Broccoli Cheese Soup

My kids LOVE to go to Panera Bread. 

My oldest daughter loves their broccoli cheese soup and french baguette.

She's a soup eater like her Mom. 

So, one day I decided I was going to create my own recipe for it, and it was so similar, it was a hit!

This is one of the requests I always get for "soup night" on Halloween.

I always make at least two kinds, if not three, and the grandparents come over for dinner, 

and I usually have extra kids here too.  

It's great, because I make all of them in the morning, and line my crock pots up on the counter.

After the parties at school, we rush home to get ready again for trick or treating.  

It's nice to have it all ready so that as people come and go, they can just eat when they want. 

It's also quite nice on those cold trick or treat nights to come home and have another bowl and warm up!

I have mentioned before how difficult I find it to photograph soup, so I hope you just trust me when I say that this is really yummy.

It only becomes better when you have some nice crusty bread to dip in it!

broccoli cheese soup

My Own Broccoli Cheese Soup

3-4 potatoes peeled and cubed

6 stalks of celery, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

3 T butter

1 - 32 ounce chicken stock

2 - 16 ounce packages of frozen chopped broccoli

1 - 16 ounce jar cheese whiz

1 can cream of potato soup

2 cans cream of celery soup

1 - 8 ounce container sour cream

(no calories!?!?  yea right.)

Saute your onion and celery in butter until soft.  Add potatoes and chicken stock and simmer covered until potatoes are soft.  (20-30 minutes)

Add broccoli, simmer about 15 minutes more.

With a potato masher, mash vegetables until they are small.  Add to this the rest of the ingredients, 

stir and warm until ready to eat.

In the Crock Pot:

This recipe is also easy in the crock pot. When I make it in the crock pot I cook the veggies until they are soft and mash-able in the chicken stock. (on low all day) 

About 30 minutes before dinner, mash, and add cream based ingredients, warm and serve.

This, was one of three soups I made for Halloween when the Grandparents
came over before trick-or-treating.

the twins with their grandparents

trick-or -treat!

We have a tradition at our house on Halloween.  Ever since my kids were little, when they sorted through their Halloween candy, they got to chose their favorite kinds, and keep that.  The rest goes in our Halloween candy cauldron for the Halloween Witch.

She comes while they are sleeping to take that candy and leave a small toy in it's place.  She needs lots of candy to keep her teeth rotten!

my little 80's girl sorting her candy

you can bet my little WWE Superstar, John Cena, didn't part with that Mountain Dew!

This year, our little Josie lost a tooth at her Halloween party eating a caramel apple.  

So, not only did the Halloween Witch come, so did the tooth fairy!

Josie was very concerned they would come at the same time.  

She was certain they would most likely NOT get along!

Turns out, if their paths crossed, things went well! 

;)

Cookies and Cream Ice cream Cake

cookies and cream ice cream cake


November 2nd, 1994 I had my first child, a son, Spencer.

It seems like just yesterday. But it wasn't *sad face* it was 17 years ago already.  

I know it dates me to say "where does the time go" but for all of you youngin's out there, cherish every moment, for every day you are making new memories that you will most often wish you could go back to.

I remember having babies and trying to get something done around the house and they would have fussy days where they just needed to be held.  When you had stuff to do back then, it was hard not to think about that laundry list of things to do while you sat in a rocker holding a fussing baby.

Now, I wish some days, that I could just spend a day with a swaddled baby in my arms, 

and rock the day away.

It would be quite challenging to do that with my 6'1 "baby" these days.

Although, Spencer, is still not embarrassed to be a Mama's boy.

 Oh, yea, he has that cool teenage boy exterior, but deep down he is one of the most caring and compassionate people that I know.

He is never afraid of who may see him give the unexpected bear hug, or who might see him plop down in the chair next to me.

at a husker game

I am forever grateful for the last 17 years with him.  

Watching him grow up to be the person he has become has been one of life's biggest joys.

Even before we had kids, my husband and I talked about the importance of family dinners. 

That was one thing he and I both cherished growing up.

Sitting down at the table, sharing our days and a meal.

Life is definitely busier, and we are not all always present, but every night give or take 15 minutes, we sit down as a family for supper.

Tonight will not be any different other than it's a birthday dinner night!

I have spoke in the past of our tradition of the birthday person getting to choose what Mom makes for dinner, and they get to eat off of the "birthday plate."

Spencer chose for his birthday dinner, beef and cheese enchiladas and chips and guacamole.

His cake, "his" ice cream cake.

One more flash back to my growing up years. My grandma on my Dad's side was an awesome baker.  

She had three sons, and they all had "their cake." (which sometimes wasn't a cake at all...maybe a pie.) The tradition continued with us grand kids.  She would always bake it special for us, and called it "ours."

This particular cake became Spencer's when he was about 6 or 7. 

His birthday always fell after Halloween.  Spencer LOVES Halloween!

So, when he was little his birthday party was always a costume party.

One year, I was trying to decide what to make him for a cake, when I concocted this.  

I used to make it in a 9x13 for his parties, and now, I make it in a spring form pan.  

Those are the instructions that I will share with you today.

holy hot fudge goodness!

Spencer's Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Cake

1 package of brownie mix, 8x8 size

1 jar of hot fudge sauce

1/2 package of Oreo cookies, crumbled

1 quart of Cookies and Cream Ice Cream, softened

In a spring form pan, Bake the brownies as instructed on the package.

Cool slightly.  Warm hot fudge in microwave according to the jar. Spread a little more than 1/2 of the hot fudge over the brownies. Sprinkle crumbled cookies evenly over the top. 

Spread softened ice cream over the cookies, and "frost" with remaining hot fudge.

Quickly put it in the freezer to harden.

(I usually make this two days before his birthday)

Remove ring from spring form pan before serving.

Every year I change it up a little.  Some years I put more cookie crumbles on top of the cake.  Some years I press the edge of a cookie into the soft ice cream before I freeze it, so they are sticking up.  

Use your imagination, the options are endless.

I have also made this cake with mint chip and with chocolate chip. 

 These two look great topped with mini chips. 

(word to the wise, take it out a bit before serving, though, because getting candles in it can be a challenge!)

I hope that Spencer enjoyed his Birthday dinner!! 

We sure enjoy him!!

Happy 17th Birthday, Buddy!

.love.

Not your Normal Tortilla Soup

When I was little we had some neighbors that lived across the street.  They were stationed at Offutt Air force base, and had been stationed all over the world. 

One thing I remember about the Mom was that she was a fabulous cook!  

My Mom got this recipe for tortilla soup from her, and this is the tortilla soup that I grew up on.

I thought all tortilla soup tasted like this one, until I grew up and had the more 

creamy based ones with chicken.

This is more of a spicy tomato based soup, seasoned with green chilies, chili powder and cumin.

It'll warm your bones right up!!

Perfect for Halloween, or a blustery Midwest day like today. 

I made this as well as homemade chicken noodle, and broccoli cheese for Halloween night.  

I will be having some leftover tortilla soup for lunch today, who wants to join me?

I am such a soup eater. I never get tired of it!

But the one thing about putting it on a blog, is that the photo never does it justice.

You'll just have to trust me on this, okay?

not your normal tortilla soup

Tortilla Soup

2 small onions, chopped

2 small cans of diced green chilies

4 cloves garlic minced

4 T vegetable oil

2, 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes

3 beef and 3 chicken bouillon cubes

3 cups of water

3 cups of tomato juice

2 t. ground cumin

2 t. chili powder

2 t. salt

1/4 t. white pepper

4 t. Worcestershire sauce

2 T. bottled steak sauce

6 corn tortillas, cut in strips

shredded cheddar cheese

Saute onion, chilies and garlic in oil until soft. (about 5 minutes)

Add tomatoes, bouillon, water, juice, spices and sauces. 

Bring soup to a boil, lower heat and simmer covered for one hour. 

(or you can make this in your crock pot. After sauteing, add this mixture to others in your crock pot and cook on low all day)

Before serving add corn tortilla strips and 1/2 cup of cheese, simmer 10 minutes more.

Serve topped with cheddar cheese.

REDRUM! REDRUM! Frozen RedRum Punch

REDRUM! REDRUM!

RedRum Punch just in time for Halloween!

bone chilling frozen RedRum punch

Who hasn't seen the movie The Shining? 

Well, if you haven't, you need to.

I will be the first to admit that scary movies are NOT my favorite. Especially the slasher kind.

But movies like this one, that keep you on the edge of your seat, biting your nails, or snuggling close to that special someone only to leave a bruise on their leg where you grabbed it in a moment of fear...

...these movies are so worth it!

The Shining is a movie like that.

A family trapped in a snowstorm in a hotel in the mountains, totally alone, and totally losing their minds.

"Here's Johnny!"

Jack Nicholson plays an author that thinks an opportunity of spending the winter at this hotel with his family to work on his book, sounds like the perfect way to spend the winter.

But quickly things turn badly.

all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

As he types and types and slowly begins to lose his marbles his son begins seeing things and people that aren't there.  Peddling the halls on his big wheel, he begins to repeat the word "REDRUM."

the twins

the mom is played by Shelley Duvall

One night the son walks into his mother's room where she is sleeping, and takes her red lipstick and writes REDRUM on her door. 

She awakens to see him standing over her with a butcher knife, repeating REDRUM, REDRUM over and over again.

She looks to the door and then looks in the mirror across from it to see that REDRUM, spelled backwards spells MURDER.

This is the scene from the movie

~LINK TO MOVIE CLIP ~

This movie was released in 1980, and it still scares the bejeepers out of me!!

One night last week, I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep, and my mind was wandering to food...my blog... the places it usually goes.

We had tickets for the Husker game that Saturday, and it was an early one, so I was trying to think of what to make for the tailgate before.

I decided to make those little cocktail weenies wrapped in bacon and baked with brown sugar. 

They are always a hit, and seemed good for the morning!

I didn't take a picture of them, but here is a link to the instructions for them:

Bacon Wrapped Cocktail Weenies with Brown Sugar

Turns out, the weenies also doubled as a nice handwarmer!

I needed something creative for the Huskers and for Halloween weekend.

I started thinking about drinks that were red.

  All of the sudden, REDRUM popped into my brain and the drink was born.

The next day I started creating it to put it in the freezer. 

 I have made my recipe for Vodka Slushes many times, and I know that the recipe is tried and true, so I used the alcohol vs. liquid in that recipe to gauge measurements for this one.

frozen RedRum punch

Frozen REDRUM Punch

750 ml bottle of Bacardi Razz

2 Frozen Concentrate Orange Juice (the makes one quart size)

8 Cups of Hawaiian Punch

2 packages of  unsweetened Tropical Kool-Aid

1 cup Sugar

Stir ingredients together and freeze for at least 24 hours.

Scoop into glass and pour 7UP over the top.

It was 27 degrees yesterday morning when we were tailgating, it was sort of nippy for a frozen drink, but the sun was shining, my Huskers had won, and life was good!

We took my brother and his fiance to the game, we had a GREAT Time!

enduring 27 degrees of fun!

My husband and I , my brother and his fiance

"Here’s to the Witches,

Here’s to their cats,

Here’s to the hoot owls

And Whirring bats;

Here’s to the ghosties,

In robes of white,

Here’s to the thrills of

Hallowe’en night."

 

Cheers!!

Want to read more on The Shining?

IMDb - The Shining

Here's Peeking at you...OWL Cupcakes

Today, my husband's office is having a little Trick-or-Treat get together for it's employees and their kids.

We used to do this every year, but when the office manager left a couple of years ago,

 the fun kind of went by the wayside.

Well, this year, two of the gals that work there decided it was time to do a little something fun for the kids.

So, they are doing trick-or-treating through all of the offices.

It's nice and warm inside,  AND it's a great opportunity to get more use out of their costumes!! 

We're in!

They are having some snacks in their break room, but I called and said I would bring 

something a little special.

My daughter, Josie and I have been wanting to make owl cupcakes, so I thought this would be a great opportunity!

how cute are they?!? 

The other day I decided they needed to perch in a tree, so I taped two cake card boards together, covered them in brown paper and got the art supplies out.  

I drew up a big harvest moon behind a spooky tree.  

Here are our owls perched.

My assistant baker, she's sporting my candy corn apron, and her rollers! 

I said, "wait a second, I am the one going as a Desperate Housewife!!"

If you have never seen these done before,  trust me, I am not saying this is an original idea by me,

 here is what you need.

owl cupcakes

OWL Cupcakes

Chocolate Cake Mix, baked into cupcakes

Chocolate Frosting, we went the easy route and used the stuff in the can.  

(Did you know Pillsbury has it with a decorative tip and everything now?

It's like spray cheese but FROSTING! ;)

Oreo Sandwich Cookies

M & M's

Candy Corn

Bake your cupcakes, cool and frost them.  Break the cookies apart using the frosted side, press an M & M in the middle of each to make his eyes. 

Of course, the bag of M & M's we bought had hardly any brown, so some of our owls have green eyes! 

Press the cookie eyes onto the cupcake, using your frosting as the glue.

Add an upside down candy corn for his beak, and you are all set!

I don't know about you but, 

OWL-uv this idea!

Here are my little trick-or-treaters ready to head out on their first candy spree!!

on the left we have WWE Super star, John Cena and 

on the right, complete with beauty mark and leg warmers, my little 80's Girl!

Easy Baked Chicken Stuffed with Long Grain and Wild Rice

You can have Sunday Dinner any 'ol time with this family favorite!

chicken stuffed with long grain and wild rice

This is a family favorite on Sundays.  It's so easy though, you can make it any 'ol time!

I always make this ahead in the morning or over lunch in my roaster, then place it in the oven on time bake for a no fuss meal that looks so much harder than it is!

Chicken Stuffed with Long Grain and Wild Rice

1 large whole chicken, washed (I try to find one that is 3+ lbs for our family of six)

2-3 packages of Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice Packets, cooked according to package instructions

this is it!

spray butter

sea salt

cracked black pepper

Spray your roasting pan with non-stick cooking spray. 

Wash your whole chicken in cold water, inside and out. 

this is where I usually make him "dance" for the kids... but of course this step is optional!

 Stuff chicken with  rice.

Place in roaster.

Spritz the outside of the chicken with spray butter and sprinkle with sea salt and cracked black pepper.

Bake at 375 degrees covered for 90 minutes.  For 30 minutes more,  uncover and baste the chicken a couple of times.  For a large chicken stuffed like I make it, total cooking time is about 2 hours.

*You may need to adjust if you are making a smaller chicken stuffed with only one packet of rice.

*Just use your meat thermometer, and test to see if it's done.

The breast should be about 170 degrees when chicken is done.

This always turns out good for me.  The meat is juicy and tender and the skin is crispy.

I also like to add mushrooms ... but I add mushrooms to almost everything! ;)

Bubblicious Bubblegum Cupcakes with Bubblegum Buttercream Frosting

bubblegum cupcakes with bubblegum buttercream frosting

So I guess I bake a lot of cupcakes. 

My kid's friends seem to think I always have cupcakes on my kitchen counter.

My daughter's friend Amelia (Aimee) LOVES to see them when she visits. 

So, how could I let her birthday go by without something baked especially for her?

I racked my brain to come up with something worthy a girl's slumber party in honor of her 15th birthday.  Then it hit me... BUBBLE GUM!!

I searched high and low for bubble gum extract, and finally found it, then the idea was born and the cupcakes were baked.

 how cute are they?? and the gift bag...it screams 15 year old girl!

Even better, the bubble gum pink frosting went so well with my cute Zak cupcake shaped tray!

LOVE my Zak wear!!

scoop your frosting on your cupcakes with an ice cream scoop for a different look!

CUTE!!

So, pull up a chair, grab your coins and see if you get your favorite colored gumball...

I always liked the pink and white...

 can you find the cupcake?

Bubblegum Cupcakes with Bubblegum Buttercream Frosting

Cake:

1 box white cake mix

1/8 teaspoon bubblegum extract

brightly colored sprinkles

Frosting:

4 cups powdered sugar

1 stick of butter

1/4 cup milk

3/4 teaspoon bubblegum extract

bubblegum balls

sprinkles

pink food coloring gel

Make cake mix according to the package directions. Add 1/8 teaspoon of bubblegum extract. Fold in brightly colored sprinkles.  Bake in cupcake liners. 

when they come out of the oven they look like they have gumballs baked right in!

To make frosting whip all of the ingredients together,  color until bubblegum pink and pipe onto cooled cupcakes.  

my pampered chef easy accent decorator loaded and ready

I have used the icing bags many times to decorate, or even just a plain 'ol plastic bag with the corner cut out, but I have to say I LOVE my Pampered Chef decorator! 

I always use it at Easter to make my deviled eggs, too!!

 I sprinkled them with "bubblegum blue" crystals. Then top the cupcake with a gumball!

the frosting smells AMAZING!



 
   

Ooooo.... and when you EAT them!?!?

yum.

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY Aimee!!

my daughter and Aimee on "Neon Out" night at the football game