Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

I found this soup on Pinterest and it is from www.utahdealdiva.com. I made a few changes which I put in the directions below but I thought that it was yummy and you can get your kids to eat cauliflower! Enjoy.

2 tablespoon butter or margarine

1 medium onion, chopped

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk**

1 1/2 cups water**

1 can (13 3/4 to 14 1/2 ounces) chicken broth

1 head (2 1/2 pounds) cauliflower, cut into 1-inch chunks

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

1 cup Pepper Jack cheese, shredded

**Can substitute 1 can {12 oz} evaporated milk and 2 cups water for the 2 cups milk and 1 1/2 cups water.In a large saucepan, melt margarine or butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Whisk in flour and salt. Gradually stir in milk, chicken broth, and water.
Add cauliflower and heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 15 minutes.
In blender (with center part of blender cover removed to allow steam to escape), blend cauliflower mixture at low speed in small batches until very smooth. {Don't let this step deter you from making the soup! Blending it is really easy and so worth the extra 3 minutes. The most annoying part are the added dishes!} For this step I used my hand blender and it was quick and easy.
Return cauliflower mixture to saucepan; heat over medium heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in mustard and 1 1/2 cups cheese until melted and smooth. Serve soup with remaining cheese as a garnish. I just put all the cheese in the soup and didn't garnish it. I also added some chopped ham and it turned out really yummy!

Spaghetti Sauce

This is for anyone of you out there that doesn't know what to do with all those tomatoes growing out in your garden. This is homemade spaghetti sauce. I can't take credit for the recipe, I got it from my nephew's wife Brittany and it is delicious. I made it last year and made two batches of it this year. I have changed a couple of things. We plan to eat it on pasta but also as soup with grilled cheese sandwiches and really if you just had some garlic bread it would be great to dip it in. It is yummy and has lots of veggies in it so it is good for you and also your kids.

1 1/2 gallons of blended tomatoes
3 large onion, finely chopped
2 small zucchini, chopped or grated
1 cup chopped mushrooms
3 grated carrots
3 cans of tomato paste
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, if I don't have it I just add some dried.
1 TB. dried oregano
5 cloves garlic
4 beef bouillon cube, or equivalent( like "Better than Bouillon")
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 - 1 red pepper finely diced (or any color you want)
1/3 cup olive oil

Blend/ chop all the ingredients and add to a large stockpot, with a thick bottom. I actually used my two crock pots and they were full but then I didn't have to stir it.

Simmer about 3 hours on medium heat stirring regularly. You want a very gentle simmer. When it starts to thicken, you will know it is ready. In my crock pot I just let it cook on high all day and only had to stir it occasionally.

When it is done allow it to cool off. I then used my hand blender and blended it one more time to make it really smooth with no chunks. I don't like chunks and this hides everything from your kids. Then scoop it into your zip lock bags. I lay all the bags on my jelly roll pan and put them in the freezer. When they are frozen you can stack them flat and they don't take up much space.

Enjoy and change anything you like. I love this recipe Brittany!

Deviled Carrots

This post is for all you cooked carrot lovers out there. This recipe is from my childhood. My Mom used to make these for us and I have always liked them. Dave came in the other day and told me that the carrots in the garden from last summer were still good, so we have been having a lot of cooked carrots lately. These are still yummy so enjoy!

2-3 cups of thinly sliced carrots
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. dry mustard
2 drops Tabasco sauce

Saute carrots in butter until tender crisp. Add brown sugar, mustard, hot sauce, pepper and salt if you want. Cook until tender.

Holiday Green Beans

I know that recipe is called Holiday Green Beans but these are so good you can have them anytime.  We had them for Christmas dinner and they were delicious.  I got the recipe from a Taste of Home magazine. 

1 package (16 oz) frozen cut green beans
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup real bacon bits (we had leftover turkey bacon from breakfast and it worked perfect)
2 tablespoons honey

Cook the green beans according to the package directions, adding the orange peel during cooking; drain.  Add the cranberries, bacon and honey; toss to combine.  Yield: 4 servings

Fabulous Green Beans

This is another recipe from Taste of Home and they really are fabulous!!! I tend to get excited about a really good vegetable since I try to eat so many of them.

1 lb. fresh or frozen green beans
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. grated lemon peel

Place beans in a steamer basket; place in a large saucepan over 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil cover and steam for 8-10 minutes or until crisp tender.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, heat the remaining ingredients until butter is melted. Transfer beans to a serving bowl with butter mixture and toss to coat.

Marinated Beef/Veggie Kabobs

I found this recipe in the Taste of Home Magazine this spring and changed it up a bit. It was a delicious recipe and the marinated vegetables were my favorite part.

Marinade
1 cup light grape juice
1/2 cup olive oil
4 tsp. Worchestershire sauce
4 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. seasoned salt
2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dried parsley flakes


1 flank steak 1 1/2 lbs.(cut into cubes)
8 cherry tomatoes
1 large red onion
1 large red pepper
1 large green pepper
1 yellow summer squash
1 medium zucchini
(You can do whatever vegetables you have - mushrooms would be good also and my kids added pineapple to their kabobs.)

In a small bowl combine marinade ingredients. Pour half the marinade in a large resealable plastic bag with the beef. Pour the rest of the marinade in another large resealable plastic bag with tomatoes and vegetables cut into 1 inch pieces. Refrigerate the beef and vegetables in marinade for at least 2 hours.

Drain marinade from beef and discard. Drain marinade from vegetables and save for basting. Thread beef and vegetables onto to metal or wooden skewers. Grill covered over medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until meat is done. Remember to baste the meat and vegetables and turn occasionally.

Shish Kabobs

I wanted to make a request for some quick and easy dinner ideas. I decided the best way to get a good response was to start the list myself. We had Shish Kabobs tonight. I skewered them and cooked them on the grill outside. But these are very versatile. You can broil them in the oven if you want - on or off a stick. If you don't have skewers, spread it out on a broiler pan and it's just as good.

Marinade:
1/3 cup olive oil
3 TBL lemon juice
2 tsp basil

Ideas for the kabobs:
I always use beef (stew beef so it's already cut for me!) Any meat would work

tonight I used:
tomatoes
summer squash
peppers
onions

I have used in the past:
potatoes
mushrooms
pineapple

really, almost anything will work!

I marinate the meat anywhere from 30 min to a couple of hours depending on when I can get to it. I usually swish some of the veggies in the marinade as well. I made a couple of fun ones with everything on it. However, it's quicker and easier to just do a skewer with tomatoes, one with meat and onions, one with peppers, ect. This is good if you use veggies that cook faster, you can grill each skewer as long as that particular veggie or meat needs to be cooked.

Anyway, this takes all of 20 minutes to prepare and cook - so fast and so easy. It's also versatile so you can make it the way you want it!