Wednesday, February 11, 2009

~Winter comfort food = Yummy!

Found this yummy recipe in the family fun magazine, it's the perfect winter comfort food and it's Delicious! It tasted awesome with this French bread I made from the kitchenaid cookbook that came with my mixer that I just found packed in the moving boxes. Guess I should've unpacked it sooner- because it was gooooood. Something about working hard for your bread, makes it tastes so dern good :-)

Creamy Mushroom and Chicken Soup (from the family fun magazine-they have great recipes!)

6 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
6 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 pounds mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup sliced celery
3/4 cup chopped carrots
2 cups quartered baby red potatoes
1 cup chopped yellow squash
1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 teaspoons thyme
2 cups light cream
3/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for garnish if desired
2 cups chopped cooked chicken


Step 1
In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until tender, about 6 minutes. Stir in the flour, salt, and pepper and mix until smooth. Gradually add the broth, then turn the heat up to medium-high and bring the soup to a boil. Add the mushrooms, celery, carrots, potatoes, squash, corn, and thyme. Reduce the heat and simmer the soup, covered, until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.

Step 2
Add the cream, Parmesan, and chicken. Heat the soup for an additional 10 minutes, but do not let it boil.

Step 3
To serve, ladle the soup into a bowl and sprinkle it with more Parmesan, if desired. Makes about 15 cups.




Nutritional Information:
Per serving (1 cup):
Calories 226
Total Fat 14 g (22% DV)
Saturated Fat 8g (39% DV)
Cholesterol 59 mg (20% DV)
Sodium 845 mg (35% DV)
Total Carbohydrate 14 g (5% DV)
Fiber 2g (7% DV)
Sugars 3g
Protein 12 g (24% DV)
Vitamin A 1484 IU (30% DV)

Percent daily values are based on a 2,000-calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

~The best chili I ever ate



I'm forever looking for recipes to help me deplete our supply of deer meat in the freezer. Not because I WANT to eat it, but it's there and well, I don't want poor Bambi (or in this case, BUCK) to have died in vain---so we eat it :-( I found this recipe boasting to be "the best chili I ever ate" in one of Sarge's magazines and ripped it out to give it a try. It was made by a fellow named Ernie Nichols at a WV deer camp. I started cooking the meat Monday night for dinner, but I DESPISE the smell of deer meat and it made me feel ill, so we ate cereal for dinner instead :-) I finished cooking the meat tho and put it in the fridge for later. Last night I made this recipe with the meat that I no longer had to smell :) Maybe I'll just have to pre-cook alot of the meat and then store it all in the freezer to pull out as I need it - minus the retched smell. Enough about retching, back to the recipe.........Cuz I'm sure you're just dying to try it now aren't you?! LOL

I know I'm not making it sound appitizing, but it came with the title "the best chili I ever ate" and it really honestly was! So go put a clothespin on your nose, cook up some venison and make this super easy chili- you won't regret it!!!!

2 Tbsp veg. oil
1 lb ground venison (or any ground meat)
1 c. diced onions
1 medium red or green pepper chopped
16 oz can diced tomatoes
16 oz can tomato juice
16 oz can pork and beans
16 oz can kidney beans (drain and rince them!)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp crushed red pepper (i'm a whimp I didn't add this)
1 c. grated cheddar cheese (i didn't add this either)

corn bread topping:
2 c. cornmeal
15 oz can cream corn
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. sugar

Brown venison in oil. Place in large pot. Add onion, tomatoes, tomato juice, pork and beans, kidney beans, salt, garlic, chili powder and red pepper. Cook on medium heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. In a seperate bowl combine cornmeal, cream corn, milk and sugar. Pour chili in deep 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese. (i didn't, but i'm sure it's good) Pour cornmeal mixture evenly over top of chili. Bake in oven at 400 for 35 mins. serves six.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

~Loving the sun~ I heart faces week 4

oh boy, Siamese cats are hard to photograph! Their pretty baby blues are very sensitive to light, so my cat (Ozzie) is constantly blinking when I take his picture. I wanted to catch the awesomeness of his blue eyes and had to do everything under the sun to get him to keep his eyes open so that I could shoot using natural light. He's such a pretty boy and cooperated so well!


From Drop Box


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