Butternut Squash Soup

I love most vegetables. Squash is not one of them. I started giving my daughter squash when she was starting solid foods and she loved it. I was in Trader Joes the other day and they have squash that is already cut up and ready to cook. So, I thought I'm sure I can find a recipe to use this squash in. I did a little searching and found this squash soup recipe on allrecipes.com. All three of us really liked this soup. It is very easy yet is full of flavor - I've already made this twice!

The original recipe serves 6 people so I halved it since it's just two of us. You can click here to see the original amounts.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons margarine
3 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash (1 pound)
1-1/2 cups water
2 cubes chicken bouillon
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

In a large saucepan, saute onions in margarine until tender. Add squash, water, bouillon, marjoram, black pepper and cayenne pepper. (Cut your squash in smaller pieces than I have below.)



Bring to boil; cook 20 minutes, or until squash is tender. (Too much of my water boiled out and I had to add water to the soup in the end so it wasn't so thick)



Puree squash and cream cheese in a blender or food processor in batches until smooth.



Return to saucepan, and heat through. Do not allow to boil. Serve with toasted bread.

Cream Cheese Frosting

This is my favorite cream cheese frosting recipe. Actually, I've never made another one - why mess with a good thing?! I found the recipe at www.epicurious.com several years ago.

Ingredients:
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla in large bowl until light and fluffy. I used my Kitchen Aid mixer but a regular handheld mixer works just fine.



Gradually beat in sugar. I taste mine after 2 cups to see if it needs to be sweeter. I used all three cups in mine but I like sweet. :) You can use more or less sugar depending on how sweet you like your frosting.



Cover and refrigerate until firm enough to spread on your favorite cake, about 15 minutes.

This makes a TON of frosting. I used this for a carrot cake recipe that I doubled and I still had some frosting left over.

Sweet Bourbon Brie

This is probably my favorite appetizer. It's great in the fall/winter months. My mom gave me a recipe book with recipes from family & friends for a shower gift when Jordan and I were getting married. My Aunt Pennie contributed this Brie recipe so I am not sure where it came from besides from her!

Ingredients:
8 oz wheel of brie
Frozen puff pastry, thawed
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon bourbon
Stoned wheat thins - or crackers of your choice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix sugar, nuts and bourbon in a bowl.



Spread out puff pastry sheet. I use the plastic top of the brie to make a circle in the puff pastry so I know where to put the sugar mixture.



Place the nut mixture on top of the circle - or in the middle of the pastry.



Place the wheel of brie on top of the sugar mixture.



Fold puff pastry so it encloses the cheese and topping.



Place wrapped cheese (bourbon side up) on a greased baking sheet.

Bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown. I had to bake mine for about 25 minutes to get a nice golden brown color.

Of all the recipes on my blog - YOU MUST TRY THIS ONE!! I promise, you won't be sorry and your guests will rave about this!



See!! They can't get enough of it! (Sorry Kristine, but I couldn't resist!)

Good Freezer Items

I wanted to write a quick post about freezing food. When I was pregnant last year I got into freezing our left overs so after the baby was born I could just pull out a frozen homemade meal to warm up if I needed to. Let me tell you how wonderful this concept is. First thing is that my husband does not really like left overs - freezing our left overs is a great way to solve this problem. Secondly, there are plenty of times during the week when I just don't know what to make for dinner or I am too tired to cook. I can pull something out of the freezer for dinner and my husband can't tell the difference!

I've gone back through all of my posts and have marked them as "Good Freezer Items" if I freeze those recipes.

The best way to freeze your left overs is to put them into a gallon sized freezer bag. Lay the bag flat to get all the air out and to flatten the food so it freezes flat - not large and bulky. This way you will have more room in your freezer. Label what you are freezing and put the date on it. We use our frozen foods within 3 months.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

I have several beef stew recipes. This particular recipe I tried for the first time this week and I found the recipe on allrecipes.com. I made the recipe as it was stated except I shredded the meat once it was cooked. I really liked this recipe because I didn't have to brown the meat first ~ tasted great without having to do that extra step!

Ingredients:
2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups beef broth
3 potatoes, diced
4 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, chopped

Directions:
Place meat in slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, and pepper; pour over meat, and stir to coat meat with flour mixture.



Stir in the garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, potatoes, carrots, and celery. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.

So, here is where the recipe and I differ. I saw this in the crockpot and it just did not look appetizing to me. I didn't want to have to eat my stew with a fork.



I took out as much meat as I could and placed it on my cutting board.



At this point the meat is so tender you barely have to pull at it with a fork for it to shred. Once the meat is shredded, put it back into the crockpot for another 20 minutes to warm back up.



At this point I tasted the stew and decided to add some seasoned salt.



Serve with toasted bread, garlic bread - some sort of bread is a must!

Salmon Steaks

Harris Teeter had salmon steaks on sale so I thought we'd give them a try. Normally we just buy salmon fillets but I'm a sucker for a sale! The salmon steaks we bought had the skins on and were wrapped in some sort of netting. You leave it on while it bakes - then I removed the netting and the skin before eating.

This recipe is simple simple simple - and really very good. I found it on allrecipes.com and the only thing I left out was the green onions as I didn't have any.

INGREDIENTS
2 (8 ounce) salmon steaks
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 green onion, sliced
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning

DIRECTIONS
Place salmon in a lightly greased 8-in. square baking dish. Top with butter and lemon juice. Combine onion, parsley, garlic salt and lemon pepper; sprinkle over salmon.



Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.



I didn't like the look of the skin and I always take it off and leave it on my plate so I just removed it before serving.



Looks much better!

The best pork tenderloin you'll ever have....

I promise.



I've been making this pork tenderloin for several years. I found the recipe in a Cuisine at home magazine. I've made it so many times now I don't even need the recipe.

Ingredients:
2 pork tenderloins (2 come in 1 package)
4 oz Boursin cheese
1 Tablespoon olive oil
6 oz prosciutto (I usually buy half a pound and snack on whatever is left)
Puff pastry
1 Egg & 1 Tablespoon water

Directions:
Prepare tenderloins by trimming of the silverskin and the thin tail at the end.



Butterfly them for stuffing, making a 1" deep incision down the length of each side. Stuff each tenderloin with half the Boursin.



Lay 4-5 prosciutto slices in a single layer, overlapping them slightly. Place stuffed tenderloin at the base of the prosciutto and roll to cover. Repeat with the second tenderloin.



Sear in oil in a large skillet over medium heat until prosciutto is brown and crispy on all sides, about 5 minutes. Chill thoroughly.



Unfold the pastry sheet and roll it out so it's large enough to wrap around the tenderloin. Transfer the pork to a parchment lined baking sheet.



Brush wellingtons with egg-water mixture and cover with plastic. Chill for one hour or up to 24.



Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush with more egg was for good browning. Bake tenderloins 30-35 minutes or until golden. Let rest 5 minutes before slicing. To serve trim off ends, then slice into 2" thick pieces.



We eat one of them and I wrap the other one in aluminim foil then place in a large freezer bag. These freeze wonderfully - just remove from freezer to thaw then bake about 15 minutes to warm it up.



Enjoy!

Lemon Jello Cake

This cake is one of Jordan's favorite cakes. It is a cake his grandmother used to make and passed down to his mother. I believe there is a story about Jordan as a little boy eating one of these cakes by himself and getting somewhat sick. :)

He still loves this cake but is better about pacing himself when it's in the house. It's a very easy cake to make and I recommend using a spring form bundt pan if you have one. If you don't it's no biggie - just easier to get the cake out.

Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 box lemon jello
¾ cup Orange juice
¾ cup Wesson salad oil
4 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
Lemon Jell-o
Juice from 2 lemons (2-4 tablespoons)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cake mix, jello, orange juice, oil, egg, and vanilla for about 5 minutes.



Bake in a spring form pan sprayed with Pam for about an hour. I baked mine for 50 minutes and checked with a knife and the cake was done. Start checking at 50 minutes so you do not over cook.

(The bottom part of the pan lifts out making it very easy to remove the cake)

While the cake is cooking mix 2 cups powdered sugar with the lemon juice – you want it to be a bit runny as you are going to pour this over the cake.



Remove cake from oven and immediately poke lots of holes all over the cake. The more holes the better. I'm using a meat thermometer here but you can use a knife or a long fork - whatever you have.



Pour the lemon juice/powdered sugar mixture over the hot cake.



Once you've poured it over the cake, just let it cool in the pan.



Once it's cool remove it carefully from the pan.

We keep ours in the refrigerator wrapped in plastic wrap. Jordan likes to eat his cold but you can bring it to room temperature before serving.

Enjoy!

Crockpot Recipes

I love using my crockpot in the Fall/Winter. Do you have any great crockpot recipes that you'd like to share? Seems like I always make the same recipes over and over - I'd love some new one's to add into the mix! Feel free to post the recipes in the comments section or email them to me at stefanie.duggan@gmail.com

I look forward to hearing about your favorite recipes!