Cheeseburger Soup

My friend, Kristal, raved about this cheeseburger soup recipe the other day. Since we're in the bitter cold winter season I figured I needed to give it a go. Here in the Midwest, life has been colder than necessary. I can handle snow, I'll even go so far to say I love snow, but when we have days and days in a row of below zero temps (that's below zero in Fahrenheit, people. Just for fun, if it's -2F that would be almost -19C).... let's be honest, Mother Nature, that's taking it a bit too far. This is the kind of weather that chills you to the bone and the only way to really thaw out or warm up is live in a Snuggie.

Needless to say, soup is excellent on a cold winter's day. A few weeks ago, my husband made an awesome Baked Potato soup and we ate it out of bread bowls. Talk about yum! I think I'll ask him to make it again and we'll do a post about it. Sometimes that man can really surprise me with his culinary skills.

This recipe for Cheeseburger Soup is great. It's hearty but yet light enough you don't feel like a cement statue after you've gobbled it down. Another great thing about soup is that you can add or take away any ingredients you want. Making adjustments is very easy and also suggested, make it to your family's likeness.

1 lbs ground beef, turkey or chicken
3/4 cup carrots, sliced
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
3/4 cup celery (we opted out)
6 small-medium unpeeled potatoes, diced
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
5-6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup flour
8 oz shredded cheese (we used cheddar)
1 1/2 cup milk
Salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 cup green onions, chopped
Sour cream, optional

In a stockpot, add ground meat, onions and carrots. Cook together until veggies are tender. Stir in basil and parsley. Add potatoes and broth, bring to a boil and then simmer until potatoes are tender. Mix the melted butter and flour in a separate bowl. It's a goopy glob but don't panic. Add this glob to the soup and stir well until soup begins to thicken. It doesn't thicken too much. If you are looking for a thick soup, reduce the broth from 5-6 cups down to 3 cups. After the flour has been stirred in, add cheese, milk and salt and pepper. If you haven't already, reduce heat to low so the milk doesn't curdle. Allow the cheese to melt and it's ready!

Serve with a dollop of sour cream, sprinkle with green onions and add slice of french bread.

Thousand Island Burger

I'm not a huge fan of Thousand Island Dressing, but I do enjoy it on sandwiches and burgers. If it makes the sandwich messy, I'm sold! I'm still not able to fully understand my obsession with messy food, but I see it as a positive thing and I'm always assured by others that I am not alone when it comes to this obsession.

Today I have a delicious Thousand Island Burger made with a beef patty, fried onions, Swiss cheese, homemade dressing and sourdough bread. Much like a Patty Melt.

Thousand Island Dressing is made a few different ways. Some people add chopped eggs or Worcestershire Sauce. I went a little more bland with mine. I will definitely add Worcestershire sauce next time. The dressing was good as is, but the Worcestershire sauce would add a nice flavor.

Thousand Island Dressing (makes  1 cup):

½ cup mayo

¼ cup ketchup

¼ cup sweet relish (a little more, a little less, depending on your relish preference)

Dash of salt and pepper

Now to construct your burger:

Grill or fry up some beef patties. Fry some onions. Cut the sourdough into nice thick slices. Spread butter on one side of each slice of bread. Place one slice butter side down in a frying pan. Spread a generous amount of dressing on the bread. Place a slice of cheese on top of the dressing, add the grilled/fried patty, then the fried onions and then another slice of cheese. Finally, add more dressing to the second slice of bread. Place the slice, dressing side down & butter side up, to the burger. Cook the sandwich at a med-low heat for about 7 minutes, carefully flip it and cook for another 7 minutes.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Peppers w/ground chicken

I remember attending a work party in my late teens. The host prepared the best(!) stuffed peppers. Although the party was almost 20 years ago, I still think of these peppers. I finally took charge and decided to make them myself. I figured it wouldn't be a complicated recipe, something similar to Porcupine Meatballs smushed into a pepper.

Easy Stuffed Pepper Recipe

4-6 large green peppers

1 lbs ground chicken

1 small-medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup brown rice, cooked

1 can (14.5oz) diced petite tomatoes

1 cup tomato juice or water

1 tbsp chicken broth seasoning

1 tsp tarragon leaves

½ tsp black pepper
2 eggs

Shredded cheddar cheese

Rinse peppers and remove the tops and seeds. Set peppers in a baking dish.
  

Preheat oven to 350.

In a bowl, stir together rice, onions, tomatoes and juice. Add seasonings and mix well. Add ground chicken into rice mixture. Mix in eggs, one at a time.

Now you are ready to stuff the peppers. Spoon mixture into the peppers.

Bake in oven for 50-60 minutes or until the middle reaches 160.  Top with cheese and bake an additional 5-7 minutes.

Enjoy!

 

Southwest Fiesta Casserole

I haven't gained much experience with spices and seasonings yet. I am working on changing that. I enjoy cooking and baking, but I still have a lot to learn. I'm finding that cooking ethnic dishes is a great way to learn how to season and spice up a meal.  

Mexican is one of our favorite ethnic foods. On date nights, you can generally find Husband and I hanging out at one of the local Mexican restaurants. Man, can they cook! It's messy, it's cheesy, it's nothing but absolutely delicious.

A few weeks ago I started planning a Mexican casserole type dish. I knew I wanted crescent rolls to top it off. Of course there would be spices, beans, cheese, meat and veggies, but I wasn't sure how I would make it stick together. I was fairly positive I wanted the sauce to have a sour cream base. It was Allrecipes to the rescue. There I found exactly what I was looking for. I love that website.

 

Voila! Now we have a new favorite dish in our house and I'm here to share it with all of you. You lucky dogs!

Meat/Bean Mixture

1 lbs ground meat

1 can petite diced tomato

1 can whole kernel corn

1 can kidney beans

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup chopped green pepper

½ tsp cumin

½ tsp onion powder

½ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Sour Cream Sauce (Adapted from Allrecipes)

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

1 cup water

½ tbsp chicken bouillon or one cube

¼ - ½ cup green salsa or green chilies

½ cup sour cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Approx 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 tube Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

For the meat/bean mixture:

In a bowl, combine diced tomatoes, corn, kidney beans. Set aside.

Brown the meat, drain. Add to bean mixture. Set aside.

Chop onions and peppers. Soften them in a skillet for 7ish minutes. Add to meat mixture.

Add seasonings to meat mixture and mix.

For the sauce:

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the flour. Heat for 1 minute. Whisk in the water and bouillon until the water has thickened and the bouillon has dissolved, about 4 minutes. Whisk in the green salsa and the sour cream. Shake in some salt and pepper. 

Preheat oven to 375°

I prepared this dish in layers. I'm sure it would be just fine if you mixed it all together though. 

Here’s how I did it (bottom to top)*:

Meat

Cheese

Sour Cream Sauce

Meat

Sour Cream Sauce

Meat 

Cheese

Rolls

Bake for 10/15 minutes then add crescent rolls (unrolled) to the casserole. 

Bake for another 25 minutes or until crescent rolls are completely done. 

*Next time I will use a shallower baking dish to make the ratio of bean/meat mixture and crescent rolls more equal.

Enjoy!

A (slightly) healthier Meatloaf

My husband enjoys a good meatloaf. By good I mean, the greasiest, juiciest loaf you can find. He loves red meat. In the past 5 years, I have tried converting my family to ground turkey. It worked for a while until hubs decided it was playing games with his digestive system *insert an eye roll here*. I’d sarcastically ask “Are you sure it’s not the Taco Bell tacos or the Wendy’s cheeseburgers that are causing the trouble?”  

If the meal was easy enough, I’d prepare one with ground turkey for the kids and myself and a smaller one with ground beef for hubs. Meals like spaghetti, goulash or tacos. Kind of a hassle but he wouldn’t eat it if he discovered it was turkey. Yes, I did try to fool him a few times and a few times it worked. But then he started asking me straight up if the meal was made with turkey or beef.  So it was back to 100% beef for him. Honestly, at that point I began making fewer meals that included beef/turkey. 

A few months ago I started a new fitness program. You can read about it HERE. This amped up my desire to get hubs to eat healthier. I encourage him every week to cook with less butter, use less cheese and so on and so on. Sometimes the encouragement works and other times it pisses him off. On a recent trip to the grocery store I suggested meatloaf with ½ beef (the leanest) and ½ ground chicken. After some thought, he agreed! Win!! 

What you’ll need:

½ lbs ground beef (93%)

½ lbs ground turkey or chicken

1 cup 100% whole wheat bread

1 egg

½ cup onion, chopped

¼ cup mushrooms, chopped

1 tbsp parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

1 large tomato, diced

Mix together ground meat. Come on… use your hands, get ‘em dirty. Set aside.

Tear about 1 ½ slices of bread into small pieces, this makes about 1 cup (give or take). Add the egg to the bread crumbs and stir it. Add bread/egg combo to the meat and mix. Add the chopped onions and mushrooms, mix. Add seasonings and mix again.

Preheat oven to 375°. Prepare a loaf pan with foil and cooking spray. Press the meat into the pan.

Bake for 45 minutes. Meat must reach 165°. 

Spread tomatoes over the top of the meatloaf (photo taken before I did that... oops!). Serve with mashed or baked sweet potatoes and side of asparagus. 

Friday's Quickie... Spaghetti-O's and Hamburger

When I was little my dad would sometimes have to prepare dinner for my brother and me. He could only feed us so many bowls of cereal, cold hot dogs and whip cream (not at the same time). He needed some variety. One night he got out a skillet. I didn’t know if I should be scared or excited. Next he took out hamburger and Spaghetti-O’s. Hmm... okay dad, this might work. 

Spaghetti-O’s with hamburger has since been a comfort food. I don’t make it often, but when I do the kids go wild. It’s so simple... I’m almost embarrassed to share it with you. The memory behind it is so good though. 

Here we go!

What you need:

•  1lbs ground beef or turkey
• 2 large cans of Spaghetti-o’s
• Seasoning salt/pepper

Step 1. Brown beef/turkey, dash with seasoning salt/pepper, drain.

Step 2. Add in Spaghetti-o’s.

Step 3. Cook over medium-to-low heat until desired temperature is reached, stirring occasionally.

That’s it! 

*FWIW: Dad's cooking skills have since improved

Friday's Quickie

I'm adding something new to our blog. I'm calling it "Friday's Quickie". My goal is to post a quick and easy meal every Friday. Here goes!

Today's quickie is a maid rite/loose meat sandwich.

It’s quick. 

It’s easy. 

It’s cheap.

It’s good.

What you need:

1 lbs ground turkey (or beef)

1 can of Campbell’s Chicken Gumbo

Mustard

Salt and Pepper

Preparations:

Brown turkey or beef, dash with salt and pepper, drain grease, if necessary.

Stir in gumbo soup.

Add mustard. I usually do about 1 ½ -2 tbsp. Add as much or as little as you like.

Simmer the mixture for 10-15 minutes. Stir a few times. 

That’s it. It’s ready to serve on bakery buns with chips, beans and side of fruit.