Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Loaded Potato Soup

So I have a craving for some potatoe soup so I whipped this recipe up!
Only I did things a little differently according to what I had on hand. I will put my ingredients then the original recipe following with the instructions. 

4-5 small potatoes peeled and sliced
2-4 carrots sliced 
2 handfuls of cheese (and some for top if you want)
1 lb bacon chopped
1/2 an Onion or minced or onion powder (I used a sprinkle of onion powder)
2 cups heavy cream (or you can add 1 cup cream and 1/2 cup sour cream with a 1/4 of milk like I used)
1 can (1-2 cups) chicken or veggie stock (I used 1 can chicken broth)
1/4 cup or a little less? flour. I just sprinkled the 1/4 cup until it looked about right.
And chopped celery ( i used a sprinkle of celery seed)
Some salt& pepper to taste

And if you want to be "sneaky" you can put cauliflower or squash purée (i used 1 jar squash baby food)!

I added a little bit of left over chopped up grilled chicken breast to the mix too.

Here's my picture:

Loaded Baked Potato Soup from Carnation Café at Disneyland Park

Here's where I got the above picture and following recipe:

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2012/01/carnation-cafe-closes-thursday-for-renovations-at-disneyland-park/

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Serves 6

1 pound bacon, roughly chopped
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
3/4 cup diced celery
4 large Russet potatoes, peeled and diced
4 medium red potatoes, diced
1/4 cup flour
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Coarse salt, freshly ground pepper, to taste
4 cups heavy whipping cream
Optional garnishes: chopped chives, bacon bits, sour cream, shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese

  1. In a 6- to 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, fry bacon until crisp.
  2. Remove bacon and drain on paper towels, reserving half for garnish. In bacon fat, cook onions, carrots, and celery until the onions are translucent. Add potatoes and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Whisk in flour and stir constantly over low heat until the flour is cooked and the mixture has thickened slightly, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add chicken stock and half of the bacon. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Over medium-high heat, bring the soup to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Mash some of the potatoes for thicker, creamier texture. Add whipping cream and simmer for 5 minutes.
  5. Adjust thickness by adding water or stock. Soup should have a creamy consistency.
  6. Season to taste, and garnish with toppings.

Cooks’ notes: Soak diced potatoes in cold water until ready to use to keep them from turning brown. To make bacon easier to chop, lightly freeze.

So you could do exactly like she did only add some puréed veggies to the mix or whatever else you desire:) 

Let me know how yours turns out!

Enjoy!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Odd recipes that will change your life!

So these might seem like very weird recipes but I must tell you that my whole family is very picky (including myself) and these are both AMAZING! Not to mention EASY! 

So the first is a new one for me and its kind of a "sneaky chef" kind of recipe! I NEVER thought I'd put VEGETABLES in my hot cocoa but guess what! I did! And it was awesome! Lets just say both my girls wanted a second cup too! Ya! 
So I got this recipe from this book:

And here is the "secret" recipe:

So guess what I did for the sweetpotato  puree!? I used BABY FOOD:) (Shocking pause here) Yep! After all, Sweet Potato baby food is just puréed veggies! And I used pumpkin spice and ya, lets just say it tasted like chocolate chip pumpkin spice cookies in liquid form. If you can imagine that. :)

So here's another mind blower some of you may have heard about.

It's just 3 ingredients:
1 jar/bottle of chili sauce
1 jar of purple grape jelly (small one)
1 bag of frozen meatballs

Throw all in a pot on the stove until soft or for Sundays throw in the crock pot on low for 2-3 hrs:) 
These might look nasty but they are a mouthful of goodness!
I guess you could be sneaky by adding some puréed veggies to this recipe as well! If you try it tell me what you think!

So has your mind been blow yet!? It should have! I'll be posting some more yummy stuff soon!