I know, I know what you're thinking. Spring is here and you want some lighter foods to chow down on. We have a few favorites that we like to have year round. One of my husband's favorite foods is potato soup. I'm not much of a soup person but I felt it was time to make something for the love of my life that he really enjoys. I like potato soup but this time I wanted to make it my own and possibly better. I didn't follow a recipe and just threw it all together. I have three words for you on this recipe: OH MY GOD!!!! This recipe is incredible! I honestly have never had a better potato soup before. I cooked this up in the crock pot and let it stew all day while I was gone at work. It's ok if you go above the 8 hour mark on cooking everything. You want to add all your dairy products in the end to avoid separation. You want the cheese to melt in nicely rather than chunk up in there. I suggest getting a mild to medium sharp cheese. The sharp cheeses tend to turn into large wads. However, if you're like me and got the shredded cheese from Aldi's, the sharp cheese just melts fine. I think Aldi's cheeses tend to be quite mild.
CHEESY BACON POTATO SOUP
4 c. potatoes, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
49.5 oz chicken broth (found in large cans)
1 tsp. chicken soup base
1 package of bacon, chopped
1/4 c. sour cream
1 1/2 c. milk
2 c. cheddar cheese
3 Tbsp. corn starch
1 tsp. ground pepper
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt (or to taste)
Combine potatoes, onions, green onions, celery, garlic, chicken broth and soup base in a large crock pot. Mix well and set on low. Cook for 8 hours. Fry up bacon to a hard crisp all the way through. You want to overcook the bacon as it tastes a lot better in soup and doesn't turn rubbery. Keep crock pot on low heat and add the rest of your ingredients. Only heat up until the temperature you like your soup at and serve hot.
I am a sucker for cream cheese. If you're trying to find a simple elegant way of making dinner, this recipe is sure to impress! It looks a lot fancier than your normal chicken dinner. I used turkey bacon for this since I really like the flavor and it's healthier for you. I'm sure it's good with regular bacon too.
CHICKEN ROULADE
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons dried chives
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, butterflied
4 slices turkey bacon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a bowl, mix the cream cheese, chives, and garlic. Divide the mixture into 4 balls.
Place 1 cream cheese ball in the center of each butterflied chicken breast half. Fold the chicken over the cream cheese, wrap with a slice of turkey bacon, and secure with toothpicks. Arrange the chicken in a baking dish. Pour the butter over the chicken.
Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the bacon is crisp and the chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.
Recipe taken from (but added more garlic to) Eireann on allrecipes.com
Everyone claims that they have the best banana bread recipe. Many of the ones I try of other people end up incredibly bland, too dry, not sweet enough, too moist, tastes stale when it is fresh, etc. It thoroughly upsets me when people claim to have the best recipe for banana bread when they have made it for me and it tastes awful. Some people do make some ok recipes, some make good banana bread. I have a recipe that comes from my grandma. I'm sure she probably got it from her mother. Her recipe was awesome. But it wasn't until I added in vanilla to make this recipe stellar. Vanilla makes almost anything baked taste better, right? Beware, this recipe makes your house smell absolutely phenomenal! Here's what I do.
BANANA BREAD
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
3 bananas (2 large is fine if in a pinch)
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
Cream butter and sugar, then add bananas and vanilla. Mix in baking soda and salt to evenly distribute. Lastly, add flour and mix. Pour batter in greased bread pan and let stand 20 minutes. You can cover with a towel if needed. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. BAKING TIMES VARY FROM OVEN TO OVEN, CHECK AT 50 MINUTE MARK!
