover

and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 1/2 hours.

To Make the Parfait:

Stir oatmeal throughly until uniform in texture.
Spoon half of the oatmeal into a tall glass, (I put it in a zip-lock bag so I wouldn't get the glass messed up - same for the pudding)

 

and top with half of the pudding snack

 and half of the crushed graham crackers.

 

Repeat with remaining oatmeal, pudding and crushed cracker.  

Top with reddi-wip, if you like and dig in!

My notes:

This recipe was REALLY good, and I got my hubby to eat oatmeal ;)  Like I said above I used sugar instead of sweetener.   I also made 4 servings at once - and stuck it in the freezer for 2 hours to chill it - if you were planning on putting it in the fridge and making multiple servings plan for more "chill" time.  My husband would have liked a more flavorful oatmeal - so I'm thinking next time adding more cinnamon, maybe some nutmeg.  Over all - VERY YUMMY!

Does anyone elses cookbooks look like this when you are done with a recipe? All of mine do!

(this was also the recipe/shopping trip that got me thinking about making all these things home-made, like pudding, whip cream etc...) 

Out with the Pre-Made in with the Home-Made

I am always striving to make meals from scratch - which I always thought that from "scratch" meant throwing a bunch of stuff in a bowl/pan and making it yourself instead of using a boxed item. This included a can of soup, or taco mix etc... I don't know why it took me SO long to realize that why you are making it at home - it's not really "From Scratch" know what I mean?  Now please don't take this as I don't EVER use boxed items - because if you looked in my pantry right now you'll find some - they are nice to have on hand when I don't have time or energy to do all the prep-work ;)

So I've been searching for recipes to make my own mixes instead of buying them pre-made. Here are a few that I've found:

Alton Brown's Hot Chocolate Mix: This is simply amazing - SOOO much better than the little packets you buy in the store! And very simple to make!  I did find it was actually too rich for me - so I use about 1/2 of the mix that he suggests.

Taco Seasoning: I haven't tried this one yet since I have a few packets still in my cupboard - but I'm excited about trying it!

Macaroni & Cheese: This is FABULOUS!! SOO yummy!  Much better than the boxed version! (next I'll need to start making my own pasta!)

Fruit Snacks : Can I tell you I'm addicted to fruit snacks - 100% addicted. I LOVE them. But I know they aren't the best thing for me - so I went searching for a recipe and low and behold they look SO simple to make! I'm excited to try these at some point!

Crackers: Here is a basic cracker recipe - I haven't tried it yet. I've heard good and bad things about making your own crackers so I'm a little scared ;)

Cream of Chicken Soup: Another recipe I haven't tried yet. I am wondering if I were to make a HUGE batch of this - do you think I could can it, and use as needed?

Condensed Cream of ________ Soups: I am so excited to try this recipe - because I have been trying to get away from buying canned soups - the sodium content is SO high - plus I know EXACTLY what I'm putting in the soup!

Yogurt & Pudding: I Never even THOUGHT to make these by myself - crazy, they both look pretty easy!

Ranch Dressing : This one will be a hard switch since my husband and I ADORE Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing - anyone have a recipe that tastes the same as Hidden Valley?

Mustard, Ketchup & Mayonnaise (I wonder if I could exchange the safflower oil for coconut oil in the mayo??) 

Hamburger or Hot dog buns - anyone have a recipe that is light & fluffy like the store bought ones?

Evaporated Milk  & Sweetend Condensed milk : - I didn't know I COULD make my own!

I know I could go on and on with this list - but I'll stop here. I'd love to hear what types of things you have stopped buying pre-made! Please share your recipes!!