Category — Cooking Recipes

Whenever I get the chance, I like to go to a local diner for a bowl of their loaded baked potato soup.  Occasionally, I even make my own, which I think comes in pretty close to the diner’s recipe. Some people use flour or cornstarch to thicken their potato soup, but I like to sprinkle in some instant mashed potato flakes for thickening it up when needed.

This is a very rich soup, so….uh make it when you’re not dieting.  Everybody has to splurge once in awhile, right?

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

• 2/3 cup butter
• 3/4 cup flour
• 4 cups cubed, baked potatoes, peeled
• 8 cups milk
• 1/2 cup thin sliced green onions
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 cup of sour cream
• Several slices of bacon, cooked, drained, coarsely chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in a large soup pot or Dutch oven, then little by little stir in flour until smooth.  Gradually add milk and stir over low to medium heat until thickened.  When mixture has thickened, add potatoes and green onions, and continue to cook until soup just reaches a very gentle boil.  Add remaining ingredients and serve hot!

There are a million ways to make this soup.  Here are lots more potato soup recipes.

Every year I try to find one new addition for my collection of Halloween recipes.  I think this one is going to be the one this year.  Until now, I had never even heard of pumpkin dip.  This sounds like it would be good with ginger snaps or vanilla wafers…like mini pumpkin pies for my Halloween party.

Easy Pumpkin Dip

• 2 blocks of cream cheese, softened (8 ounces each)
• 1 large can plain pumpkin (30 ounces)
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. ginger

Whip together all ingredients with a hand mixer, and you’re done!  Serve on a platter with ginger snaps and/or vanilla wafers.  Or, hollow out a small pumpkin and place dip inside for a really creative presentation.

In my never ending quest to squeeze more veggies into my family’s diet, I was reading the other day about the health benefits of sweet potatoes.  Turns out these funny looking root vegetables are an excellent source of vitamin A, and a good source of both calcium and vitamin C. In addition, the antioxidants contained in sweet potatoes are linked to helping the body heal itself, and fight cancer and other diseases.  This article on sweet potatoes even rates them as the most nutritious vegetable in existence.

You can make baked sweet potatoes in the oven, or even in your microwave, just like a regular baked potato, or mash them.  I’m also going to try this skillet recipe:

Skillet Sweet Potatoes

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 2 whole sweet potatoes
• 1 cup sliced onions
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock
• Salt and pepper

Peel sweet potatoes with a vegetable peeler.  Using a mandolin slicer or a knife, slice the potatoes into 1/2 inch strips, and then the onion into medium-thick slices.

In a nonstick skillet, cook onions in oil for 5 minutes, or until softened.  Next, add sweet potatoes and vegetable stock.  Cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes until potatoes are tender.   Serves 2-4.

Sweet potatoes pair well with pork dishes, or baked chicken breasts. Here are more sweet potato recipes.

Whatever you do, don’t throw away the pumpkin seeds leftover from carving Halloween pumpkins!  Roasted pumpkin seeds are a delicious and nutritious Halloween treat, and they’ll stay fresh for a couple weeks in a tightly sealed container or bag.  Here’s how to make them:

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Separate pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin pulp and place in colander.  Rinse with water, and sift through with your hands to wash away any remaining pulp.  After rinsing, place seeds on paper towels to dry. When seeds are dry, place them on a cookie sheet, and toss with a drizzle of olive or canola oil.  Add in any seasonings you like such as salt, garlic salt, Old Bay seasoning, etc.

Bake seeds in a 350 degree oven, stirring every few minutes, until golden brown.

Read more about pumpkin seed nutrition facts.

I was strolling around a fall festival yesterday and tried a piece of pumpkin cheesecake at one of the stands.  It had a graham cracker crust, and extra cinnamon.  I’m not sure exactly what was in it, but the cheesecake recipe below seems pretty similar.  This would be great to add to your Halloween recipes, or keep in mind for Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:

• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 3 tbsp. melted butter
• 2 tbsp. packed brown sugar

Filling:

• 4 blocks of cream cheese (8 ounces each)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 1 can pumpkin pie filling (30 ounces)

Mix together crust ingredients and pat firmly on the bottom and sides of a greased spring form pan, and set aside.  Then place cream cheese in a mixing bowl, and beat until fluffy with a hand mixer.  Add sugar, and eggs (one at a time), blending well after each one. Then, add pumpkin and flour and blend.  Pour mixture into crust and bake at 325 degrees F for and 1 hour and 45 minutes, or until center is firm.

I found more pumpkin cheesecake recipes that include nuts, maple, and even bourbon….yum!

Did you know you can transform your favorite deviled egg recipes into spooky eyeballs for Halloween?  I’ve done this for my Halloween party for the last few years, and they always get gobbled up pretty fast.  With a little bit of ketchup and stuffed olives, it’s a snap.

In a large saucepan or stockpot, boil enough eggs to make the desired amount of deviled eggs.  Adding some salt to the boiling water will make it easier to remove the shells later.  You can make your deviled egg filling from any recipe, but here’s the recipe I use:

• A dozen hard-boiled eggs, peeled
• 1 can deviled ham (4.5 ounces)
• 1/4 cup sweet relish
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 4 tsp. mustard
• 12 green olives (stuffed with pimientos)
• Ketchup

Cut boiled and peel eggs in half lengthwise, remove yolks, and set aside whites.  Place egg yolks in a small mixing bowl and mash with a fork.  Add ham, mayo, relish, and mustard.  Mix well, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Fill egg whites with filling.  Top with olive halves to create the eyeball look.  If you want to make bloodshot eyeballs, use ketchup to create blood vessels.  This is easily done by placing the desired amount of ketchup in a disposable plastic bag.  Make a small hole in the bag and use it like an icing bag.  You can also poke a hole in a fast food ketchup packet. If you’re taking these to a Halloween party, I  recommend using a deviled egg carrier, as they like to slide around.

The photo above shows sliced black olives with a dot of ketchup in the center rather than stuffed green olives, and they’ve colored their egg filling green.  Anything goes here!

Here are more Halloween recipes for an especially fun Halloween night.

Football practice and dance lessons make Monday nights at our house pretty crazy, so I’m always looking for easy recipes that will make a busy night just a little bit smoother.   Last night I made these easy enchiladas from a recipe my mother-in-law gave me.  They’re fast, and you can adapt the recipe to include whatever meat and/or cheeses you have available.

Monday Night Enchiladas

• 1 package of corn tortillas
• 2 cups of shredded cheese (Mexican blend, cheddar, mozzarella, or queso blanco will work)
• 1 big can red enchilada sauce ( approx. 28 oz.)
• 2 cups of meat, chopped or shredded (ground beef, chicken, or pork)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

Brush both sides of each corn tortilla with oil, and place in 400 degree oven for 5 minutes, and remove.  Pour half of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9X13 baking dish, and smooth to coat.  When tortillas are cool enough to handle, fill with your desired combination of meat and cheese.  Remember to save some cheese for topping.  After filling, roll tortillas, fold under the ends, and place seam-side down in baking dish.

Top enchiladas with remaining red sauce and cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes.

If you want to make vegetarian enchiladas, you can replace the meat in this recipe with black beans.  If you’re concerned about fat content, you can make skinny enchiladas by omitting the oil, and softening the tortillas with water.

This recipe got me thinking about making homemade tortillas with a tortilla press.  It’s definitely not a Monday night activity, but I’m still anxious to try it.

With the economy in crunch, many of us are looking for ways to save on food expenses.  One of the best ways to save a buck on meals without sacrificing quality is to dig out all your favorite casserole recipes, or find some new ones.

If you think casseroles are limited to boring tuna/vegetable concoctions like your mom used to make, you should do a quick search for casserole recipes.  It’s easy to find low-fat versions of old favorites, and ideas for satisfying even the most sophisticated tastes. Here’s a vegetarian casserole from Cooking.Com that I’m going to try this week:

Baked Rigatoni with Spinach

• 1 pound of rigatoni
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 (10 oz.) package frozen spinach thawed
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 5 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper
• 1 1/2 cups grated fontina cheese

Preheat oven to 450 F.  Cook pasta until almost done, and drain.  Pour pasta into a large (9X13) casserole dish, and toss with 1 tbsp. of oil.

Next, squeeze all excess water from spinach, and place in a food processor with ricotta cheese, 3 tbsp of the Parmesan, nutmeg, salt, and pepper.  Puree.  Then, stir in half of the fontina cheese.

Stir the pureed mixture into the pasta. Top with remaining fontina cheese, Parmesan cheese, and oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until top is brown and bubbly.

The casserole dish shown above is the Emeril adobe clay covered casserole dish available at Holiday Decorations Direct. Com.

I always keep Ramen noodles around for an emergency meal or a fast lunch for the kids, but I didn’t know until recently that there are hundreds of Ramen noodle recipes floating around online. People put Ramen noodles in everything from cole slaw to Jell-O (yuck)!

I’ve recently tried this beef and broccoli recipe, and it has turned out to be a Friday night favorite at my house.  You can make it in a large skillet or a wok. It makes enough to feed 6 people and have some leftovers.

Easy Beef and Broccoli Recipe

• 3 cups frozen or fresh broccoli florets
• 1 1/2 lbs. thinly sliced top round steak
• 8 packages beef Ramen noodles
• 8 cups water
• 2 tbsp. olive oil

Saute beef with olive oil in a large skillet or wok until nearly cooked through. Add broccoli florets.  Saute for another 1-2 minutes, and then add water.  Bring to a boil.  Break Ramen noodle blocks in half and add to skillet. Add noodle season packets.  Cook until Ramen noodles are tender, and most of the water is absorbed.  Allow to sit for a few minutes before serving.

You can adjust this recipe to make as much or as little as you want.  Just use 1 cup of water per package of noodles.  Ramen noodle seasoning contains a lot of sodium, so if you like, just leave out some of the season packets, or purchase the low sodium noodle packets.  Baked ramen noodles are also available if you want to reduce the fat content of this recipe.

Lately, I’ve been trying to introduce more whole grain foods to our family’s menu.  I know the health benefits of whole grain foods are amazing, but we don’t like the ‘cardboard-ish’ texture of some of them.  I have found some delicious 100% whole wheat bagels that everyone likes, and even some whole grain toaster pastries that make a great quick breakfast, but I’m going to try to make my own whole wheat bread too.

If you have a bread machine, this looks like a very simple whole wheat bread recipe:

Whole Wheat Honey Bread

• 1 1/8 cups water
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
• 1/3 cup of honey
• 1 tbsp. dry milk powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp. shortening
• 1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast

Place all ingredients in the pan within your bread machine.  Following the directions for your particular model, adjust to whole wheat setting, and start. Source:  All Recipes.