Spicy Sausage Corn Chowder

While clipping coupons the other day, I came across a picture of this delicious chowder with instructions to find the recipe online. Here is where to find the original recipe. Ironically, my sister made note of the exact same recipe this week. Funny!


I changed the recipe a little bit, so here is my version.


19 oz Gold'n Plump® Hot Italian Chicken Sausage(my grocer didn't carry, so I bought "The Turkey Store Hot Italian Sausage")
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion
1 large red pepper (chopped)
1 large carrot (chopped)
2 stalks celery (chopped)
3 medium russet potatoes (cubed, unpeeled)
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
4 cups chicken broth
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
1 can (about 15 ounces) cream-style corn
1 cup whole kernel corn (I used frozen corn & I would add more next time)

Directions

I didn't want big sausage "coins" in my soup, so I took the skins off the sausage and browned it so it would be "ground turkey". I will do the same next time as well.

In soup kettle, saute onion, pepper, carrot & celery in olive oil.

Stir in potatoes, Italian seasoning, and broth. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes or until vegetables are very tender.

Stir in evaporated milk, cream-style corn, whole kernel corn, and ground sausage. Simmer 1o minutes over low heat until hot.

Zuppa Toscana

Derek and I enjoy the Olive Garden when we get a chance...especially if it is the Olive Garden sans kids. About a month ago, we went while my kiddos spent the night with grandma and grandpa. Man, without our kids along, I was extra annoyed by other peoples' children. Anyways...Derek ALWAYS gets Zuppa Toscana. I finally decided to also order it to see what the big deal was. It was delicious! I decided to look online for a copycat recipe. I didn't follow one specific recipe that I found, but rather put bits and pieces of different ones together, picking out what I thought would mimic it the most... It was pretty close, but lacked the "punch" (next time I'll try either "hot" Italian sausage or the addition of red pepper flakes). I brought it to work and it got rave reviews. Now all I need is one of those hand cheese grinders so I can ask "Would you like fresh grated cheese on that?"

1 lb ground Italian sausage (next time I'll use "hot")
1 small onion, diced
3 strips of bacon (I cut mine small with scissors to avoid having to crumble)
3 medium to large potatoes unpeeled and cubed
2 tsp minced garlic
2 cups of kale, torn into bite sized pieces
32 oz chicken broth
2.5 cups of water
1 pint heavy cream
salt, pepper, garlic salt (to taste)
red pepper flakes if not using "hot" sausage (not sure on amount)

brown & drain sausage in fry pan, remove
fry bacon with onion until bacon is crisp and onion is tender, drain & remove
add sausage, bacon and onion to soup pot
add garlic, potatoes, kale, chicken broth & water
simmer until potatoes and kale are tender
stir in cream shortly before serving and heat through
season to taste

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

These. Were. Delicious. Wish I would have thought of such a thing...

Out of respect for Lori's blog, I will refer you to her blog for the original recipe. I did NOT add the chocolate drizzle/additional sprinkling of chocolate chips.

To keep up with "keeping it simple", these would be super easy if you simply used a box mix for the brownie portion. Also, my family likes chocolate chip cookie dough without too many chocolate chips, so I only used half the amount in the cookie dough batter.

Enjoy!

Cornflake Baked Chicken Legs

When Derek and I were first married, I made chicken legs A LOT. (Cheap, easy... and I had not one, but TWO recipes that I liked) Anyways, I either made them too much or Derek never really did like the recipes or both...but one day I got this confession "Could you lay off the chicken legs for awhile? I don't really like chicken legs that much." I kind of stopped making them all together. But recently, our girls seem to love chicken legs, so I gave them another try. This time, I looked for a different recipe. The girls and I really enjoyed them. As for Derek, he ended up working really late that night and picked up fast food on the way home, so I guess I won't know until next time if he still dislikes chicken legs.

3 c. corn flakes, crushed
10 chicken legs
3/4 stick butter, melted
Seasoned salt

Wash drumsticks and pat dry with paper towel.

Dip chicken legs in melted butter. Roll in crushed cornflakes. Lay on cookie sheet covered in foil. Sprinkle with seasoning salt.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 45-55 minutes.

Macho Nachos

There is a wonderful family that gets Peyton on the bus for us in the morning. To help return the favor, we watched their girls so that they could go out to dinner. When they came to pick up the girls, they brought us a HUGE bag of chips and some delicious salsa. I didn't want to let the abundance of chips go to waste, so I made "macho nachos". I had some leftover taco meat in the freezer from another meal, so I thawed & warmed that.

Here's what I did:

spread chips on bottom of large pizza pan
spread taco seasoned beef over them (would also be good with shredded chicken)
sprinkle cheddar cheese
add diced tomatoes and black olives
(next time, I may add re-fried beans or black beans)

bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese is melted

we served with sour cream, salsa & guacamole

Cherry Cobbler

I think I have finally perfected my cherry cobbler recipe to our liking. Some people like more topping, some like more cherries...but after playing around with the proportions enough, this is what I've finally written down in pen!

(BATTER)
1.5 c flour
3/4 c sugar
3 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
3 tbl melted butter
3/4 c milk

(FRUIT)
2 (15 oz) cans of tart cherries (1 can drained, 1 can un-drained)
1 c sugar
1/2 c hot water

Combine batter ingredients and pour into Pampered Chef Deep Dish Baker (or something similar). Combine "fruit" ingredients and pour over batter. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. We like to serve it warm with vanilla ice cream.

Pineapple Pretzel Fluff

You know how sometimes someone describes a recipe and you are like "What? That DOES NOT sound good...AT ALL!" Well, I was skeptical when I heard this recipe. BUT it ended up being soooooooo delicious. Can't wait for the next "potluck" type of event because I am totally bringing this!

PRETZELS

1 stick butter, melted
1/2 c sugar
1 c broken pretzels

combine melted butter, sugar and pretzels until well coated. Spread on baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 7 minutes.

FLUFF

12 oz cool whip, thawed
20 oz can crushed pineapple, drained
8oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c sugar

beat sugar with cream cheese, fold in cool whip, fold in pineapple


*Before serving, mix in pretzels. Reserve some pretzels to sprinkle on top.* (Note: not as good the next day when the pretzels are soggy. If you think you'll have leftovers, maybe allow guest to mix in their pretzels individually)

This is THE perfect blend of sweet and salty. LOVE it. And, if you have leftover pretzels, they are addicting on their own!