Lasagna Soup

Here's another soup recipe I received in a Family Fun weekly cooking email. It looked like it made a lot, so I made the recipe with 1 lb. of hot sausage and cut the rest of the recipe down to 2/3 as well. It made enough for us to have dinner and then leftovers for Jim to have for lunch.


Lasagna Soup is an interesting recipe, unlike most other soup recipes I have made. Jim really liked it. The boys and I weren't blown away by it, but it was ok. It was something different, which is what I was looking for. We're all getting bored with being cooped up in the house for winter. The boys and I will be glad when spring is here! Thanks for stopping by!

Cider-Roasted Pork Loin

Back in October 2004 we had dinner with some friends of ours. They had recently moved away, and we had gone to visit them. They made dinner for us, and Cider-Roasted Pork Loin is what they made for the main course. Matt and Kathy are probably the ones who first introduced me to Cooking Light magazine.

This is a delicious recipe to try. I have made it frequently for our family ever since. I make it more often with boneless pork chops instead of a full pork loin roast. When I do that, I reduce the amount of salt to 2 T. and use 2 c. of apple cider and 1 c. of water. I have started buying apple cider on sale in the fall and then freezing it in pint freezer boxes to be used all year long just for this recipe.

Also, I rarely make the cider reduction sauce/glaze. Jim's not big on the sweet sauce over his pork, and I think the pork is flavored just as well without it. Thanks for stopping by!

Umbrella Cookies

Posting about the Rabbit Cookies last week reminded me of when we made the snack last year during "U" week at preschool. I couldn't come up with anything except for umbrellas! Coincidentally, that was the theme of the week. They had patio umbrellas set up in the room and children's umbrellas hanging upside-down from the ceiling for a paper toss game. So our Umbrella Cookies were a hit! Preschool is so much fun--for Mommy too! Thanks for stopping by!

Rabbit Cookies

It's time for another installment of fun baking on the Cookin' with Melissa blog.


My son was snack leader one day this week at preschool. It was "R" week, and he thought we should make Rabbit Cookies. I was skeptical that we could come up with such a thing. I did some research and found an answer online. As usual, the creative people at Family Fun created a way to make Easter Bunny Cupcakes. We only do cupcakes at preschool on birthdays, so I adjusted the recipe to make them into Rabbit Cookies. He loved them, and we had a great time chatting while we made them. Thanks for stopping by!

Braciole

Here's another recipe I was inspired to try because of a a TV sitcom. (See the post about Mulligatawney here.) There's an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" where Deborah tries a recipe for braciole. It turns out to be delicious, upsetting the whole family balance. So one day when I saw Giada De Laurentiis make her version of Braciole on "Everyday Italian" on the Food Network, I had to try it. It's been a family favorite ever since.

Here are some simplifications I make to this recipe:

• Instead of Pecorino Romano cheese, I use grated parmesan.
• Instead of provolone, I use mozzarella.
• I use round steaks from freezer beef from my parents' beef farm instead of flank steak. I'm not sure how they differ.
• Finally, I use a jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce instead of making my own, as suggested in the recipe.

I don't know much about wine. I have been using Oliver Winery white wine for a few years now whenever I have a recipe that calls for white wine. I really like it. It's a winery in Bloomington, IN and can be found in most Indiana grocery stores. Thanks for stopping by!

30 Day Gourmet

My dear friend, Olivia, told me about this cookbook, The 30 Day Gourmet Freezer Cooking Manual, a few years ago. It's a cookbook that promotes the idea of cooking in mass quantities and then freezing the food in smaller, family-size quantities. You can then pull out a meal, thaw it, and have it ready for dinner in a very short amount of time. I purchased one of these cookbooks, and I've tried a number of recipes from it. Some recipes I've tried from this book are ham loaf, stuffed shells/manicotti, granola, and brocolli cheese soup to name a few.


I like these type of cookbooks, and I posted about another one here. Thanks for stopping by!

Shrimp and Broccoli Fried Rice with Toasted Almonds

Every now and again, I'll make a dish with shrimp for dinner. Seafood can be expensive, but Meijer had 2-lb. bags of precooked, deveined frozen shrimp for $8. That's a pretty good deal, so we bought some. I also used these shrimp for the shrimp and grits recipes I posted about previously. Recipes for shrimp often call for raw shrimp, so I adjust the recipe to account for the fact that the shrimp are precooked. I just cook them enough to get heated through, because shrimp get tough if they are overcooked.


In the current Cooking Light magazine, there is a collection of recipes that are lighter, healthier versions of popular restaurant foods. I decided to try this recipe for Shrimp and Broccoli Fried Rice with Toasted Almonds. I thought it turned out pretty well, and we liked it. I may try it again, but use chicken instead of shrimp for a cheaper version. Thanks for stopping by!

Candy Carrot Coins

A few weeks ago, I tried a recipe for Maple Glazed Baby Carrots from the Kraft Foods website. They were good, but before adding them to my box of favorite recipes, I wanted to try a few others. Also from the Kraft Foods website is this recipe for Candy Carrot Coins. I made them one evening last week, and I liked this recipe better than the first one. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Creamy Chicken, Bacon & Tomato Pasta

One evening last week, our plans changed and instead of having dinner out, we were going to be eating at home. I had nothing planned, but had printed out this recipe to try sometime soon. I had already bought all the ingredients to make this at some point, although none are really anything out of the ordinary.


This Creamy Chicken, Bacon & Tomato Pasta recipe from Kraft Foods is so easy, and very good! We all really liked it, even the boys! The only adjustments I made to the recipe were that I added a little more bacon, used regular cream cheese, and I used some mini bowtie pasta (non whole-wheat) that I found at the grocery store. The little ones were easier for my boys to eat. This is a great quick recipe that turns out really well! Enjoy! Thanks for stopping by!

Mulligatawny

Do you remember the Seinfeld episode with the Soup Nazi? Various soups are mentioned in that episode, and one was called Mulligatawny. I have never known what that soup was or what was in it. Just recently, it was on a recipe list in a Family Fun cooking email, so I took a look at the recipe. It's basically a chicken and vegetable soup with a touch of curry. Jim and I love curry, so I had to try it. It is FABULOUS!!


If you read this blog very often, you know that I don't usually follow recipes exactly. I wanted to make this soup so that it would be hot and ready to eat for lunch when we got home from church. I made it up the night before and put it in a crock pot. I basically followed the recipe until the part where you add the chicken broth and tomatoes and let it simmer for an hour. At that point, I put the sauteed vegetable, chicken and curry mixture into the crock pot with the chicken broth and diced tomatoes. I let it cook on low overnight and then turned it off before we left for church. When we got home, we made up some rice, turned the crock pot on high just to heat it up, and Voila! Lunch was served!

I love making dishes that call for a lot of chopped vegetables. I like stand at my cutting board and chop a pile of veggies with my Santoku knife. I've taken some notes from watching the Food Network personalities, and I have to say, I've gotten fairly proficient at it for someone untrained in the culinary arts--not to mention I'm always looking for ways to get more vegetables into our family's diet. You may think this soup sounds a little strange just from its name or because it has curry in it, but don't be afraid to try something new. The curry isn't overpowering at all, and I think you'll be surprised at how good it is! Thanks for stopping by!

Breakfast Bake

I like to make nice, hot breakfasts for us on Saturday mornings when we're all home together. A few months ago, I first tried this Breakfast Bake recipe from Kraft Foods, and it was a keeper! The boys eat it, which is proof positive that it's good, because my oldest is a very picky eater. I've made it a few times since then, and it's been great every time. It's very easy, so I hope you try it the next time you'd like breakfast together with your family. Thanks for stopping by!