Italian Bean Soup

Photo from Yellow 
Bliss Road

I'm not really sure about this soup. All the ingredients are ingredients I love so it seems like I should love this soup, but it didn't hit quite right. 

Honestly, I think I'm so careful with salt now that this lacked salt. I added some to my bowl after and it wasn't exactly what was missing. At any rate, it was good enough for a meal and will be good enough for lunch tomorrow. 

Actually now that I think about it, I know the problem. I used ground beef instead of ground Italian sausage. That would have made all the difference. Why no Italian sausage you ask? Well, I didn't buy any. I'm really not sure how I missed it, but I did.

Italian Bean Soup

Recipe from Yellow Bliss Road

Serves 6

• Olive oil
• 1 pound ground Italian sausage sweet or spicy
• 1 c diced onion
• ½ c sliced carrots
• ½ c sliced celery
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• ½ tsp salt plus more to taste
• ½ tsp pepper plus more to taste
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 15 ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 15 ounce cans cannellini beans drained and rinsed
• 32 ounces beef broth
• 2-3 T fresh minced parsley
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese optional

Melt a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sausage and onion and cook, stirring often, until sausage is fully cooked. Add carrots, celery, garlic, Italian seasoning and bay leaf, tomato paste and cook for about 2 more minutes.

Pour in crushed tomatoes, beans and beef broth. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Discard bay leaf and stir in fresh parsley. Divide into bowls and service, garnished with fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese.

Carne Guisada (Braised Beef)

Photo from Closet Cooking

I've made Carne Guisada number of times. It's one of those recipes that I keep trying to find THE BEST version of. 

This one, was not. If you're interested in all the other ones I've made, here's the search. The Traditional Tejano Carne Guisada was my favorite.

I'm not really sure why this one wasn't so great, but it was just ok. I'm gonna stick with the other one when I want to make Carne Guisada. And/Or try new ones as they come up.

Carne Guisada (Braised Beef)

Recipe from Closet Cooking

Serves 8

• 1 T oil (or lard or bacon grease)
• 3 pounds stewing beef (such as chuck), cut into 1-2 inch cubes
• 1/4 c flour (optional) (rice flour for gluten-free)
• 1 onion, diced (~1 cup)
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp black pepper, ground
• 2 tsp cumin, ground
• 2 chipotle chilies in adobo sauce, chopped *
• 1 tomato, diced (~1 cup)
• 1 c beef broth (or water)
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• salt to taste

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.

Toss the meat in the flour, add to the pan and brown on all sides before setting aside.

Add the onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic, pepper, cumin and chipotle chilies and cook until fragrant, about a minute.

Add the tomatoes and cook until the start to release their juices and break down a bit, about 5 minutes.

Add the beef and broth, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the beef is falling apart tender, about 2 hours, adding extra broth (or water) as needed OR transfer to a preheated 350F/180C oven and roast, covered, until the beef is tender, about 2-3 hours, OR transfer to a slow cooker and cook on low for 6-10 hours or on high for 3-5 hours.

Option: The flour is used to thicken the sauce and it can be omitted.

Option: Add diced bell peppers.

Option: Add diced potatoes.

Option: Add extra broth (or water) if you desire a more stew/soup like version!

Wendy’s Chili Copycat

Photo from Insanely Good Recipes

It's October Sunday dinner night. And I thought I'd bring bag "Frito Lollies" for dinner. I made these the "tradition" about 10 years ago and then somehow stopped. Mom made these EVERY Christmas Eve. So keeping with that tradition, but moved it to October. 

Chili is always a crowd pleaser. And on a nice fall day in October, it's warmth and comfort fits the bill. But, tonight, I thought I would try a new recipe instead of my chili recipe. Which, by the way, is not written down anywhere. I feel like chili is a lot like soups to me, it's really anything goes and a fairly simple recipe for me. 

But I digress. So I found this copycat recipe and thought I'd give it a try. It was better than my chili recipe. No lie. I don't think I've ever had Wendy's Chili, but I might have it now if it tastes like this chili did. 

The only odd thing, to me, about this recipe was adding celery to the chili. Honestly I don't think you could taste it at all by the time it cooked for several hours. I did not, of course, add the bell pepper in. Gross. When I make it again I won't add the celery. It seemed like a waste. 

Wendy’s Chili Copycat

Recipe from Insanely Good Recipes

Makes 10 servings

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 pounds ground beef

2 stalks celery

1 onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

3 (14 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes

1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chiles

1 (14 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 cup water

2 (1.25 ounce) packages chili seasoning

1 (14 ounce) can kidney beans, undrained

1 (14 ounce) can pinto beans, undrained

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon white vinegar

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.

Place the ground beef in the pot. Press the beef down to form one large patty. Let the bottom brown for 8 to 10 minutes, then use a spatula to break it into bite-size crumbles. Cook until no longer pink (about 5 more minutes).

Stir in the celery, onion, and green bell pepper, and cook until the onion is translucent (about 5 minutes).

Pour in the stewed tomatoes, diced tomatoes with green chiles, tomato sauce, and water. Break up any large pieces of stewed tomatoes, then stir in chili seasoning.

Add in the kidney beans and pinto beans. Salt and pepper to your desired taste.

Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 1 hour.

Stir the vinegar into chili. Serve and enjoy!

Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Eating lower calorie and less sugar is easy for me for lunch and dinner. Breakfast, not so much. I need a lot of protein at breakfast and I'm not a fan of eggs. Therefore, I'm constantly looking for something different. 

I've made some Keto chocolate chip muffins before that were, dense, but delicious. They fit what I was looking for. 

I stumbled onto these on Ambitious Kitchen's blog and knew I had to try them. I whipped up a batch this morning and had one for lunch. Y'all, these are (also dense) but so dag-gum delicious. The banana and peanut butter together. Yummy! 

What I didn't do: I didn't put in mini chips, but swapped them out for sugar free chocolate chips. You really can't tell the difference. 

What I did do: 

• I added about a tablespoon sugar replacement (I use Swerve). I didn't have pure maple syrup but only the Wholesome Yum Sugar free maple syrup and I thought I might need some more sweet. It added exactly the right amount of sweet. 
• I also used sugar free peanut butter (Jiff) instead of what she has in her recipe.

Make these muffins. You won't regret it. I'm freezing some, handing some over to Janet and Sherrie and keeping a couple out for me for breakfast tomorrow.

Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Recipe from Ambitious Kitchen

Makes 12

Wet ingredients:

• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium ripe bananas)
• ¾ cup (192g) natural creamy or crunchy drippy peanut butter (just peanuts and salt)
• 2 large eggs
• ¼ cup (78g) pure maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ tablespoon dairy free milk of choice (I like almond milk)

Dry ingredients:

• 1 cup (92g) gluten free oat flour (you can make your own -- see the full blog psot)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup (60g) mini chocolate chips (dairy free, if desired, plus 2-3 tablespoons for sprinkling on top)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Line a 12-cup muffin liner with muffin liners and spray the inside with nonstick cooking spray to prevent muffins from sticking to liners.

In a large bowl, mix together the mashed bananas, peanut butter, eggs, pure maple syrup, vanilla extract and milk of choice until smooth.

Next stir in the oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt until smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips. Evenly divide batter into muffin liners.

Bake 20-25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Transfer muffins to wire rack to cool and enjoy! Makes 12 muffins.

Beef Barley Soup

It was a beautiful autumn day here in Seattle. The sun was out, it was crisp and it seemed like a perfect day to make soup. This time of year I try to make soup at least once a week. I love making soups and they make a great leftover.

I had some pearl barely from a recipe I made some weeks ago and I wanted to use them up. Note, I have not used them up. A little goes a long way with barely. The recipe calls for a cup of barely. I did not put in a full cup, I put in about 1/2 c. And that was enough for me. If you like a barely heavy soup, use 1 c. 

What I didn't do: 

• Oddly, I forgot to put the garlic in. Not sure I missed it because there were a lot of flavors here that were good. 
• I also left out the bay leaves. I'm not convinced they do squat to soups and stews. They're expensive and I really don't think they are necessary. 
• I didn't put in the potatoes. I felt like this was already carb heavy with the barley and the beans. 
• I didn't dredge the beef in flour either. I don't need the extra carbs and I am not convinced it would have made any difference. I like my soups more brothy than stew-y. 

What I did do:

• Beans you say. What beans? Yah, so my brain had it that this recipe called for a can of navy beans. I had dumped them in before I realized they didn't belong. They were yummy in this recipe though. 

This was a good recipe. I'd make it again for sure. It's pretty simple and is really your basic beef, veggie soup. The barely was a nice add to it. Hearty. 

Beef Barley Soup

Recipe from Insanely Good Recipes

Serves 6

• 1.5 pounds beef chuck or stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (optional, for browning)
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 celery stalks, diced
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced (optional)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 8 cups beef broth or stock 
• 1 cup pearl barley, rinsed
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce (optional for depth of flavor)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup diced potatoes (optional)
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Pat the beef chunks dry with paper towels. Season generously with salt and pepper.

In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown the beef in batches to avoid overcrowding the pot, about 3-4 minutes per side. Remove the beef and set it aside. For a richer flavor, you can dredge the beef in flour before browning for a thicker texture in the soup.

In the same pot, add a little more olive oil if needed. Add the onions, carrots, celery, and mushrooms (if using). Cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened. Add the garlic, thyme, oregano, and tomato paste, cooking for another 1-2 minutes until fragrant.

Pour in 1/2 cup of beef broth and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to release any browned bits (this adds great flavor to the soup).

Return the browned beef to the pot. Stir in the barley, remaining beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce (optional), bay leaves, and potatoes (if using).

Bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low. Cover the pot partially with the lid and let simmer for 45-60 minutes, or until the beef is tender and the barley is cooked through. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

Check the seasoning of the soup and adjust salt and pepper to taste. If the broth reduces too much, add more beef broth or water to thin it out to your preferred consistency.

Ladle into bowls and garnish with freshly chopped parsley. Serve with crusty bread or crackers on the side. Enjoy!

French Onion Beef and Noodles

Photo from Insanely Good
Recipes

Beef Stroganoff is one of my favorite comfort foods. This recipe resembles it pretty well. A few different things to it, but it was pretty close. 

What I didn't like: 

• The Gruyere cheese in it. Blech. I like Gruyere as a cheese to eat, but it really put an off taste to this dish to me. 
• The onions basically dissolved in the sauce. I suspect I sliced them too thin for a stew that sits for 1.5 hours. There were only "bits" of onion in it by the time I served it. 

What I liked: 

• The noodles. Egg noodles are one of my favorite type of noodles. Though oddly enough I don't use them when I make my stroganoff. 
• The cream cheese added a nice tang to it along with the sour cream.

The reality is, while a good recipe, I doubt I'd make it again. I'd stick to my usual stroganoff recipe should the craving come up. 

French Onion Beef and Noodles

Recipe from Insanely Good Recipes

Serves 4

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed French onion soup
• 2 1/2 cups beef broth
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 12 ounces wide egg noodles
• 4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup shredded Gruyère cheese
• Crispy fried onions, for topping

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Season the beef cubes with salt and pepper. Add to the pot and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes total. Remove the beef and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the butter to the pot. Once melted, add the sliced onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25-30 minutes.

Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Pour in the red wine and simmer until mostly evaporated, scraping up any browned bits.

Stir in the condensed French onion soup, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Return the beef to the pot.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until the beef is very tender, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Stir the uncooked egg noodles into the pot. Simmer, uncovered, until the noodles are tender, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Stir in the shredded Gruyère.

Serve hot, topped with crispy fried onions. Enjoy!

Brazilian Steak with a Garlic Herb Marinade

I've not made anything "Brazilian" before, I don't think. I've made chimichurri sauces so that's the closest I've ever gotten. 

This recipe is basically marinading the steak in a chimichurris sauce. Bottom line, this was delicious. I wouldn't recommend marinating longer than 30 minutes as it suggests. I did about an hour and I think the lime juice caused the meat to have a weird texture. 

Brazilian Steak with a Garlic Herb Marinade

Recipe from Hey Grill Hey

Serves 4

• 2 pounds sirloin steak
• ¼ c fresh parsley
• ¼ c fresh cilantro
• ¼ c avocado oil
• ¼ c water
• 2 T lime juice
• 2 T freshly minced garlic
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Marinade the steak. Combine the ingredients for the marinade in a small bowl. Pour the marinade over the sirloin steak in a large gallon zip-top bag, reserving 2 Tablespoons of the marinade for later use. Allow the steaks to marinate on the counter for 30 minutes while they come to room temperature.

Preheat the grill. While the steaks are marinating, fire up the grill. Preheat the grill and assemble your rotisserie attachment. If you aren't using a rotisserie, prepare your grill for 2-zone cooking with a high heat side and a low heat side.

Prep the steak. Remove the steak from the marinade and shake off any excess. If you are using kebabs, dice the steak into cubes and thread onto the skewers.

Grill to your desired doneness. Use a basting brush to coat the steak with the reserved marinade. 

Remove the steaks from the grill and allow to rest for several minutes before slicing from the skewers to serve.

Healthy Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting (Low Carb)

Photo from Wholesome
Yum

This recipe I had such high hopes for. The ingredients, the blogger, the photo, all of it. Made me really want to like this recipe. 

It was not great. The first part was the weird part of mixing coconut oil and cream cheese together. Melting it together rather. Turned out I didn't have coconut oil so I used regular veg oil. In hindsight I wish I would have used melted butter. 

Almond flour is never going to win me over. Janet told me at book club about an almond CAKE flour she uses that she really likes. I'm going to check that out and maybe that would make this better. I really want to like this recipe. The texture was very much pumpkin pie esk and I think that was part of what I didn't like.

Healthy Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting (Low Carb)

Recipe from WholesomeYum

Makes 16 bars

• 1 c Pumpkin puree
• 1/4 c Coconut oil
• 2 oz Cream cheese
• 2 large Egg
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 c Blanched almond flour
• 2/3 c Besti Monk Fruit Erythritol Blend
• 2 tsp Gluten-free baking powder
• 1 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp Sea salt

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 6 oz Cream cheese (softened, cubed)
• 1/2 c Powdered erythritol
• 1 tsp Vanilla extract
• 1 T Heavy cream (optional, for easier frosting)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Line a 9x9 in (23x23 cm) baking pan with parchment paper.

Using a bowl in the microwave or a double boiler on the stove, melt together the cream cheese and coconut oil, until you can stir them together easily.

In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin puree, melted coconut oil/cream cheese mixture, eggs and vanilla. Beat with a hand mixer at medium speed, until smooth.

In another bowl, stir together the almond flour, sweetener, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.

Add the dry flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Beat with the hand mixer at low speed, until just combined.

Transfer the batter to the lined baking pan and smooth the top. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.

To make the frosting, use a hand mixer to beat together the cream cheese, sweetener, and vanilla, until smooth. (You can thin it out with a little milk or cream if you'd like.) Let the bars cool completely before frosting and cutting.

Jalapeño Pepper Jack Chicken Burger

Ground chicken is not something I cook with often. For some reason it "scares" me. Burgers especially are challenging because they always seem to fall apart on the grill. 

Be that as it may, these burgers were delicious. I ate them without a full bun, used a grilled piece of bread on the bottom. What it needed was some type of sauce. I realize the recipe says serve with guac, but I'm not a fan. A cilantro, lime may would have been great on it. 

I'd eat this again. It was full of flavor. I wouldn't use 1 tsp of salt next time. Seemed too salt to me.

Jalapeño Pepper Jack Chicken Burger

Recipe from Butter Your Biscuit

Serves 8

• 2 lbs ground chicken
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 1/2 onion finely diced
• 1-2 jalapeno peppers seeded and finely diced
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 3/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• vegetable or olive oil
• 8 slices of cheese optional I use American or white cheddar
• 8 hamburger Buns

In a small bowl, mix roasted garlic and mayo together until combined. Add salt and pepper and mix. Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Preheat grill to a medium-high heat

In a mixing bowl add the ground chicken and the remaining ingredients and gently mix together.

Divide the chicken mixture into 8 patties.

Put a little vegetable oil on a paper towel and run it over the grill grate to coat lightly.

Grill burgers covered over direct heat for 8 minutes on each side or until it reaches 165 degrees. Right before the patties are done add a piece of cheese if desired.

Serve on toasted buns with your favorite toppings.