Lemon Chicken and Rice Soup

I love this soup.  Love it.  And it's so easy.

1 cup rice
juice of one lemon and water to equal 2 cups.  (For me it was 1 3/4 cup water and 1/4 cup lemon juice)
zest of one lemon
Make rice as you usually would.  I used my rice cooker.

Saute 1 small onion in 2 TBSP olive oil
Add 3 carrots diced
2 celery stalks, diced
6 cups chicken stock (home made is always best.  I cheat and use bullion cubes)
2 cups diced cooked chicken (I used half a roasted chicken from the store)
Bring to a boil, then let simmer until vegetables are soft

Add in Lemon rice and simmer until ready to serve.

Delicious

Bacon Mushroom Sauce

Oh I love pasta. Just love it. This sauce is delicious. I usually serve it on Tortellini, but tonight had it on butter nut squash ravioli.

Melt 2 TBSP butter in saucepan.
Add:
1 small onion diced
2-3 cloves minced garlic
Sauté until onion is clear.

Add:
1/3-1/2 package of bacon, trimmed of fat
Sauté for about 4-5 minutes.

Add about 1/2 cup mushrooms sliced. (About 5 large mushrooms)
Sauté for about 2-3 minutes until mushrooms are soft.

Add 2 TBSP flour and mix well.
Add:
1/3 cup cream
1 cup milk

Stir well, and frequently until sauce has thickened.

You can add some fresh Parsley as well right before serving. I didn't tonight.

Enjoy:)

Grandma's Apple Cake

Before starting, get your baby distracted playing with a wooden chicken leg.

Preheat oven to 350F
Then mix these dry ingredients in a bowl.
1 3/4 cup Flour
1/4 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Allspice

Have your other child help with the mixing.

Then, in another bowl, cream together:
1/2 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
blend until fluffy.

Add:
 2 Eggs
1/2 tsp Vanilla
2 1/2 cups Apples OR 1 cup Applesauce
Then ADD dry ingredients.
Mix well.

Bake for 45 min.

Quinoa Chocolate Cake

I love pinterest. So easy to find recipes on there. I will just leave you with a picture of my finished product and a link to the page I got the recipe from. Click Here.

I will say the first time I made this cake, I stacked the layers and used a chocolate butter cream frosting on the whole cake. It was delicious but so sweet all my guests left half of the cake on their plates. So this time I left it as single layers with just a touch of butter cream. The result was much better.

Tomato Orzo Soup

This is an easy go to recipe for my family.

Tomato Orzo Soup
2 medium carrots chopped
1 medium onion diced
2 stalks Celery chopped
2 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP italian seasoning

Saute until veggies are getting soft



Add
2 cups chicken broth (I use an msg free bullion cube)
2 cups water
1 small can tomato paste

Bring to a boil

Add
1/2 cup orzo noodles


Simmer until orzo is cooked. ~ 20 minutes.

Serve with crusty bread.

Carrot Casserole

I got this recipe from my sister. I tweaked it a little bit. So for those of you wanting her recipe, this one is definitely different.

~ 3 large carrots

Slice carrots and boil or steam until tender.

Put carrots into casserole dish.

In a separate pan

Melt 2 TBSP butter
Add 2 TBSP flour
mix well
Add 2 cups milk
whisk together well until thickened

Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups cheese

Mix until cheese has melted

Add seasoning salt, to taste.

Pour over top of carrots.

Using 3 slices of bread, butter both sides and cut into 1 inch cubes

Spread cubes over top of casserole.

Bake at 350F for 25 minutes.

Sweet Potato Casserole

I make this for Thanksgiving and Christmas every year. I will list two versions of the recipe here. One is nut free for my nephew, the other has pecans.

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 cups pureed Sweet Potato
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/4-1/2 cup sugar

Mix together well in a casserole dish.

Pecan Topping
~ 1/2 cup brown sugar
~ 2 TBSP melted butter
~ 1 cup crushed pecans.
~ 1 TBSP flour
mix together until crumbly and spread on top

Nut Free Topping
~ 1/2 cup brown sugar
~ 2 TBSP butter
~ 1 cup quick oats
mix together until crumbly and spread on top.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.



Linked to : Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap