40 Cloves of Garlic and a Chicken

Gggooooodddddd morning, everyone!  Happy Tuesday!!  Today I have another chicken recipe, but this one is one of my favorites (aren't they all my favorite??)  I know 40 cloves of garlic sounds like a lot for a recipe; it sounds like enough to drive away all of the vampires on the planet Earth.  

However, when they poach in the oil, they turn into roasted garlic, and get mild and sweet.  

Simple, Easy, Pasta

Hello, everyone!  Happy Tuesday!  My husband was traveling yesterday, for work, and my daughter was home sick, so after being with her all day, and caring for her, I needed something fast and simple for supper.  I remembered a quick pasta dish that I haven't made in forever, but comes together in the time it takes me to unload the dishwasher and reload it, with just a few ingredients.  Even better?  It's delicious, and you can easily add things in, if you have a few extra minutes.  Shrimp in this would be amazing, so would some steak, or chicken!  I love recipes that you can easily customize to your taste!

Chicken and Black Bean Soup

Hello, everyone!  I was thinking the other night, that with fall fully up on us now, that I wanted to have a simple, flavorful soup that wasn't a chili.  I know, I know, this looks like a chili, but it isn't.  It's a really lovely black bean soup!  Even better, it comes together in minutes, and takes at least an hour or two to cook (even less if you use precooked chicken!).

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..."

Kickoff Chili!

Hello, everyone!  Happy Thursday!  I don't know if you're aware, but college football has started.  That means, that for the next few months, all of my Saturdays (and, sometimes on Thursdays!) are booked up!  That also means that fall is upon us.  Pumpkin spiced everything, hoodies, crisp air and crunchy leaves....and chili.  Chili in my family was always a big deal, and served at almost every football game!  Load it up with toppings of your choice, and you have a perfect meal to eat while screaming at the TV!  Because, if we're being honest, the team and refs can totally hear us!

Mexican inspired chicken chili

Hello, everyone!  It's Tuesday, and for the last couple of days here, we have had SUNSHINE!  It's been raining so much here lately, that I've almost forgotten what it looks like!  However, while the sun has been out, it has been pretty chilly here, which I'm kind of surprised about.  It's almost May, it is supposed to be warmer than 60 degrees outside...although, it'll go from being 60 degrees to 110 degrees in a matter of a couple of weeks, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much.

Anyhoo, my husband was out traveling for work the last couple of weeks, and while he's out of town, I just don't cook that much.  I don't like cooking huge meals for just myself (my daughter doesn't care for grown up food yet....she's still happy with a sandwich and some carrots).  So, what I usually end up doing is making a pot of soup to eat off of while he's gone.  

I figured, it's chilly out, so I should make up some chili!

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!

Shrimp and Corn Chowder

Hello, everyone!  Happy Thursday!  I don't know about where you are, but it is snowing here, and the whole state has lost their minds!  I'm in the South, so we get one, mayyybbbeee two snow days per year, and when we do get snow, everyone panics and buys up all of the milk and bread in the grocery store.

This always baffles me.  Between tonight and tomorrow morning, we're supposed to get between 6-8 inches, and while that is a lot (for us, anyway), it will all be gone in a day or so.  It's not like we're going to be snowed in for days and days.
There have been a couple of times where I've gone to the store, in actual need of milk - I have a kid, we go through a lot of milk, only to either go to multiple store, or debate between getting her buttermilk or a bunch of the single serving containers to hold her over.
Not to mention that I love milk, too, but these are some desperate times!

14 Bean Soup

Hello, everyone!  We've started another week, and while we're one week closer to spring, we're still in the grips of winter.  As I've stated before, during the winter, I love a nice stick to your ribs meal, that I can curl up and dive into.
Is it possible to curl up and dive into something at the same time?  I'm not sure...I'll say it is with a bowl of soup!

Easy peasy broccoli and cheese soup

I love broccoli and cheese soup.  And I mean llloovvveeee broccoli and cheese soup!  I love broccoli, I love cheese, and I love soup!  What's not to love??  I love to curl up on the couch with a big bowl, grab some oyster crackers and dig in!
The problem that I have, is that I'm the only one in my house that likes it.  The easy solution I have, is that since my husband travels often, I get to eat this a few times every winter!  The best part, is that this takes less than an hour to put together, and I get to eat off of it for days!

This one is going to go by pretty quick, so let's get started!

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!  

Turkey and kale soup

I love soups in the winter!  They're a great way to stretch your protein, and a wonderful way to clean out your fridge of veggies that need to be used.  If I'm rummaging around the fridge, and notice that I have some veggies that need to be used up, I just toss 'em into a pot with some chicken stock, and simmer until done.  Boom!  Healthy, easy, and yummy!  

Roasted garlic, lemon chicken soup

Hello everyone!  I'm sure school has started in your neck of the woods, and as we all know, when school starts, your child starts to bring home illnesses along with mounds and mounds of paperwork!  This has been the case in our house, as our daughter brought home a cold last week.  Great.  When someone in our house has a cold (or whatever else), my go-to is instantly chicken soup.  I have a couple of variations of it, but this is one of my favorites.  Why?  It has lemon.  It has roasted garlic.  It has orzo.  What's not to like??

Beef Stock

I love my pressure cooker.  I went for years without using one, but boy oh boy was I hooked after my first experience, that's for sure!  There is almost no limit to the things you can do with a pressure cooker, but I use mine most often for making stocks.  I've already shown you how easy it is to make chicken stock in a pressure cooker, but today, we're going to see how easy it is to make beef stock!  The process is very similar, however, there are a few extra steps.

Chicken stock

Hello, everyone!  As you may recall, I (somewhat) recently made a roasted chicken for supper, and one of my favorite things to do after I cook a whole chicken, is make chicken stock.  I use chicken stock in ALL kinds of recipes, and if I'm constantly having to buy it, that gets expensive!!  I can buy a box for about $5, and a box may last a day or two in my house.  Since I'm already buying a whole chicken for about $8, why not make a supper (and use leftovers for lunch) AND make a fair amount of chicken stock for the freezer??  Yes, I am cheap, but this just plain makes sense.