Scrumptious Potato Bacon Soup

Are the men in your life meat and potato eaters?

My Hubby and Son are.

I still had some leftover potatoes I needed

to use up. One way to hurry up and use

leftover vegetables is to make up a soup,

especially this time of year.

 What better way

to warm up on those cold dreary days?

Nothing speaks comfort like a hot

bowl of hearty soup.

I mean come on.

How could you pass this up?

I've been on the hunt for a really good recipe for Potato Soup.

I've tried other recipes for potato soup before

but just wasn't satisfied with the taste.

They seemed to be lacking something.

This soup though.

This recipe is definitely the ONE that

I will make over and over again.

 And those meat and potato guys in your life?

They will love you all the more for making this soup.

Not only will the men in your life love this soup,

I can speak from experience, the women will

love this soup also.

It will become a new family favorite.

Guaranteed!

Comfort food at it's best.

POTATO BACON SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

4 large potatoes peeled and cubed

5 slices bacon, cooked and chopped

4 tablespoons butter

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

2 cloves minced garlic

1/2 cup All-Purpose flour

2 + 1/2 cups whole milk

2 + 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

3/4 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

green onions, chopped (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Place cubed potatoes into a large stockpot and cover with 1 inch of water. Cook 8-10 minutes or until

potatoes pierce easily with a fork. Drain and set aside.

While the potatoes are cooking, fry the bacon until crispy then transfer to a plate to cool, reserving 1 tablespoon of bacon grease. Once cooled chop into bite size pieces. Set aside.

In the large stockpot, add 4 tablespoons butter and chopped onions. Saute until onions are tender and translucent. Add garlic and cook an additional minute until fragrant.

Add the flour into the pot and quickly whisk together. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and milk, stirring constantly. Bring to a soft boil.

Add drained potatoes, bacon grease and chopped bacon. Stir. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the sour cream and stir to combine. Add shredded cheddar cheese and stir until melted.

Serve hot topped with a dollop of sour cream, additional cheese, bacon pieces, and green onions.

Recipe adapted from: Natasha's Kitchen

That's it for this week.

Until Next Time,

Veronica

Makin' Bacon

Who doesn't love the taste of bacon?

Here is our home we go through a lot

of bacon. We love to have it with our Sunday

morning breakfast, or just pull a piece

or two out of the refrigerator and eat.

Plus I like to always have it on hand to

add to my cooking.

It adds so much flavor

to your dishes.

The one and only thing I don't like about bacon

is the hot splattered greasy mess it makes when you cook it.

When I make bacon I usually will make up a large

batch at a time. Not only is it time consuming to cook,

it's oh so messy.

I finally have discovered a way to cook large

amounts of bacon without creating a

hot splattered greasy mess, takes less

time to cook and the bacon turns out 

perfect every time

with just the right amount of crispness.

This is our favorite bacon which

we buy at Costco. It comes in a 3 pack.

This bacon has the most wonderful smokey flavor.

Let's make some bacon!

The secret to perfectly cooked bacon every time without

the mess......your oven!

Preheat oven to 425°.

Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Place a cooling rack inside the baking sheet

and spray with cooking spray.

Place bacon strips onto the greased cooling rack.

I cook 2 pans at a time.

I place one pan on the top rack of the oven

and the second pan goes on the middle rack.

Bake for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes I rotate the pans by

placing the top pan on the middle rack and

the middle rack pan on the top.

By doing this you get evenly cooked bacon.

Bake an additional 7-10 minutes,

or until desired crispness.

Perfect every time!

The best part about cooking your bacon this way

is the greasy mess drips onto the aluminum

lined baking sheet and doesn't splatter inside the oven.

Clean up is a breeze.

Simply let the pans cool and

remove the aluminum foil and toss.

I then throw the baking pans and cooling

racks into the dishwasher to clean.

It doesn't get any easier than that.

This is the inside of my oven after

baking the bacon. Absolutely no greasy MESS!

This is the only way I cook bacon anymore.

Give it a try and I'm sure this will be your

new way of cooking bacon also.

That's it for this week.

Until Next Time,

Veronica

Cooler Temps = Soup Weather

I love a good bowl of homemade soup.

I don't know about you but I could eat

homemade soup year round.

So when the weather starts to become

cooler I will spend a whole day in the kitchen

making batches of soup to put into the freezer.

Of course I have to make a batch

to eat right away also. There is no way

Hubby is going to let me freeze all

that soup without having a bowlful.

I totally agree with him on that.

The  soups always fill the house with

wonderful aromas.

How can you not do a taste test?

Each year I will make batches of our favorite
soups to freeze but I am also on the lookout
for new soup recipes to try.
Although I love our favorite soups I just don't
want to become bored with them.

Steak and Ale Soup

You know what they say,
"variety is the spice of life".

Besides, I love to eat and am willing
to try new dishes.

Yesterday was the perfect day to start making soup
to freeze as the weather was a bit cooler here in Wisconsin.

I had a head of cauliflower and a ton of fresh
broccoli in the fridge, plus some potatoes that I needed
to use up before they started to turn bad.

Soup weather to the rescue!

Cooler temps = soup weather.

Our first batch of soup to be stored into the freezer
was Cauliflower Broccoli Soup with Bacon

YUMMY!

This is true comfort food for us during those long
cold winter days.

I also made a batch of Broccoli Potato Soup that
was out of this world good!
Needless to say, it was so good that we ate it all
and I didn't get to take any photos of it.

It was SO GOOD!

I'm hoping next weekend I can make another
batch to freeze and post the recipe.

But for now, here is the recipe for the Cauliflower Broccoli soup with Bacon.

Cauliflower Broccoli Soup with Bacon

INGREDIENTS:

5 tablespoons Butter, divided

3 large Carrots, chopped

3 stalks Celery, chopped

1 medium Onion, diced

4 cloves Garlic, minced

32 oz. Chicken Broth

3 Russet Potatoes, peeled and diced into cubes

3 heads Broccoli, chopped into florets
1 head Cauliflower, chopped into florets
1/4 teaspoon dried Thyme
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Paprika
1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 Tablespoon Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (optional)
1/3 cup All-purpose Flour
3 1/2 cups Milk
2 cups shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese (8 ounces)
6 slices Bacon, cooked and chopped

DIRECTIONS:

In a large stock pot over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon butter. When the butter is melted, add the carrots, celery and onion and saute until translucent, approx. 4 minutes. Add garlic and saute for an additional 1 minute. Stir in the chicken broth, potatoes, thyme, salt, black pepper, paprika. cayenne and Sriracha sauce. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low-medium, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Add the broccoli and cauliflower, stir and cooked for an additional 7 minutes, or until tender.

While the veggies are cooking, melt 4 tablespoons of butter in a medium size sauce pan. Add the flour and stir. Slowly stir in the milk and whisk consistently until thickened. Add the cheese and whisk until blended and smooth. Add this mixture into the soup mixture and stir to blend.

Serve up a warm bowlful and enjoy!

Stay tuned for the next soup recipe.

Until Next Time,
Veronica

Soft Blue Fall

Ah September.

How do I love thee.

Not only do I love you because

it's my birthday month. I love you

because you start my favorite season of all time.

FALL.

Usually this time of year I start digging out

all of my fall decor and start filling the house

with fall colors. This year though I just don't

have the time or energy to do much.

Watching your grand kids full time

will do that to ya.

But I still wanted to add a little touch

of fall to our home.

Instead of the typical colors of

fall I thought I would switch things up a bit

and add a soft touch of blue.

My inspiration came from this pillow that I

picked up at Pier 1.

I'm a sucker when it comes to pumpkins.

I placed it on the couch and dug through my

pillow and throw supply closet  to dress the

couch for fall.

For our dining room table I created a

new floral arrangement.

Of course I had to add pumpkins.

 So far that's all I've done for fall decor.

 I'm loving this new softer color palette of fall color.

That's it for this week.

Until Next Time,

Veronica