Italian Wedding Soup

I usually buy this soup canned and have always wanted to try and make it. The difference of fresh is so noticeable. I found a recipe online here. This recipe is awesome...simple, flavorful, and the turkey meatballs are soooo good. My husband doesn't like soup so he picked out meatballs to munch on and said they were delicious. I forgot to pick up parsley so I was missing that ingredient and the soup was still amazing. Next time I will make the meatballs smaller so I can have one with each bite. I used turkey meat instead of chicken which is the only change I made. I loved getting a big gob of half melted Parmesan cheese too. Thanks to the Boatwright family for a great recipe. :-)


My 4 year old helped me make the meatballs. She loves to help me cook. These meatballs were sooo sooo good that I am thinking to make subs with them. :-)


Italian Wedding Soup

Meatballs:
1 lb. ground turkey breast
2/3 c bread crumbs
1/3 c water
1/4 c grated Parmesan
1/4 c chopped parsley
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste
3 Tbsp olive oil

Soup:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 lb spinach or escarole
8 c chicken broth
1 c small pasta (I used orzo)

For the meatballs, put the bread crumbs and water into a large bowl to rehydrate the bread crumbs. Add the other ingredients except for the olive oil and mix well. Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Form small meatballs and cook in the pan, turning often, until browned and cooked through. Remove meatballs from pan onto platter. Add the onion, celery, and carrot to the pan, stirring until tender - about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and red pepper. Stir in the spinach or escarole until just wilted. Add the chicken broth and simmer. Add the turkey meatballs, cover and cook 5minutes. Add the pasta and cook until al dente - another 10 minutes or so on simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Shave large shards of Parmesan to garnish.

YUMMMMMMMMM!

(Meatballs while cooking)

EASY, PEASY CHICKEN LEGS

These were so easy and very good! I have seen this recipe on different blogs but the lady who started it was Denise from Keeper Worthy Recipes and let me tell you...this is a keeper! Thanks Denise for a great recipe!

Easy, Peasy Chicken Legs

Ingredients:

*jumbo package of chicken legs( usually contains around 14 legs)
*olive oil
*salt and pepper
*garlic powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.

Place chicken legs in large bowl and drizzle with olive oil, enough to cover them all, generously.

Sprinkle with salt,pepper and garlic powder.

Place on large baking sheet and bake for 1-1 1/2 hours, turning them to ensure crispiness on all sides. ENJOY!

My Perfect White Rice

Being that my husband is of Latin decent we have rice a lot (except when he low carbs). This means, I have had a lot of experience and practice with making my own version of perfect white rice (shown to me by my Panamanian mother in law). If you have a pot like mine that doesn't have a tight fitting lid (my lid is a little bent and it lets all the steam escape) then the trick is to use a towel between the lid and pot. If you have a great, tight fitting lid then a towel is not needed. Here is a pic of how the towel looks on the pot. If you have to do this, make sure to wrap the towel up around the lid because you don't want your towel to catch fire.

Ingredients:
* 2 cups White Rice
* 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 garlic clove, minced
* 4 cups water

Recipe:

Heat a heavy pan, add oil and garlic until you can just smell the garlic. Add rice and stir until all pieces of rice become shiny with the oil. Add water and salt and bring to a boil. Once rice comes to a boil, stir and place lid on pan. Do not lift lid to check on rice! Rice should be ready in about 20-25 minutes and should have little holes on the top (as if someone poked holes in the top of the rice). Serve and enjoy!




YUM!!!!

Broccoli Beef Stir Fry

I saw this recipe on Mommy's Kitchen
and it looked so good I had to try it. I omitted a few things that i don't typically like and I have to say this was SO very good! I would much prefer to make it myself at home than order in when I can eat like this! Everyone loved it!

Recipe:

Beef and Broccoli Stir-Fry

8 oz top sirloin, cut into 1/4-inch-thick strips
6 - Tbsp soy sauce
2 - Tbsp brown sugar
2 - Tbsp sesame oil
1 - Tsp ground cloves
1 - Tbsp minced ginger
2 - cups broccoli florets
1 - Tbsp vegetable oil
3 - Tbsp hoison sauce
2 -tsp cornstarch

Combine first 6 ingredients and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Cook broccoli in small pot of boiling, salted water until almost crisp-tender, about 2 minutes; drain. Rinse under cold ice water to stop the cooking process. Heat oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. Using slotted spoon, transfer beef to pan - RESERVING MARINADE. Stir-fry beef until just no longer pink - about 2 minutes. Remove beef from pan and add broccoli. Continue stir-frying until vegetables are just crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Stir cornstarch into reserved marinade. Pour marinade over veggies in pan. At this point I added some hoison sauce then beef and cook until liquid boils and thickens, 2-3 minutes.

Serve over rice.

Steak and Cheese Subs!

I saw this posting for Cheesesteaks on Kaitlin's blog and had to try it. I always buy the pot roast beef on sale and since my husband doesn't like pot roast meat I always have to make him a different meal completely. Now I can buy the meat I love and use it to benefit both of us. He said this was good..I didn't even tell him it was pot roast meat and perhaps he will never know. :-) Even the kids loved it. I added A1 sauce on mine and it was delicious!




Recipe:

Ingredients:
Beef Chuck Pot Roast
1 Medium Onion, cut into small slices
1 Green Bell Pepper, cut into small slices
1 Tablespoon Butter
Shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese (however much you think you'll need, depending on the amount of sandwiches you make)
Rolls
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon Onion Powder
1 Cup Water



Directions:
Lay your meat in your slow cooker and set to low. Pour water over meat then sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Cover and cook for 8 hours. Remove meat from slow cooker and shred on cutting board, removing all pieces of fat. Once finished, add the butter, onion, and bell pepper into a skillet and cook until the vegetables start to become soft, then add the meat. (I didn't add all of the meat, I saved some and put it in a container for other uses, use however much you think you'll need). Stir everything together then check for seasonings, add some salt & black pepper if necessary. Cover and turn the heat to low and let the flavors blend together for about 10 minutes while you prepare your rolls. Split the rolls down one side, don't cut them fully in half. Place on a baking sheet and put under the broiler for about 3-4 minutes, until they start to turn golden brown. Remove the rolls from the oven and spoon your meat mixture onto your rolls, then top with shredded cheese.

Soft Pretzels and Pretzel Sticks with Cheese

I found this great recipe for homemade pretzels on Amber's Delectable Delights website. I let my 10 year old daughter do the shaping of the pretzels so they are her creations. I have to say these are so good. We also made some of her dogs and logs with string cheese inside. These were good while hot but after they cool it is kinda hard to eat.











Soft Pretzels
(Source: Amber's Delectable Delights)

Ingredients:
1/8 cup hot water
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/3 warm water
1/3 cup brown sugar
4+ cups flour
Coarse kosher salt
Baking soda
Butter or shortening (to generously grease cookie sheets)

Directions:
In a large bowl mix together hot water and yeast until the yeast dissolves. Stir in the warm water and brown sugar and stir until the brown sugar dissolves.

Slowly add 4 cups of flour, stirring constantly. Continue stirring until the mixture is smooth and does not stick to the sides of the bowl.

Lightly flour counter. Dip your hands into extra flour. Knead the dough until it is stretchy and smooth. (Push it down and away from you with the palms of your hands, turning the dough as you work)

Grease cookie sheets generously with butter or shortening. Sprinkle greased cookie sheet(s) with kosher salt. Preheat oven to 475. (It is very important that you grease the cookie sheets very well)

Using liquid measuring cup fill a large saucepan at least 1/2 full of water. For each 1 cup of water, add 1 tbls baking soda.

Divide the dough into equal sized pieces.

Using the following 4 steps shape each dough ball into a pretzel shape...

1). Roll the dough into a rope 14" long and as thick as your thumb. Bend the dough into a U shape. (if you have trouble rolling the dough into a rope slightly wet your hands and try again).

2). Cross one end of the rope over the other one. The ropes should cross about three inches from the tips.

3). Twist the crossed ends, making a full turn. Fold the ends back, towards the middle of the U.

4). Open the ends slightly to form a pretzel shape. Press the ends into the dough firmly.

Bring water into saucepan to a gentle boil (not to many bubbles) Use pancake turner to lower each pretzel into the saucepan. Count slowly to 30. Then lift the pretzel onto the greased and salted cookie sheet (shaking off excess water back into the saucepan). Repeat until all the pretzels are done.

Sprinkle some kosher salt on top of the pretzels and put them in preheated oven. Bake for 8 minutes or until the pretzels are golden.

Variation Recipes
Garlic Parmesan Pretzels Add 4-6 cloves pressed garlic and 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese into the liquid ingredients before adding the flour.
Sun-dried Tomato and Basil Pretzels Add 4-6 chopped sun-dried tomatoes, 1 tsp basil and 2 tsp parm cheese to the liquid ingredients before adding in the flour

Recipe notes
* You can make the dough up to 24 hours in advance, just cover the bowl and store in refrigerator.
* These also freeze very well. Just pop them into the microwave for a few seconds to reheat.
* This recipe will yield 20-24 shaped pretzels depending on the size you make them.
*You can also make pretzel sticks with this recipe. Instead of rolling dough into pretzel shapes just roll into 2-3" long ropes a little thicker than your thumb.

For Cheese Logs

Follow the soft pretzel recipe. But instead of shaping into pretzels or sticks roll out a piece of dough and roll up a piece of string cheese into the middle. It is very important to seal all the seams very well otherwise the cheese will ooze out of them. The cook time on these is also the same as the pretzel recipe.

Thanks Amber for the great recipe!!!

Monica's Mom's Tres Leches Cake!

I served this fabulous cake at my puppy picking party this weekend and there are NO words for how incredible it was...really...I am not kidding...everyone asked for the recipe who tried it (except my one friend who doesn't bake and she will just ask me to make it for her over and over again.) Thanks to Monica's mom who has shared her wonderful recipe!

Sorry for the pic...everyone started showing up early (too excited to pick their new puppies) and I had to snap it so fast as I was still slicing up strawberries as guests arrived. No worries though because if you want to see a great photo you can hop on over to Monica's blog to see some really great pics. I know I will be making this again so I will take much better pics the next time and post them. :-)

Monica's Mom's Tres Leche Cake

1 box white cake mix
3 large eggs
1 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 12 oz. can evaporated milk
1 cup milk
sweetened whipped cream (take heavy whipping cream add some sugar and whip)
strawberries for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13-inch pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the cake mix, eggs, water, oil and vanilla until smooth. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove cake from oven and let cool 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, stir together the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk and regular milk til well blended. Poke cake all over with a skewer and pour milk mixture all over cake, pressing lightly to make sure milk is completely absorbed. It may seem really full, but it will all get absorbed.

Refrigerate cake 1-2 hours til cool to the touch and the cake has absorbed all the milks. Top with sweetened whipped cream and fresh strawberries.