Baked Potato Soup

I found this soup and thought that it could be fun to try. Well, Matt and I fell in love. Madison really liked it too. It tastes just like a baked potato. We didn't put anything extra on top but you could. Also, when I took the garlic out I squished it out and mashed it up, then I spread it onto some yummy bread. It was so yummy. My only complaint was it took a lot longer to cook than the recipe calls for. I probably could have turned the heat up and that would have helped :). Enjoy!

Baked Potato Soup

Veggie Calzones

These were actually very tasty! It makes eight large calzones. I used the Pioneer Woman's pizza crust recipe found under "favorites" but you could do bread dough or whatever. Also these are freezable. There are instructions on how to recook at the end. I didn't make any but they would probably be good dipped in marinara sauce!

1/2 lb fresh mushrooms chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
2 Tbls oil
3 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped (I didn't seed mine and I used roma)
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 cup shredded Monteray Jack (I used cheddar)
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 loaves ( 1 lb each ) frozen bread dough thawed (I did one recipe of PW's pizza crust)
1 egg
1 Tbls water
garlic salt (optional)
Italian Seasoning

1. Saute onions, green pepper, mushrooms and oil until tender. Add tomatoes; cook and stir for 3 min. Stir in tomato paste; set aside. Combine cheeses and set aside.

2. On a lightly floured surface, divide dough into eight pieces. Roll each piece into a 7 in circle ( I sprinkled garlic salt onto the dough before I put any filling on it ). Spoon a scant 1/2 c vegetable mixture and 1/4 c cheese mixture over one side of each circle. Brush edges of dough with water; fold dough over filing and press edges with a fork to seal. Place calzones 3 in apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 20 min.

3. Whisk egg and water; brush over calzones and sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Bake @ 375* for 15 min. If freezing remove desired number of calzones from baking sheet and cool. Bake the remaining calzones 18-22 minutes longer or until golden brown (I made them ahead of time and cooked all eight for the first 15 min then I cooled four and put four in the fridge. I cooked the four from the fridge at 375* for 15 min). Serve immediately. Place the cooled calzones in freezer bags, will keep up to 3 months in freezer.

4. To use frozen calzones: Place 2 in apart on a greased baking sheet. Bake @ 350* for 30-35 min or until golden brown.

Heaty Zucchini Soup

Mom found this recipe in the newspaper and tried it. She told me that it was so good so I tried it. Let me tell you it is sooooo good. You really could add any kind of vegetables that you want.

1 clove garlic minced
3 Tbs olive oil
3 medium potatoes diced into 1/2 " cubes
1 onion chopped
2 stalks celery chopped (I used a can of corn drained instead)
2 Tbs fresh parsley chopped (1 1/2" Tbs about of dried parsley)
1 tsp oregano
6 c. beef stalk (6 c. water + 6 beef bullion cubes)
1 large tomato (I used 2 1/2 and they were yummy)
3 c. thinly sliced zucchini (do not peel)
2 tsp salt
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Lightly brown your garlic in olive oil. Add potatoes and cook for 5 min. Add onion, celery/corn, parsley and oregano cook until onions are tender. Add everything else but Parmesan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until zucchini is cooked and tender about 20 min. I started my soup way to early on accident. I let it simmer for about 30 minutes and then turned the heat off until we were ready to eat. It was perfect. I started about an hour to soon, oops :) Garnish with the Parmesan cheese and enjoy! I thought that it could taste yummy and be even heartier if you added some noodles to it like macaroni. I probably would add these when you are bringing it to a boil and then simmering it. Let me know if you try it that way.

Tomato Corn Pie

Okay so this pie is soooo yummy. We love it and it has been fun to use the corn and tomatoes from grandma and grandpa in a new way. I hope you like it. I am putting the link on here because the intructions are a little long.

Tomato Corn Pie

Chile Rellenos

These turned out pretty good. You can deep fry with batter but I like this version of baking them with enchilada sauce.

Get the desired amount of roasted chilies and slice down one side about 3/4 of the way.
Remove seeds and membrane.
Slice cheese to fit inside the chile, making sure that the chile will still close.
Get your favorite enchilada sauce and poor a small amount to the bottom of a baking dish.
Then place you chilies into the baking dish and poor more sauce on top followed by cheese.
Bake this at 375* for about 15 minutes. Beware of the heat but it is soooo yummy!

Roasting Chiles

You can do this with pretty much any kind of chile. Just make sure you have the fan going and a window open. The fumes are pretty good :)

Turn your broiler on and get it heated.
Clean and dry your desired amount of chilies.
Place on cookie sheet.
Put in oven under the broiler.
Turn them every couple minutes to get all the sides cooked.
You want them mostly charred (about 60%) this should take 5-10 minutes
Remove from oven and put them in a plastic bag, a plate with plastic wrap over, anything to get them steaming inside. Keep in bag for 15 minutes.
After fifteen minutes remove one at a time and rub the skin with your fingers and peel of the skin. It should come off really easy. If not you can take a small knife and peel it off.
These can be kept in the fridge for a few days or the freezer for a few months.

Three Cheese Pizza (zucchini & tomato pizza)

This is our new favorite pizza. I like that it uses a zucchini because there are so many around this time of year. I also double this and make two pizzas. One for me and one for Matt!

1 c shredded mozzarella
1 c shredded cheddar
1 medium zucchini
3-4 cloves garlic minced
1/4 c grated parmesan (I use the can)
1 medium tomato
1 small onion (I have also used a bunch of green onions which worked fine)
Olive Oil
Italian Seasoning
1 recipe of your favorite pizza crust

Roll dough to 14" circle (I just spread mine out onto a cookie sheet and get it to fill the entire sheet) If you need to prebake your crust do so now. Lightly spread with olive oil. Spread garlic, veggies, and cheeses on. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning. Bake at 400* for 15-20 minutes. Super yummy!

Steak and Peas

This one I tried out of a Betty Crocker cookbook that I had. It has become a staple. Super easy to whip up and so yummy!
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound beef boneless sirloin steak (we just use one steak and it seems to be just fine)
i clove garlic
1-1.5 cups hot cooked rice
1 T vegetable oil
1/4 t salt
dash of pepper
2/3 cup beef broth
1 T cornstarch
2 T water
1 T soy sauce
1/4 t ground ginger
1 package frozen snow pea pods (I use the pea pods in the produce section, not frozen. Snow or sugar snap peas both work fine.)

Cut and discard most of the fat from the beef. Cut into chucnks. Peel and finely chop the garlic.

Heat the skillet over high heat 1-2 minutes. Add the oil to the skillet. Add the beef and garlic to the skillet. Stir-fry with a turner or large spoon about 3 minutes, lifting and stirring constantly until beef is brown. Sprinkle salt and pepper over beef, and stir in the broth. Heat to boiling over high heat.

Mix the cornstarch, water and soysauce and stir into the beef mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and boils. Continue boiling 1 minute, stirring constantly. The sauce will be thin.

Stir in the gingerroot and pea pods. Cook uncovered about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pea pods are crisp-tender when pierced with fork. Serve over rice.

**For more flavor, cook your rice in some of the extra beef broth.