Recipes

How to Make a Decorative Pie Crust

Nicole

Last Thanksgiving I set out to make a pie to serve after dinner. I wanted to have a pretty crust on my pie but in all honestly I didn’t have a clue how to make a pretty crust. I remember my Nana always had pretty crust, and my Mom always has too.  But how? You can find anything and everything online so why not a video that teaches you how to make a pretty crust?  Sure enough I found one! Here is the video and a picture of my crust! What do you think? If you are still trying to figure it out like I was watch this video! It’s great!!


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Recipes

Cream of "Something" Soup Mix

Nicole



Since we are a few days from Thanksgiving and so many Thanksgiving recipes seem to start with “add a can of cream of this or cream of that soup” I thought it would be fun to share as recipe I recently tried for making your own “cream of something” soup mix. 

I have been wanting to make “cream of something” soup to keep on hand as a substitute for canned cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, cream of celery (and so on…) soup. I have been looking at many variations of the recipe for a few months now. I liked the recipes found on One Good Thing By Jillee and One Orange Giraffe, but I wanted to tweek them a little bit.
You know I can make a recipe without tweeking something LOL.  I finally bought a box of dried milk and gave it a shot. It actually turns out just perfect. I read on some sites where people add celery seed or sautéed celery to make it cream of celery, bits of left over or dried chicken for cream of chicken and dried or fresh mushroom for cream of mushroom soup. I thought that was a pretty nifty idea.
I am very impressed with this recipe and excited to have it in a labeled jar in my pantry ready to be used at any moment. This also saves money and time if you forget to buy what you need; better yet it’s not in a can!!

Ingredients:
  • 3-5 cup non-fat dried milk* 
  • 2 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 3/4 cup bouillon granules
  • 3/4 cup dried minced onions
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 3 teaspoons dried thyme
  • 3 teaspoons pepper

*The reason I put 3-5 cups of milk is because I found this recipe to be too salty with all the bouillon. You might start with 3 cups then after your first time using the soup decide at that point if you need to add more milk or not. I just found it incredibly salty.*

    Directions:

    1. Add and mix all of the ingredients together and store in an airtight container or zip bag. Don’t forget to label your container so that you will know immediately how much water and mix to add to get the correct consistency. 
    2. For one can of cream of something soup adds to a saucer 1/3 cup of the cream of something soup mixture and 1-1/4 cups of water. 
    3. Cook on a medium to medium low heat until the soup thickens up to your desired consistency. 

    *1/3 cup of the cream of something mixture to every 1-1/4 cups of water equal one can of cream of something soup.*

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    Recipes

    Hearty Mushroom Barley Soup

    Nicole



    I promised you all this recipe a few days ago, but I fell behind. It’s here now so I guess that’s what counts right? This is a really great recipe it’s nice and hardy and a perfect fall recipe! I am not a fan of fresh mushrooms, but I really enjoyed this soup. The flavor is very earthy and smooth. It has really nice creaminess to it which I was not anticipating.  


    The recipe couldn’t be easier to put together. I actually made it while making something else that night for dinner. I kind of put it together on a whim. The part that takes the longest is just waiting on the barley to be cooked through. When the barley is ready so your soup.

    The recipe yield is 4 servings and at least in our case it was exactly four generous servings, not any more than that.  If you are anticipating big eaters or extra guest you might want to double the recipe. Delicious!

    Ingredients:
    • Nonstick cooking spray
    • 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
    • 2 cups chopped onions
    • 1 cup thinly sliced carrots
    • 2 cans (14 ounces each) chicken broth
    • 12 ounces sliced mushrooms
    • 1 can (about 10-3/4 ounces) cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
    • ½ cup quick-cooking barley, uncooked
    • 1 teaspoon reduced-sodium Worcestershire sauce
    • ½ teaspoon dried thyme
    • ¼ cup finely chopped green onions
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • ¼ teaspoon black pepper

    Directions:

    1. Coat Dutch oven or large saucepan with cooking spray
    2. Heat over medium-high heat until hot. 
    3. Add oil and tilt pan to coat bottom of pan. 
    4. Add onions; cook and stir 8 minutes or until onions just begin to turn golden. 
    5. Add carrots and cook and stir 2 minutes. Add chicken broth, mushrooms, cream of mushroom soup, barley, Worcestershire sauce and thyme; bring to a boil over high heat. 
    6. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in green onions, salt and pepper.

    Original Recipe Source


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    Recipes

    Baked Spaghetti (Paula Deen)

    Nicole


    This recipe was just OK. I think the concept of the recipe is a great one especially if you are using leftover spaghetti sauce. The sauce in the recipe is truly its downfall. My family liked the recipe but no one was overly impressed with the sauce. This is one of those recipes that you take the idea behind the recipe and simply replace the sauce. The Italian season was just over the top that’s all I could taste.
    I think I will make this recipe in the future, but instead of this sauce I will use leftover Nana’s Spaghetti Sauce instead, or worse case scenario a jarred sauce would work. I think it would be fantastic using a bunch of different cheese’s like, parmesan, mozzarella, asiago, and even some provolone. Yum.
    This is a great base idea/recipe but “fixing” the sauce would be a great improvement.
    Ingredients:
    • 2 cups canned diced tomatoes
    • 2 cups tomato sauce
    • 1 cup water
    • 1/2 cup diced onion
    • 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper
    • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
    • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt pepper combo
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons seasoning salt
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
    • 2 small bay leaves
    • 1 1/2 pounds ground beef
    • 8 ounces uncooked pasta
    • 1 cup grated cheddar
    • 1 cup grated Monterey Jack

    Directions:
    1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
    2. In a stockpot, combine the tomatoes, tomato sauce, water, onions, peppers, garlic, parsley, seasoning mixtures, sugar, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce the heat and let simmer, covered, for 1 hour. 
    3. Crumble the ground beef in a large skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until fully cooked, with no pink color remaining. Drain the fat from the meat, and then add the ground beef to the stockpot. 
    4. Simmer for 20 more minutes. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. 
    5. Cover the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan with sauce. Add a layer of pasta and then a little less than 1/2 of each cheese; repeat the layers, ending with the sauce. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes. 
    6. Top the casserole with the remaining cheese, return it to the oven, and continue to cook until the cheese is melted and bubbly, about 5 more minutes. Cut into squares before serving.

    Original Recipe Source

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    Recipes

    Pumpkin Pie Hot Chocolate

    Nicole




    At this time of year my favorite find is Pumpkin Spice anything. I love pumpkin spice latte’ and any kind of hot chocolate.  When I found a pumpkin spice hot chocolate I knew I had to give this recipe a try. It’s what I consider the best of both worlds. The recipe certainly lived up to my expectations. It’s thick, creamy and has an amazing pumpkin pie flavor.

    The smell in the house while this is cooking on the stove is incredible. This would also work great in a slow cooker. Try serving this recipe throughout the day on Thanksgiving. Your guest will be very happy I know I was!!

    This is the doubled recipe. One recipe wasn’t even close to enough I had to double it!

    Ingredients:
    • 5 cups milk
    • 2/3 cup hot cocoa mix (no marshmallows)
    • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
    • 3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
    • 1 tsp. vanilla
    • Pinch of salt
    • Whipped cream or marshmallows optional

    Directions:
    1. In a medium sauce pan over medium low heat whisk together your milk and hot cocoa mix. 
    2. You will want to keep your heat no higher than medium. It’s important that all of your spices to have a chance to mingle in the hot chocolate.
    3. Add canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice.
    4. Heat until desired temperature is reached.
    5. Pour into mugs and top with whipped cream and/or marshmallows

    Original Recipe Source


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