Tried and true

You might recall that my New Year's Resolutions were to try new recipes, make more crafts and be more frugal.

Have I become more frugal? I think so.

Have I done more crafting? Ummm...no. But I am relatively caught up on laundry, so I think it evens out.

Have I tried new recipes?  Yes!  While I've made a point to blog about the new Martha Stewart and Everyday Food recipes I've tried, I've had great experiences with meals and desserts from other bloggers and websites.  Also,  Pinterest has become a great source of new recipes for me.  I have boards for general recipes, desserts and vegetable dishes, and I am trying something new as often as possible.

Here's what I've tried, along with the links and my reviews.

Creamy Garlic Pasta by the Cheese Pusher:  OMG this stuff is amazing. I love this recipe. I've made it as a side dish and seeing how it was inhaled by my family, I made it again. The second time around, I added diced cooked chicken to make it the main course. Yum!

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder by Lulu the Baker: this is another great recipe. I foresee creating a crockpot version of this for cool fall nights.

Baked Potato Soup by Mama Loves Food: this was okay. I think I experimented a bit with the amounts of ingredients and technique here (and we all know how that usually turns out for me!) so it wasn't as tasty as I had hoped. I'll try this again in the fall, and next time I'll be sure to follow the instructions.

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili by Reds:  this is pretty good (and a good break from regular chili), and as far as cooking/prep go, it's a breeze!  I like to combine any leftovers with rice to make my Tex Mex Chicken Casserole.

Chickpeas in Spicy Tomato Sauce by Food.com: this was okay. I didn't make the recipe as spicy as it could have been, but this was a hearty (and different!) dish. Serve with rice!

Blueberry Breakfast Cake from Alexandra's Kitchen:  this is so, so, so delicious!  It's so cake-like that I feel guilty for eating it as breakfast instead of dessert. Word to the wise, however...Alexandra mentions in the instructions that the cake might need 10 minutes or so longer in the oven...my experience is that it most definitely needs longer time in the over. Just so you know.

Baked Sweet Potato Chips (shown above) from Martha Stewart:  these are amazing. I could eat them all day long!  Keep in mind that I had a sheet of these burn, so at the halfway mark you'll want to keep a close eye on these and probably decrease the baking time.

No Bake Cookies from Lick the Bowl Good: these cookies were a favorite when I was a kid, and I still love them just as much.  I increase the amount of oats by one cup when I use this recipe.

Terribly Terrific Toffee from A Southern Grace: NOM NOM NOM  I've made this recipe three times in less than a week now, and I might do another batch or two this weekend. This toffee, based with plain old saltine crackers, is easy to make and even easier to eat. Give it a try!

In fact, give all these recipes a try! And if you have a recipe I might like, or that you'd like to see featured on The Martha Initiative, be sure to let me know. Happy cooking!

Broccoli chowder

Last week, I put making Martha's broccoli cream soup on my to-do list. Then, a friend (Hi, Cori!) suggested I might like Lulu the Baker's cheesy vegetable chowder.   Both soups looked delicious, and I just couldn't decide which one to make....so I created my own soup by combining the two recipes.

Everybody wins! Especially me, because the result was absolutely delicious. 

For the most part, I stuck with Martha's recipe (minus the onion), and added shredded carrots, diced potatoes, and 1.5 cups of cheddar cheese as suggested by Lulu the Baker.  And because calories don't exist in my world, I increased the amount of heavy cream from Martha's recipe from 1/2 cup to 1 whole cup.  Calories?  What are those?   

Technique-wise, I definitely deviated from Martha's recipe:  I didn't run the soup through the food processor after cooking. Instead, I ran the broccoli through the food processor before adding it to the pot, making sure that all pieces were small-to-medium size and not completely pulverized.  I wanted this soup to be a meal by itself with chunks of vegetables, and that's exactly what it is. 

Note: the soup stores wonderfully in the fridge, so don't be afraid to make a big batch and have leftovers.  This mash-up recipe is incredibly easy to make and quite a satisfying meal.  Enjoy!

Martha Monday--On my to-do list

Martha provides me (through her books, magazines, television show and website) with endless inspiration for recipes I want to try, crafts to make, projects to do and more.

Here are the current Martha-inspired things I have on my to-do list:

1. Get started on my gardening

I've been planning my summer garden for quite a while, and it's almost time to start my indoor seeds.  Ideally, I'll have the peppers, tomatoes and broccoli started by mid-March. I'm itching to start seeds RIGHT NOW, but if I start the seeds too soon then I'll have spindly, and less productive, seedlings by the time I'm ready to transplant them outdoors.  Plus, I'd like to buy a few more varieties of seed (winter squash, anyone?)...I need to get on that!

2. Make some tasty Broccoli soup

I have yet to make my own broccoli soup from scratch, a problem which will be remedied later this week.  Maybe I'll add some potatoes and cheddar cheese to transform this recipe into a full meal rather than a starter course, but either way I have a bunch of broccoli in my fridge that must be put to good use.

3. Try my hand at Parisian macarons

That's not a typo...macarons are a beautiful and delicious French sandwich cookie made from almond flour, and making them has been on my to-do list for years.  I have almond flour in my pantry, so making these cookies needs to go from a "to-do" item to a "ta-da DONE" accomplishment.

Right now, the bag of almond flour mocks me every time I'm in the pantry which, based on how much I cook/bake and how popular a hiding spot it is during games with my kiddos, is several times each day.  STOP MOCKING ME, ALMOND FLOUR! 

Don't even get me started on the taunting I receive from my knitting supplies.
They're all "We've been in this closet for over five years! LEARN TO KNIT ALREADY!" 
And I'm all "Your sass is not appreciated. DON'T USE THAT TONE OF VOICE WITH ME!" 

I've been getting a lot of attitude from inanimate objects lately.  Also, I might need more sleep. Or coffee.  Maybe both.

Manda Monday--The 2nd Annual Super Souper Bowl

The 2nd Annual Super Souper Bowl was a huge success and a ton of fun!  We had five entries and everyone had a great time.  Three of the entries were from new competitors...if this keeps up, I might have to get a bigger kitchen island in a few years!

Entries included a traditional chili, a pork chili with ditalini, jambalaya and bacon-infused potato soup.  All were delicious, but this was the winner:

We provided appetizers, drinks and desserts for our guests.  Here's the dessert table:

I made dipped pretzels, cupcakes, cookies and a pretzel-jello dessert not shown because it was in the fridge. And I have to admit, the eclairs are store-bought.  It happens sometimes.

These cookies, however, were not:

Decorated sugar cookies are always a hit, and these are quickly becoming a family project.  The kids and I make the dough, the Big Guy rolls it out, the kids do (most of) the cutting, I bake everything, and then the Big Guy and I decorate the cookies.  My plan is to withdraw bit by bit from this process over the next few years, so eventually I'll be able to supervise from the couch while eating bon-bons and reading magazines.  And maybe napping.  Good times!

I hope everyone had a great Sunday afternoon/evening, whether it involved watching TV or not.

A trophy for the Titan of the Tureen

Our Second Annual Super Souper Bowl Party is right around the corner.  There's still a lot to be done (clean the house, rearrange furniture, make all the appetizers, bake desserts, stop the kids from destroying the house that I will have just finished cleaning, etc.) but I am totally ready with the trophy.

For those new to the blog, our Super Souper Bowl party is a contest: guests bring their prized chili, soup, or stew, everyone samples the fare, and we vote on our favorite.  The winner takes home a totally awesome trophy and bragging rights for the year. Last year's winner Michelle won with her version of Paula Deen's taco soup:

Just like last year, this year's trophy is hand-made from bits and pieces I found at a local resale shop.  The candlestick was $1.50 and the bowl was $0.90. Unbeknownst to me, both were half-off, so the cost for the materials was only $1.10. Score!

After cleaning both pieces, I used a hot glue gun to adhere the bowl to the candlestick.  Easy!  Side note: I love my glue gun but rarely use it. I need to find more opportunities to glue stuff together.

Once the glue was dry, I spray painted the whole thing gold.  It's gorgeous! Truly, this is a chalice worthy of a Queen of the Crockpot.  Or Titan of the Tureen.  Or King of the Cook-Off. 

Whatever we call the champ, and whoever that person may be, I think we all know who the real winner is:  ME.  Because people are bringing food to my house.  So that I can eat it. And award this awesome trophy. Score!

Martha Monday--Sausage and kale soup

Have you ever had Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana? It's a creamy soup made with Italian sausage, kale and potatoes.  I love the stuff, and this Sausage and Kale Soup recipe from Martha is a great start to recreating the restaurant dish at home.

As with all good recipes, it starts with onions and garlic being sauteed in olive oil. Seriously, after Darling Clandestine fragrances, this has to be one of my favorite smells.  Sorry for the blurry picture--the steam got in the way.

Martha's recipe calls for smoked chicken sausage, which is certainly a healthier option. I, of course, went for the real deal: 3/4 pound of Italian sausage.  Aw yeah. If you do things my way, be sure to brown, drain and crumble the Italian sausage before adding it to the soup.

To further move this recipe in the direction of Zuppa Toscana, I added 1/2 tablespoon of fennel seeds and 1 cup of whipping cream.  Delicious!

Here's Martha's sausage and kale soup:

I'm sure her version is healthier, and made either way, it sure is a tasty and hearty soup for these cold winter months. Give it a try!

Super Souper

Something in the January/February issue of Everyday Food caught my eye:  in New Mexico, the Road Runner Food Bank holds an annual event called the Souper Bowl, where area chefs compete for the title of Best Soup, and all proceeds benefit the food bank.  Isn't that an awesome idea?

I was so smitten with the idea that I immediately told The Big Guy that I wanted us to have a similar event.  He's big on football, and I'm big on food, and there you have it:  our very own First Annual Super Souper Bowl Party was born.

We've invited a bunch of friends over to watch the Super Bowl.  Those who are feeling adventurous have been invited to bring their best soup, stew or chili, and everyone will vote on who gets the title of "Titan of the Tureen."  Or "King/Queen of the Crockpot."  Or "Chili Champion."  Or "Soup Superhero!" 

Obviously, we're still working on some of the details.  I'll be making simple appetizers and a few desserts, but no soup entry for me.  I"m so excited about what everyone is going to bring!  Stay tuned!

Cream of cauliflower soup

The days are getting shorter, the temperatures are dropping, and we're almost to that time of year when all you want to do is eat a bunch and then sleep for four months straight.  That's how you feel, right?  Right?

Am I the only one who wants to be a bear and hibernate every winter?

At any rate, it's time to break out the comfort foods of soups, breads and hearty casseroles to help us all make it through the season.  And recently, I found a new comfort soup to add to my repertiore.  Taste of Home has a wonderful Cream of Cauliflower soup recipe. 

For the most part, simply follow the directions online.  I added more carrots and celery than the recipe called for.  More vegetables are good!

The instructions do not mention how to chop the cauliflower.  I did some of it in the food processor, being careful not to chop too finely.  To make sure I had some good-size bites of cauliflower, I also chopped some by hand. 

My only word of caution regarding the recipe is to be careful when you are mixing the butter, flour, milk and whipping cream mixture.  The directions say to bring the mixture to a boil, stir and cook for two minutes or until thickened.  In my experience, the mixture got extremely thick in about a minute, so be sure to stir the entire time and stop before it turns into cement.

From there, add the creamy mixture to the larger soup mixture.

The recipe states to cook the soup for 10 minutes after adding the cream mixture, for a total of 40 minutes cooking time.  I'm sure I let this simmer for well over an hour, and it was fine. 

This soup was delicious.  I liked it, the Little Guy liked it, and Mom2 liked it, so the recipe was a definite winner.  The recipe makes a large batch, which is great for easy lunches.  It reheats very well.  The TMI household is giving this recipe 4 stars--give it a try!