20 minute soup!

So I was looking at all of these pictures of soups for WEEKS! Soups are some of my favorite things to cook/devour. So I got to pinterest-ing [ it's a real thing, don't judge me.] and I found this creamy tortellini soup. HEAVEN IN A BOWL! And it literally took me 20 minutes to make it AND the garlic bread. I changed it a little, so I'll tell you how I made it.

You'll need :
2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 cans of tomato soup
2 cups half and half
1 1/2 cups of milk
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped
Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups frozen tortellini

GET COOKING!

Heat up olive oil in a large pot, once it's heated up toss your garlic in there. Let it get nice and brown. NOW! Add everything [except the tortellini] and bring it to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, toss in your pasta, and cook it in the soup by the directions on the package. Once it's cooked for the time it says [mine was 5 minutes] take it off of the heat, and serve it up!

I served mine with a garlic bread. I bought a french baguette [ yes, I was lazy and didn't make my own bread.] sliced it down the middle, put on my spread, and broiled it at 350 for 3 minutes.



Spread :

1 stick of butter, softened
1 clove of garlic, minced [you can use garlic powder if you're not a garlic lover.]
3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped



I didn't take any pictures during the process of cooking this beautiful creation, but I did control myself long enough to snap on before I all but inhaled it.

[Not sure why I served orange soup in a yellow bowl.. It really looks a lot better than this picture]

A little italiano

Sometimes I just NEED to raise my italian flag and let it fly. Last week I had one of those nights. Yes, last week. If you live anywhere near me, you know that it was hell on earth here this past week in the heat area. Meaning : There was no way my oven was being turned on. So, tonight you get 2 recipes! Lucky little you!


So I made a little bit of a pasta dish. I attempting to keep up with how much of this and that went where. BUT! Sometimes I get a little out of hand when I'm making italian food, and I just go crazy with smelling everything, and putting in what smells like it belongs. The nose, knows.

Here is a picture of everything that went in it. [post sniffing it out] <-- Nose of a blood hound.



And the list :

Jumbo shell pasta
2 cups mozzarella cheese


Sauce :

Large can tomato sauce
Can diced tomatoes, undrained
Small call tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth
3 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
2 tsp adobo (if you're in to that sort of thing, which you should be)
ANNNNNND.
The spice mixture = basil, oregano, margoram, & thyme.

Filler (?) I guess :

1 1/2 cup ricotta
4 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt & pepper to taste
3/4 cup parmesan

Alright, start out by making your sauce. Mix up all of those ingredients, and bring it to a boil. Then turn it down to low, and let it simmer for a good 45 minutes to an hour. 

In the last 20 minutes of your sauce getting delicious, preheat your oven to 350, and start your pasta. While your water is coming to a boil, mix up your filler in a separate bowl. 

Grab your casserole dish, and give it a nice spray with oil. Put your cooked noodles in first, then add your filler, top it with sauce, and sprinkle that mozzarella cheese a lllllllll over it! Let it bake for 20 minutes (or until your cheese is all melty) 

Serve it up, and enjoy!

Sabbaticle

Ok, ok. So, I was doing really good with this whole blogging thing. THEN the busiest/hottest weekend of the summer happened and I was running around like crazy, and if I wasn't running around like crazy, there was no way on this great earth that I was going to turning on my oven. I do have a recipe from thursday, but that'll have to wait until this thursday, because I'm detoxing. AND DEAR LORD I'M HUNGRY!

My dinner from tonight.

Now, if you're thinking "EWWW BEETS!" You better eat your words and wash them down with a side of beets! I love beets. It made my day that I got to eat them. It's the little things. 

SO! Long story short, I'll be back on thursday and there miiiight just be a double recipe whammy if Germany decides to not be as hot as hades anymore so I can turn on my oven.

I can't believe it's pork!

Ok, so I'm always looking for a good pork chop recipe. It's the meat that I have the most problems coming up with ways to cook it. So I went on a little snooping expedition to see what I could find. This is what I found, and it is PHENOMENAL! I modified it sliiiiightly, because that's how I roll.

Here is what you're going to need :

2 - 4 thick cut pork chops
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt
Pepper
12 ounces of beer, I used Kolsch
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tbsp corn starch
1/4 cup water

To start out, get that olive oil in your skillet, heat it up on medium high, and pop those pork chops in there. You're going to brown the pork chops on each side, then turn your burner down to medium low. While your pork chops are browning, mix your beer, brown sugar, and ketchup. [ Don't be alarmed when it starts to foam like crazy!] Now go ahead and add that sauce to your pork chops and let that simmer for a good 30 - 45 minutes, uncovered.

Meet my skillets transformation [thus far]

Once you've gotten those pork chops cooked, pull them out of the skillet. [ FUN PART!] Mix the water, and the corn starch. Make sure it gets blended thoroughly! Now, add it to the sauce that you still have in that skill and crank your stove up to medium. You're going to notice it thickening. Put those pork chops back in there, and give them a flip. 

Here are what mine looked like.

Now, we had ours with some homemade mashed potatoes. If you've never made them, they're easy, and you should do it! I made super simple ones, because they were not the star of this dish!

You'll need : 

Potatoes

Butter

Milk

Salt

Pepper

Fill a medium sauce pan about half way full with water. Then peel (if you don't like peels in your potatoes), and chop your potatoes. Once the water is boiling, go ahead and throw those potatoes in there! Stick your fork in them, if they're done (seriously.. how funny am I?) strain and mash them. Here is the tricky part. We like really smooth potatoes, so I used about 4 tbsp of butter, and a 1/4 of a cup of milk. If you like them chunky, use less. Play with it, and make them perfect! Season them to taste with some salt and pepper. Plop that pork chop on there, and chow down!

Seriously, it's begging you.

Enjoy!

Comfort food.

I'm old now, and my friends are having babies.
Which gives me an excuse to make food! 

Yesterday I brought one of my friends,
who now has 3 littles,some homemade mac & cheese. 

Because seriously, what's better than that!?
After making some for her family,
I KNEW we needed to have mac & cheese for dinner.

So, we did a simple meal last night, because sometimes

it's nice just to have a relaxing, 20 minutes and done meal. 

If you're into homemade mac & cheese like I am, here's my recipe!

Here's what you'll need:

2 cups of macaroni noodles

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp ground mustard

1/4 tsp worcestershire sauce

2 cups milk

2 cups cubed cheddar cheese (I used a mild cheddar)

In a medium sauce pan, boil some water, and get that macaroni cooking.

While your water is getting ready, grab another sauce pan 

and over low heat melt the butter. 

Once the butter is nice and melted, stir in the flour, salt, pepper, 

ground mustard, and worcestershire sauce. Let that heat up until it's smooth.

[ Smooth as in doesn't look lumpy, it will not be a liquid]

Now you're ready to add your milk. Bring it to a boil. Stir constantly. 

After your milk is boiling, add all of that cheese. 

Let it heat until your cheese is all melted. 

Since I know you've already finished your pasta, pour that amazing cheese sauce 

that you just made into the pan that you have your pasta in, mix it up and eat it! 

Enjoy!

Some sort of record.

TWO RECIPES IN ONE DAY!?

I'm a lot better at this than I thought I would be!

Tonight, this is what our table looked like. Who says you have to be in italy to get good italian food?

I'm basically in love with seafood alfredo, it's one of my favorite foods. 

So, if you like to do theme nights, 

and you're lacking a little inspiration, 

give this one a whirl! 

Alright, SO! Here is what you're going to need. 

Fettucini noodles (or whatever kind of noodle you prefer.)

1 lb shrimp

1 lb scallops

4 tbsp olive oil

1 stick of butter

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups heavy cream

1 tsp cracked black pepper

1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese

Now that the boring part is over!
Start heating up 2 tbsp of the olive oil on medium heat. 

Toss your shrimp and scallops in there, and let them get nice and cooked. 

Kiiiiiiind of forgot to take a picture of them cooking.. but this is pre cook!

While you're protein is cooking, start your pasta, and get started on your sauce! Put the other 2 tbsp of olive oil and the stick of butter into a medium sized sauce pan. 

Heat it on medium heat until the butter is nice and melted.

 Now toss in your garlic, cream, and pepper. 

Heat it for about 5 minutes, then add your parmesan cheese. 

It should look a little bit like this. 

[You should be just about ready to pull your shrimp off of the burner.]

Let it cook for a good 8 minutes, 

then add the mozzarella cheese and give it another 5 minutes. 

Once your sauce is done, pour it in the pan with your shrimp. 

As soon as your pasta is done, mix it all up, toss it on a plate, and devour it!

Isn't this just begging you to eat it!?

And if you want to have our exact meal, we had a salad 

(with some copy cat olive garden dressing, I DIE!) 

&& a sweet red wine with it. 

Enjoy!

If you would like to make your own dressing as well, 

here is where I found the dressing!

http://www.thecountrycook.net/2012/01/olive-garden-salad-dressing.html

The only thing I did different was double the italian seasoning, and the pepper.

A salad?

Ok, so every once in a while I get really lazy and we have a salad. They're just so easy, and delicious!

Sorry it's so close up.. it was half eaten when I remembered to take a picture. 

Here's what I did to make it a even more tasty. (And please ignore the fact that I only remembered to take one picture of the cooking process. I'm new to this!)


What you will need :

2 chicken breasts
Head of lettuce
1 large tomato, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 carrot , I meant to use this and forgot! Shredded
Rice noodles
Almonds

Sauce for chicken :
5 tbsp white vinegar
5 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp water


Getting started :

Before you get ready to slice up your chicken, heat up about 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet on medium high. While that's heating up, pull out your chicken breasts and get to slicing. You're going to want to slice them into thin strips, once you're done toss them into the skillet and let them get to getting delicious.  <-- You can sprinkle them with salt and pepper if you're into that kind of thing. Periodically check on it, and flip it all to make sure it isn't sticking to the pan, or burning.


Next, let's make that sauce, it's going to be really hard, ready?? Take those 4 ingredients up there and mix them up in a bowl. (If you get confused, refer to the ONE picture that I remembered to take below.)  Whew, it was hard just typing that. No, really though. It's REALLY easy, and you're going to be amazed at how delicious it is.

If you're wondering : Yes, I do watch movies while I cook 

(note the laptop) don't judge me.

Check on your chicken, and if it's cooked, go ahead and pour that sauce on it and let it work it's magic. Cook it for about 3 minutes, pull it off the burner and let it sit there for about 2 more minutes. You're going to notice that sauce thicken, that's a good thing! Mix it all up one more time, and pop that chicken on your salad, that I know is already made, because you're good like that. 

NOW, I didn't use salad dressing, because it's literally THAT good. It wasn't needed. Jason used a raspberry vinegarette and LOVED it. So, It's completely up to you, but I say try it without at first! 

Enjoy!