Minestrone

This is supposed to be a copy cat of Olive Garden's Minestrone. I didn't think it quite tasted the same but it was still good (Maybe it's cause I strayed away from the recipe!). My only regrets are that I didn't quite have it long enough in the crockpot before eating, and that I didn't half the recipe! :-) I'm going to have to go find some hungry people on the street so we're not eating this soup for the next 2 weeks.

Minestrone

3 TB Olive Oil
1 Onion (white)
1/2 c Chopped Zuchinni
1/2 c Frozen Greenbeans
1/4 c Celery
4 Cloves Garlic (I used Garlic Powder)
4 c Vegetable Broth (specifically says not to use Chicken)
2 (15oz) cans Kidney Beans (drained)
2 (15oz) cans White Beans (drained)
1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes
1/2 c Chopped Carrots
2 T Parsley
1 1/2 t. Oregano
1 1/2 t Salt
1 1/2 t Pepper
1/2 t Basil
1/4 t Thyme
3 c Hot Water
4 c Spinach (baby leaf or chopped) Mine was frozen
1/2 c Shell Pasta (I used a cup since 1/2 didn't seem like enough)

Makes 6 Quarts


Chopping up Onions and Celery
Throwing stuff in the crockpot

Cutting up Zuchinni

Adding Diced Tomatoes

Cut up Carrots

The Beans

Spinach

Final product. I had it in the crockpot for 4 hours and it should've/could've gone longer for me personally. It still turned out alright. My mom and Cary liked it. :-)

Blueberry Crumb Bars

Blueberry Crumb Bars


Crust/Topping:

1 c Sugar
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
3 c Flour
1 c Butter
1 Egg
1/4 teaspoon Salt
Zest of one lemon (I didn't have a Lemon, so I used some Lemon powder)

Blueberry filling:
4 c Blueberries (I only had 3, but it worked)
1/2 c Sugar
4 teaspoons Cornstarch
Lemon Juice (it says of one lemon, so I just dumped some in from my bottle)


Pat half of dough into the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Spread blueberry mixture over crust then crumble remaining dough over the top. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.


Crust/topping mixture
Half of that mixture in the bottom of the pan

Blueberry filling (Obviously still needing to be mixed in)

Spread over the crust

Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture on top

Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.

Now we need people to come over and help us eat it.

Tuna Roll Ups

So I had these a lot growing up and I hated them! Later on in life I decided I liked them and decided tonight to try to make them. I don't have a recipe so I was guessing, but here is what I used.


Tuna Roll Ups


Bisquit dough
2 small cans of Tuna
1/4 chopped Onion
a little Celery
1 Egg
Lemon Pepper or just Pepper
Salt
Mustard (optional)
Cheese (optional)


Gravy


Cream of Chicken
Milk




Chopping the onion and celery
Onion, Celery, Egg, Lemon Pepper, Salt

Drain and add Tuna

I added Mustard, hoping Cary wouldn't notice. (he did and he doesn't like Mustard)

I added some Cheese, it's not usually added.

The dough. Roll it into a rectangle if you can. :-)

I didn't roll my dough out thin enough, but that's because I'm laaaazy. Spread the Tuna mixture over the top.

Roll and cut into slices. Mine are about 1 inch thick.

Bake at 350-375 for 20 minutes

I completely forgot about the gravy and I wasn't sure how we were used to it being made. I heated up some cream of chicken soup and added some milk to thin it out. Anyone know what the original recipe is for the gravy? :-)

Sorry, I know Cream of anything grosses some people out, but you do what you have to do. I thought they turned out good otherwise. Cary liked them except for the fact that he could taste the Mustard.

Grandma's Fudge

For some reason everytime I attempted to make this fudge it always ended up runny. Here are my sister Sharon's instructions and it worked for me this time.

Grandma's Fudge

3 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 Tablespoon butter
1 twelve ounce bag (or ~2 cups) of semi-sweet chocolate chips (or whatever you like. I LOVE the Chocolate/caramel chocolate chips that Tollhouse makes.)
1-2 cups Dry-roasted salted peanuts as desired.

Makes enough for one 8x8 pan.

Before you begin, it’s helpful to fill the sink with a couple of inches of cold water, for you will need this later. Also, have the chocolate chips and other mix-ins such as toffee bits or nuts open and ready to use. Have the pan greased beforehand as well. I use margarine or butter to grease it so it doesn't add a strange flavor to the fudge.

In medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, and butter, and boil on high, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set into the sink of cold water, being careful not to get water into the pan. While stirring, add chocolate chips. When the chocolate has melted in, add peanuts and/or toffee and keep stirring mixture until relatively thickened. After the fudge is well-mixed, remove from sink and pour or scrape into greased pan, and pat down to even it out. Usually I cover it with saran wrap and let it set in the fridge for a while, but that step is unnecessary if the fudge is thick enough.

Butter
Butter, Milk and Sugar

Boiling (I boiled mine for 8-9 minutes just to be sure)

Sitting in a sink of cold water

Melting the Chocolate Chips

Add the Nuts! (Mmmm...my favorite part)

There's a party in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy!

It even set up like it was supposed to. Yay.

Souper Enchiladas

Souper Enchiladas
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 c. Sour Cream
1/2 Milk
1 little can of Green Chilies (I omitted and used jalapenos instead)
1 c. shredded Jack cheese
1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
4 pieces of Chicken (cooked with some salt, pepper, onion powder, and cut into pieces)
Tortillas

9 x 13" pan

Chicken, ready to go.
Cream of Chicken and Sour Cream all mixed up

Save out about 3/4 cup of cream of chicken and sour cream mixture. Add the cheese to the remaing mixture.

I cut up some Jalapenos in place of using Green Chilies

Add the Chicken to the Cheese, Soup and Sour Cream mixture. Mix, put in Tortillas and roll...

I rolled up a couple of plain ones for Aidan and I.

Added the Jalapeno's for Cary.

Spread the reserved soup and sour cream mixture over the top of rolled up tortillas. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Best served with salsa, but I wasn't in the mood so I didn't put any on mine for the photo. ;-)

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I have a couple different ways of making broccoli soup, but here is my "comfort food" version, meaning that it's not exactly fat free. I'm not very good about measuring, I just kind of throw things in, but I guesstimated to give you an idea.

Broccoli Soup

-1/4 c. Marg
1 c. Flour
Salt
Pepper
Cayenne pepper or ground red pepper (optional)
Onion powder
Garlic powder
4-5 c. Milk (depends on how thick you want it)
3-4 c. of frozen or cooked (cut up) Broccoli
3-4 oz. Cream Cheese (optional)
1-2 c. shredded Cheddar Cheese (use about 2 cups if you aren't using cream cheese)

Melt the margarine or whatever you use

Add the flour and stir

When it looks bubbly like this, then add your milk.

Add salt and pepper

Garlic powder, Onion powder, and Cayenne, and stir


Add the broccoli and cook until it starts to boil, (but don't let it boil too much since it's milk it could boil over)

It should start to look like this. Creamy.

Turn off the heat and add cream cheese

Add your cheese and stir and let the cheese melt.

Serve with cheese toast or grilled cheese sandwich.