Broccoli Cheese Soup

4 or 5 medium potatoes cubed
1 cup chopped onion
2 carrots chopped
4 to 6 cubes chicken bullion
2 cups chopped celery
2 1/2 quarts water (10 cups)

Boil together till potatoes are almost tender.
Then add 1 lb broccoli ( frozen or fresh) and boil for another 12-15 min.

While the above mixture boils, melt and mix together:
2 cups milk
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp yellow mustard

Pour mixture over cooked vegetables. Stir and add 2 lbs. velveeta (or generic brand) cheese cut into cubes. Heat till cheese melts. This makes a lot of soup and it can be frozen to use for later.

French Bread

In a small bowl combine:
1/2 cup warm water
2 Tbs. yeast

In the mixer combine:
2 cups hot water
1/3 cup oil or melted shortening
3 Tbs sugar
3 tsp. salt

Stir 3 cups flour into water, oil, sugar and salt mixture. Add yeast. Beat until smooth. Add 3 cups more flour. Rest 10 min. Stir down. rest and stir every 10 minutes for a total of 5 times. ( by the end of the fifth rising the dough will be about doubled in size.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Divide into 2 loaves. Shape and place on a greased cookie sheet. Cut diagonal slashes with a sharp knife. Brush with beaten egg white. Let rise. ( I usually let it rise as long as it takes the oven to preheat and then put it in.) Bake for about 20-30 min at 400 degrees.

* you can also divide the dough in two and put it into two loaf pans.

Play Dough

Okay, I know this isn't food, but it sure is a life saver when you have a bored child at home.

1 cup flour
1 cup warm water
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp oil
1/4 cup salt
food coloring

Mix all ingredients, (add the food color last) in saucepan. Stir over medium heat until it becomes a ball. Remove from pan and knead until smooth.

Peach Cobbler

Batter
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar (half of this would be fine)
2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk ( *the recipe suggests this at room temp, but i didn't look far enough ahead and it was fine)
1 egg (* same as above)

Filling
1 28 oz can sliced peaches, drained
1 cup sugar ( again half would be fine)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

1. Melt butter in a 9x13 inch pan
2. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder & salt
3. Stir in milk and egg
4. Pour evenly over melted butter
5. Combine peaches, sugar and spices and spread over batter-DO NOT STIR
6. Bake 35-45 minutes at 350 F until batter comes to top and is golden brown.
7. Serve warm with ice cream

Just a note, I got this recipe online at recipezaar.com. It is a really easy way to make peach cobbler and it is really yummy!!

Yummy Treats!

Since I had lots of apples (thank you, Mom!), I decided to take an Apple Snicker Salad to a party that I went to. Here's the recipe:

Apple Snicker Salad

1 package of vanilla pudding, prepared
1 tub of cool whip
4 apples, cubed (I used probably 8 since mine were small)
4 snickers bars, cubed (I actually used about 6. I thought it needed more chocolate)

Combine everything for a tasty "salad" treat!


Another one of my favorites is a peanut butter rice crispy treat:

1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
8 cups rice crispies

Melt the first 3 ingredients on the stove in a large pan. Once melted and combined, add the rice crispies. Once coated, press into a pan and let cool! (I add sprinkles for color, but I'm a sprinkle sort of girl)

Another rice crispy treat variation I like is to add Kool-Aid powder to the traditional marshmallow recipe. Pick whatever flavor you want and add to the marshmallows and butter when melting. It adds a fruity flavor and a pop of color. I like doing this at holidays with the colors of the season (red/green, orange/purple, blue/red, etc.).

Hope you try and enjoy the recipes that were floating around my head!

Thanks! I'm excited to try it.

Thanks Steph!

Thanks so much Steph! I printed this and will try it this week. Our pumpkin patch really did well, to the detriment of everything else in the garden! And P.S.- cute blog name :)

Pumpkin Soup

Some of you have tried my pumpkin soup and some of you have just heard about it, so I thought that pumpkin soup would be the first recipe I would share!

Ingredients:

1 small onion, finely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced or crushed
1 small carrot, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
2 cans of pumpkin (make sure it's plain pumpkin and not pie filling!)
1 can of chicken broth

Directions:

Sautee the vegetables in olive oil until soft. Add the pumpkin. Thin out the soup with chicken broth. Add salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary to taste. Once soup is warm, use and immersion blender to blend the soup smooth. (If you don't have an immersion blender, you can just transfer the soup to your regular blender. Just be careful, because the soup is hot!) Enjoy!

This soup takes about 15-20 minutes to make and is a wonderful fall day dinner. Heather, if your kids will actually eat this, you may want to double the recipe. The recipe size is fine for the rest of us small families!