Crock Pot Potato Soup

After my first job I only have a half hour to eat before leaving for my second job so I like to use the crock pot often. Here's a recipe that never lets me down, I always have the ingerdients on hand and is always tasty. Using a crock pot bag makes cleanup a breeze.


Crock Pot Potato Soup
Ingredients
3 - 4 slices bacon
1 onion, finely chopped
2 (10.5 ounce) cans condensed chicken broth
4 - 5 large potatoes, cut in bite sized pieces
1 cup cheddar cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan
(spice measurements are guessed because I never measure spices)
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
pinch of red pepper flakes (too much and it will be too spicey to eat)
1/2 to 1 cup milk

Directions
Cut potatoes into bite sized cubes and place in crock pot. Pour in chicken stock, add spices and cheeses. Layer bacon over everything. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4.


Once cooked blend up 2/3 of potatoes (or all if you don’t want any potato chunks) and all of bacon in blender or food processor. Pour back into crock pot and add milk until desired soup consistency. Garnish with more cheese when serving. (Adding more bacon on top will make it very salty)

updated cheese loaf

Once fall hits I start craving homemade bread and always turn to my Italian Cheese Loaf since I love how it makes my kitchen smell and tastes divine. I have updated my recipe a little and it turns out even more heavenly than it already is.


1 package of yeast
3/4 cup milk
4 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 cup warm water
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
5-7 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup shredded (or cubed if you want blobs of cheesy goodness) mozzarella cheese (optional)
1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese (optional)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon of basil
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon oregano

Heat milk, butter and sugar for 2 minutes in microwave. While doing so dissolve yeast in water. Once milk is scalded add egg, salt and 2 cups of flour to cool down milk mixture. Add yeast water and mix.
Add all spices and cheeses and remaining flour (counting the two cups) until a soft dough forms. Turn onto floured surface and knead in more flour until firm, elastic dough forms. Place back in bowl and let rise for an hour.
Grease a bread pan, place in dough and let rise for another hour. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350°.

Labor Day

I wasn't too excited about it being Labor Day weekend, it meant that summer has flown by and I haven't properly enjoyed it. No camping, no hiking, no water activities, shame on me! We also didn't do much for this Labor Day so I'm extra naughty, we turned down our normal activities (the Soldier Hollow Classic) so that we could just enjoy some time at home.

We stayed up past midnight every night and slept in until 10:30 every morning like we were in college again. Saturday we divided up the mass amounts of dog food which always takes a couple of hours, but has to be done because we start getting bloody puddles on the kitchen floor and the dogs won't stop licking the boxes. A normal statement around our house that doesn't send up any cause of alarm is, "Enna's has blood on her head."

After that we slowly made our way into the backyard to do some yard work, last year we built a garden bed, but never got around to buying flowers for it. Probably for the better since the bricks were falling down and the dogs climbing in it, so John decided that we were going to glue the bricks together and it get ready for fall planting. There were millions of spiders and I was fine unless there were any that were arachnophobia big, those all seemed to live between the bricks that we were taking down. After a couple scares I let John take the rest down with the shovel and we'd bash in their little spider brains. Now it's all back together and I just have to think of ways to keep the dogs out.

Sunday I made cookies from this recipe since they're fat free, but my first batch was a bust. The dough was too thin so the cookies were wafer thin and  burnt. I added more flour to the remaining dough and it turned out much better. Once cooled I turned them into ice cream sandwiches with my homemade fat free vanilla ice cream.
People are always wanting my ice cream recipes, but I never make the vanilla the same, it usually just what I have on hand - boxed vanilla pudding, fat free vanilla yogurt etc. I always use fat free sweetened condensed milk though, that's the key to making it amazing. This time I used 2 cups fat free milk, 14 oz. fat free sweetened condensed milk and 4 oz. fat free cream cheese. When using fat free milk you have to use something that is creamy (the pudding, cream cheese or yogurt) or it won't freeze and scoop like normal ice cream.

Monday we relaxed all day and crossed some of the movies off of "1001 movies to see before you die", Strictly Ballroom, Beverly Hills Cop and Raising Arizona. I also went through 1970 through present in the book since I noticed that we hadn't been very diligent about crossing them off. We missed 10 titles that we had watched and it would have been more if John could remember movies he's seen. Now I just need to go through the rest of the book to see if we missed marking any in the earlier years. In the evening we went to Sugar House BBQ with some friends from Kansas as they were craving some back home cooking, they said it was almost as good as mama makes (Dad, we tried to go to Pat's but they were closed for the holiday).

It was such a nice relaxing weekend and I think all holidays should be that way.

We be grillin'

John and I had a really nice weekend and to top it off we decided to grill some pizzas for dinner Sunday night.

I made my own sauce just because I can. Since I hardly ever measure when cooking I can just tell you what I used and you can figure out the measurements. 14oz diced tomatoes blended, but still chunky, oregano, basil, parsley, garlic, onion powder, salt, pepper and sugar. Simmered over low heat.

This pizza crust is nice because it doesn't have to rise, but still tasty.

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon white sugar 
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 1/2 cups flour (like all my recipes I use 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese 
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
• 2 teaspoons Italian spices

In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in flour, salt, oil and the rest of the ingredients. Beat until smooth. Let rest for 5 minutes. 
Knead onto a floured surface and divide into 4 sections. Roll and pat out each section REALLY thin. Brush one side with with olive oil and place oiled side directly on grill, cook 3 - 5 minutes, once cooked it shouldn't stick to the grill. Pull off grill and brush uncooked side with olive oil. Top cooked side with a light amount of sauce (too much and it'll be soggy) and other toppings. 
Place back onto grill for another 3 minutes, checking bottoms for burning.  

MMM MMMM MMMMMMMM! Yum!

Summer Trifle

This dessert is perfect for summer, fat free (if you make the cake), but full of yummy. It does take some prep work, but it's not hard and the pay off is so good.

Red, White and Blueberry Trifle

Ingredients:


10 oz angel food cake, cut into 1-inch cubes (see recipe below)
2 pints strawberries, sliced
2 pints blueberries

For the cream filling:

1/2 cup fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups cold water
1 package sugar-free white chocolate instant pudding mix
12 oz fat-free frozen whipped topping, thawed
Directions:

Whisk the condensed milk and water in a bowl. Whisk in the pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set; fold in the whipped topping.

Arrange half of the cake in the bottom of a trifle dish. Sprinkle evenly with a layer of blueberries. Spread half of the cream mixture over the blueberries and gently spread. Top with a layer of strawberries. Layer the remaining cake cubes on top of the strawberries, then add more blueberries and top with the remaining cream mixture. Finish with the remaining strawberries and blueberries, arranging them in a pretty pattern. Cover and refrigerate at least one 1 hour.


Angel cake

Ingredients:
1/2 cup confectioners sugar

2/3 cup flour (I mix my flour 1/2 white, 1/2 wheat)
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 egg whites from large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 cup granulated sugar (I use Stevia, do not use Splenda, that stuff is bad for you)

Directions:

Heat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a 9 x 11 cake pan.
In a medium bowl whisk together the confectioner's sugar, cake flour, and salt.

In a large bowl mix the egg whites, water, vanilla extract, and cream of tartar.
Using an electric mixer or stand mixer, mix on low speed a few minutes until foamy, then turn the speed to medium and slowly add the granulated sugar in 1 tablespoon increments, very gradually over a period of three to four minutes. When all the sugar has been added, turn the speed to high and beat for an additional three to five minutes, or until the mixture forms medium peaks.
Add the dry ingredients in two installments; sift the dry ingredients through a fine mesh strainer, tapping them through and into the egg whites. Fold carefully, do not over mix. Fold in the second half of the dry ingredients.
Spoon the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.


I got these recipes from skinny taste. They are pretty close to original, but I have changed them up a tad.