Italian Wedding Soup

 

My sister- in- law makes the most delicious soups and this one was so good I needed to create it for my family.  Usually this soup has meatballs in it but I like leaving the ground mild Italian sausage in very big chunks when I fry it up instead. 

I don't have specific proportions for soup making, it's kind of just go with the flow in that area of my cooking. But I'll do my best to give you a guide for how this soup was made :) 

  

Italian Wedding Soup

5 Mild Italian Sausages

Diced Onion

Minced Garlic

Celery

Diced Carrots

Diced Potatoes

4 cups Chicken Stock 

2 handfuls Spinach

1/2 cup heavy cream

Salt and Pepper to taste

Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese

For this recipe I like cutting the casing on the sausages and just using the ground sausage.  When I am frying it up I tend to leave it in big chunks. 

1.  Start by heating up your dutch oven (or whatever soup pot you use) over medium heat with a bit of oil in it.   Fry up the sausage meat until cooked.  Remove from dutch oven and place on some paper towel to drain some of the fat from it.  But you want to keep a little bit of the fat in the dutch oven (trust me this will add so much flavour to your soup). 

2.  In the same dutch oven sauté diced onions, celery and garlic until tender.  Add in diced carrots and potatoes.  Be sure to get them coated in all the extra sausage juice there is in that pot!  

3.  Cover that with 4 cups of chicken broth and let simmer (10-12 minutes) or until your carrots and potato are cooked. 

4.  Add back in your cooked sausage and 2 big handfuls of spinach.  I know it looks like a lot but trust me it cooks down.  

5.  When the spinach has cooked down and is nicely wilted you will want to add in some seasoning.  Salt and pepper .

6.  Now just before serving you want to add in 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream.  Make sure your soup is only simmering and on low heat when you add in the cream. 

7.  You can either grate in fresh parmesan into the large pot or you can add it to individual bowls. 

8.  Enjoy with a side of these quick and easy 1 hour rolls. 

Asian Beef Bowls

 

Asian beef bowls where an instant hit with my family!!   I love how quickly this meal comes together when because I make it with Taylor Farms Asian Chopped Salad. 

Asian Beef Bowls 

Ground Beef (or Pork or Chicken or Turkey) 

Onion

Garlic

Asian Dressing

2 bags of Asian Chopped Salad

Cooked Rice

Fry ground beef ( or whatever meat you choose) with onion and garlic.  Add one bag of Asian chopped salad (including the dressing) to your meat mixture and cook for 5 minutes or until the mixture is soft.  You can add in the dressing that it comes with but if you find it a little too dry you can add in this homemade Asian Dressing or put in some Kraft Asian Salad dressing ;) 

Put together the second bag of Asian Salad mix.  This adds texture and more filler to your meal. 

Serve your meat mixture over cooked rice, top with salad mixture and enjoy :) 

Honey Baked Chicken

Honey baked chicken is a family favourite.  I love when fall comes and this comes back onto the meal plan rotation.  You can make this with any cut of chicken.  I use legs and thighs. 

I bake the legs in the oven until they are almost done and the skin is crispy. While they are baking combine the sauce ingredients together and boil.  

Pour sauce over chicken and bake for 20 minutes at 350. 

 

This recipe card is written for when you boil your sauce then pour it over uncooked chicken.  You want to make sure to bake it all together for 1 hour or until the chicken is cooked. 

I've switched up my method of cooking cause I like the skin to be crispy when I pour the sauce on it ;)  

Chowder

 

Chowder makes the perfect fall and winter comfort food and is on our meal plan frequently during these cold months. 

I love making a variety of chowders depending on the type of meat I have.  When ever we have a ham supper you can count on us enjoy corn chowder.  I don't have a specific recipe for these but I am going to try my best to let you know how to make a chowder. 

Start with a Dutch oven seriously they are a game changer for soups and stews. 

Corn Chowder

Fry up some sliced up bacon (6 strips cut up into pieces)

* Remove cooked bacon from dutch oven with a slotted spoon, you can also remove some of the bacon fat....some....you want that delicious flavour. 

ADD 

Onion

Garlic

Let these get soft 5 minutes.

Then add your cubed potatoes and carrots. 

Cover with Chicken broth and let boil for 10-12 minutes or until tender.  Turn down your heat to medium. 

Add 

frozen corn 

Creamed corn

Your cooked bacon 

And your left over cooked ham (if you have it)

1 can of evaporated milk 

1 tsp Tarragon 

Salt and Pepper 

Chowder and biscuits are a delicious duo so hop on over here to get my best biscuit recipe! 

Sausage Chowder 

This is great way to make a little meat go a LONG way.  I use a pack of 5 honey garlic sausages to create a delicious chowder that feeds our family of 9!  All you have to do is take the sausages out of the casing and fry it up like ground pork. 

Sausage Chowder

Fry up sausages (out of casing, remove with slotted spoon and drain some of the grease.)

Add 

Onion

Garlic

Let these get soft 5 minutes

Add cubed potatoes and carrots

Cover with chicken broth and let boil for 10-12 minutes or until tender.  Turn down your heat to medium. 

Add

Frozen corn and peas if you want to 

The cooked sausage

1 can of evaporated milk

Tarragon

Salt and Pepper

Oh and if you hadn't tried to make your own sour dough bread yet you really should its so yummy!!! 

One Hour Pan Rolls

 

These One-hour Pan rolls are so delicious and defiantly a favourite addition around here with all the winter soups and stews.   And the best part (besides eating fresh warm bread dripping with butter) is how quick you can make them. 

One Hour Rolls

1 1/2 cup warm water

1 Tbsp yeast (Active Dry)

2 Tbsp Sugar

2 Tbsp Butter, softened

1 tsp salt

4 cups flour

3 Tbsp melted butter (for the top)

sea salt (for the top)

Dissolve yeast and sugar in water (in your kitchenaid mixer) and let stand for 5 minutes.  Add butter, salt and 3 cups of flour.  With the dough hook, mix until combined and add additional flour 1/4 cup at a time.  Kneed for 3-5 minutes.  Cover the mixing bowl and let rise for 20 minutes. 

Pre heat the oven to 400 and line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper (or cooking spray or both ;).  Punch down the dough and divid into 20 balls, I use a kitchen scale so they are all the same weight.   Place dough balls into the baking dish and brush the tops with melted butter and sprinkle with sea salt.  Let rise for 15-20 minutes and bake for 15 minutes.  Brush with more better hot from the oven and enjoy. 

Masaman Curry

 

This dish is one of our favourites to order out. So of course when I found this sweet can of Masaman Curry I knew I could make it at home and turn it into a favourite "fakeout" meal here at home.

So here is my recipe using this sweet can of curry paste. 

Masaman Curry Chicken

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 clove garlic, minced 2 cans coconut milk 1 can masaman curry paste 1 tbsp fish sauce (we never use this) 2 tbsp sugar

1/2 cup chopped peanuts

1lb uncooked chicken breast, cubed Sweet potatoes, cubed- 2 good sized ones.

On a large baking sheet I bake the chicken breast and sweet potatoes in the oven. You want the chicken to be cooked to proper temp and the sweet potatoes to be nice and roasted for a deep rich flavour. In a sauce pan add oil, garlic and cook for a minute. Add in 2 cans of coconut milk and all of the other ingredients except peanuts. Whisk all together and add in your cooked chicken and sweet potatoes. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add in 1/4 cup of the peanuts and use the rest for garnish.

Serve this deliciousness with rice.

Sloppy Joes

 

Sloppy Joes have always been a favourite for me.  I remember being so excited on sloppy joe day at our  school cafeteria!!  Now my family enjoys them just as much as I do....which is always a win. 

Sloppy Joes

Ground Beef (or Pork)

Onion

Garlic

Fry together and drain off any fat

Combine in a mixing bowl

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup BBQ sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp mustard

Salt and Pepper

Pour sauce over cooked meat mixture and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve over the most delicious homemade hamburger buns and enjoy with coleslaw, roasted veggies or fries.