Cheesy Vegetable Soup

Our local grocery store has been making these pumpkin bread bowls and selling them in their bakery department. I couldn't pass them up and knew I had to find a yummy cream-type soup to put inside them. Last month, we had a potluck dinner at work and one of my co-workers, Nina, made a delicious, creamy soup with cheese and vegetables. It was so good, we all asked for the recipe. I knew this was the soup for these cute pumpkin bread bowls. This recipe can easily be made in the crockpot once the veggies are cooked. It also makes a lot, but the recipe can be cut in half too.

Cheesy Vegetable Soup

5 cups water
1/4 cup onion, minced
2 large potatoes, cubed into 1/2" squares
2 stalks of celery, sliced thin
3 chicken boullion cubes

Boil above ingredients in a large pot for 8-10 minutes.

Add:
2 (16 oz.) pkgs. frozen broccoli, cauliflower & carrot mix, thawed and cut into smaller pieces

Boil for 5 minutes more

Stir in:
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup, undiluted
2 cans creamed corn
1 lb. pkg. Velveeta Cheese, cut into 1" cubes

Keep stirring until melted. If soup is too thin, add some instant potato flakes to thicken. If the soup is too thick, add a can of chicken broth. If using a crockpot, set on Low and warm for 2-3 hours.

Garlic Chicken Brats & Pesto Rotini

My son came up to me as I was making this dish and asked, "Mom, how come you don't make up your own recipes when you cook?" "Well," I said, "it just so happens that this dinner is something I made up on my own." He looked at me with his mouth wide open in amazement and said, "wow, that is so cool!" "You really are a good cook, huh?" Now how could I argue with that comment? I love my son! He always makes me feel so good.

I created this dish using some of our favorite ingredients: bratwursts, artichokes, pesto and parmesan. As far as the recipes goes, and I know I've said this before in the past, but once again this is a recipe that can be made to your liking. And in the quantities that will suit you and your family. My hubby couldn't get enough of this pasta dish that night. I think he had a full 2 plates. He kept saying, "mmm, this pasta is sooo good!" You can also substitute the chicken brats with an Italian-type sausage and use alternative vegetables such as: mushrooms or zucchini. The garlic chicken brats were freshly made by the butchers at Harmons. I just discarded the casings and used only the meat. I cooked it just like I would regular ground beef.

Garlic Chicken Brats & Pesto Rotini

1 box of rotini pasta, cooked and drained

1 pkg. Harmons brand Bob's Garlic Chicken Brats

1/3 cup Kirkland brand Basil Pesto sauce

2 jars of marinated artichokes, drained

Sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
Parmesan Cheese

Olive oil

In a large pot, bring water to boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large, 2" deep skillet, remove casings from bratwursts, chop and brown till longer pink. Drain pasta, toss with some olive oil to prevently it from drying. Set aside. Remove grease from brats. Return skillet to stove and add artichokes and sun dried tomatoes till thoroughly heated. Add pasta, toss, add pesto sauce, toss and heated till completely cooked. If pasta looks dry, add more olive oil or extra pesto. Add parmesan cheese to each individual plate before serving. Serve with warm bread and a side salad, if desired.

Vegetable Pizza

Lately I've been making this vegetable pizza for us. My hubby and I really like this pizza and are usually the only ones who will eat it. I used my recipe for Tony's Pizza Dough here on this blog. Instead of using a marinara-type pizza sauce, I used ranch dressing instead. You could even use a alfredo sauce or a basil-pesto sauce (from Costco) too. The types of vegetables you use are endless. I layer spinach leaves over the sauce before adding the other vegetables.

Vegetable Pizza

1 batch of pizza dough
Choice of sauce
Shredded mozzarella cheese
Vegetables: spinach, mushrooms, olives, zucchini, summer squash, onions, bell peppers, canned artichokes and tomatoes.

Preheat oven to 400 F degrees. Roll out part of the dough into a 12-14 inch circle. Spread sauce over dough, add spinach leaves, sprinkle about a 1/2 cup of cheese over the spinach, then top with desired vegetables and saving tomatoes till last. Sprinkle more cheese over vegetables. Add tomatoes last and arrange in a nice decorative pattern on top. Bake for 15-20 minutes until crust is a nice golden brown. Remove, cool slightly, slice and serve.

Other pizza ideas:
BBQ chicken: BBQ sauce, pre-cooked chicken, mozzarella cheese, purple onion
Marguerita: Basil-pesto sauce, mozzarella cheese, sliced tomatoes, drizzle with olive oil
Hawaiian: Marinara sauce, sliced canadian bacon, fresh pineapple chunks

Scaldoni's Greek Pasta Salad

About 8 or 9 years ago, I attended a cooking class for Homemaking (back when it was called that) and we were fortunate enough to have the chef from a local restaurant here in town called Scaldoni's come and demonstrate this yummy pasta salad for us. For some reason, no one bothered to right down the recipe as he was demonstrating it. I was the only one. Goes to show you my true dedication to cooking was a little OCD-ish back then too. With that in mind and because I make it all the time, people seem to think that it's my recipe. I unfortunately can't take credit for this recipe as much as I want to. And believe me...I do! I think this is one pasta salad that I could never get sick of eating. The flavors of each of the ingredients blended together works perfectly. The tartness of the vinegar, the tang from the feta and the mild hot flavor from the pepperoncinis is all very delightful. So with that said, I hope you enjoy it as much as those who are lucky enough to eat this salad. I also love how healthy this recipe is. You could even use the new whole wheat versions of pasta and it would be so much more healthier.

Note: Each of the ingredients that were demonstrated that night never had exact amounts. And to this day I have never used exact amounts. You basically have to eyeball the amount and add each one to your liking. I really don't care for onions, but I know other people do, so I still add it but I slice them small so they don't affect me too much. Also, I really like the look of the bowtie pasta, but other shapes can be used too. A good rule of thumb is to cut the veggies around the same size as the pasta. Mainly the onions, cucumbers and tomatoes. Make sure you don't buy yellow banana peppers, look for the jar that says "peperoncinis". There's a difference!



Scaldoni's Greek Pasta Salad

12-16 oz. box of pasta: bowties, spiral, rigatoni or penne, cooked
Red wine vinegar
Olive oil
Greek Seasoning mix (see pic above)
1 large can of olives, sliced
1 large cucumber, seeded and cubed
1 container of feta cheese
2-3 roma tomatoes, seeded and cubed
1 jar of deli-sliced, greek peperoncinis
1 purple onion, sliced

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, prepare veggies and set aside. Drain pasta in strainer and pour back into pot to cool. DO NOT RUN COLD WATER OVER PASTA! The starch gets washed away and makes it hard for the pasta soak in the flavorings of each of the ingredients. Just keep tossing it to let out the heat. You may add a few tablespoons of olive oil to loosen the pasta so it doesn't stick. The cooling process takes a while so plan accordingly.

Once pasta has cooled, start adding enough red wine vinegar, oil and seasoning to coat the pasta lightly. Start out minimally so that it doesn't overpower the pasta at the beginning. Add in each of the veggies and season once again with the vinegar, oil and seasoning. Toss completely. Taste test the pasta to see if flavor is to your liking. It should taste tangy and somewhat peppery from the seasoning and peperoncinis. Add in feta cheese at the very end. Store in airtight container in refridgerator until ready to serve. Nostimmos! (Greek for delicious!)

Panang Curry over Rice

A few months ago some friends and I went out for dinner at a Thai restaurant here in town called Benja's Thai. This was our first time eating there and we loved it! Later, I decided that would be a great place to go again for our anniversary. Kerry and I had the same dishes my friends and I had earlier. And he loved them! Well, in my quest to try to recreate recipes that I try in restaurants, the hunt for the right ingredients began... In my research online, I discovered that some of the ingredients weren't available in most grocery stores and would need to be purchased in a speciality store. So I gave up hope in making it on my own. Well guess what? Little did I know that I was going to find this wonderful jar of already made Panang Curry in my grocery store's Asian section. Along with this jar of Chili Garlic Sauce...


I was so excited to try out my new discovery! The premade curry sauce made this recipe very simple to put together. In the time I was steaming rice, I was able to chop the veggies, add the two sauces, heat and dinner was ready in about 25-30 minutes.

(A Rick "warning"... no mushrooms on this guy's plate!)

Panang Curry over Rice

2 cups of chopped veggies, sauteed in skillet
1/2 lb. chicken, cubed (or shrimp)
1 jar of Thai Kitchen Panang Curry
1 teas. Chili Garlic sauce
Precooked rice, warm and ready to eat

The directions to this recipe is located on the back of the bottle of curry sauce. I used carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, and broccoli with chicken. You may also use: bell peppers, onions, potatoes, etc...

Once the meat and the veggies are cooked, add both sauces and heat till warmed. Pour mixture over warmed rice and serve.

Notes: The sauce should be runny and there should also be a little more sauce than veggies. That's the typical way it was presented to us at the restaurant. Also, they asked us what level of "heat" we wanted our dish to be. So if you would like to taste the red chilies more in your dish, then add more of the chili garlic sauce.