Cream of Cauliflower Soup

This recipe came from the "Winning Recipes from The Taste of Home" cook book. It is one of my favorites, and so far everyone who has tried it...loves it! I also love the fact that Cohen will eat it!

2 medium onions, chopped
2 medium carrots, grated
2 stalks of celery, sliced
2 minced garlic cloves
1/4 cup plus 6 Tablespoons butter, divided
1 medium head of cauliflower, chopped
5 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon of salt
pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
6 Tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 whipping cream (I have used whole milk instead)
1/4 cup sour cream

In a pot saute onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in 1/4 cup butter until tender. Add the cauliflower, broth, parsley, salt, pepper, basil and tarragon. Cover and simmer 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, melt the remaining butter. Stir in the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the milk and whipping cream. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir into Soup mixture. Remove soup from heat and add 1/4 sour cream before serving.

Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
3 bananas (mushed)
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 bag chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream first 3 ingredients together. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix together.

Grease loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. After one hour I loosely cover with tin foil and bake for another 20-25 minutes. Do not remove from pan until cooled.

This makes great muffins as well. Bake muffins for 15-17 minutes.

*I always sprinkle the top of my banana bread loaf and muffins with a little brown sugar and cinnamon mixture.

Sweet Pulled Pork

This recipe is one of Karen's. She made it for us in Waterton last summer and it is now a favorite!

In a Crock pot place:

1 pork roast

2 cups salsa

2 cups brown sugar

Cook for 8-10 hours low or 6-8 hours on high. (If you have the time do it on low, it makes the meat so tender)

After cooking, remove roast and shred it and place back in crock pot with all the liquid. I usually leave my crock pot on low or warm setting and let the meat sit in the liquid for 1/2 hour or more to absorb all the flavors.

Cook Rice of your choice.

Green Sauce

1 1/3 cups sour cream

3/4 cups mayo

1 small bunch of cilantro (If you don't care for the taste of cilantro, parsley works well also)

1 pkg. of dry Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing

1-2 cloves of garlic crushed

1-2 dashes of tobasco sauce

4 tbsp. of Salsa Verde

1- 2 limes juiced

Combine the following ingredients and place in blender. You can save the left over sauce and keep in the refrigerator.

Place rice on soft tortilla shell and add shredded pork with green sauce and toppings of your choice and roll it up.

Toppings can be…. shredded cheese, tomatoes, lettuce ,black beans guacamole etc.

Another serving suggestion is place a tortilla shell on the bottom of a deep plate with sides and add shredded lettuce and pork with all the of toppings and make a pulled pork salad.. This is also good if you add guacamole and squeeze a lime over the salad with green sauce.

Bourbon Chicken

I found this recipe a few months back at My Kitchen Cafe blog and it is now a regular at our house. I love the flavor of this chicken and I also love how quick and easy it is. My only suggestion when serving it is not to use too much sauce on your rice, it can be a little overpowering if you use to much.

Ingredients:
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons oil (for pan-frying)
cornstarch (for dusting, optional)

Sauce:
1 garlic clove (minced)
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
¼ cup apple juice
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
½ cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce

Cut chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces, and if you choose lightly dust with cornstarch. Heat oil in your wok and fry chicken bits in batches until just lightly browned. Drain on paper towels and set aside.

In a bowl combine all sauce ingredients. Pour into wok and bring to a boil. Add chicken bits back to the pan, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Bruschetta Chicken over linguinie

Bruschetta chicken over linguine
½ cup flour
2 eggs lightly beaten
4 boneless skinless chicken breast

Topping for chicken (I usually x2 the topping)
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
¼ cup bread crumbs
1 tbsp melted butter

Bruschetta (you can make as much or as little of the bruschetta) I always make lots
6-8 Roma tomatoes
Basil (fresh or freeze dry)
Garlic it taste (I use lots)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
(When making the bruschetta you really have to make it to your own taste. I make mine stronger. I think it’s all about the seasoning)

Instructions:
Take each chicken breast and pound between plastic or wax paper. Pound to about 1/4 inch thick.
Toss chicken in flour and coat well. Then lightly coat each piece in the egg mixture. Do not drench, just lightly coat. Then place flat in a 9x13 pan. Spread the chicken out to cover the entire bottom of the pan. (I usually cut my chicken into smaller pieces and just arrange them in the pan close together kind of like a puzzle.) After you have arranged the chicken in the pan, take your topping and spread over the chicken. (I usually double the topping.) Cover pan with tin foil the cook for 20 min @ 350. Then cook uncovered for 5-10 min to brown the topping. Then spread the bruschetta over the chicken and put back in the oven for another 5 mins. Serve over linguine. We just scoop the chicken and bruschetta over the pasta. It’s sooo yummy!

Chicken Noodle Soup

For my very first entry, I thought that I would do one of our favorite recipes. It is really easy, but also really good. I love soup, but Drew doesn't, so I was very excited to find a soup recipe that he actually likes, and will eat. And, I usually just eyeball the recipe, and add as much as I like of everything. Drew likes lots of chicken and pasta, so I put lots in. I really like the leeks, so I sneak lots in.

In a large pot, saute 2 leeks, the white part sliced, in olive oil. You want to saute them slowly over medium heat because according to my sister Karen (who makes really yummy creamed leeks), they release gas, and you want to release it now instead of...well...later. Add 2 cartons of chicken stock, 3 bay leaves, and 2-3 large potatoes, peeled and cubed. Simmer for about 10 minutes until the potatoes are soft, but still a bit hard, because they will soften up. Remove the bay leaves. Take out about 3 cups of the potatoes, leeks, and broth, and blend until smooth in a blender. Add back to the soup. Add in half a package of cooked pasta. We use the egg noodles, but you can use any type that you want. Add about 3 cups cooked chicken, and a cup of cooked carrots. Season with salt and pepper.

Babyback Ribs

This recipe came from the Our Best Bites Blog. Mom, Nicki, Mandy and myself have all made them and they are soooo good. I had never tried to make ribs before, they always seemed like so much work. The best thing about these is how EASY they are. I seriously think they would be impossible to mess up. They are fall off the bone tender!

Here is what you will need:

1-2 racks babyback ribs (You can use side ribs as well, I have made both and they both turned out great! Side Ribs are generally a lot cheaper. I recommend buying the ribs at Costco, I'm pretty sure it is the best deal.
Your favorite BBQ Sauce (I use Tony Roma's Hickory flavor and I found it went really well with the ribs)

Marinade
3 c. pineapple juice
1 ½ c. brown sugar
1 ½ tsp. mustard powder
1/3 c. ketchup
1/3 c. red wine vinegar
1 ½ Tbsp. lemon juice
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
½ tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. ground ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp. cayenne pepper

Cut each rack into 3-4 rib portions and put in crock pot.


Mix marinade in separate bowl and then pour over ribs. (You can do this the night before)


Cook on LOW for 6 hours. You can poke them around occasionally to get them all covered by the liquid.

Remove the ribs from the liquid and heat your grill to medium.
Carefully place the ribs on the grill and baste one side with BBQ sauce and close lid for about 3 minutes, turn over and do the same for the other side. You are done!