zuppa toscana

I have learned to love this soup. My friend Laura was the one to get me to try it at Olive Garden. I decided that I wanted to give it a try. I search some recipes online and found one that is pretty good. Go here if you want to see the recipe.

My changes are as follows:
I have made it with Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage (good! then you don't need the hot pepper flakes), Hot Italian ground sausage (or you can get the links and remove the casings) and Jimmy Dean regular sausage (you will need a couple shakes of crushed red pepper). You will get the same result.

I am a red potato fan. I think they have a creamier texture when cooked, so I use those ALL the time.

I do not drain the sausage, I just leave it in the pan after I brown it. This time I did throw the onion in and let that sauté for a bit before adding the water and chicken broth. I also like to let the kale cook a bit, so I throw that in and let it go about 15 minutes or so.

At the end, add the cream and bacon bits.

It is so good! There is a little zing from the red peppers, but the cream makes it smooth at the same time. Does that make sense?

OH! and you can add more water than the recipe calls for, just adjust the salt to taste!

This is before adding the cream. 

eggplant parmesan

I LOVE this meal. Adam likes it OK, but he prefers meals that contain meat. 

This is easy, but it does take time. What I like is that after you fry it, you can freeze it for later. 

egg wash - eggs and water, the amount depends on how much you are making. 

eggplant - peeled and sliced (either in circles or lengthwise)

breadcrumbs

oil

Dip the eggplant in the egg wash and then press into breadcrumbs.

Heat the oil in a pan and let it get to temp while you are breading the eggplant plant. 

Fry until browned on both sides and drain. 

You can serve this over spaghetti with sauce and cheese, or however you want. This time I put some marinara sauce and topped with mozzarella. Bake or broil to melt the cheese. 

DIY instant oatmeal

This is super easy and simple and inexpensive. All I did was this:

1/4 C - quick oats

1 tbsp - brown sugar

a sprinkle of cinnamon

Add to a small baggie. Snack size would work well, but I didn't have any. This is a perfect serving size for my kids. 

Make according to instructions on Quick oats, however, I just added some hot water to mine. 

I didn't add any craisons or walnuts to the bags, but you could. 

chicken fajitas

You can add more if you want.

1 - onion, sliced (I used a red onion this time, but whatever works)
1 - green bell pepper
1- red bell pepper
1- orange or yellow bell pepper
1-2 chicken breasts, cut into strips (you could use other meats)
Goya Adobo seasoning to taste
vegetable oil

In a bowl, mix the onion and peppers together. Drizzle with some oil and Adobo seasoning.
In a bag, mix the chicken, oil and Adobo seasoning.

In a non-stick skillet (I used a long rectangular one), drizzle with oil, heat to med-high. Add veggies to one side and chicken to the other. I usually sprinkle a little more Adobo seasoning on at this time. I fight my OCD and let the fajitas cook. If you can resist the urge to toss them around with tongs, then the peppers and chicken with have some time to get nice and brown. But be careful, you don't want them to burn. Cook until the chicken is cook through and the peppers and chicken are browned evenly.

Serve with warm tortilla, cheese, sour cream, or whatever you like.

I like the flavor of the Adobo seasoning instead of the fajita packets you can buy. It tastes better to me.

pot roast

I don't make pot roast that often because to be honest, the meat is too expensive for me. I bought this one for $10. I can get multiple chicken meals for that price. Anyway, I decided it was time so I bought one. I have 2 stories to share about this. First I would spend weekends with my Grandma (Dad's mom) and she would always make a pot roast on Sunday. I would help her cook. What I took from those moments was this: She would always put onions in the roast pan first to set the meat on. Then she would add a couple beef bouillon cubes in. I don't remember everything else. 

My Mom and Dad had a Deli when I was in high school and of course I worked there after school and on the weekends. My parents would make their own roast beef that they would cool and then slice. I remember it being a HUGE piece of meat that they would roast for hours. Everyone that came in would smell it in the morning and then come back later and try to get my mom to slice them off a piece as it was cooling. OK, not everyone, but some of our regulars/friends. The ingredient that I have on hand is Maggi seasoning. It makes it yummy. 

So back to what I did. First I pulled out the crockpot. I forgot to take the meat out of the freezer until that morning.... so I put the crock pot on high and hoped for the best. No worries though, it came out great. 

2 - onions, I wedged mine

2 - beef bouillon cubes

2 - bay leaves

3 - cloves of garlic cut into 2 or 3 pieces each

1-2 Cups of water

1 - roast

S&P to taste

8 - red potatoes (I left mine whole)

4 - carrots, peeled and cut into big pieces

3 - celery stalks cut into big pieces

Maggi

I put the onion wedges on the bottom with the garlic and bouillon cubes and bay leaves. I place the roast on top and sprinkle with S&P. I add the water. I then covered it and let it cook on high for a few hours. We have afternoon church, so right before I left, I threw in all the veggies around and on top of the roast. I doused it with Maggi and re-covered it and then left for church. 

Because I started with a frozen block, I cooked this on HIGH for 8 hours. If it was thawed, I would have done LOW for about the same amount of time. 

After I took the meat and veggies out and placed them on a platter and covered with foil. I strained the drippings because Adam wanted gravy. There are many ways to make gravy... flour and water, cornstarch, or a rue. I decided to make a rue. 

1/4 C- butter/oil

1/4 C- flour

3C - broth

S&P to taste

Melt the butter in the pan, add the flour and whisk until smooth. It should be creamy. Slowly add the broth and whisk, whisk, whisk until it is well blended. I used about 4 C of broth, but I didn't measure. Cook on med-high heat and keep whisking until it reaches the thickness you want. Mine wasn't that thick, but I added a lot of broth. S&P to taste.