Pasta Fagioli

Moving on from bacon (as I realized the last 2 posts were about bacon), we'll throw in a recipe with no meat at all! I am a self-proclaimed carnivore. My dad was a meat cutter, so meat was a staple food source as I was growing up. Mom hid all sorts of veggies in regular food - I distinctly remember shredded carrots in lasagna, and tofu ending up in Lord knows what. I'm trying to branch out beyond meals that require meat, and this is definitely going to go into the keeper pile.

Pasta Fagioli

Original recipe makes 4 servings

 1 tablespoon olive oil
 2 stalks celery, chopped
 1 onion, chopped
 3 cloves garlic, minced
 2 teaspoons dried parsley
 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
 salt to taste
 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
 1/2 cup uncooked spinach pasta
 1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, with liquid

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook celery, onion, garlic, parsley, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and salt in the hot oil until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, tomatoes and tomato sauce, and simmer on low for 15 to 20 minutes.
Add pasta and cook 10 minutes, until pasta is tender.
Add undrained beans and mix well. Heat through. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Followed this one as directed (mostly). I did use chicken bullion to make the broth instead of already made broth. I tend to be a bit over-enthusiastic when adding bullion, and as a result this was a bit overly salty. Made with the appropriate ratio of bullion to water, I think it would be perfect. I added crushed red pepper instead of pepper flakes, and used the Garden's Delight pasta, which is made from carrots, spinach, and tomatoes. I did forgo the actual tomatoes, increasing the water by 2 cups and the pasta by another 1/2 cup. The soup is richly flavored, and beyond being too salty (my fault), it was incredible. 

    I'm looking in to joining a CSA this summer. My special group read The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kimball, and I felt inspired. I want to try new veggies that I wouldn't on my own have picked up from Meijer. I want the freshness factor, and the knowledge of exactly where my food is coming from. By no means am I currently jumping on the organic bandwagon, or proclaiming from the rooftops that "this is how you should grocery shop!" I think everyone should make the choice for themselves, what works best for them and their budget. I am definitely excited though, and hoping that if it works out, it will be a growing (lol!) experience. 

World's Best Bacon Cheese Dip

I'm back! And there is a new addition to the blog - if you look in the upper right corner, there is a now a search bar! I was feeling like I didn't want to keep adding more recipes, because I could never remember what month I put what recipes, and I wasn't able to find recipes without looking through all the months. I will be adding tags to older recipes, and will try to add as much detail to the tags in order to make it easy for you to find recipes. Search by recipe or ingredient, and voila!
To start off the weekend of blogging (which is the plan...playing catch up!), I just made a bacon cheese dip that was fabulous for my special group. The recipe says it makes enough for 16...it lies. I would say maybe 6. It's yummy, so make lots!

World's Best Bacon Cheese Dip

Ingredients


4 slices bacon
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
8 ounces Swiss cheese, shredded
2 green onions, finely chopped
4 buttery round crackers, crushed

Directions

Place bacon in a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside.
In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese with mayonnaise until smooth. Stir in Swiss cheese, onions, and bacon. Place bowl in microwave, and cook 2 minutes. Remove, and stir well. Return to microwave, and cook 2 to 4 minutes more. Sprinkle crushed crackers on top. Serve warm with crackers.

For something that is called "World's Best Bacon Cheese Dip", 4 pieces of bacon is really sub-par. I recommend using a package of bacon, minus the one that you eat. Cook bacon in whatever method suits you best - I did pan fry these, but my favorite method is baking. I don't really like mayonnaise that much, so I  eye-balled the Miracle Whip to about 1/2 cup, added a little over a cup of shredded Swiss, and about 1/2 cup of freshly shredded Parmesan cheese. I didn't have any green onions on hand, so I used my freeze-dried chives (which are super handy to have around for times like this!). To give it a little extra something, I also added a couple shakes of garlic powder and onion powder. I think it would be a little on the bland side without some kind of extra seasoning. I then crushed a little mini package of Ritz crackers (about 15 I think in the package) to sprinkle on top. You definitely can serve it at that point, but I then baked it uncovered  at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. It was DELICIOUS! The Miracle Whip gave a little sweetness, and all the cheese made it very hearty- it may break your dipping crackers! I may look for an additional ingredient next time I make it that would still give it a cheesy taste, but thin it out a little bit without make it too greasy (which is what I was worried about with adding the required amount of Mayo). 

    We are being commissioned at Stephen Minister's this weekend at church. I'm both excited and nervous (not really a big fan of standing in front of a bunch of people!). At least I only have to say my name...hopefully that won't be too challenging........... .......Anywho....... It's nice being done with the weekly commitment of training (hello 50+ hours of my life that I could have spent doing much less useful things). We still have bi-monthly meetings to attend, and me being me, my goal is to not miss any meetings, despite the fact that I have yet to acquire care receiver. 

     Stephen Ministry is great for teaching you how to effectively interact with people - if you don't know about it, I encourage you to check it out. It's all about being assertive, speaking the truth tempered with love, and how to really be there to help someone through a crisis. It's a process-oriented ministry - the goal is not to immediately jump to "do this, this, and that, your problems will be solved". It's about encouraging the care receiver to grow, and to process what they are going through, and to just listen. Even if I never got a care receiver  it would be worth it just for getting (hopefully!!) those skills. 

Bacon Chicken and Dumplings

Bacon + Chicken + Dumplings = yum! Well, it should anyway. This recipe is okish. There are other soups I like better (just plain Chicken and Dumplings are pretty tasty) so I don't know that this will make it in to the rotation. The bacon doesn't come out a strongly as I would hope, and the potatoes make the soup grainy instead of creamy.

INGREDIENTS:

3 slices bacon 3 large potatoes, peeled and diced 1 onion, diced 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - diced 3 cups chicken broth 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

salt and pepper to taste 1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed 3 cups half-and-half 1 1/2 cups biscuit mix 1 cup milk

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside; reserve bacon drippings in skillet.
2.	Add potatoes, onion and chicken to bacon drippings and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour in chicken broth; season with poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir in corn, and simmer all together for 15 minutes.
3.	Pour in half-and-half and bring to a boil; add crumbled bacon. In a medium bowl, combine biscuit mix with milk and mix well (dough should be thick). Drop tablespoon sizes of dough into boiling mixture; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes uncovered, then another 10 minutes covered. (Note: Do not stir while simmering, or dumplings will break apart). Serve hot.

While this was not quite what I was expecting, I think I would make it again. Instead of adding the bacon to the soup, I would just sprinkle it on top (in significant quantities of course! ;P) Otherwise, follow as directed.

B and I have been finding things to watch together, and it's always a challenge when we finish something to find our next show. 

Wins: Buffy, Angel, Psych, Monk, Gilmore Girls, House (in the early years), Burn Notice, Lois and Clark, Big Bang Theory, and the current watchs: Kyle XY, and Once Upon a Time. 

Not so much winners: X-files, Charmed, Sliders, Star Trek (any of them). 

Any suggestions for upcoming shows? I'm thinking maybe Supernatural, or finally finishing Smallville. 

Chicken and Wild Rice Slow Cooker Dinner

I'm sure you have not at all noticed the trend of crockpot meals. ;) I have started to really like wild rice, and am trying to incorporate it more frequently into the regular rotation.

INGREDIENTS:

cooking spray 3 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup 2 1/4 cups water 1 cup milk

4 cups long grain and wild rice mix 1 (16 ounce) package baby carrots 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Spray the inside of a slow cooker with cooking spray.
2.	Stir together cream of chicken soup, water, milk, long grain and wild rice mix (including seasoning packets, if any), and baby carrots in the slow cooker.
3.	Place chicken breasts on top of the mixture.
4.	Cover and cook on High until chicken is cooked through and rice is tender, about 5 hours; or cook on Low setting for 7 to 8 hours.

This one, however much I really WANTED to like it, was just ok. The rice got a bit mushy after so long in the crockpot, so decreasing the time may helped. It calls for wild rice mix, so I used the Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice mix. The taste of seasonings seemed to overpower the dish - next time I may try to substitute 1-2 cups of rice mix for just plain wild rice. I also didn't add carrots - not really a big fan of cooked carrots, though adding them may have helped with the over-seasoning taste. I froze part of this for a later meal, and am curious to see how it'll be after being frozen. 

One of my favorite things kitchen-wise the past couple of months has been freezing leftovers! It's kind of trial and error to see what freezes well and what would be better just to make in smaller portions. So far, everything I've frozen has thawed and reheated well. So many recipes are for 6-8, which can be a bit much for 2 people. Instead of scaling them down to fit our needs, I'm making the standard recipe, leaving enough for leftovers the next day, and freezing the rest. We are acquiring a small chest freezer in the next couple of weeks, and I'm excited to have a little bit of extra room to store these extra goodies! It is helping to curb those "I don't want to cook, so we go out to eat" impulses. (Though sometimes I STILL want to go out to eat!) We are in the midst of a sabbatical from eating out, and so far we've done pretty well. Now to just keep it up! :D Plus this way we're not eating leftovers of the same thing for a week! 

Peking Pork Chops

I love the name of these. I mean really, they are Peking Pork chops!! What are they peeking at, I wonder? And they taste pretty good too. And I'm telling you, I can never lose my crockpot. Or it break. Or die. I love starting dinner before I leave for work, and then voila! Hot meal that I don't have to deal with when coming home from a long day. Definite WIN situation.

INGREDIENTS:

6 thick cut pork chops (1 inch) 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup ketchup 1 clove garlic, crushed salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Trim excess fat from pork chops and place in slow cooker. Mix brown sugar, ginger, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, salt and pepper in small bowl and pour over meat. Cover, turn to low and cook 4 to 6 hours, or until tender. Season with salt and pepper, if needed.

No changes, other than of COURSE you add more garlic! Served with some steamed veggies and au gratin potatoes. 

Creamy Chicken on Linguine

This looked good, and as I love anything Alfredo-y, I gave it a shot. Truthfully, it's a chicken alfredo. And not my favorite one. Flavor-wise it's ok, just very heavy. Worth a try, but I doubt it'll make it into the regular meal rotation.

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon olive oil 2 tablespoons butter 1 clove garlic, minced 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 1 (16 ounce) package linguini pasta 1 onion, chopped

1 cube chicken bouillon, crumbled 1/2 cup water 1 1/4 cups heavy cream 3/4 cup milk 4 green onions, sliced diagonally into 1/2 inch pieces 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1.	In a large saute pan, heat oil, butter and garlic over medium heat. Add chicken and cook until juices run clear. Remove chicken from pan let cool and slice diagonally into long strips. Reserve oil in pan.
2.	Meanwhile, cook pasta according to directions on package. Drain.
3.	Reheat oil in pan, add onion and saute, stirring often, until onion is soft but still white. Add bullion cube and water; bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for approximately 10 minutes. Stir in cream, milk, green onions and Parmesan cheese.
4.	Place pasta in a bowl, layer chicken slices in a decorative pattern over pasta, pour sauce over top of chicken and around pasta. Garnish with parsley or any herbs you desire. Serve immediately.

Mexican White Cheese Sauce/Dip

This was for a Mexican themed Dr. Who night. I loooove the Mexican restaurant's white cheese dip, and this one was pretty similar.

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound white American cheese, cubed 1/2 cup milk, or as needed 1 tablespoon butter or margarine 2 (4 ounce) cans chopped green chilies

2 teaspoons cumin 2 teaspoons garlic powder 2 teaspoons onion powder cayenne pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Place cheese, milk, and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook until cheese has melted, stirring frequently. Stir in green chilies, cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and cayenne pepper to taste. Add more milk if dip is too thick. Heat through and serve immediately.

 I, in my infinite wisdom, decided that it needed some salt. It does NOT in fact need salt of any sort. :D Other than that, it was very good! I used white American cheese, as well as some shredded Queso Velveeta cheese. I made it in an electric fondue pot, which was nice because I could just add all the ingredients and leave it on low to melt together. I only added 1 can of green chilies...they are not my favorite taste in the world, so I tend to go pretty light in any recipe that calls for them. Would definitely make this one again, minus any salty additions.