food blog

CREAMY GARLIC CHICKEN SOUP WITH KALE

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Creamy Garlic Chicken Soup With Kale

 

     This soup is by far the best thing I’ve ever created in the kitchen!  It’s been a terribly cold winter, and nothing sounded great to eat except for some type of fabulous, hot soup.

    Being a major fan of garlic, I decided it would surely be hard to mess up a creamy, garlic chicken soup with new potatoes.  Too lazy to search for a recipe, I decided to wing it on my own!  What ended up happening, was the birth of the absolute best soup recipe I’ve ever accidentally created!

   Personally, I like hearty soups with at least a wee bit of meat, or I’ll just be hungry again in two hours without protein, so I opted to chock it full of chicken breast pieces.  There’s also the Woolly Mammoth to keep feeding, so I prefer to make a huge and hearty amount of whatever I cook, so that it will last more than one meal, and I won’t find myself in the kitchen quite as often this way.

 Here Is What You’ll Need:

1 Cup Minced Garlic

2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

2 cans Chicken broth

4 Cups Chopped Kale

1/2 Cup Green onions

1 Cup Chopped Celery 

8-12 New Potatoes…sliced

3 pounds Chicken breast

1 tablespoon Salt

2 tablespoons black Pepper

2 Cups Water

 

 All You Do Is:

Dump you Cup of Garlic in a heating pan, then place chicken breasts on top, and cook over medium heat until done, adding light salt and pepper to the chicken.

In a soup pot, you will put in all cans of soup and water, over medium heat, adding in new potato wedges first.

When your chicken in done in the skillet, cut up all chicken breasts before adding into soup pot, and use the remaining chicken garlic juice, to add to the soup mixture.  Simmer, adding salt and pepper to taste… for one hour. Add cut green onions to top and BAMM!  You rock a sexy Creamy Garlic Chicken Soup With Kale!

 

   

                            

                         -SDS

-January 25, 2013

    

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TURKEY CHILI … PERFECT for a SIMPLE THANKSGIVING

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          I am totally traditional, however, there is a rebel inside.  That being said, I have not prepared a typical turkey dinner for Thanksgiving in years.

     I always make my famous turkey chili recipe instead!   It began years ago, because my family is tiny and did not particularly want traditional turkey dinner. (And by “My” recipe, I mean I totally stole it from my step-mother!) It stores easy so it’s super handy to have around during the long holiday weekend for random snacks!  it’s also still technically “turkey” so there is a hint of tradition.   No one has ever complained about a big huge pot of turkey chili yet!

This is what you will need:

3lbs ground turkey

1 15 oz can pinto beans (I use Trappy’s Jalapinto)

2 15 oz cans Dark Red Kidney Beans

3 10 oz cans Diced Tomatoes & Green Chillies

2 white onions

2 green bell peppers

1 lb (16 oz) Dark Brown Sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

2 oz chili powder

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for toppings:

one chopped white onions

shredded cheddar cheese

fritos

chopped green onion

I always take a photo of the ingredients due to an overwhelming number of friends explaining to me that they do not like to read and just like pictures. They can look at the photo as they run through the store, on their phone and won’t have to bother with the burden of reading!  


     To begin, on medium low heat, brown turkey in a skillet with salt and 1 oz chili powder until done.  This should take about 25 minutes.  Continue to stir on occasion.  Turkey meat is dry, so there will be no oil as it cooks as with beef so it needs to be stirred here or there to cook evenly.

     In the meantime, pour all cans of beans, tomatoes, chopped onions and bell peppers into either a crock pot or other large pot, and keep on medium heat. 

     Once the turkey is done, pour it into the crock pot, then add the brown sugar, cayenne pepper and the other ounce of chili powder. (The first ounce went into the turkey as it cooked)

     Cover, and turn heat down to low. 


 I let mine stay on low overnight in the crock pot and it was amazing the next day.  I have also done it in a pot on the stove, and kept on low for two hours and it was fine as well, but the slow cooking crock pot works magic!  The cayenne and the brown sugar really break down and blend creating the perfect mixture of heat and sweet.


These are the garnishes I have available for whoever wants them, and usually serve with fresh cut green onions on top, whether anyone wants them or not…they are pretty and therefore mandatory!

     I serve a lot of other treats and dishes as well…but the turkey chili is the star for our casual Thanksgiving at home!

-November 17, 2012

–SDS

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SECO DE CARNE – PERUVIAN BEEF STEW

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     I had to drag out the recipe to make a new batch of Seco de Carne this weekend. (A very spicy Peruvian beef stew.)  

     The Whitney Houston song I’m Every Woman plays happily in my head when I cook.  I feel fulfilled and useful and whole when I am able to prepare a home cooked meal for him. Old school, I know…but it’s really about making time and doing for another person. (Again I say…I’ve never met a man who has a dream in life to find a woman to have to take out to dinner every night. In fact, I can’t tell you how many of my guy friends complain about this quite often.  They especially hate it when the female expects it.)  Just sayin. Check out the recipe below!


 

 


   If you have been of the mindset that men love nothing more, than taking you out to fancy restaurants night after night, watching you eat and drink up his money, you would be wrong.

   Ask any man, I mean, any man, and he will tell you that he absolutely loves it when a woman prepares a great meal at home.    

   I have a lot a male friends, in various ages, and this is something that comes up frequently.  Even if as man has plenty of money, he begins to think a little less of the woman if she doesn’t ever offer to invite him over for dinner.   It may seem old school, but look at it this way…if you make a great deal of money, and  work a lot, and the man finds that attractive, then you have a bigger problem!

   Before we began dating, I’d decided to stay home every Sunday night, and make “Sunday Dinner.”   I did this, to hold on to my inner peace and enjoy my home life and love of being a homemaker, although I was divorced and living alone.  It added a measure of stability to my life. 

   Once we began seeing each other, I’d invited him over to my house for my weekly Sunday dinner. He’d commented at the time that no one ever did that.  Women are different now, and they want to be taken out all the  time.

   People are sometimes amazed, men and women, when they find out I cook.  It’s not that I absolutely love to cook and want the stress of feeding other people and making sure I have all the ingredients (which I never do).  It’s more of a way to express love for someone.  My husband always gets so happy when I cook!  He says over and over how it makes him feel special and loved. It is a gesture of caring and unselfishness.  We both like to eat healthy most of the time, so it helps to stay in and have a party of two all alone at home with our customized menu, a movie rental and a few light beers or wine.  

   It also makes life easier on me, because if I make enough, it can be another dinner and a lunch.

   Friends ask me why we don’t go out much at night, but to us, it’s like taking sand to the beach! We have what we want at home.  We do enjoy food, and do go out for breakfast and sometimes a nice lunch or dinner, but it’s so great just to have a cozy meal at home.

   That being said, I’d made Seco de Carne recently for the first time, because his mother had moved back to Peru, and he was missing her and her Peruvian cooking. Her cooking is absolutely amazing, so I decided to give it a shot!  Seco de Carne is a spicy Peruvian beef stew. It turned out great, so I made it again tonight, to share the recipe with you. Take a picture of the ingredients with your cell so you have it at the store! Please let me know if you try it, what you think!


WHAT YOU NEED:

1  3.5 pound beef round sirloin roast

5 new potatoes

2 green bell peppers

1 large white onion

2 14.5 ounce cans Hunt’s diced tomatoes(celery, onion, flavor)

1/3 cup minced garlic 

Flour

2 tablespoons ADOBO seasoning

1 tablespoon Crushed Red Pepper spice

1 tablespoon oregano spice 

salt and black pepper

1/2 cup oil (Olive Oil, Garlic Oil or Coconut Oil)

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Alrighty!  Start off by salt and peppering your beef. Then bread the beef with a coating of flour. 


   Have a pot begin to boil with your oil, and minced garlic. 


   Once boiling begins, place the beef in the oil and brown each side for about 6 minutes . Throw in chopped onion, and green peppers before pouring in both cans of diced tomatoes and adding two cups of water.

Then put in your sliced potato wedges while waiting for it to begin boiling again.  

Also add in the Adobo, and crushed red pepper and oregano spices. This is the part where I would lower the heat to medium, and because I love garlic, I would add another 3 tablespoons to the top and let the mixture simmer for an hour. 


After an hour , you can remove the roast from the pot, and slice it up into medallions then place the medallions back into the pot to finish simmering for about 20 minutes or until cooked all the way through. Once they look done, turn off heat and allow to sit for at least 20 minutes to allow beef to soak up the flavorings as it cools a bit. 

Makes about 6 to 8 servings.

Serve with jasmine rice, a nice salad, and enjoy!

Seco de Carne, Peru, Peruvian Beef Stew

August 15, 2012

–SDS

 

 

-SDS

-June 11, 2013

 

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