In My Spare Time: Weekend Cookin'

Wow...I had a busy weekend, but it was relaxing too.    We had the day off today, so it was nice to extend our time away from work.

I went to the gym on Saturday, Sunday and today. I so did not want to go on Sunday, but forced myself to and was glad of it.   Today I did the aqua class this morning.    It was fun, with a different instructor, and a different workout and it was nice to get my exercise in at the beginning of the day.

My weight has stayed the same this week, but I can definitely tell that I have more energy, more stamina and feel better in general.    Onward and forward!

I have a couple of recipes to share tonight.    One was something I had planned for Friday but didn't get around to making until tonight and the other was a spur of the moment baking decision, and will be in the boys lunches next week.

The first, Crockpot Sausage Soup, adapted from here.

My first disclaimer is that I made it on top of the stove. I already had a chicken in the crock pot and it was late in the afternoon, so I used my favorite pot (which I bought at the ARC thrift store after encouragement from my mom - thanks Mom!).

The second disclaimer is that I really just used the recipe as an inspiration. I used a different kind of sausage, LOTS more veggies, including a bit of broccoli and cauliflower that were all by their lonesome in the refrigerator, some leftover cream cheese, and a mix of quesadilla cheese and cheddar cheese. It got great reviews from the troops and we have enough left over for dinner tomorrow. Score!

Sausage and Veggie Soup

Ingredients


I love this pot! It cost me $10 at the ARC Thrift Store.

1 lb sausage (I used chicken sausage from Sunflower Market - casings removed)
4 potatoes, cut in cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
8 celery ribs, chopped
8 large carrots, chopped
2 quarts chicken broth
1/2 cup skim milk cans
3/4 cup total shredded cheese (I used cheddar and quesadilla cheese, plus about 3 Tbsp of cream cheese that was lurking in the refrigerator.)
dried parsley, dried oregano, dill - I didn't measure this, just used probably 2 Tbsp each of the parsley and oregano and maybe 1 tsp of dill
Shake of seasoning salt
1/4 - 1/2 cup mashed potato flakes to thicken up the soup.
salt and pepper

Directions

Brown sausage and onion in a skillet. Drain well.
Place potatoes, celery and carrot in bottom of crock pot (or add to sauce pan with the sausage and onion mixture.) Add sausage and onion mixture. Pour chicken broth over vegetables and sausage.
Turn crock pot to low and cook 4 to 5 hours. Bring to boil on stove top and then turn down to simmer, uncovered
Add spices and herbs at this point.
During the last 5 minutes of cooking add milk and cheddar cheese. Do a taste test for salt and pepper and add, if needed.
Note: If a thicker soup is desired, add -- 1 tablespoon of cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoons of cold water.

Serve and enjoy!


Yummy delicious dinner!

The surprise tonight was that I saw this posting from what is becoming one of my favorite blogs and decided to make them.

~~I didn't make any changes at all.~~ I know. I ALWAYS change something. ~~Not this time.~~ ~~Just as written~~. I did double the recipe and didn't have pecans so substituted walnuts. Wait...that's what I changed! This filled a VERY LARGE cookie sheet. My children are ~~not so~~ patiently waiting for them to cool so that they can sample them.

Congo Bars Recipe:

2 3/4 c. all purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. butter, softened
2 c. brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 package milk chocolate chips
1 c. chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Set aside. Combine butter and sugar using a mixer until blended. Add eggs, one at a time to sugar mixture, mixing on low in between each addition. Add vanilla and mix. Add flour and mix until combined. Stir in chips and then pecans.