Slow Cooker Potato Soup

I'm eating this soup as I type, because I can't get enough of it. In fact, while I was taking the photos, the soup's aroma persuaded me to actually sneak a couple bites between shots; I had to refill the bowl and start over!

It's a little ridiculous how easy this is to make, and what's even crazier is how much flavor it has. To be honest, up until the last hour of cooking you'll probably think this recipe isn't turning out right, because it just looks like a watery, clumpy mess. But then you add the cream cheese and it all comes together in a magically delicious way.

When it comes making soup, I usually check the 10-day forecast and plan to make soup on a rainy day. There's nothing quite like filling up the crock-pot in the morning and letting the ingredients mingle together all day long.

Slow Cooker Potato Soup

serves six

about 8 Weight Watcher Points+ per serving

Ingredients:
2 pounds potatoes, diced and peeled
1/2 cup carrots, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
28 oz chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
10 oz cream of mushroom soup
1 tsp dried parsley
1 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
2 teaspoons ground pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 package (8oz) cream cheese (or Neufchatel)
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (garnish)
shredded cheese (garnish)
green onion (garnish)

Directions: 
In a slow cooker, combine the above ingredients except cream cheese and garnishes. Cook on low for 8-10 hour or until potatoes are very soft. One hour before serving, add cream cheese. Stir until blended and continue cooking on "warm." Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve and top with garnishes.

*This even tastes great as leftovers. If the soup is more like mashed potatoes, add a little milk to it before reheating to loosen it up a bit!

Come join the fun at the My Baking Addiction and GoodLife Eats Holiday Recipe Swap sponsored by West Bend.

Baked Shrimp

Want something seriously easy and fast? Honestly this is one of the easiest meals I've ever made. And quite possibly one of my favorites. I always buy shrimp when I find it on sale and stick it in the freezer until an idea strikes! I can't take ALL the credit for this dish because the base of this recipe is my Grandmothers. Every few months we have a big birthday dinner celebrating a few birthdays at a time. In January we have "BBQ" shrimp, which isn't actually barbecued. She takes a huge roasting pan and stuffs it with shrimp, oranges, butter, and lots of black pepper. It bakes until the shrimp are nice and pink and the smell calls everyone to the table. In desire of a really warm and filling dinner I took her idea and added my twist here and there to create this. This is a peel and eat shrimp so make sure you have a bowl ready for your shells and a towel for your hands! And don't forget some of Jessica's French Bread to soak up all the buttery juices on your plate.

Baked Shrimp

Shrimp- 2 lbs, shell on
Orange- 1 large
Butter- 1 and 1/2 sticks
White wine- 1/2 cup
Minced Garlic- 1 Tbsp
Parsley- 2 Tbsp
Johnny's Garlic Spread (optional)
Thyme- 2 tsp
Pepper- 2 tsp
Salt- As desired

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash shrimp and place in a greased casserole dish. Season with garlic, parsley, Johnny's garlic spread, thyme, pepper, and salt. Pour white wine over shrimp. Cut the butter into chunks and place all over the top of the shrimp. Place orange slices on top and cover with foil. Bake for about 20 minutes or until shrimp are pink and the juices are bubbly. Serve with warm french bread.

French Bread

We enjoy this recipe so often that my husband recited the ingredients and directions with his eyes closed and both hands tied behind his back. Okay, I'm kidding about that last part, but we do eat this bread all. the. time., and he really did give me the recipe off the top of his head.

If you're in the mood for a crunchy and slightly chewy crust with a soft center, then this is for you. This French bread has a hint of whole wheat in it, which gives it a nice hearty flavor without being too dense. There's nothing fancy-schmancy about it, but it's the perfect accompaniment to just about any meal. My husband often doubles the recipe and freezes the dough so we can have homemade bread for dinner whenever we're in the mood for it, but it's also easy enough for him to make a batch for dinner right when he gets home from work.

Trust me when I say this bread is just plain good.

{Whole Wheat} French Bread

makes two loaves

Ingredients:
1 Tbs salt
1 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs butter, room temperature (butter substitute is fine)
envelope of active-dry yeast
2 1/4 cups hot water (hot, around 114 degrees; not scalding)
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 1/2 cups AP flour (increase up to one cup)
drizzle, olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400-degrees.

In a large bowl or stand mixer bowl, combine salt, sugar, yeast, and butter. Add water; mix. Pour in two cups of water; mix in two cups of flour. (At this point, it will look like cake batter.) If using a stand mixer, attach dough hook. Slowly add the last three cups of flour. Mix on high for a few minutes; until dough is slightly sticky. If dough is too sticky, add additional flour until it's just slightly sticky.

Sprinkle working area with flour and knead dough for a couple minutes. Form into a ball. (You can also freeze it at this point: divide ball into two and tightly wrap each with saran wrap.) Lightly coat dough with oil and place in a large bowl. Cover bowl with saran wrap and place in a warm location for twenty minutes. (If frozen, let thaw and continue on from here.)

Take the dough, punch it down, and knead it to get air bubbles out. Divide dough in half. Knead and roll each half into a long log, about 18" long. Repeat with other half. Place dough on loaf pan. Take your sharpest knife and cut three diaganol slits across dough about 1/2" deep. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown.

Potato Casserole

I'm always looking for a new way to whip up a potato. While I do love the traditional baked potato, it gets a little boring sometimes. My husband has an adoration for anything in casserole form. When he see's me pull out his favorite red casserole dish he practically dances with excitement. Not to down talk my husband, it is all because of him I come up with some fabulous meals! I was making steak the other night and didn't want a normal baked potato or even mashed potatoes. I had an abundance of bell peppers and little red potatoes. Anytime I have ingredients but am not sure what I'm going to do with them out comes the red casserole dish. Cue dancing. Now I realize the picture isn't "pretty" in the normal sense of the word but in casserole world, it's crispy, it's cheesy, it's gooey... it's beautiful.

Potato Casserole

Ingredients:
1 lb red potatoes (small)
1 of each red, green, yellow and orange bell pepper- julienned
1 small yellow onion- diced
2 cloves of garlic
Olive oil- to coat pan
1/3 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup mozzarella
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
1 tsp rosemary
Salt and Pepper- to taste
Johnny's Garlic Spread-(optional) if you don't own this, order it NOW! Thanks to my fabulous Mother in Law for introducing me to this. It now goes on everything I make, YUM.

Directions:
Wash and boil the potatoes till cooked. In the meantime saute onion and bell peppers in olive oil over medium heat. Once the peppers are soft add the garlic, continue to cook until caramelized but not burnt and lifeless. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Drain potatoes and slightly mash them, leaving them smashed but still chunky. Place the potatoes in a greased dish and top with the peppers, onion, and the pan juices. Drop spoonfuls of sour cream on potatoes. Sprinkle with mozzarella and cheddar. Season with Johnny's Garlic Spread, rosemary, salt, and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and cover with foil. Bake at 325 degrees until bubbly and gooey, about 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for about 5 minutes more to give it a crispy top.

Pumpkin Pecan Bread

Before I share this recipe with you, I need to let you in on a little secret....I don't like pumpkin. I love pumpkin seeds and I really enjoy carving jack-o-lanterns, but I really don't like the taste of pumpkin. But that's not for a lack of trying, because every season I try it again, hoping my taste buds have changed. I figured that just because I don't like something doesn't mean I should hold out on sharing it with you.

With that said, I've been told—by pumpkin enthusiasts—that this bread is pretty darn tasty. It's moist, smells out of this world while baking, and has plenty of warm spices and the perfect amount of crunch to satisfy any pumpkin craving. I can imagine it'd be pretty great toasted with a little slab of butter on it in the morning for a quick treat.

We have an abundance of pecans in our house and too many cans of pumpkin laying around, which is how this bread came to existence. I doubled the recipe and sent both loaves off with my husband to work. He came back empty handed and said everyone gobbled it up, hardly even leaving a crumb on the plate. If you like pumpkin, you'll love this bread.

Pumpkin Pecan Bread

adapted from Very Best Baking

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour 
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 can (15 ounces) 100% pure pumpkin
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup evaporated fat free milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. 

Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and baking soda in medium bowl. Blend pumpkin, granulated sugar, brown sugar, evaporated milk, egg, egg white and oil in large mixer bowl. Add flour mixture; mix just until moistened. Fold in 1/2 cup nuts. Pour into prepared loaf pan; sprinkle with remaining nuts. 

Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Sweet Chili Tilapia

In our household, we enjoy eating fish at least twice a week for dinner. The problem with having it that often is that white fish can sometimes taste boring if it's not seasoned well. And we all know that boring food leads to dinner ruts, which leads to scrapping the fish idea and just eating out instead. So we have to get creative with what we put on our fish.

Enter Sweet Chile Sauce (found near the soy sauce in most supermarkets). We LOVE this stuff and put it on everything from fish and poultry, to rice and pasta, so expect to see more of it in the future. It has the perfect amount of zestiness to sweetness and enhances food so well. For this particular recipe, I use a 1-1-1/2 ratio. For every tablespoon of sweet chili sauce, add the same amount of soy sauce, and half the amount of Worcestershire.

Sweet Chili Tilapia

serves 4

Ingredients:
4 tilapia fillets, thawed (can use any white fish)
4 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
4 tablespoons soy sauce (low sodium, if possible)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
garlic powder (to taste)

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix wet ingredients together in a small bowl. In a shallow baking dish, lay fish out evenly, without touching. Sprinkle desired amount of garlic poweder over fish. Pour chili mixture over fish; marinate for about 10 minutes. Flip and marinate other side for another 10 minutes. Bake for 10-15 minutes until fish is white and flaky. Serve and pour excess sauce over fish. Enjoy!

Brandy Truffles

I haven't made truffles in years, and I figured there would be no better time to make them then Valentines Day. I love the dark chocolate that goes into these and how rich and amazing they are once all the steps are completed. It will truly be hard to keep from eating them in the process. I'll admit it is a long process but so worth the wait. And the brandy makes them an extra special grown up treat. The perfect chocolatey dessert for a special evening.

Brandy Truffles
Recipe Courtesy of Alton Brown

Ingredients:
10 ounces bittersweet chocolate (finely chopped)
3 Tbsp butter (unsalted)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp light corn syrup
1/4- 1/2 cup brandy
8 oz semisweet chocolate
Cocoa powder, finely chopped nuts, dusting sugar, powdered sugar, etc. (for coating)

Directions:
Melt 10 oz of chocolate with 3 Tbsp of butter in a microwave safe mixing bowl for 30 seconds. Remove and stir, repeat one more time. Set aside.
Heat the heavy cream and corn syrup in a put over medium heat until just simmering. Remove from the heat and pour it over the chocolate and butter mixture. Let it sit for 2 minutes. Stir gently with a rubber spatula until it's melted and becomes smooth. Once it's creamy stir in the brandy. Pour the chocolate mixture into an 8 by 8 baking dish (I like using an 8 inch cake pan) refrigerate for 1 hour.

Remove the chocolate from the fridge and scoop it out with a melon baller onto a sheet. Place in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Put your coatings in separate pie pans or plates.

Heat 8 oz of chocolate over a double boiler until melted. You'll need to adjust the heat up and down until you achieve 90-92 degrees F. Try to not let it go over 94 degrees. You want the coating to have a nice snap to it and if you go past 94 degrees you wont get that snap in the chocolate. Adjust the heat to maintain the correct temperature.

Take the truffles out of the refrigerator and roll them into balls using the palms of your hands. I would definitely wear latex gloves at this point or else your hands will be covered in chocolate goo.

Dip an ice cream scoop or large spoon into the melted chocolate and roll it upside down to remove excess chocolate. If there is too much chocolate on the spoon it will make the coating process messier and they will take longer to set up. Place the truffles 1 at a time into the scoop/spoon and roll around until coated. Place the truffle in your coating of choice (I used chopped walnuts, red sugar sprinkles, cocoa powder, and white chocolate). Roll it around to coat then leave it in the coating for 10 to 15 seconds. Coat all the truffles and place them on a parchment lined sheet pan and allow them to set for at least 1 hour. Either in an airtight container in the fridge or in a cool dry place. Serve at room temperature.