Butternut Potato Soup

I love soups in the fall and winter!

I also love hiding secret nutrition in those soups.

My kids hate squash - all squash, but I love it.

I was planning to make potato soup last night, but at the last minute remembered I had some butternut squash that needed using.

I created something lovely!

And.................drum roll here.................the kids said it was better than my regular potato soup.

Until I dropped the bomb.

Chock full o' squash.

Here's what I did:

(and remember that these recipes feed 10)

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups uncooked, cubed butternut squash

5-6 peeled and cubed potatoes

1 c sliced carrots

4 chicken bouillon cubes

1/2 t red pepper flakes

water

1 can evaporated milk

3/4 c flour

1 t salt

pepper to taste

1/2 tsp thyme

1 t crushed rosemary leaves (or are they needles?)

4 T butter/margarine

Directions:

Place onion, garlic, squash, potatoes, carrots, bouillon, and red pepper flakes into a large pot.  Fill with just enough water to cover the ingredients.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat slightly, but keep boiling until potatoes are softening (12-15 mins).  Pull out your potato masher and mash it in the pan until the squash is no longer recognizable.  (You could do this in a food processor or blender, but masher works fine for me and is easier to clean up.)  Remove from heat.

In a blender, combine milk, flour and salt and blend until flour lumps are gone.  Pour over the top of the soup.  Add pepper, thyme and rosemary and stir to combine.  Add butter/margarine and allow it to melt while you stir. If soup is too thick, you can add additional milk.

Serve as is, or garnish with cheese and crumbled bacon.

Pumpkin Dip

This is a recipe I pull out every October.

Anything pumpkin screams fall and it's an easy, anytime dessert.

We also have it every time we host Thanksgiving at our house.

This recipe was adapted slightly from allrecipes.com

 

Ingredients:

1 8oz package Neufchatel (or cream cheese), softened

2 cups powdered sugar

1 15 oz can solid pack pumpkin

1 T cinnamon

1 T pumpkin pie spice

1 t orange juice

 

 

In medium bowl blend cream cheese and sugar.  Mix in pumpkin.  Add remaining ingredients, blend well and chill until ready to serve.  We like this with graham crackers, ginger snaps and vanilla wafers.

 



Hawaiian Pork Sliders

I love trying new recipes - especially when it seems I've fallen into a dinner rut.

We had some leftover chalupa pork and I searched the web until I created something delicious from bits and pieces of other recipes.

It would be really tasty with plain smoked pork, as well.

Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

cooked chalupa pork or 1-2 lb smoked pork

favorite barbecue sauce

favorite dinner rolls, buns, etc

Pineapple-Mango Salsa:

1/2 bell pepper any color, finely diced

1/4 cup purple/red onion, finely diced

3 T chopped cilantro

1/2 c diced mango

1/2 c diced pineapple

Pineapple-Mango Dressing:

1 T mayo

1/2 T vinegar

1 T orange juice

1/2 t mustard

1/4 t celery seed

1/2 T sugar

salt & pepper to taste

If pork is already cooked, simply add barbecue sauce and heat on low for at least 30 minutes. 

While pork is heating, chop items in pineapple-mango topping and put together into a bowl.  Whisk the dressing ingredients together, then pour over the fruits & vegies. Stir and chill until time to serve.

When pork is well simmered, serve on rolls, top with pineapple-mango salsa and enjoy.

* This could also be served with shredded beef or chicken.  The pineapple-mango salsa was originally a slaw, but my family won't eat cabbage, so I changed it to make us happy.  Add cabbage if you like and increase the dressing ingredients slightly.

Hello Dollies

1 stick butter or margarine        

2 ½ c graham cracker crumbs        

1 ½ c chopped nuts 

1 1/2 c coconut

1 1/2 c chocolate chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350.  Melt butter in 9x13; remove from oven.  Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs over butter.  Stir well; press onto bottom of pan.  Sprinkle with nuts, coconut, and morsels.  Pour condensed milk evenly over the top.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until light golden brown.  Cool completely.

Caleb's Lemon Bars

Caleb has always loved lemon.  This is a favorite of his that he would make from time to time.

1 c butter               

 2 c flour

½ c powdered sugar       

 dash of salt

Mix together with pastry cutter.  Press dough into 9x13 pan.  Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Let cool 10 minutes.

4 beaten eggs            

 ¼ c flour

2 c sugar                

 6 Tb lemon juice

Mix together.  Pour on cooled crust.  Bake 25 minutes at 350.   

Sift powdered sugar on top and cut into bars.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Broccoli Cheese Soup
from mykitchencafe.blogspot.com

1 can chicken broth (about 1 3/4 cups of broth)
1 small onion, diced

1/3 c. flour
1/4 c. butter
Pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon)

2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 c. shredded swiss cheese
steamed chopped broccoli (the amount of broccoli really boils down to preference - I wanted a lot of broccoli in my soup, so I chopped and steamed approximately 2 1/2 to 3 cups of broccoli florets)

Simmer chicken broth and chopped onion for 15-20 minutes in a covered small saucepan, until onions are soft. In a separate medium-sized stockpot, melt butter then add flour and pepper. Cook together for a couple of minutes, then whisk in milk. Stir and heat together on medium-high heat until soup starts to thicken. Next add chicken broth and continue to stir until well blended. Add cheeses and steamed broccoli. Serve immediately.

Makes approximately 4 servings

(These were the cooking instructions from the blog, but I would cut it to one pot and just saute the onions first instead of boiling them for 20 minutes in chicken broth.  Up to you,)

Favorite Banana Bread

This is the banana bread I make all the time - I think it is my mom's recipe.

Anytime I have a banana going bad, I pop it into the freezer to save for a loaf.

Thaw frozen bananas before using.  They will be slimy and yucky looking when you peel them, but they make fantastic bread!

Friends and family always request this unique banana bread.

1 cup sugar                                  

2 T soft shortening                        

1 egg                                             

¾ c milk                                         

1 cup crushed bananas

3 cups flour

3 1/2 t baking powder

1 t salt

3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mix thoroughly sugar, shortening & egg, then stir in milk and crushed bananas.  Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; add to liquid mixture and blend in nuts.  Pour mixture into well-greased loaf pan and let stand 2o minutes before baking.  Bake at 350 for about 70 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.  Crack in top of loaf is characteristic.