Creamy Mushroom and Chicken Soup

Hello, everyone!  I don't know about where you are, but here fall is fully upon us!  Well, mostly upon us...it's still a little bit warmer than I would like, but the cooler temperatures will come!  I made a big batch of this soup the other night, with the feeling of, "If I make cold weather food, clearly the cold weather will come..."

Smoked scallop macaroni and cheese

Hello, everyone!!  I'm so excited about doing this post today!  As excited as I am, I have been kind of putting it off, because it's going to make me want to make this again.  Like, right now, get up and get into the kitchen and make this again.

This has: scallops, mushrooms, spinach, pasta, and lots, and lots of cheese.  Ooohhhh yeah.  I'm going to make this again very, very soon.

Fish 'n Chips

Hello, everyone!  It's Thursday again, and I hope yours is treating you well!  Today we're covering another fish favorite in this house.  Fish 'n chips.  So easy to make, so easy to mess up.  Although, even the worst batch of fish 'n chips can be saved, for me, by malt vinegar.  

As a matter of fact, during our vacation to Alaska, we had fish 'n chips a few times, on varying scales of "goodness".  The ones that ranked lower for me, I bathed in malt vinegar, and went on my happy way.
My husband isn't sure how I can eat fish 'n chips swimming in malt vinegar, but I adore that stuff.

...I feel myself getting a little bit off topic here...

Chicken Florentine Gnocchi

Hello, everyone!  Today, I have a really simple treat for you.  Simple, yet tasty (I seem to say that a lot...what can I say, I like foods that are easy to prepare, yet can be dressed up for entertaining!); it is somewhat involved, time-wise, but very, very easy to make parts ahead of time.

I made this in two separate...sections, if you will.  I started off making the gnocchi, popped them in the freezer, then, at supper time, threw the rest of this together.  Each section took about 30 minutes, so even if you wanted to make it all at once, you're looking at an hour, tops.  That's not so bad, is it?

Guinness Beef Stew

Hello, everyone!  It looks like we're in the countdown to St.Patrick's day, and the internet being filled with green foods and beer.  There's nothing wrong with that, but I wanted to do something slightly more authentic.  This beef stew is really lovely, with the soft potatoes, tender meat and the slightly biter flavor of the Guinness, it is in pretty steady rotation in our house!

Pressure cooker beef stroganoff

Like I was saying on Tuesday, I love stick to your ribs meals during winter, and it is hard to find a meal that fits into that category more  than this one!  I love beef stroganoff, but my husband doesn't care for it (he doesn't like mushrooms or sour cream), so I usually make it when he's out of town.  Just so happens, he's out of town!
That being said, with trying to keep up with a 3 year old, and putting her to bed while getting supper together for myself...well, if it weren't for my pressure cooker, beef stroganoff would just not happen.
However, I do have a pressure cooker, therefore, I do have beef stroganoff!  

Chicken pot pie

Hello, everyone!  Happy Tuesday!  I'm a big time seasonal cooker, and I don't just mean cooking with foods that are "in season" (although I do that, too); I mean, I cook certain foods more during certain seasons.  For me, winters are filled with soups and stews, and some heavier comfort food!  Chicken pot pie certainly fits that bill!  This hearty, rustic dish is flavorful and stick to your ribs comfort food!  This pot pie comes together very quickly (not including the time it takes to cook the chicken), feeds an army, and is very impressive looking, making it great for entertaining!

Sinful Potato Gratin

Happy Thursday, everyone!  I don't know if you're aware or not, but the Holidays are coming.  Fast.  I don't know about you, but I am a huge planner.  The second I get an idea, I grab a pen and paper and start planning everything, down the the last detail.  You don't even want to know the amount of lists, and thoughts, and ideas I had while I was thinking of starting this blog!  My goodness!  It's funny, though, you would think that as much as I love to plan, that my house would be uber organized.  Nothing could be further from the truth, but I digress.  

Pan seared ribeye

If you want to see me do a happy dance in the middle of the meat department of a grocery store, just let me see a steak (ideally a ribeye) that has been marked down to some ridiculous price.  I will break out my tap shoes every time!  Since my husband travels for work quite a bit, I'm often on my own for my supper, and I can usually find an amazing steak that has been marked down to about half off, so the tap shoes come out, and that steak comes home with me!

Spatzle with jager sauce

I love cooking foods from different areas in the world.  As much as I love to travel, I don't often get a chance to do so; however, I can travel through food.  And I do that way more often!  As I said in my pork schnitzel, my husband gets to travel to Germany about once per year, and he comes home raving about the food.
The first time he came back, he told me about the schnitzel, and the spatzle.  I had no problems whipping up the schnitzel, but I had no idea how to go about making spatzle.  I asked him to help me find a recipe, but nothing ever came of that.  I could find recipes, but I wasn't sure how things were supposed to look, taste, or cook.  Not helpful.  Thankfully, after a few trial and errors, I have it figured out, and am excited to share a few tips and tricks that I have picked up along the way!  

Baked portobello mushroom omelet caps

Wow!  That title is a mouthful, isn't it?  However, it is a delicious and healthy mouthful, that's for sure!  The other day, I was walking through the grocery store, and as so often happens to me, I found some great veggies that they had marked down for quick sale.  Among them, as a pack of two big, beautiful portobello mushroom caps!  Needless to say, those babies jumped in my cart and came home with me!

Smothered chicken

Hello, everyone!  As you probably know by now, I love chicken.  It is probably my favorite proteins, yet, every time I go to cook it, my mind goes blank.  There are a million ways to cook chicken, and I can't think of one.  However, this smothered chicken is so easy, and such a crowd pleaser every time I make it, that I probably make it more often than I should!

Mushroom Risotto

For years, I was intimidated by the thought of making risotto.  I watch a lot of cooking TV (a lot of cooking TV...I think I may have an addiction...), and you always hear that risotto and souffles are the most difficult things to make.  Not true.  Yes, risottos require a little babysitting, but you don't have to hover over it every second or else the world will end.  And, it only takes about 30 minutes, so its really not that bad.  You can easily make this side dish with the rest of your supper, and impress others who watch the cooking TV shows that I watch, and buy into the preaching that it is super difficult to make!