Potato and Ham Soup

Well, with Thanksgiving gone...
There are a ton of leftovers in my house...
I need to clean out the fridge ...
And as I was looking in there...
I thought of my mom's potato soup...
I have the most amazing mother... She is a true angel... One of the most beautiful people I have ever met...She is one of the most giving person I have ever met.. Needless to say... when I was a child...
I was with my mother all the time... Especially when she was cooking...It really amazed me at what she could come up with... She would just look in the pantry... And next thing you knew... We had a feast on the table... I really think I get my love of cooking from my role model ... My mom...
This one is for you mom....
OK
Here are the ingredients...

All you do i peel, wash, and cut up potatoes, onions and carrots..Put in stock pot with cut up ham, soups and then add enough water to cover over everything at least an inch or more.. Then turn up on high till it just starts to boil... and turn to medium and let it simmer....

And after about an hour or so...
It looks like this...

I topped mine with sour cream, cheese and bacon bits...

It is not only delicious it is a true comfort food...
Enjoy!!!

Left over ham casserole

After cooking for 2 days for Thanksgiving...
I was too tired to cook today...
After looking through my pantry I came up with this leftover casserole..
I am not sure if I have seen this somewhere else or not...
But it sounded good when I saw the ingredients in my pantry...
Here is what I did...

I added the water , milk and butter per the directions on the back on the loaded casserole box..
Then I drained the peas and cut up the leftover ham and put it in the casserole dish...
Baked at 40-45 minutes and when it is done... it looks like this...

 

This is how it looked on the plate.. It was amazing... The whole family enjoyed it so much...

 

 

My husband wanted me to post the end result of the dinner...

I think that picture says it all!!!
Enjoy!!!

 

Peach and Pear Surprise

Well, today is Monday...

But then this afternoon...
My very best friend  Karen  called me..
We talked for almost an hour...It is always a wonderful thing to talk to her..
She always brightens my day... And I feel so blessed to have a true blue friend through thick and thin..  But the reality is.. there has been no thin...We are going to be bff to the end.. Real Lucy and Ethel...
ok...Time to get to the recipe.. I could talk about Karen all day...
I did not have all the ingredients for her cobbler recipe that she shared with me...
Time to look through the pantry... and here is what I found...

Ok.. I know this sounds crazy... But think about it...

What ingredients are in an apple crisp??

Oatmeal, flour, brown sugar...(and today chocolate chips)...

The same exact ingredients that are in cookie mix...

So here is what I did...

Opened both cans of fruit... And cut up and added to the dish.. including juice...
Then opened the bag of cookie mix... and spread on top...

 

As you can see I added some pats of butter...
Baked @ 350 for 45 minutes...
And...

And it is so good...

The chocolate chips melted through it..
Next time I am going to try with cherries....
Oh my.. that just seems delicious...
Enjoy!!!

Shepherds Pie.... Loaded

It has been quite awhile since my last blog..
I guess you can tell that peak season is here...
I needed something extremely easy and tasty for supper...
Looked in my pantry... oh this is what I came up with...
Shepherds Pie Loaded...
ok
What does loaded mean?  Well I put loaded mashed potatoes on top...
That is right.. mashed potatoes with sour cream, chives, cheese and bacon already in there....
One word to describe my creation....
Amazing....
Here are the ingredients...

 

 I used instant loaded mashed potatoes, corn, hamburger, cheese, cream of mushroom soup and brown gravy mix..
I fried the hamburger... while it was draining I added one up of water to the gravy mix.. and 1/2 can of cream of mushroom soup.. the dry onion soup mix is optional.. you can add with gravy or not...

 

After the gravy and soup mix is heated... put the browned hamburger back in and stir...
Cook the mashed potatoes per back of box directions..
Lay hamburger on bottom of dish

Then add boiled corn

Put the loaded mashed potatoes on top and sprinkle with cheese...
Cook @  for 20 minutes...@350
And it looks like this when it is done...

And after your family digs into it ... This is what you have left...well maybe...

Enjoy!!!

Tater Tot Casserole

I have seen a ton of Tater Tot Casserole recipes...
So I thought I would make the easiest one I could and still very tasty...
The ingredients are...

Hamburger, beefy onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, cheese and tater tots...
First thing you want to do is brown the hamburger and drain...
Then mix dry soup mix and cream of mushroom soup together...
Stir in hamburger...
Then put in a casserole dish...

Next put on the tater tots...
Then bake for 25 minutes at 350.

 After 25 minutes .. take out of oven and top with cheese..

And it comes out like this...
And serve plate...

And it looks like this...
Enjoy!!!

Meatballs and Gravy served on rice

Well,
Today is a chilly day...
And thanks to daylight savings time...
It is "fall back time"
Well my body still does not know whether to fall back or spring forward...
So the only solution was to come up with a comfort food...
I wanted something nice and quick..
So I opened the freezer and pantry...
Here is what I came up with...
The ingredients are...

 

 I took frozen meatballs, rice, brown gravy mix and beefy onion soup mix..

 I browned the meatballs...

I put the rice in the crock pot and added the beefy onion soup mix and water...

Then I added 2 cups of water and 2 packages of the dry gravy mix...

And it turns out like this...
Enjoy!!!

 

Confetti Sausage Potluck

Today is Halloween..
I do not celebrate Halloween...
But my sister in law invited us over for a get together for the kids..
I love my sister in law and love every minute I can be with her..
She is a caring person, and someone who always laughs...
So it is impossible not to have a great time with her...
I told her I would bring something to her party...
I wanted something that everyone could enjoy...
So I came up with this...

I took one package of little smokies, one package of herb sausage, and two packages of hot dogs...
And of course, I put two onions and cut them very chunky...

I fried them up...

I heated them throughout... and made sure they were fully cooked...

Then as soon as they were ready...
I put them in 2 bottles of BBQ sauce...
And...

This is what it looks like...

I am going to put it in a serving bowl...

And the adults to the youngest of kids can enjoy them...

There is something for all taste buds....

Enjoy!!!

Strognaff .... my way

Most people take hours to cook strognaff...
Not me...
3 (or more) ingredients and you are ready to go...
And the ingredients are...

 

I like to add onions and/ or green peppers also.
First you want to start browning your hamburger...then drain it...

While you are cooking your hamburger... start your water to boil the noodles...
When the water comes to a boil... add noodles and cook for 10-12 minutes...
Then add 1 cup of water for each packet of gravy mix you are going to use...
Put it in the pan you cooked the hamburger in...and make sure you are stirring it...
When it comes to a boil... simply add back the hamburger...

 

And by the time it is ready ... Your noodles will need to be drained...

And when you put it all together...

It looks like this...

It really could not be easier...
And it is so delicious...
Enjoy!!!

 

 

 

New posts will begin on Wed

Since we have Hurricane Sandy here...
Looks like I will not be able to add a new blog till I see what the flooding will do..
Until then...

BBQ Spareribs

Today I wanted bbq spareribs...
So i took out the old crockpot and got ready..
In my opinion... there is only one way to cook bbq ribs...in the crockpot...
I have seen alot of people cook ribs.. from boiling them, to grilling them to smoking them...
but mine way is totally fool proof...
You can not mess it up...
There are only 3 ingredients...
here they are

That is it...
Hard to believe
First of all, cut the onions and lay on the bottom of crockpot...

I  do this so that the meat has something to lay on ...
Next.. put on some of the bbq sauce...

Easy so far...isn't it...
Then lay the meat on top of the onions and sauce...
Then put some more sauce on top of the meat...

That is it...
Let the slow cooker do the work for you...
Depending on the amount of ribs...
It could take 6-8 hours...
But it is well worth the wait..
And when you serve it....
It looks like this...

I served it with rice...
Enjoy!!!

 

Chicken Taco Salad

My daughter is a beautiful and amazing young lady.  Even though she is 26 years old, I still refer to her as my baby girl.  Hard to believe 26 years have gone by.  I am so proud of her.  She is a strong and positive lady.  I am so blessed to not only have a daughter that is as wonderful as her, but to also call her my best friend.
She has an awesome job... but...
She works the midnight shift.
Of course I know she is safe at work. But I do not want her to go out at 3:00am to get lunch.
So if she wants me to make her a chicken taco salad....
Then I will gladly do it for my baby girl.
The recipe is way beyond easy.. On a scale of 1-10.. 1 being easy and 10 being hard..
it is for sure a 1.
Here are the ingredients...

First thing you need to do is fry up the chicken.. you do not want it to be crispy like fried chicken.. you just to need to make sure it is cooked through.

After chicken is cooked.. next you need to cut it up...

 Put the cut up chicken back in the pan

 Add the taco seasoning from the packet

Add water... I actually just fill in the packet with water and put it in the pan

It will come up to a boil, stir once in a while... it will take about 10 minutes.. and it will thicken..
Cook until all liquid is gone.. It will be absorbed by the chicken.

This is salad.. You can add more chicken if you would like. You can also top it with salsa..

I prefer mine with ranch dressing..

Enjoy!!!

Baking cookies with my son

Children are one of the best blessings in life
God blessed me with two beautiful children
My daughter is 26 and my son is 12 years old
I have always cooked with my children...
I think that it not only fun to do with them...
But also a useful tool that can benefit them ...
While I was making the lasagna yesterday...
My son decided he wanted to make cookies...
Even though it was from a mix...
He did them all by himself..
So I thought it was only fair to show him making cookies on my blog...

The cookies actually came out really good..
But unfortunately...
We eat them quicker than we bake them...