A happy me

A happy me
family - is everything

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Leftovers? Let's make SOUP

Well, I bought some Porkribs on sale the other day and cooked them allllllllll day in the crock pot w/ just water and a package of onion soup mix. OH YEAH they were great!  I also made my fennel hot veggie dish to go with it. Perfect.  However, I had a lot of left over pork...so, today I made soup! Of course I knew when I bought the porkribs that there would be leftovers, so I planned ahead and purchased some cabbage, carrots, and celery too while I was at the store.


Oh my it turned out sooooo good!  I filled my huge pot 1/4 of the way w/ water, and chopped the carrots and started them into the boil first. (they take longer to cook through)

In large pot:
fill 1/4 (or more) way w/ water - turn on high heat and bring to boil
While waiting for water to boil add in:
chopped carrots, celery, onion, garlic, cabbage (whole head)
Add in:  2 tbsp Ham Soup Starter (or if you have chicken stock you can add that instead but you may need to add more salt)
Let simmer until cooked
Add in left over meats and juices if you have them (I just left all in the crock pot and dumped it into the pot)

Pepper, basil, sprinkle of celery seed or dill weed adds flavor too! I added all. :)

AWESOME flavor!! EASY to make.  Took maybe 20 min. to chop everything up and get it boiling.

Enjoy!

Friday, February 17, 2012

Stuffed Peppers...make it yummy

Ok, Hookers, this is a recipe I tried out...and sort of tweeked to add in some things I wanted!
here is the link to EggFaces recipe:
 http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2010/09/philly-cheesesteak-stuffed-peppers.html

I have to give Michelle all the credit...she's amazing when it comes to creating awesome food!!!

Here is the pic of mine:

Totally the best I've made I swear!  It is SO easy!!!  Time to create? About 20 min. Time to bake? about 30 min! FAB dinner in less than an hour.

4 Large Green Peppers (wash and cut off tops, remove seeds/innards) Set aside in baking dish

Saute in large skillet:
Onions, garlic, mushrooms, chopped deli Roast Beef (or you can use hamburger!), celery, garlic salt, pepper.  If you want a  little heat you can throw in some Hot Pepper Flake!
Soften one pkg of Cream Cheese, and mix into ingredients after sauteed.
2 tbsp of Whorchestershire sauce (or I just splash it in there 'til I think there's enough! ha)

Place ingredients into Peppers, Top w/ jar of Ragu (or no name brand sauce like me)
Bake for 30 min at 400
At the last 5 min, add any cheese topping you like! I had Chedder this time!  Moz would be great too!

ENJOY! Mr. Eye Candy did! Melt in your mouth goodness!!!

Some people do rice and mix in before baking - but I don't eat rice anymore and this is just as good w/o it!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Fennel yumminess

Ok...this is the chopped version before it started cooking.  I add all kinds of stuff. Make up your own with the veggies you like!!! and here is the after:


1 large Fennel (chop stalks and all! even the fern fronds at top...good too)
chop mushrooms (or I buy a small package already chopped)
Green Beans can be added! I love this w/ Green Beans!
1 large onion -chopped
Garlic cloves minced. (I add a lot b/c I love garlic)
2  Oranges - Zest over all items - or use orange juice if you don't have any oranges or tangelos available (set oranges aside for vinaigrette)
Saute all items in olive oil

Vinaigrette:
in small bowl squeeze oranges (or use orange juice)
Hot sauce (I add quite a bit as I like it spicy these days. hee hee)
1 tbsp sugar (or 1 packet of sweetener)
salt
olive oil.
Mix.  
After items are cooked, pour vinaigrette over and let set....YUMMY.

This is a great dish for pork chops (zest the orange over them too!), or chicken breasts.  You can add some heat to either of them w/ Hot Pepper Flake.

Enjoy peeps! I know we sure did! Mr. Eye Candy could not believe how good this was!!! He grew up a straight meat and potatoes kind of guy...and now...well let's just say his tastes are changing!