Endure

Last night, I made stuffed cabbage rolls for our St. Patrick's dinner tonight.

It was quite an involved process. And before you are disgusted by the thought of cabbage rolls, they were stuffed with bratwurst and covered in a spicy bacon, tomato sauce.

Bacon makes everything taste better.

I cooked the bratwurst in the morning with the rice. Then, after work, I steamed the cabbage. While it steamed I cooked the bacon, onion, red pepper, and simmered those all in tomato puree.

After the sauce was ready, and the cabbage had drained, I took the bratwurst and rice mixture out of the fridge and started stuffing the cabbage leaves.

As if all of that wasn't involved enough, the next part got more so.

The recipe instructed me to cut the main vein out of the leaf, scoop one-third of a cup of the bratwurst/rice mixture into the leaf, and then roll it like a burrito. Except that I just cut out part of the leaf and rolling it as suggested was next to impossible. No matter which way I rolled, stuffing kept falling out through slits. Or I was rolling it in such a way that the stuffing to rolled cabbage ratio was uneven.

But I knew I could endure. I continued stuffing and rolling. I eventually filled my 9 x 13 baking dish with ten rolls. I covered them with the sauce and tucked them away in the refrigerator until this afternoon when Bill took them out for me.

We were also able to endure the forty-five minute wait while they baked.

Bill and I agreed that the cabbage rolls were worth the process.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Practice

I was just saying the other day that the practice of writing this blog has made me a better writer. There are times when I have written more consistently and maintained a practice schedule as it were, but nonetheless I've kept at it for eight years now.

As it stands I have written 1220 posts. This one makes 1221. That's a lot of practice.

Are you asking yourself, "is she practicing to write a book?"

The answer is a plain and simple no. (Unless someone offered me money, at which point I would think about it.)

We practice as a way to improve a skill or ability. Therefore, each time I write, I'm practicing.

I didn't set out to practice writing. I set out to share the random things I bake, cook, craft, photograph, or think about. Yet it turns out, all along, I was practicing my writing too.

Not your typical croutons

There are a lot of great combo's out there in regard to food.

Let's name a few:

peanut butter and chocolate

fries and burgers

cookies and milk

pasta and garlic bread

tomato soup and grilled cheese

Oh sure, there are plenty more but it's the last one I'd like to write about today.

I'm sure this won't come as a surprise to my parents to learn that I didn't like tomato soup until probably late elementary school age. And that was most likely because I had it with grilled cheese. I remember, after that, having it with kids I babysat for and they were insistent that I use milk when I made the well-known canned version. From there, tomato soup has always been in my cupboard.

As I've become more and more of a cook, I've found several from-scratch tomato soup recipes and one in particular that I have added to my regular rotation of dinners.

Grilled cheese has typically been a part of the dinner. Again, what else could possibly make tomato soup better?

There is one thing, but it's not really anything different, but it changes everything.

I was reading a magazine last year that suggested tomato soup and, wait for it…

Grilled cheese croutons!

I like adding croutons to my soups and tomato soup was no exception even when I'd have a grilled cheese with it.

But making the grilled cheese sandwich into croutons, even I was skeptical at first.

If you like dipping your grilled cheese sandwich into your bowl of soup, these croutons take it over the top. Let me assure you that it is amazing. It will change your tomato soup experience. The bread soaks up the tomato soup, but it stays crispy because it's been grilled. Delicious!

I recommend using a gouda, American, or even a Monterey Jack cheese (or a combo is also yummy). It's as simple as making a grilled cheese sandwich like normal. Then, after letting it rest so the cheese doesn't make a mess, cut the sandwich into pieces. I found that using regular sliced bread, cutting it into sixteen pieces (in half, in half again, then turn and repeat) makes the pieces just the right size.

You can make the grilled cheese croutons ahead of time and then pop them into a toaster oven to reheat it, or you can top your soup with them immediately.

I hope that next time you make some tomato soup, whether it's from a can or not, that you'll try grilled cheese croutons. It's good for your soul. Or at least your soup.

Cooking for an army

I feel like Pioneer Woman.

Not in the way that she lives on a ranch.

Or has four kids.

Or has her own cooking show.

Or has basset hounds.

I feel like Ree because I just cooked enough food for a ranch. I made sloppy joes for youth group tonight. I used ten pounds of ground beef.

Let me repeat that. I used ten pounds of ground beef.

That is a lot of beef.

I'm a very poor judge of amounts. For instance, when it comes to leftovers I either pick a dish that's too big or too small. When it comes to parties, I typically have way too much food.

That's better than running out of food.

I have nightmares about not having enough food.

Thanks Depression/history class.

I'm pretty sure I have enough for dinner tonight. I planned on cooking for twenty-four. Then I rounded up to thirty when I bought buns. I'm pretty sure I could feed eighty.

There will also be chips and krispy rice treats.

After our hearty dinner, our respective groups of youth will head out for ArtPrize 2014. I have a feeling I'll have a few pictures to post tomorrow.

In a bun or on a stick

Welcome to 2014 where it costs money in fancy, ritzy hotels to use wifi. Except in the lobby. But because you're in a fancy, ritzy hotel everyone stares at you in disgust because you're blatantly using the free wifi in the lobby.

I got over it, but didn't have time to write. Convention ended with our Installation Banquet which was a lovely event as always. Our new president is Karen Murphy from Australia. Convention 2016 is in Brisbane. I'm going to start saving my pennies so I can go.

Speaking of pennies, I found a nickel on the street in Cincinnati. Yes, I still stop and pick up any change I see.

Did you know today is National Hot Dog day? I heard that on the radio today (although for all I know it was a playback from yesterday). Bill and I celebrated by eating hot dogs for dinner. The more important part of the story is that I grilled them. And they weren't burnt. They were also hot all the way through.

I'm not known for my grilling. The one other time I grilled anything it was burgers (at a friend's house) and I cooked them until they were leather. That has been the extent of my grilling experience. This is the reason why I'm so ecstatic that I cooked hot dogs successfully.

I don't think I'll continue grilling regularly, I'll leave that in Bill's hands. But I do feel as though I accomplished something.

Tuesday with Skylar

We had a very busy day.

After staying up way too late blogging and chatting, I got up this morning way too early.

Once I finished getting ready, I woke up Skylar and we went to Meijer. We also stopped at Russo's for root beer. Greg and his family have a summer bucket list and they had a root beer tasting (read about it here). Skylar and I picked out four root beers to try; Virgil's, Dog 'N Suds, Boylan, and Henry Weinhard's Root Beer. They also had Dang (which we've had) and Dad's (which we've had). There were a few others but we limited ourselves to four.

We did not do a blind taste test. We did have a sample of each. My favorite in order were the H.W., Dog 'N Suds, Boylan, and dead last is Virgil's. The guy at the store said Virgil's was his favorite. Unfortunately for us it has licorice in it and neither one of us is a fan of licorice. Anise. Don't like it. So if anyone reading this blog does like it, leave a comment and I would be happy to let you have the other three bottles.

We went downtown to the city market. That was the first time I have been there. It's fantastic! We bought some Michigan cherries and blueberries at one of the outside farmer's stands. We bought some chocolates and breads inside and walked around. There are still a few empty spaces but it seemed to be busy.

After a quick stop at CVS because Skylar accidentally forgot some medicine (just amoxicillin, nothing too important) we walked to Ken's.

Then we made No-Bake cookies, Rice Krispy treats and we were going to make white chocolate chip, dried cranberry oatmeal cookies but we used all the sugar. We took another trip to Ken's to buy more sugar and we came back and made the cookies.

I made Club Em's for dinner (chicken, bacon, avocado, cheese - Gouda today on a hard roll - pretzel bun today) and beer battered onion rings.

I washed dishes and we watched the Tigers game. Now it's time for bed. We have another long and fun-filled day tomorrow.

just because days

If you read about our trip to Vegas (starting here), I mentioned that I did some baking and cooking for Bill's family.

Since I'm visiting my family for a few days, I thought I would do some cooking and baking for them. I offered two choices for dinner: Four Cheese Macaroni and Meatloaf or Lasagna, Caesar Salad and The Bread. Dessert will be Vanilla Rich Chip Cake.

The winning dinner is lasagna, salad and the bread. Yum!

Mom and I went to the store tonight to buy the ingredients. I can't forget the sugar this time, because there isn't any to add! (The cake uses a box mix, shh don't tell anybody. But it's so good, it doesn't matter.)

I'm thankful for dinner choices and spending time with family for birthdays, Mother's day and just because days.

It's pronounced "Keen-wa"

I'm going to pre-blog about our dinner. If it turns out, I will try to remember to write more about it after dinner. But I'm going through a sinus bout and don't have all my faculties about me. Instead I have boxes of tissue, bottles of lotion, sinus pills and wadded up balls of tissue. In other words, I may be passed out, snoring loudly on the couch after dinner.

Or a ball of energy. In which case I'll be out shoveling snow.

Maybe not. I'm really over the stuff for this season.

Dinner!

I'm making a sausage, pepper quinoa dish. It all goes in the crock-pot for two hours (on high). It's going to have some sweet (honey), some tanginess (red and orange peppers), and spice (homemade sausage from our local grocery store). I think it will be quite the filling dish with the quinoa.

Wish me luck. I've never cooked anything with quinoa before. Couscous? Yes. Long grain (not instant) rice? Yes. Risotto (Arborio Rice)? Yes. Pasta? Are you kidding me? Of course. Quinoa is a first. I'm confident I can master it.

At least I know where the closest fast food restaurant is.

I'm thankful for creative cooks and all the recipes they have shared.

Editor's note: the dish was delicious. Bill and I each had a serving topped with cheddar cheese and then a serving topped with monterey jack cheese. Each was different and delicious in its own way. I recommend it if you want a quick, weeknight dinner. Just know that quinoa is super, teeny, tiny. When the directions tell you to rinse it, make sure you have a fine mesh strainer. Here's the link to the recipe.

my super hero

I don't know how many posts I'll write about being grateful for Bill. In one year, it will probably be a lot. I've already given him props a few times and I'm about to again.

He helped me around the house today. It was small, simple things. Nothing worth shouting from the mountaintops, or throwing a ticker-tape parade. He ran the vacuum, he took out the trash, emptied the litter boxes, and he cleaned the bathroom. I didn't ask him to do the last chore. He took it upon himself to do that.

I was busy cooking and baking. We delivered dinner (and breakfast) to a family. The mom is an amazing woman. She is battling breast cancer. Both of her youth have gone through our youth groups. They are amazing kids.

Our church put out a call to deliver them dinner and I signed us up. Since we were at the Auto Show yesterday, in Detroit, I didn't have a chance to do much prep. I hurried home from church (hurry is sort of a joke, it hasn't stopped snowing… since November) and got to work.

Bill came home later; he had stayed for a chili cook-off between mission groups. His chili had the most compliments, but since the cook-off is rigged (in a very good-natured way), his mission -the youth, did not come in first place.

He had sat down to read. I asked if he could help me do one thing, run the vacuum. That's when he sprang into action doing all the above mentioned chores. As I was waiting to put the last batch of cookies in the oven, he asked if we would have time to run by the bank. We also needed two gallons of milk. Looking at the clock, I realized the best thing would be if he ran out while I baked the last of the cookies and finished washing the dishes. As I explained all that still needed to get done, he suggested he do the errands, and off he went.

He deserves a super-hero cape.

fall flavors

I've mentioned before that growing up I was a picky eater. It has become the family joke. Apparently I ate nothing more than macaroni & cheese and hot dogs.

That is mostly true.

As an adult, as I've learned and experienced cooking, I have found many foods that Mom always tried to get me to eat, but usually ended up with me still sitting at the dining room table, the food cold, tears streaming down my face. I would choke down whatever vegetable it was (hello, had I even tried them when they were still warm I would have probably liked them, or at least disliked them less) with a second glass of milk. Swallowing them whole like prescribed pills. (I think I'm recalling most specifically lima beans and peas in this description.)

Now I like vegetables, mostly because I eat them while they're still warm. What a difference temperature makes!

One of the things I remember Mom making was acorn squash. She roasted the squash, buttered it, and sprinkled brown sugar on it.

She did the same thing with carrots.

Had we known then what we know now, she would have gone the simple route of olive oil, salt and pepper. Now, that is my favorite way to eat root vegetables.

Just like I don't enjoy carrots in cake (seriously, I'll lick the icing off of a carrot cake or refuse dessert), I don't enjoy brown sugar on vegetables.

I had my first un-brown sugared acorn squash at a friend's house recently. They baked them in a pan of water, essentially steaming the squash. Then, at the table, butter, salt and pepper were provided so each of us could garnish as we wished.

I liked it that way, but wondered if I could roast it with olive oil. That is how I cook butternut squash. Except that it's cut up into cubes.

I Googled it.

Sure enough, eventually I found a recipe where you cut the acorn squash in half around the equator, scoop out the seeds, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper and drop in a clove of peeled (and slightly crushed) garlic. Roast it cut side up at 350 for an hour.

Delicious.

But, what's the best part about a squash? Or carving a pumpkin? To me, it's the seeds. I have always enjoyed eating roasted seeds.

Recently, I discovered something about these seeds.

I have been roasting pumpkin seeds since Bill and I carved our first pumpkins.

When I made that acorn squash the first time, I saved the seeds and the next day roasted them.

Acorn squash seeds have way more flavor than pumpkin seeds.

If you haven't ever given acorn squash seeds a chance, I highly recommend that you do.

Thanks to Heather W., the best way to prepare the seeds is: soak them overnight in salt water. The next day, drain the seeds, toss with olive oil, season with salt, pepper, garlic & onion powder and bake in a 300 oven for 20 minutes. You don't have to eat them right away. They'll keep in a sealed container.

Excuse me, I have to go eat my acorn squash seeds, they're ready.

The "flavor"

I could have sworn that I have written about "the bread", but I can't find it anywhere. Mom, Dad? Do you remember reading about it? Or do you just remember it?

It was Easter 2011. I made "the bread" to go with our dinner.

There was a moment of panic when the smell hit the kitchen. The bread was under the broiler and it smelled like it was burning.

I wasn't worried. It was doing exactly what it needed to be doing.

My mom said it was burning and I said, "No! That's the flavor!"

Hence, it is now known in our family as "the flavor". Not "the bread".

Since I never blogged about it (or at least can't find where I did) here's the link to that delicious recipe. Try it with your next dinner. Follow the instructions and wait. Don't get impatient like my mom. You definitely want "the flavor."

The reason why I'm telling you about the flavor bread is because PW blogged about another of her favorite breads. This post is actually older than "the bread" post. But she just reposted it and it was the first time I had seen it.

Check this out.

I have a feeling that this will be replacing "the bread" in our house. I will be trying this soon.

And, if you read through the recipe, don't fret. I read several of the comments and one urges everyone to use kalamata olives instead of the canned. I will definitely be using the kalamata.

And I promise to post Christmas pictures on here soon. I haven't forgotten.

the verde verdict

A few weeks ago Bill and I were watching "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives". In that particular episode, they made pork chili verde. It looked amazing, so I did a quick search and found a similar recipe. I made notes to make it like they did in the restaurant featured. The other night I decided to give it a try.

I used two poblano chilies, two jalapeños, and several tomatillos.

After cutting out the seeds, I threw all of those into the food processor along with garlic, salt and pepper.

During my processing, the phone rang. As Wedding Coordinator for the church, I am prone to answering the phone whenever I am home. Since I was busy, Bill answered. It was a bride, so I took the call.

At some point, I touched my lips.

Despite the fact that I had washed my hands several times while cutting the peppers, there was still oil on my hands and I transferred that to my lips.

They were on fire.

Holy moly, I have never experienced anything like that before.

Bill suggested I pour a glass of milk and stick my lips in it.

I did.

That did not help.

I resorted to running the water in the sink and sticking my lips under that to wash away the oil.

That worked.

I bet it looked ridiculous.

The chili was not ridiculous.

It wasn't even that hot. After I processed the peppers, I added them to a pot with pork tenderloin chopped into cubes. I added four cups of water (I could have used chicken stock) and boiled it for about an hour. I made long-grain, organic rice in that time. The chili mellowed out and was a yummy alternative to Bill's famous chili.

I must be on a green streak... I just realized along with chili verde, I also made broccoli and cheese soup. That too was a lovely shade of green.

The other dishes I made happened to have red (tomatoes) in them. I must be in the festive, holiday mood!

my favorite roasted veggie dish

Here are the pictures from yesterday's vegetable medley.

Here is the before

and here is after they were roasted.

You'll notice I added some corn.

After a couple of tries, I think I've found the best tasting dish. Start with a couple Russet potatoes, a few red potatoes, a sweet potato or two, a red onion and carrots. Peel and cut them into large chunks, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in a 425 degree oven for forty minutes, stirring a couple of times. Halfway through I added the corn.

It's my new favorite roasted veggie holiday dish. And it's healthy! I was asked if sugar was added. The answer is no, the roasting caramelizes the veggies bringing out their naturally sweet flavors.

helpful hints and blogging blunders

I have been completely off my game...

I haven't checked PW's blog in weeks. My life has been miserable, depressing, sad, and definitely fewer calories.

Just kidding.

I think I somehow managed to get by without reading her blog. I baked cookies. I made her potato salad. I cleaned the house.

Somewhere in between I caught up on her blog.

I feel better now.

As I was folding laundry (no t-shirts, just sheets) I was thinking about mentioning her, and how much I would love to meet her. Wouldn't that just be something if she found my blog (which is really quite boring compared to hers) and invited me out to the ranch? 

Why would she invite me? 

Because she would see how much I love food, and her blog, and everything she writes. 

She might find me witty.

She might find me amusing.

She will likely never find me at all. 

But I can dream, can't I?

On another note I thought of some more helpful hints to share:

Don't vacuum above your head with your mouth open. You don't know what could fall into your mouth...

Don't breathe in while eating salsa. It hurts. Trust me.

That's all for today.

 

thoughts on cookbooks

Oh, if I could have my dream kitchen; the cookbooks that would fill my shelves...

Huh?

Yup. You read that right.

While I have dreams of a beautiful glass tile back splash, cupboards set at the right height, cupboards that don't leave behind a trail of termite-looking dust as wood drags on wood, cupboards with cool features that don't require climbing onto the counter to reach into the far depths (a trait that few appreciate, hey it's a good upper body workout!) or literally crawling into to reach into the back corner, a dishwasher and maybe even a garbage disposal (that one is still up in the air, I may prefer composting; but you can put anything down the disposal so maybe it would come in handy for what can't get composted), I dream more about the cookbooks.

I do more research for the cookbooks. The rest is stuff I know I want. Period. The cookbooks are like the cherry on top. Having new cookbooks and new recipes are always fun to try whether in a new kitchen or the old.

The iPad has helped reduced my printing off of recipes, lowering the paper usage (I've gone green!) and generating a whole new world of hoarding, er collecting recipes. But I still love books. And there are still cookbooks out there that I want.

I think to convince Bill that I need more cookbooks I have to read and cook out of the ones I have now.

My list as it stands???

I'm glad you asked:

One Dish Dinners by Pam Anderson
Joy the Baker Cookbook
Better Homes and Gardens (in the three-ring binder version)
all of PW's cookbooks
all of Giada's cookbooks
possibly an Emeril cookbook
possibly any other tv host cookbook (I'm not picky)

I am on my way to utilizing the ones I have. I have blogged a couple of times about recipes from my "Back Home Again" cookbook and I often use my BH&G and Betty Crocker for basic recipes (and pecan pie). I also have a couple from my grandma, both Italian cooking. By now you should know how much I love Italian food. And I have Ben & Jerry's ice cream cookbook, along with several others.

They're getting used. Slowly but surely. What happens when I've cooked and baked through all of them?

I'm not sure, but maybe I'll still be blogging and I'll let you know!

what's cooking?

I'm glad you want to know (if you don't- stop reading now, if you're hungry- give me a call, if you want another good recipe- please keep reading)!

If this could be a scratch-and-sniff post it would be so much better.

Jalapeno and Beer-Baked Beef

It smells so delicious.

I started it this morning; it had to bake in the oven for 2 1/2 hours before chilling out in the fridge. Now it's back in the oven getting warmed up.

While the oven does all the work, I've got potatoes boiling in some water. Once they're cooked, they're going to get pan fried and tossed with baby spinach. I'll season them with some oregano, garlic, salt and ground pepper. I'm not following the recipe exactly, but I did link to it for you.

The beef recipe is from my "Back Home Again" cookbook (I don't know if I mention it in the post I linked to...). I don't have time to type the recipe, so if you want it let me know. I'm always happy to share recipes!

In the meantime there will be lots of red meat and spinach in our house as I try to raise my iron levels. I don't have an official word that I'm anemic, but I've been bruising a lot easier lately. It's not going to hurt anything to eat foods with iron, so I'm hoping that will help. I had been avoiding red meat because I know chicken and pork is better for you. And we just so happen to like chicken and pork.

But we also like red meat.

But red meat can be pricier.

I should have gone to Ken's Fruit Market (they have a meat counter). I may have to go there next week for more red meat.

Time to go finish my potatoes!

beans, beans the magical fruit

I realized (and read) that dried beans are cheaper than their canned counter parts.

I made the black-eyed pea dip for the Super Bowl. I soaked the beans overnight, I cooked them for the right time and they turned out just fine.

Today, I'm making a dish that uses black beans. I bought those as dry beans. I forgot to soak them. I followed the "quick" cook instructions. I'm crossing my fingers that they are cooked. I'm also crossing my fingers that the dish turns out.

I'm famous for reading ahead and skipping steps. Dishes usually turn out just fine. But there's a lot of frustration before the final product is actually sitting on the table.

I made scones to take to the Cool Cats tomorrow.

Um, those gave me some trouble too. I made notes and am confident that I won't have the same mess next time. Again, they turned out just fine. There was just a brief moment of panic when I tried to move them to the cookie sheet that created a bit more of a mess than I had planned. (I still had the same amount of scones as I had started with, there was just some excess flour that decided to jump ship.)

Now I'm making a jam crumb cake for Pastor Gary's February dessert. It calls for sour cream. I'm pulling out the ingredients to get it ready. That's when I realize we are out of sour cream.

You can substitute plain yogurt for sour cream, but all we have is vanilla yogurt.

This has not been a good day for me in the kitchen.

Thankfully, Bill graciously offered to go pick up some sour cream. He's my kitchen hero.

new recipes

I made the most delicious chicken enchiladas the other night. The recipe basically consisted of nacho cheese, shredded cheese, cream cheese, sour cream and chicken, wrapped in a tortilla and baked. It's covered with nacho cheese. I tried to make it healthier (really, is that possible?) by adding a red onion.

Whether or not it was good for us, it was delicious.

Today I made a Hoosier Cream Pie. It's for our pastor for his dessert of the month.

I remember the first time I had ever seen one. I was with my friend Robin and her family, I think we were celebrating her grandma's birthday (it could have been a family reunion or her grandparents anniversary). At any rate, Robin picked out that piece of pie. I'm pretty sure I picked a piece of pecan pie.

At any rate, I remember Robin eating her piece of pie and at some point I must have asked her what it was. I remember that she commented it was her favorite. I don't know if I had a bite of hers or if I went and got my own (really at this point I could be mashing several different memories together). I know that I had never had it before. Then, I started seeing them at our own church's potlucks. I wouldn't say it was my favorite (pecan holds that title), but I didn't realize that it isn't as well-known as the pecan or apple pie.

I didn't even know it was known as a Hoosier Cream Pie. I think we just called it a Sugar Cream Pie. There are differences.

The recipe I used came from an issue of Midwest Living.

I like trying new recipes.

Experimenting with soups

Yesterday I made corn chowder for dinner.

Except I combined two recipes and threw in some extras.

I started with my recipe from Shannon.

Here's the list of ingredients:
Bacon - nope, but we have bacon grease
Cream corn - substitute frozen sweet corn, check
Potatoes - of course, check
Onion - no, but we have shallots, check
Evaporated milk - nope, but we have regular milk, check

The other recipe called for chicken stock, so I added that too. Then I decided to add carrots. They go in stews and soups, so why not? Then I remembered I did have half an onion so I added that.

And then, (please forgive me) I used the rest of our beef stick. It was just the right amount. I came to this decision because I've used pancetta and prosciutto, which are both similar enough to bacon. Which made me think of salami which reminded me of the beef stick. I diced it into pea-size pieces. It added just enough of that smokey meat without overpowering the soup.

Tonight I made a three-bean soup. The recipe came from a magazine. It was the Christmas edition and this recipe was on a page of gift ideas. Layer ingredients in a jar and give it (with the recipe) as a gift.

Great idea! I've done this with cookie ingredients and my friend Tam from Jersey. That's another post... Let's just say something didn't work out quite right and things didn't quite all fit.

But apparently I saved this page because one of the recipes intrigued me. However, the bean soup calls for dried beans (of course, you wouldn't want canned beans in a jar, that would be messy and not as pretty) so I figured I could make the same soup with "fresh ingredients". Along with the beans it also called for dehydrated vegetables and dried seasonings. Again, all things I could find "fresh".

Since I went to the store, I had more ingredients on hand. I cooked half an onion and added carrots again. Garlic (used that in the corn chowder too), diced tomatoes, corn (hey why not), kidney, pinto and black beans (the recipe called for Navy beans, but I couldn't find any...). I added some seasonings (chili powder, oregano, cumin, parsley) and chicken base (which is how I make my chicken stock, Shannon introduced me to it and it's SO much cheaper than chicken stock, I use it for my risotto too). Since the beans weren't dried, this didn't take nearly as long as the original recipe called for, which is the other reason I made it. I had Bible study at 6pm and dinner needed to be fast.

I would say that my experimenting with both soups paid off. I'm really not a fan of broth-y soups, but I liked both of these (I wouldn't say my corn chowder was really creamy, since I used 1% milk and the chicken stock, it was a little more broth-y). They were both healthy. We didn't add anything to either of them, of course cheese and nachos would be a delicious with the three-bean soup, if you don't care about calories. They both had good flavor.

I'm proud of myself for doing this. I wasn't afraid and I didn't ruin anything. Now I have to go write down what I did on the recipe cards before I forget.

Sunshine, shopping and birthday wishes

Yes, I was going for alliteration. I did not succeed.

Happy Birthday to my mom!!! I hope she has a wonderful day. I already talked to her this morning, but I'm going to call her back in a couple of hours when Dad is home and she opens presents. (Don't forget, I'm three hours behind most of my readers right now, it takes some getting used to.)

It's nice and sunny here (although I thought it was supposed to be nice and sunny back in GR). Bill and I got out this morning and took our walk.

When we got back, after a few more of my exercise's, everyone got ready and we went to the outlet mall. I wanted to check out the Sketchers outlet. Of course they were having a Buy 1, get the 2nd pair half off. I managed to find two pairs of shoes. Finally I can throw out the other pair (they're at least five years old, a long time in the life of a shoe for me).

I'm also checking out a few recipes to make for Judy for her birthday dinner. I think we've got it narrowed down to a Pork Roast with Apples and Onions and a side of Fontina Risotto (yes, the recipe adds chicken, but I going to make it as a side dish, so no chicken). I also have dessert, but that's a surprise.