Chunky Potato Soup

Potato Soup

• 2½ pounds potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 (14-ounce) cans chicken broth
• 1 (10.75-ounce) can cream of onion soup
• 1 (10.75-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
• 1 (10.75-ounce) can cream of cheese soup
• 1 (3-ounce) jar bacon bits
• ½ teaspoon red pepper
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cook potatoes and onion in chicken broth until tender. Whisk canned soups together; stir into potatoes and chicken broth. Add bacon bits and red pepper. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer until creamy.

Creamy Broccoli and Mushrooms

INGREDIENTS:

½ bunch broccoli, stems and flowerettes cut into medium chunks (about 3 cups)

1 oz. onion, chopped

6 large mushrooms, sliced (or a 4-oz can sliced mushrooms, drained)

1 T. olive oil

½ recipe Jennifer Eloff’s Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup

½ c. shredded Monterey Jack Cheese

¼ c. heavy cream

Dash black pepper

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350º.  Lightly grease a medium casserole or vegetable dish and set aside. Make a recipe of the mushroom soup.  You will only use half of it for this recipe.  The remaining soup should be reserved for some other use.  It will keep a week in the refrigerator.  Chop and steam the broccoli over water or in your microwave just until tender crisp.  Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet and brown the onion and mushrooms until nearly tender.   Turn off heat.    Toss the broccoli into the skillet and toss lightly.  Stir the cream into the soup mixture and blend well.   Spoon it over the broccoli-mushroom mixture, add the cheese and stir gently with a spoon to mix. Sprinkle with black pepper and bake at 350º for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  ENJOY!

NUTRITIONAL INFO:    Makes 4 servings, each contains: (does not include optional meat)

215.5 calories

18.35 g  fat

7 g  carbs, 2.22 g  fiber, 4.78 g  NET CARBS

6.45 g  protein

348 mg sodium

268 mg potassium

13% RDA Vitamin A, 10% B6, 9% B12, 64% C, 8% E, 20% copper, 15% iron, 8% manganese, 8% niacin, 15% phosphorous, 13% riboflavin, 7% selenium, 8% thiamin and 11% zinc.

Chicken Mozzarella Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small jar (3-4 oz) sun-dried tomatoes in oil, or use 3-4 oz fat-free sun dried tomatoes
• 1 lb chicken breast tenders
• salt
• paprika (just a little bit)
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 8 oz penne pasta (for gluten free, use Tinkyada gluten free brown rice pasta)
• 1 tablespoon basil (if using dry basil), if using fresh basil you can add more
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (at least, add more to taste)
• 1/2 cup reserved cooked pasta water (or more)
• salt, to taste

Instructions

1. Note: if using sun-dried tomatoes in oil (in a jar), make sure to drain sun-dried tomatoes from oil, before using them. Reserve 2 tablespoons of this drained oil for sauteing as described below:
2. In a large pan, on high heat, sautee garlic and sun-dried tomatoes (drained from oil) in 2 tablespoons of oil (reserved from the sun-dried tomatoes jar - see note above) for 1 minute until garlic is fragrant. Remove sun-dried tomatoes from the pan, leaving the oil, and add chicken tenders, salted and lightly covered in paprika (for color) and cook on high heat for 1 minute on each side. Remove from heat.
3. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve some cooked pasta water. Drain and rinse the pasta with cold water (to stop cooking).
4. Slice sun-dried tomatoes into smaller bits and add them back to the skillet with chicken. Add half and half and cheese to the skillet, too, and bring to a gentle boil. Immediately reduce to simmer and cook, constantly stirring, until all cheese melts and creamy sauce forms. If the sauce is too thick - don't worry - you'll be adding some cooked pasta water soon. Add cooked pasta to the skillet with the creamy sauce, and stir to combine. Add 1 tablespoon of basil, and at least 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Stir to combine.
5. Add about 1/2 cup reserved cooked pasta water because the creamy sauce will be too thick (do not add all water at once - you might need less or more of it). This will water down the thickness of the cheese sauce and make it creamier. Immediately, season the pasta with salt and more red pepper flakes, to taste, if needed. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes for flavors to combine.
6. Note: Make sure to salt the dish just enough to bring out of the flavors of basil and sun-dried tomatoes.

Irish Sausage, Bacon, Onion and Potato Hotpot

Ingredients:

2 kg potatoes
2 large onions, peeled and sliced thickly
450 g good quality pork sausages
450 g bacon, piece thick cut
500 ml water
1 ham stock cube or 1 beef or 1 chicken stock cube, if ham stock isn't available
3 -4 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
salt (to season)
coarse-ground pepper (to season)

Directions:

Peel the potatoes. Cut large ones into three or four pieces: leave smaller ones whole. Finely chop the parsley. Boil the water and in it dissolve the bouillon cube.
Grill or broil the sausages and bacon long enough to colour them. Be careful not to dry them out! Drain briefly on paper towels. When drained, chop the bacon into one-inch pieces. If you like, chop the sausages into large pieces as well. (Some people prefer to leave them whole.).
Preheat the oven to 300F / 150°C In a large flameproof heavy pot with a tight lid, start layering the ingredients: onions, bacon, sausages or sausage pieces, potatoes. Season each layer liberally with fresh-ground pepper and the chopped fresh parsley. Continue until the ingredients are used up. Pour the bouillon mixture over the top. On the stove, bring the liquid to a boil. Immediately turn the heat down and cover the pot. (You may like to additionally put a layer of foil underneath the pot lid to help seal it.).
Put the covered pot in the oven and cook for at least three hours. (Four or five hours won't hurt it.) At the two-hour point, check the pot and add more water if necessary. There should be about an inch of liquid at the bottom of the pot at all times.
To Serve. Guinness, bottled or draft, goes extremely well with this dish (indeed, adding a little to the pot toward the end of the process wouldn't hurt anything). Another good accompaniment is fresh soda bread, used to mop up the gravy!

Easy Potato and Corn Chowder

Ingredients->
1 (16 ounce) bag frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed
1 (15 1/4 ounce) can whole kernel corn, un-drained
1 (14 3/4 ounce) can cream-style corn
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 medium onion, chopped
8 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions->
Mix all ingredients together in crock pot and cook for 6-8 hours on low.
Serving Suggestion: Top bowls of chowder with a little extra crumbled bacon and a little shredded cheese. Yum!

COUNTRY FARM CHICKEN CASSEROLE

Ingredients to serve 4:
2 large chicken breasts
1 medium Vidalia onion (Sweet)
5 slices bacon
2 large potatoes
1/2 cup canned mushroom (1 Cup Fresh)
1 (10 3/4 ounce) cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon melted butter
salt
pepper
garlic powder

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Cook the bacon; crumble and set aside; reserve bacon grease.
3. Peel and cube the potatoes; fry potatoes in bacon grease.
4. Dice the onion; season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and fry in the bacon grease.
5. Fry the mushrooms in the bacon grease.
6. Coat the chicken breasts with melted butter and season with salt and pepper and grill (I used the George Foreman grill).
7. After the chicken is cooked, cut into cubes.
8. Take Cream of Chicken soup and mix with 3/4 cup broth and season with pepper to make a sauce.
9. In an 8x8 glass dish combine chicken, mushrooms, onions and potatoes. Top with sauce and mix it all up so everything is coated in the sauce.
10. Bake for 30 minutes covered with foil.
11. Remove foil, top with crumbled bacon and bake an additional 10 minutes, uncovered

No Baked Granola Bars

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c Rice Krispies
1 1/2 c quick oats
1/2 c brown sugar (packed)
1/2 c honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c peanut butter
Reese's mini candy or chocolate chips(optional)

*if using candy or chocolate chips, put them in freezer while preparing this so they don't melt!
*spray a 7x11 baking pan with cooking spray
1. Pour Rice Krispies and oats in large bowl.
2. Put brown sugar and honey in a pan. Stir together. Allow to come to boiling. (Stirring a few times before then)
3. Remove from heat, add peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until mixed.
4. Add wet mixture to dry mixture, along with candy or nuts, mix well.
5. Once mixed, pour into baking pan.
6. Slightly wet your hands and press into the pan for a minute or two. (You want it firm so it will stay together)
7. Cut into desired size and put in fridge until chilled (1 1/2-2 hours), remove and let come to room temp. Store in Tupperware or ziplock bag for up to a week.