Last week we invited my sister Taylor and her hubby Jon over for dinner because we wanted to ask them if they would be guardians of Liam (and any future children we may have) if something were to happen to Damon and me (heaven forbid). They said yes! SO for the occasion, I made a double batch of Broccoli Cheese Soup and I made it from scratch :) I made 3 loaves of Beer Bread to go along with it. We had some beer on hand that hadn't been finished, and were both craving bread. It was SO easy! Even my sister Katie could make it! We had had some beer in the fridge that was going to get skunky if we didn't use it, so the bread was a perfect remedy. We didn't eat all of the bread of course, so I brought some to my parents house when we went for dinner Sunday and Mom made homemade bean soup with ham in it - which I will have to try to cook on my own. It's very delicious. Here are the directions for my soup and bread: Remember I doubled the soup and froze some for another day.
Broccoli Cheese Soup
1 tbsp melted butter
1/2 medium chopped onion
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half and half cream
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 lb fresh broccoli
2 cups cooked shredded chicken
1 cup carrot, chopped small
1/4 tsp nutmeg
8 oz grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Saute onion in butter. Set aside.
2. Cook melted butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and add the half and half.
3. add the chicken stock and simmer for 20 minutes
4. add the broccoli, carrots, onions and chicken. cook over low heat 20-25 minutes.
5. add salt and pepper. Can be pureed in a blender but I didn't do that. Return to heat and add cheese. Stir in nutmeg.
Beer Bread Recipe
yields 1 loaf
3 cups bread flour (all purpose works too, I used half wheat half white)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
12 oz can or bottle of beer (Choose your favorite, I used MGD)
1/4 cup (4 tbsp) butter, melted.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan
In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Pour in beer and mix until just incorporated. Spread batter evenly in prepared baking pan. pour melted butter over top of dough.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the top is browned. Allow to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Broccoli Cheese Soup
1/2 medium chopped onion
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half and half cream
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 lb fresh broccoli
2 cups cooked shredded chicken
1 cup carrot, chopped small
1/4 tsp nutmeg
8 oz grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Saute onion in butter. Set aside.
2. Cook melted butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and add the half and half.
3. add the chicken stock and simmer for 20 minutes
4. add the broccoli, carrots, onions and chicken. cook over low heat 20-25 minutes.
5. add salt and pepper. Can be pureed in a blender but I didn't do that. Return to heat and add cheese. Stir in nutmeg.
Beer Bread Recipe
yields 1 loaf
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
12 oz can or bottle of beer (Choose your favorite, I used MGD)
1/4 cup (4 tbsp) butter, melted.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan
In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Pour in beer and mix until just incorporated. Spread batter evenly in prepared baking pan. pour melted butter over top of dough.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the top is browned. Allow to cool in pan for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Tonight for dinner I also made a pot roast. It's one of our favorite meals and since we were given a deer by Damon's dad and Elaine, it's a very cheap meal for us but still very hearty and tasty! (with lots of leftovers for Damon's lunches at work)
Pot Roast
1 round or steak roast (I used venison, but beef or pork works too)
1 bag of baby carrots (or whatever cut your heart desires)
desired amount of potatoes chopped into small chunks (I didn't use them this time)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
one packet of dry onion soup mix
teriyaki sauce to taste
1-2 cups of any kind of wine (red port works best but I've also used whites-tonight I used white)
I don't really measure anything...you can't really go wrong. If you like more gravy, use more wine and maybe another can of soup.
Put roast in a medium sized crock. Top with onion soup mix, cream of mushroom soup, teriyaki sauce and wine. Pour veggies over top of that. Cover and cook at 350 degrees for 4 hours. Serve over rice or mashed potatoes. If I don't have carrots or potatoes I'll make instant mashed potatoes and put frozen peas in them (which I always have) and then serve the roast on top of that. It works in a pinch and is just as yummy.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
Using cookie scoop or large spoon, divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly) Spoon tsp of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter and gently swirl with toothpick. Sprinkle streusel evenly over muffins.
As for Liam, he's 2 months old now! He's smiling and mimicking and growing like a weed :) My heart melts when he looks at me and it's such a blessing being his mommy!
Pot Roast
1 round or steak roast (I used venison, but beef or pork works too)
1 bag of baby carrots (or whatever cut your heart desires)
desired amount of potatoes chopped into small chunks (I didn't use them this time)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
one packet of dry onion soup mix
teriyaki sauce to taste
1-2 cups of any kind of wine (red port works best but I've also used whites-tonight I used white)
I don't really measure anything...you can't really go wrong. If you like more gravy, use more wine and maybe another can of soup.
I also made blueberry muffins for breakfast tomorrow! I got this recipe from Pinterest as well, and Damon tried one already and said they were great. Even the batter is really delicious but has raw egg. Here is that recipe:
Blueberry Muffins
Streusel Topping
5 Tbsp Butter, softened
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/3 c flour or until crumbles are pea sized
Muffins
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 1/8 cup plus 1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp water
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 large eggs
4 tbsp (1/2 stick) butter, softened
1/4 cup veggie oil
1 cup buttermilk (I didn't have this and used half and half instead)
2 tsp vanilla
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees.
Prepare standard muffin tins with nonstick spray or liners. Bring 1 cup blueberries, water, and 1 tsp sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing the berries with fork several times and stirring frequently until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced by half. this will take about 6 minutes. Let cool.
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and well combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not over mix.)
Using cookie scoop or large spoon, divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly) Spoon tsp of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter and gently swirl with toothpick. Sprinkle streusel evenly over muffins.
Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm. 17-19 minutes. Cool in muffin tin 5 minutes then transfer to wire rack and cool.
Again, I got the bread, soup and muffin recipies on Pinterest and they're all under my recipe board. I will continue to try to keep you all posted about what's cooking :)
Denali and Gambell think they are his babysitters, how funny is that! :)
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