Cabbage Roll Soup

Cabbage Roll Soup
Adapted from: Hey That Tastes Good (I added some things)

1 pound ground beef (you could mix beef & pork)

salt and pepper

2 teaspoons paprika

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, cut into half moons

2 stalks of celery, diced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes

1 quart chicken stock

1/2 head of cabbage, core removed and the rest sliced into thin strips

1/2 cup long grain rice

2 tablespoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon celery salt

 

We are moving to a clean eating household... but aren't there quite yet, so to make this as a true clean eating recipe - you might make your own stock, can your own tomatoes, and use brown rice instead of white.

 

I put the onion, carrots, celery, celery salt, and garlic in a large stock pot with the salt & pepper and let them start cooking for about 5 minutes... I then added the meat and let it brown while the vegetables continued to get soft. After the meat is browned, add the tomatoes, chicken stock, and cabbage. Let the soup come to a boil for about 5-10 minutes then add the rice. Let everything cook together for 20-30 minutes. At the very end, we added the vinegar.

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Pasta Fagoli Soup

 

Pasta Fagoli Soup
My version

1 lb ground sirloin -- the original recipe called for ground Italian sausage
4 large carrots, sliced or chopped
1 small/medium onion, chopped
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 can cannellini beans, drained
1 cup ditalini pasta or small pasta (like a small elbow noodle)
6 cups chicken stock
salt & pepper
2-3 tsp garlic powder (I didn't measure this -- I just added a liberal amount so I'm guessing)
1 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
Parmesan for the topping

I made this up to the last step during naptime, and then all I needed to do was add the pasta to finish it when it was dinner time. I love meals that can be prepped ahead and finished quickly. 

I started off browning my meat in a stock pot with a liberal coating of salt & pepper. Add in the carrots and onion - cook until they start to get soft. If there isn't enough grease in the pan from your meat, you may need to add a small amount of olive oil to keep the veggies from burning.

Stir in the diced tomatoes, drained cannellini beans, garlic powder, thyme, bay leaf, and 4 cups of the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, and let it sit in the pot covered until you're ready to finish it off.

Add in the remaining 2 cups of stock and the pasta, boil until the pasta is ready about 10 minutes or so. Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on the soup as you are serving it. I served ours with bread, but a good homemade Cesar salad would go nicely too. Pin It Now!

Prune Cake

Let me start off by saying that I know this sounds weird, but it's a childhood favorite of my mother's. You could easily leave the prunes out and have a nice spice cake... which is what I'd do if I made it for myself.

Prune Cake
Courtesy of: Meme

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 cups flour
3 beaten eggs
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp allspice
1 cup chopped prunes
1 cup chopped pecans

Icing:
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup prune juice (you could sub in orange juice or something else in lieu of the prunes)
2 tbsp flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup pecans

Cream the butter and sugar together with a mixer, I used my stand mixer for this because the batter is a tad bit thick. Add the buttermilk and eggs and mix until smooth.

In another mixing bowl - combine the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, and allspice. Begin slowly mixing the dry ingredients in small amounts into the wet ingredients. Mix until combined. Add in the chopped prunes and pecans at the end.

You can bake this as a round cake, but for this time around my Mom was traveling with it to visit my Grandmother - so I baked it in a 13x9 pan so that it was easier to travel with and we didn't have to worry about the layers shifting.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour. There wasn't a baking time on the original recipe, so I wanted to make sure it wasn't overdone. Always easier to check on it and put it back in for a little longer than to over bake it.

Once it is done let it cool. It is a warm icing, so it doesn't have to be completely cooled before you finish it.

When you are ready to frost it -- mix all the icing ingredients together and boil on the stove until it thickens. It is pretty thick when it is done. I start mine slow and add more heat gradually to make sure that the eggs don't scramble.

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Microwave Pecan Pralines

Microwave Pecan Pralines
Courtesy of: Meme

1 box of light brown sugar
1/2 pint of heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 cups pecan halves
Wax paper

In a large microwave safe bowl, mix the brown sugar with the whipping cream until smooth. Microwave for 9 minutes, then leave it for 1 minute. Add butter and vanilla -- it will bubble like crazy. Finally, stir in pecans. Stir until slightly thickened, and then drop onto wax paper. Once completely cooled, store them in an air-tight container.Pin It Now!

Taco Soup

Taco Soup

I actually combined several recipes into one that I thought would be enjoyed the most by my family.

1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 can pinto beans
1 can black beans
1 can rotel tomatoes
1 can corn, drained
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 packet taco seasoning mix
4 cups of water

Toppings:
sour cream
grated cheddar cheese
Fritos

Brown and drain the ground beef. Add the onion to the pan and sautee until translucent. Drain and rinse the pinto and black beans. Mix the beef, onion, beans, tomatoes, corn, ranch dressing mix, taco seasoning, and water into a crock pot or large stock pot. Either cook for about 30 minutes on the stove or you can cook in the crock pot on low for 8-9 hours. Serve with Fritos, cheese and a dollop of sour cream... or anything you wish. You could also serve with some green onions as well.

You can freeze in individual containers - or put in a gallon sized freezer baggie and lay flat on a cookie sheet in the freezer until frozen. That way it takes up very little room in your freezer.
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Baked Spaghetti

Baked Spaghetti
Adapted from: Paula Deen

8 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley (I used dried)
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
Salt & Pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons Season Salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup water
2 cups canned diced tomatoes
2   cloves garlic, chopped
1 diced green bell pepper
1 diced onion
3 cups cheddar jack cheese blend
2   small bay leaves

In a medium sized pan, mix your tomato sauce, tomatoes, water, garlic, onion, bell pepper, bay leaves, and seasoning. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and you will simmer this mixture for an hour.

After the hour of cooking time, brown your hamburger meat and add to the sauce mixture.

Prepare your pasta according to the package directions - I used thin spaghetti instead of angel hair. I drained my pasta, and put it back in the pot... then mixed in enough of the pasta sauce that it kept the noodles from sticking together - about 1/2 - 2/3 of the sauce.

Preheat your oven to 350. Once all the components of the dish are ready - ladle a good amount of the sauce on the bottom of a 13x9 inch pan. Cover with a layer of noodles. Put 1/2 of your cheese. Repeat all of the layers again with cheese being the top and final layer. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is brown and bubbly.
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Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole

Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole
Inspired by: Better Homes & Gardens

2 packages long grain and wild rice mix 
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 tablespoons butter 
1 can condensed chicken rice soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
2 tablespoons fresh basil or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

I roasted my chicken wrapped in heavy duty foil on 425 for about 20 minutes. Then cooled this until I was ready to prepare the rest of the meal.

Prepare the long grain & wild rice according to the package directions. Chop your celery and onions, and sautee in a pan with the butter until they are slightly soft. I didn't cook mine much longer than the time it took me to get the rice going and chop up my cooked chicken. This left our veggies with a tiny bit of texture and crunch that we really enjoyed in the finished dish.

While the rice finishes cooking, mix in a LARGE bowl - chicken, onion, celery, soup, sour cream, wine, and basil. I mixed all these ingredients together - and had cooked my rice in a large enough pan that when the rice was finished - I could pour all the ingredients into the pan and mix it together until well combined.

Pour the entire mixture until a 2 qt (or 2 liter) pan - cover the top with the Parmesan cheese and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. We then turned on the broiler to brown our cheese for a minute or two.Pin It Now!