Okay, I really, really hate it when bloggers do a post that says “Hi everyone! I’m sorry I haven’t blogged in a while. Things have just be so-o-o busy and I just haven’t had the time!”  But it’s pretty dang obvious that I haven’t blogged in quite a while and I should probably acknowledge that fact.  However, here’s the deal: I haven’t been too busy.  Busy, yes.  But too busy?  I don’t think so.  I could have taken a half an hour to write up a post, but I just didn’t feel like it.  I’ve been getting really into Law & Order reruns lately.  That, and Celebrity Rehab Sober House.  (Have you watched that??  I love that show.  I am way  too emotionally invested in those people!) 

Anyways, over the past 29 years I’ve realized something about my personality.  I adhere strictly to Newton’s Laws of Motion.  “An object in motion will remain in motion until acted upon by an outside force.”  And (more importantly) “an object not in motion will remain not in motion until acted upon by an outside force.”  (Yes, sadly I remember that verbatim from 12th grade physics class.  Thank you, Mr. Moriak.)  Lately, I have been an object not in motion.  And I would have remained that way if I didn’t have a few outside sources applying *ahem* pressure for me to start up again.  City Girl and Floanne, this is for you.  I hope that I don’t disappoint!

1. Exercise at least three times a week

2. Get more organized

3. Update this blog at least twice a week

4.  Umm.. I know there was one more…did I mention get more organized?

Anyways, Happy New Years!

Why, you ask, would you make your own granola when it is so easy to buy at the grocery store? 

I don’t know. 

I guess you’re either the kind of person that homemade granola appeals to or you’re not.  A few of the high points for you haters out there: 1) its easy to modify and personalize 2) you know exactly what is–and what isn’t– in it and 3) its a very easy recipe for kids.  That last reason was my motivating factor this time I made granola.  I was babysitting my niece and nephew and it was a great way to get them in the kitchen.  All of the measurements are easy and even if they “accidentally” added too many crasins, its all good.  Its pretty darn difficult to mess up this recipe.  =)

• 3 cups old fashioned oats (I’ve used regular oats and its just fine)
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1-2 Tbs. brown sugar
• 1/2 cup dried fruit (raisins, craisins, apricots, etc.)

Stir all ingredients together and spread on a baking sheet.  Bake at 300 about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  Store in air-tight container in refrigerator.

(And just a few pictures of my niece and nephew making granola because they are just too dang cute.)

(Yes, we live in Wisconsin where even our children wear Packer jerseys!)

I’m amazed by how many people haven’t heard of this soup.  Wha-a-at??  Crazy talk, people!  Crazy talk!  This is one those throw-together feel-good soups (think chicken noodle) that can be made ultra-quickly and is uber-easy.  (Is that enough hyphens for you?  Good.)  My original recipe comes from Penzeys Girl’s mom.  (She also introduced me to stuffed peppers–that woman needs to write her own cookbook.)  I’ve tinkered a bit, using things I usually have on hand but like I said, its a throw-together soup.  Play with it; make it yours.

• 1 onion, diced
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 cup sliced baby carrots
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
• 8 cups fat-free chicken broth (or a mix of broth and water if you don’t want it too salty)
• 1/2 cup dry orzo
• 4 oz. fresh spinach, sliced
• 1/2 lb. lean ground beef (I used ground turkey for the soup in the picture)
• 1/4 cup Eggbeaters
• 3 Tbs. dry seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
• 2 Tbs. finely diced onion

In large soup pot, saute onion, celery, carrots and garlic in olive oil.  When the onion becomes translucent and the carrots begins to soften, stir in the parsley.  Cook until fragrant, about one minute, then add broth.  Stir in orzo and spinach.  To make the meatballs, combine the last five ingredients and roll into marble sized balls.  Bring soup to a rapid boil and drop in the meatballs.  Gently stir (those meatballs tend to be wallflowers!) for a couple minutes, then reduce heat to medium.  Continue to cook until meatballs are done, about 15 minutes. 

Serves: 10  WWP: 3

This recipe comes from the Biggest Loser Cookbook, which by the way, is a wealth of good ideas.  I love to fix the recipe on a cold Sunday and let it simmer all afternoon.  It just makes the house smell so dang cozy.  (Okay, I can’t talk about The Biggest Loser without a quick comment: did anyone else literally cheer when Amy voted Brady off and took the wind out of Vicky’s sails?  Ooohh…that woman makes me so mad!)  Back to the stew (and don’t be intimidated by the length of the recipe; its much easier than it looks):

• 1 Tbs. whole wheat flour
• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
• pinch of ground black pepper, plus more to taste
• 1 lb. top round steak, cut into 1″ cubes (recently, I’ve used top sirloin…its so tender in practically melts in your mouth!)
• 2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 8 oz. button mushrooms, halved (I usually use more)
• 1 onion, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 Tbs. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. dried thyme (I usually use less)
• 2 cans (14 oz. each) fat-free beef broth
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces (I use halved baby carrots)
• 1 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes

In a medium resealable plastic bag, combine the flour, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Add the beef and shake the bag until all the cubes are coated. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Set a large nonstick soup pot over medium-high heat until it is hot enough for a spritz of water to sizzle on it. Add the oil. Add the reserved beef cubes to the pot in a single layer. Cook for about 1 minute per side, or until browned. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the mushrooms, onion, garlic, and thyme. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the onion is tender, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon and scraping any browned bits from the pan bottom.

Add the broth and carrots. Increase the heat to high. When the broth comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low so the mixture simmers gently. Cover and cook for 45 minutes.

Add the potatoes. Cook for another 45 minutes, or until the beef is fork tender. Season with additional salt and pepper. Serve your beef stew immediately.

Serves: 4  (HUGE servings)  WWP: 5

Okay, I know, I know.  It took me quite a while to get my first installment of the soup series posted.  CG did her part without even be asked and I’ve just been a big lazy butt.  I made the meals, had pictures of them and I just wasn’t ambitious enough to get them on the site.  But today is the day I’m being anti-procrastination.  I painted my front door, I did mass amounts of laundry and now I’m going to post my famous (at least in our house) chili recipe:

I’ve tinkered with chili recipes for years and this one (or a slight variation, depending on what I have on hand) seems to be the sticker.  It is a little bit spicy, but that can be adjusted by replacing the Rotel with another can of diced tomatoes and reducing the red pepper flakes.  I also deviate from traditional chili standards by substituting black beans for the regular chili beans.  I personally like black beans better and honestly think they look pretty with all the bell peppers.  (I am not strange for wanting my chili to be pretty!)

• 1 onion, diced
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb. extra lean ground beef
• 1-2 Tbs. chili powder
• 1-2 tsp. cumin
• 1-2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2-1 tsp. dried red pepper flakes
• 1 can stewed tomatoes (not Italian style)
• 1 can diced tomatoes with chiles (Rotel or a similar brand)
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can black beans, drained (unless you’re watching your sodium, I wouldn’t be too picky with this; the sauce from the beans help thicken the broth up)
• 16-24 oz. V8 juice
• 1-2 tsp. Splenda
• 1 bell pepper (I used a combination of red, yellow and green–again, to make it pretty)

Saute onion and garlic in oil a few minutes.  Add beef and cook until beef is no longer pink.  Add the chili powder, cumin, paprika and red pepper flakes; stir to coat the meat.  Add the next 4 ingredients.  Stir in V8 juice until it reaches desired thickness.  (I’ve never really measured how much I use; I just pour until I’m happy.  Remember that it will thicken, though.)  Stir in Splenda.  (I find this cuts the acid taste of the canned tomatoes, but doesn’t make the chili sweet.  In fact, Farm Boy never knew that I added it until he read the recipe!)  Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  Uncover and stir in peppers.  Simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes.  Garnish with sour cream, cheese, peppers or (my brother’s favorite) Fritos.

I figure this to be about 3-4 points per 1 1/2 cup serving.  This recipe is also good made with ground turkey; by adding the seasoning to the browned meat before adding the wet ingredients, the turkey doesn’t look as pale and sad as it usually does in turkey chili.

I have a Halloween party this Friday and I have narrowed my costume choices down to two.  I’m either going to go as a flower pot or Sarah Palin.  It all depends on whether I can get my hair to do that puffy, beehive thing.

Update:  Now I have decided I’m either going to be a pirate or Sarah Palin.  Either way, I get to talk with a fun voice.

Here is the first installment of the soup/stew series and it happens to come from City Girl.  Ironically, unbeknownst to me, she has been going through a soup-phase also.  I guess autumn is the same whether you live in Wisconson or Nevada.  Okay.  Here’s CG:

• 1 T butter
• 1 peice of bacon
• 1/2 onion -chopped
• 1 red pepper
• 1 C carrots-chopped
• 4 pieces of corn (kernels cut off, keep cob-break in half…..)
    ***if you don’t have real fresh corn you could use canned…..****
• 1 Lg uncooked potato-peeled and chopped into bite size  pieces
• 1 sm whole cooked baked potao ( I just use the microwave)
• 3 1/2 C  2% milk
• 2 C vegetable broth
• salt
• pepper
• cayenne pepper
• Lawry’s salt
• red pepper flakes
• garlic salt

Melt butter in large pot.  Add piece of bacon and cook for about 4-5 minutes; don’t fry bacon until its crispy.  Add onions saute for about 5 more minutes.  Add red pepper and carrots, saute for 5 more minutes.  Add corn cobs, milk, and broth.  Heat on very low for about 40 minutes (you don’t want it to boil because of the milk, just simmer it very slowly).  You should try to stir it every 5-10 minutes or so.  After you add the liquid season to taste.  Just a little bit of cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes gives it a great hint of flavor, but doesn’t make it spicy hot…After 40 minutes take out cobs and piece of bacon.  Add corn kernels and chopped potatoes.  Simmer on low for another 20 minutes.  Mash baked potato, throwing away the skin.
Add mashed potato into pot; cook another 5 minutes.
 
Enjoy!!
 
The starch from boiling the potatoes and adding the cooked mashed taters gives it a little more thickness, without having to use heavier milk or cream….
 
Here is my little story about how this chowder came to be….
Months and months ago I was talking to Farm Girl about soup….I was craving corn chowder, but didn’t know how to make it, or how to make it kinda healthy.
Well, back in august I went to visit my family and FG.  It was sweet corn season there…so like a true Wisconsin girl I packed up 15 pieces of corn and put them in my suitcase to take back to Nevada with me. 
I froze most of it for later use….and a few days ago I looked in my freezer and decided I needed to use that corn.
So, I researched corn chowder on the Internet, found a few recipes, and kinda combined things into my own version…..
 
After I made this soup I hopped onto FG pages to check it out…and to my surprise she had just done a section on soups and stews.  Sorry I didn’t get this to you before you did that…but it must be the time of year all over the country, cause here in Las Vegas I am craving soup too!!
 
I hope you enjoy!!
 
P.S. sorry the picture isn’t that great…had to use my phone to take the pic because my camera battery was dead.

Okay, this made me giggle uncontrollably.  Maybe its because I am notorious at screwing up lyrics of songs.  (Seriously.  Until last year, I thought in the song “Voices Carry” they were saying “This is scary.”  And in Eric Carmen’s “Make Me Lose Control” I thought they said “Only clowns ever let me go” instead of “Hold me close; never let me go.”)  So, if you’re looking for a little light Friday viewing, check out an interpretation of Joe Cocker’s “With a Little Help from My Friends.”

 

In the past week and a half, I have been bitten by the soup bug.  I don’t know if its the colder weather, or that I’m getting over a nasty cold, or the fact that I just remembered how much I love my lime-green retro soup pot.  Whatever the reason, I have been a soup (and stew) making fiend!  Fiend, I tell you!  I have made not one, not two, but three soup/stews in the last ten days.  It’s become an epidemic of sorts.  I even think last night as we were going to bed I heard Farm Boy mumbling something like “Dear God, please let tomorrow’s supper be served on a plate, not in a bowl.”  Maybe I was just imagining that…

(By the way, I do realize that the picture above is a woman cleaning  and not making soup.  But it was such a cute picture.  And I don’t clean.  I cook and I bake.  And many, many other destructive things in my kitchen.  But I do not clean.  So the picture never would have gotten used if I waited for a post about cleaning.  Thus, it gets stuck in a soup-making post.)