Creamy Mushroom Soup

This is not your Campbell's out-of-the-can soup. This is SO good, and comforting. My sister made this soup when we were younger and finally found the recipe for me. It did not disappoint. I don't care if you don't like mushrooms- this soup is fantastic.

Creamy Mushroom Soup

6 T butter
half of one onion
2 cloves garlic
6 T flour
2 cans chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1/8 t thyme
salt and pepper

4 cups mushrooms (sauteed)
carrots
potatoes
parsley
chives
1/2 cup cream

Saute onion and garlic in 6 T butter until limp.
Add flour and cook 3 minutes
Stir in broth
Add seasonings and mushrooms
Add vegetables and cook 20 min
Remove bay leaf and add cream
Simmer 5 min

Garnish with parsley and chives.

Applesauce Chocolate Chip Cake

My favorite thing about this cake is the cardamom. It gives it a unique and flowery flavor. Not quite sure what I mean by flowery. The cake doesn't taste like flowers. Not really.

Anyway, I love a good bundt cake. Here's the recipe:

1 stick melted butter

1/2 cup canola oil

2 cups applesauce

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup white sugar

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cardamom

1 tsp cloves

1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Mix well. Fold in however many chocolate chips you want.

Grease and flour a bundt cake pan. Spoon batter into the pan and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. I dusted it with powdered sugar to make it pretty.

Healthy, and Delicious Spaghetti

I know- I died off there for awhile. But I'm back, and I hope you are all still there, still reading, and still posting! I started working out today. I ran 2 miles on the treadmill and swam some laps. I realized how out of shade I was when I got so exhausted hiking to the trailhead of Mt. Olympus. When 6 years ago, I summited the thing. So in efforts to "Get healthier" I thought I should put good food into my body.

I made this spaghetti up- and it was really good. Husband approved.

1 lb ground turkey

2 c. spinach

1 cup mushrooms, finely chopped

1/4 white minced onion

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1/2 tsp salt

dash of pepper

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1 T Italian seasonings (the dried kind, sitting in your spice cabinet)

1 can Hunts tomato sauce

1 can stewed tomatoes

Spaghetti noodles

While you boil the water for the noodles, saute the onions, mushrooms and garlic with a dab of butter. After they have browned and simmered, move them to a separate bowl. In another pot of water, steam spinach. Put the ground turkey in the saute pan, and brown. Add the mushroom mixture and italian seasonings, along with salt and pepper. Drain the spinach, and stir it into pieces and add it to the saute pan. Pour in the tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes and let simmer so flavors can develop.

Drain spaghetti, and top with the healthy, delicious sauce.

Yum.

Jumbalaya

This is a tried and true favorite at our household. A real New Orleans style jumbalaya would have all kinds of nasty ingredients, many of which would make me sick to think of eating, so maybe I should call this modified jumbalaya. In any case, it is good and my husband wants to eat it several times a month. And he gets mad if I eat the leftovers before he can get to them. Try it for yourself!

Jumbalaya

serves 4-6

1 can chicken broth
1 cup rice
1 TBS chopped garlic
1 can diced tomatoes (I like to use the diced tomatoes with green chiles variety for a good spicy flavor)
1 yellow onion chopped
1 green/yellow bell pepper diced in large pieces
1 smoked rope sausage (like the one pictured below) cut into slices and then in half (so you have lots of half moon shaped pieces)
And season with this:

Directions:
In a large skillet, saute onions, and garlic in a little butter or olive oil. When onions are softening, add in peppers and sausage. Add in dry rice and stir until rice begins to turn golden. Add in the broth and tomatoes, cover with a tight lid, and reduce heat to low. Let simmer covered until rice is cooked (around 30-40 minutes). Taste and add more Tony's seasoning if needed. Yum!