Cuttin' up with Angela

Baked Potato Soup Y’All…Loaded! I found this recipe...

Sun, 21 Oct 2012 13:47:57 -0400

Baked Potato Soup Y’All…Loaded!

I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen and thought I would give it a try since almost every other recipe for potato soup calls for milk or half and half. The main liquid here is chicken stock which I find more flavorful. The changes I made were sour cream instead of yogurt and more chicken stock than called for because the soup was really thick, not that there’s anything wrong with that… End results were unanimously thumbs up all around. This is one I will be adding to the rotation of soups I cook this fall and winter. Enjoy!

Clicky here for the recipe: http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/soups/fully-loaded-baked-potato-soup-2/

Thank you Scars on 45 for your help in raising money for...

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 15:47:40 -0400

Thank you Scars on 45 for your help in raising money for Alyssa!

https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/alyssadivers/createorsignin

Durl's Diary: Eat my shorts!

Fri, 06 Jul 2012 15:41:02 -0400

Durl's Diary: Eat my shorts!:

scarson45:

I love pugs…always have. Everyone else seems to think they’re a really ugly dog, but to me that makes them more cute. It’s always been my plan to get one someday…and maybe a cat too. However, after meeting ‘Louie’ the french bulldog at our friend Bobbi’s house in Denver last week, I think I may…

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Thu, 22 Mar 2012 09:45:56 -0400

Spring Cherry Blossoms

Perfect texture and a great balance of sweet with the tart fresh...

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 18:07:26 -0500

Perfect texture and a great balance of sweet with the tart fresh blueberries. I sprinkled a little sugar on top just before baking which resulted in a sweet crisp top. Great for breakfast or dessert.

Blueberry Muffins

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegtable oil

1 egg

1 1/4 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 375.

Whisk together sugar, oil, egg, yogurt and vanilla.

In a separate bowl mix together flour, soda, powder, salt and cinnamon.

Add the flour mixture into the wet mixture and stir gently just until mixed. Then gently fold in the blueberries.

Bake 25 minutes.

Lasagna Soup I know, right? Since I discovered Pinterest, my...

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 19:15:13 -0500

Lasagna Soup

I know, right? Since I discovered Pinterest, my car, purse, countertops, etc. are all cluttered with printed pages of recipes and crafty ideas most of which will be fruitless. But whenever I sift through the piles of good intentions and sort the what was I thinking ideas (a wreath of lemons, really?) into the trash, there still remains one of the first things I saw on Pinterest, a recipe for Lasagna Soup. I printed the first one I came across but later I came across several variations including the Paula Deen version.

I can’t imagine why I didn’t try this sooner and I can’t imagine my life without it. Or Pinterest. Or The Bachelor. Win win. Winning. And can we vote on what happened to Courtney’s upper lip? Was it an allergic reaction to a bee sting or a prosthetic lip that is forever frozen in that annoying face she makes when talking ugly about Emily? What an awesome train wreck this season!

Anyway, here’s the recipe. Try it, it’s scrumptious.

1 lb lean hamburger

1 onion chopped

1 green pepper chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

salt & pepper

2 Tbsp Italian Spices

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes

1 14 oz can tomato sauce

32 oz chicken broth

1 Tbsp sugar

1 cup parmesan cheese

2 cups shredded mozzarella or 2 balls fresh mozzarella sliced for topping

1 pkg noodles - Fusilli or Rotini

Brown hamburger with onion, green pepper, garlic and spices. The lean hamburger doesn’t have to be drained but if you don’t have lean just don’t add your spices until after it’s drained. Stir in tomatoes, sauce, sugar, and broth. Bring to a gentle boil and then simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add parmesan to the soup and stir. Cook pasta al dente before adding it to the soup. Ladle the soup into individual bowls, top with the mozzarella and put the bowls on a baking sheet under the broiler just until the cheese melts and starts to turn light brown. This happens fast. Serve with cheesy garlic bread. Enjoy!

Red Potato and Corn Chowder More soup! For this chowder you cut...

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:07:00 -0500

Red Potato and Corn Chowder

More soup! For this chowder you cut the corn from the cobs then add the cobs to the water to boil the potatoes for your stock. I actually used half water, half chicken broth for my stock and it was delicious. Boiling the cobs in the stock gave it a huge amount of flavor. As a matter of fact I added extra heat and spices to balance the corn flavor. The only thing I would do differently is add more potatoes to add to the heartiness of the soup since there is no meat in it and I am a serious carnivore. This didn’t take a lot of time to put together and everyone enjoyed it.

Adapted from Gourmet: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Potato-Corn-Chowder-242862

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Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:58:22 -0500

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Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:57:57 -0500

Christmas Cookies! The title of this recipe is “The Best...

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:57:30 -0500

Christmas Cookies!

The title of this recipe is “The Best Cut-Out Sugar Cookies”. I haven’t made a ton of these before but I did make them a few times when the kids were younger and I have to say I agree that this is definitely the best tasting cut-out cookie I’ve ever made or eaten! They have lemon extract and lemon zest in them and it really evens out the sugary icing. They have a great buttery, lemony flavor and they cut out clean and don’t spread much while they cook. I think the trick may be to pick 3 or 4 different shapes and icing/sprinkle colors to help save time. The first night I made the small batch recipe and used 7 or 8 different cookie cutters only to realize it would take forever to make all the colors I needed to decorate the different shapes. They were disappearing as fast as I could get them iced and by the end of the night I only had a handful of cookies left. The second night I made the huge batch and only used a few cutters with 3 different icing colors and had much better results, not to mention tons of cookies. Win!

You can find the recipe here:

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/dessert/recipe-best-cutout-sugar-cookies-038629

"The very existence of flamethrowers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves,..."

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:53:08 -0500

“The very existence of flamethrowers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, “You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done.” ~george carlin”

My sweet princess!

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:22:58 -0500

My sweet princess!

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Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:22:14 -0500

Italian Chicken Soup We’ve been having lots of soups and...

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 13:40:02 -0500

Italian Chicken Soup

We’ve been having lots of soups and stews lately, trying some new ones and remaking lots of the old favorites. This one is fairly new to us, I found it on Pioneer Woman’s website. It is quickly becoming one of the repeats as everyone loves it. To make it even better we have parmesan on 12 seed bread buttered and toasted. Make sure to garnish the soup with really good quality parmesan and you will love it too!

Link to the recipe: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/09/italian-chicken-soup/

Banana Pudding 1 up’d 1 Box Vanilla Wafers - crushed in...

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 15:00:26 -0400

Banana Pudding 1 up’d

1 Box Vanilla Wafers - crushed in food processor

1 Lg box Vanilla Pudding

3 cups milk

1 Container Cheesecake Filling

Fruit - Mix it up (I used strawberries, blueberries and bananas, but the possibilities are endless)

Mix together pudding mix with cold milk and the cheesecake filling until smooth.

In a trifle bowl, layer wafer crumbs with pudding mixture and fruit ending with fruit. So good and so 1970. It almost made me want to put the vintage action to the photo, but that didn’t do well for the fruit. Enjoy!

Comic Relief By far the funniest journal entry I have found in...

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 12:37:26 -0500

Comic Relief

By far the funniest journal entry I have found in my quest to find one particular cat story. This entry was on the back of the very last page of the Weekend News Journal from 3rd grade. I don’t know if he meant for anyone to see it or not, but just as funny as what he wrote is how the teacher responded. I laughed until I cried when I found this, I had never noticed it before.

*Disclaimer: Grandpa Greg wanted me to state that he does not own a boat…not to worry, I know which Grandpa does ;)

Weekend News Journal Anyone with kids is familiar with these. ...

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 12:36:51 -0500

Weekend News Journal

Anyone with kids is familiar with these. I started out searching for a story about the cat that my 18 year old son had written in the second grade. I don’t recall exactly what the story said, I just remember the teacher, Ms Wiggins everyone’s favorite, had drawn a huge American flag on the paper and in red letters across the page she wrote, “NOEL FOR PRESIDENT”! I cannot count how many marbled little notebook journals I read through looking for that story, but I can tell you I found some really funny stuff. I am going to keep searching…and the laundry will continue to pile up to the ceiling.

There are so many funny stories about Noel that he was the...

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 12:34:51 -0500

There are so many funny stories about Noel that he was the subject of quite a few homework writing assignments. Most recently, my 10 year old wrote a short paper about Noel at the beginning of this school year. When I went for the parent teacher conferences, his reading teacher told me about the paper which had reduced her to tears. The paper was on display in the hallway and I read it on my way out. Ironically, the paper came home in the backpack the day before Noel died. One of the best things about the paper is the illustration at the bottom. Noel was never big on personal hygiene and on many occasions left his muddy paw prints all over my husbands freshly washed police car. Of all of the cars to pick from he loved to lay on top of the nice, clean white one with the lights on top.

Rest In Peace Sweet Boy This week we lost our sweet kitty, Noel....

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 12:32:46 -0500

Rest In Peace Sweet Boy

This week we lost our sweet kitty, Noel. He has been a part of our lives for 14 years, and for the kids that means he’s been around just about all of their lives. Noel had a huge personality, he lived outdoors most of the time and absolutely ruled the hood. In the fall of the year it was his mission to rid the neighborhood of all the squirrels, chipmunks, and birds. And when I say get rid of them, I mean he wouldn’t render them lifeless and leave them on your doorstep. He would finish them off completely, leaving the yard littered with squirrel tails and feathers. I don’t even want to know how he could digest the entire rest of these “pests” but for 3 or 4 days following one of his cleansing sprees he would lay sprawled in the mulch under the bushes barely showing signs of life.

Lately, Noel’s big adventures mostly consisted of lying on the asphalt driveway in the sweltering 100 degree heat, covered in his long, thick fur, and somehow managing to not slow roast himself. During the winter he had been staying inside a lot, something very out of character for him, taking turns sleeping in the kids rooms and spreading his love, and his fur, all around.

We will miss you and your big, bad, sweet, extremely low maintenance, personality.

RIP Noel.

Creamy Tomato Soup I found this recipe in the local newspaper a...

Sat, 26 Feb 2011 18:27:48 -0500

Creamy Tomato Soup

I found this recipe in the local newspaper a long time ago and have changed it up a bit here and there. The soup is so full of flavor from roasting the tomato, onions and garlic together. The half and half and rice make it hearty enough for a meal. Perfect when you are feeling under the weather. Give it a try, so much better than canned soup!

1 cup long grain white
2 cups water
28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 large onion (I used Vidalia) roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic (mine were big so I used 4)
1 tsp dried basil
olive oil
2 sprigs rosemary
Salt & Pepper to taste
15 oz can tomato sauce (I didn’t have any so I used twice as much chicken broth)
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 cup half & half (recipe says fat free but I would never do that, full fat here)

Cook the rice in the 2 cups water. Drain the diced tomatoes and reserve the liquid. Use a silicone spatula to press them and get as much juice out as you can. Transfer the tomatoes to a rimmed baking sheet. Add the onion, garlic, basil and olive oil. Strip the rosemary and add. Toss all together with olive oil (generous) and salt and pepper. Broil for 4-5 minutes ( I used the low broil setting and used the middle rack) then stir and broil for another 4-5 minutes until the onions just start to get brown.

Transfer this mixture to a blender and add the reserved tomato juice. Puree until smooth.

When the rice is ready add the tomato mixture and set over medium heat. Add the tomato sauce, chicken broth and balsamic vinegar. Heat until warmed, then stir in the half and half.