Baked Potato Soup

It wasn’t really a babysitting day.  Josh is in town, so we wanted to come eat with Jami.  He held Harlee while we cooked.  Baked Potato Soup and… you guessed it…. Cornbread!

Harlee fell asleep in Uncle Josh's arms

Jami was in charge of frying up bacon to put in the soup; however, she didn’t watch it well enough and she burned the bacon. 

This turned out to be a great way to test the smoke detectors!  Had to open the window too... whoops...

That wasn’t good, but Josh and I nibbled on it anyway.  So it was up to me to cook bacon, and boy did it turn out good.  Sometimes, nothing beats a greasy, crispy piece of bacon.  MmmmMM!

After the bacon was done, I finished stirring up cornbread and Jami finished the soup.  Just for fun, I sprinkled some bacon pieces into the cornbread.  Didn’t turn out too bad!

Cornbread muffin with bacon drizzled with maple syrup

Dinner was overall terrific and the perfect meal for a chilly winter night.  Harlee fell asleep during preparation and watched Blues Clues during dinner.  What a great boy!

We enjoyed some beer after dinner and Harlee seemed to want to join in on it...

He's happy hanging out with Uncle Josh!

Baked Potato Soup
     (taken from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-potato-soup/detail.aspx)

3 bacon strips, diced
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 cups chicken broth
2 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup half-and-half cream
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Minced fresh parsley

In a large saucepan, cook bacon until crisp, and watch it so it doesn't burn, haha. Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings. Set bacon aside.
Saute onion and garlic in the drippings until tender. Stir in flour, salt, basil and pepper; mix well. 

Gradually add broth. Bring to boil; boil and stir for 2 minutes.

Add the potatoes (we used Yukon Gold potatoes because we had them on hand), cream and hot pepper sauce; heat through but do not boil.  Mash the potatoes and stir until soup reaches desired thickness.

Serve into bowls and garnish with bacon, cheese and parsley.

Cornbread (we've made this quite a bit - it's irresistible!)

Cajun Meatballs

Babysitting was a success, as was dinner. Harlee was quite the giggler today. He laughed at me for no reason (am I just that funny looking?) for quite a while. I made goofy faces at him and tickled him, and then we played the piano. After all that excitement, it was dinnertime for Harlee. Diaper change followed, and then I put him down for a nap. Overall, a success!

Jami got home and we (well, she) started dinner. Justin is out for the evening, so it was just she and I. I continued babysitting while she fixed the meatballs. It seems like it was pretty easy to just mix up, roll into balls and then pop in the oven. They are a pretty spicy meatball, so if you're not into spicy food, this might not be the recipe for you. We served them over white rice and had mixed veggies for a side.

Currently, we are making Oreo cookie balls. They're soooo yummy and we will serve them at Granny's for Christmas. If we don't eat them all first....

Cajun Meatballs
     a kill two birds with one stone kinda recipe - great for dinner, and as an appetizer too! Taken from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cajun-appetizer-meatballs/detail.aspx

1 pound lean ground beef  (again, venison in our case)
1 1/2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce
2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (turns out we didn't have any, but soy sauce makes a good substitute with about a tsp of vinegar and a dash of garlic powder)
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup barbeque sauce
1/2 cup peach preserves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a medium baking sheet.
In a large bowl, mix thoroughly the ground beef, hot pepper sauce, Cajun seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, parsley, onion, bread crumbs, milk, and egg.
Form the mixture into golf ball sized meatballs and place on the prepared baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until there is no pink left in the middle.
In a small bowl, combine the barbeque sauce and peach preserves.
When meatballs are done, place in a serving dish and cover with the barbeque sauce mixture. Toss to coat.

We served this over white rice with some steamed veggies.  Yummy!

Cooking For a Crowd

Tonight we cooked for a crowd.  And by crowd, I mean four other people.  Uncle Jim, Aunt Janice and Cousin Brian are visiting from Texas, so they along with Grandma came over for dinner.  There isn’t much to say about today’s babysitting adventure, since Harlee didn’t do much except lie on the floor, sit on my lap and then take a nap.  I napped with him.  We woke up to Jami coming back in the front door with groceries for this evening’s dinner.

We decided on Italian Beef… minus the beef. We substituted venison and pork for the beef.  That had been in the crock pot all day, so before company came, we prepared green beans and oven roasted potatoes, which I believe was made with another meal and can be found in an earlier post.

Jami did most of tonight’s cooking because I was still watching Harlee.  Justin was out at the farm shooting with the cousins, so we were short a babysitter.  But green beans and potatoes aren’t that difficult, so she was fine.

Anyway, company arrived, and we just had a few things to finish up before we ate. The table was set, the food laid out, and the wine was poured. It all looked delicious, and let me tell you, it was.  I think Italian beef is a foolproof recipe.  If you manage to mess that up…. Something’s wrong with you!  But seriously, it’s such an easy meal that requires little effort and the results are delicious.  Pile the meat on some toasted rolls or baguettes, top with provolone cheese and onions if desired, and you’re done.  So tasty and so easy.  And the leftovers are just as good.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal, and it was nice to sit around the table and share food with each other. After dinner, we cleared the table, poured some cups of coffee and enjoyed Jami’s homemade fudge.  Quite a tasty dessert.  You can check out those recipes in the previous post.

Harlee provided us with much entertainment throughout the evening.  He napped through dinner but afterwards woke up and giggled at Grandma and tried to eat everything in sight.  He’s started to teeth, so anything he gets his hands on goes in his mouth to chew on.  That includes your finger if you’re holding his hand.  Multiple times, his strong little grip and arms pulled my knuckle right into his mouth without me even realizing it.  It’s amazing how quickly he’s growing, and soon, there will be little teeth in that mouth.

All in all, it was a great night.  You just can’t beat a good meal with family, and I’m sure this won’t be the last time we cook for a group.  Try this meal out for yourself.  You won’t be disappointed!

Italian Meat

     (Jami's improv)

3(ish) lbs meat of choice - normally beef but in our case 2lbs of venison and 1lb of pork (to kind of deflect the game taste of the venison)

1 14.5oz can beef broth

2 tbsp Italian seasoning (divided)

2 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp basil

1 tbsp parsley

3 tsp garlic powder

Place meat in a crock pot with broth, 1 tbsp Italian seasoning and rest of herbs/spices and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-5 hours (rough estimate, again I forgot to check how long it was actually in there.  Just make sure it's done in the middle!)

30 minutes before serving, remove from crock and shred (leave the juices in).  Return to crock and add the last tbsp of Italian seasoning.  Cook for 30 more minutes.

Oven Roasted Potatoes

Green Beans with Almonds

2-3 lbs fresh green beans cut into 1-2 inch pieces

1 14.5 oz can chicken broth

2 tbsp butter

3/4 cup slivered almonds

1 small lemon, halved

Combine beans and broth in a medium sauce pan and cook over medium heat about 10 minutes or until beans are tender.  Drain beans and set aside.  In same pan (to conserve dishes!) melt the butter and add almonds and juice from half the lemon.  Cook until almonds are brown, stirring frequently.  Add beans back in along with juice from the other half (this is optional - if you prefer less zing then leave it out) and stir together.  Serve!

Our First Award! And a Great Fudge Recipe!

Hi, Jami here.  Usually Jenna writes, as I feel she has the better hand, and I take charge of photo uploads and general blog maintenance.  But, Jenna happens to be in Florida at the moment (*insert jealous grumbling here*) and, darnit, I have things to share!! :)

Such as....


We won our first award!!! Yay us!!

Thank you, Christi, at The Chapters of Our Lives for passing this along to us!  It's appropriate that she be the one to give us this award since she actually kick-started my interest in cooking in the first place.  I took a cooking class in high school and hated it because a) I had no idea what I was doing and b) I had to cram my rookie creative outlet into 50 minutes or less of class time, which ended up just stressing me out.  Thus I decided I hated cooking.  But, ever since getting my own kitchen (and more time!) and Christi convincing me that it's really not that bad, I've found that it's a lot of fun!  I love art, and I enjoy food, so it's really a great combo of the two.  Jenna enjoys it too, I think mostly the experimentation of it, so together we're destined to have a good time!

I really need Jenna and her babysitting right now though... Harlee learned a new trick...

"What are you lookin at?"

Yeah... the bouncy seat is no longer a sufficient babysitter... he is waaay too good at sitting up and there have been a few times that he's come close to just tumbling forward...

"Whoaaaa..."

Yeah.  So anyway, onto this award!

The Criteria: the Liebster Blog Awad is meant to showcase bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers. This  is all done in the spirit of the pay-it-forward.

The Rules: You must mention the link to the person who awarded you with the Liebster, and mention 5 other blogs with fewer than 200 followers who you think is worthy of the Liebster!

"Liebster' means 'favorite' or 'dearest' in German. This award, which originated in Germany, recognized up and coming bloggers! In accepting this award, I agree to:

Thank the person that gave me the award and link back to their blog.

    * Copy and paste the award to my blog

    * Reveal the 5 blogs that I have chosen to award and let them know by commenting on their blog

    * Pay it forward by awarding it to bloggers they would like to honor

The five blogs I'm passing the award along to are featured below. These are all blogs with fewer than 200 followers and that all have great ideas, projects to share, and really cute and/or inspirational blogs to read....

Getting There 

Her Green Life

   (this blog is by my friend from our birth class.  she probably has more than 200 followers... but I can't tell, so I'm sharing it cuz I like it!)

Occasional Occasions 

Keeping Up With The Roscows 

Okay so that's only four.  But I figured I'd at least save one for Jenna to add in... and since she's not here, guess we'll have to wait!

On another note, I couldn't wait til she gets back to share this fudge recipe.  It's SO easy and SO GOOD, so I'm sharing it now!  I just whipped some up this morning to bring to the ICAN potluck this evening, and it seemed as though everyone liked it.  I know I did!

Mom's Easy Fudge

     (from our mom's home-ec class in high school)

2 16oz packages powdered sugar

1 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup milk

1 cup butter

1 1/2 cups chopped nuts (optional)

2 tbsp vanilla

Mix sugar and cocoa.  Add milk and butter.  DO NOT STIR.

Microwave for 4-6 minutes.  Add nuts and vanilla, mix well.  Pour into greased 9x13 pan and refrigerate until firm.

That was my mom's recipe.  My notes:  I used REAL butter, not the fake cheap margarine stuff.  It sets up a lot better with that.  Plus my uncle happily informed us that margarine is one molecule away from plastic.  ... Okay so one molecule can make a big difference, but it's still kinda creepy!  And I only had almond milk in the fridge so I used that rather than dairy milk and it worked great.  Also instead of greasing the pan I lined it with wax paper, which worked really well (and saved dishes!).

Another great fudge recipe:

Peanut Butter Fudge

     from http://allrecipes.com/recipe/easiest-peanut-butter-fudge/detail.aspx

1/2 cup butter
2 1/4 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar 

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and milk. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla. Pour over confectioners' sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat until smooth; pour into an 8x8 inch dish. Chill until firm and cut into squares. 

So from left to right I have female fudge (no nuts in it...), peanut butter fudge, a combo of the first two (I poured the chocolate fudge into a pan and let it set while I made the peanut butter fudge, then poured the peanut butter on top of it and let it finish chilling together), and male fudge (I added walnuts, but you can use anything you like).  Sooooo good and so easy!  I'm thinking I'll be experimenting with other recipes like white chocolate, toffee, turtle, etc etc... Don't worry, I'll share!

Enjoy!