30 Minute Stuffed Pepper Soup

Tomorrow is the first day of spring, but we still have some patches of snow on the ground.  It is starting to warm up THANK GOODNESS!!!  I am not sure how much more cold weather I can handle-my kiddos REALLY need to start playing outside.  While it is still chilly outside I am going to make a few more soup recipes.  This recipe is quick, easy, hearty, and DELICIOUS!  The adults in my family (in-laws and husband) recently requested Stuffed Peppers.  I had to laugh at them because most of them don't even like pepper, they just love the "goodness" that is inside the stuffed pepper.  This is all of the good stuff in one pot!  They loved it! peppers and all!  Activities are starting to pick up (ok maybe they never calmed down) in our house which means that any meal that can be made in less than 30 minutes is a hit with me!

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 1 Large Green Pepper (diced)
• 1/2 of an Onion (finely chopped)
• 14-16 oz of Beef Broth
• 1 14.5 oz Can of Basil, Oregano, and Garlic Diced Tomatoes (undrained)
• 1 Jar of Chunky Tomato Sauce (I used  a jar of Prego Thick and Chunky Garden Style Pasta Sauce)
• 1 Box of Long Grain and Wild Rice (cooked according to package)
• 1/4 pound of Mild or Spicy Italian Sausage
• 3/4 pound Ground Beef

The rice will take about 25 minutes so start cooking it when you start the sausage.  Cook sausage, onion, and green pepper in skillet until sausage is cooked through.  Dump can of tomatoes, tomato sauce, and beef broth in soup pot.  When sausage and onion are done dump them in too.  Using the same skillet as the sausage, cook and crumble the ground beef.  Drain the ground beef and add to the soup mixture.  When the rice is done stir it into soup.  You will have a thick, slightly spicy, and yummy soup that is perfect for any chilly evening.  

Snowman Tower of Gifts

Every once in while I am able to take my time and wrap a couple of gifts in a unique way.  My husband was the lucky one to receive this one.  It was very easy.  I didn't have any plain white paper so I just used regular wrapping paper flipped the other way.  I used a hat and scarf from the closet, but you could easily buy new and make them part of the gift.  

Materials

• Black Paper
• Orange Paper
• 3 Different Sized Boxes
• Wrapping Paper
• Hat and Scarf

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Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup

I am a huge fan of two types of soups 1- The kind that you make in the slow cooker and 2- The kind that you can throw together quickly and simmer for less than 20 minutes.  This one falls into the second category.  When I made this the other night, I had to eat it and rush out the door to a meeting so I didn't get to hear everyone's comments and feedback.  I enjoyed the soup a lot, but I wasn't sure what my mother-in-law, father-in-law, and husband were going to think.  Well, 3 days later my father-in-law was still talking about how much he enjoyed it and was wondering when I was going to make it again.  He generally likes everything that I make.  He is by FAR the most critical member of the family.  If you likes something he lets me know and if he doesn't like something he also lets me know:)  I appreciate his feed back and I have learned to take his critiques as encouragement  so I appreciate his opinion.  Although sometimes he tries to get way to technical and we all laugh at him and keep eating.  

Ingredients:

• About 2 Cups of Baby Spinach
• 3 14 oz cans of Chicken Broth
• 1 lb of Mild Italian Sausage
• 1 can of Italian Seasoned Diced Tomatoes
• 4 oz Cream Cheese (not fat free, it won't melt) at room temperature and cut into cubes
• 1 small package of Frozen Tortellini

Serves 6

Cook, crumble 1 lb of bulk mild Italian Sausage.  Drain off excess grease.  In a large pot combine chicken broth, tomatoes (undrained), and cooked sausage.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat to med and add cream cheese.  Stir to combine and melt.  When cream cheese is melted throughout, add in spinach and tortellini.  Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until tortellini is cooked.

If you want this soup to be spicier, add a pinch of red pepper flakes and/or use HOT Italian Sausage.  

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Hearty Beef Stew

This week the temperatures dropped considerably and we needed something to warm us up.  We were on vacation all last week and this was the perfect recipe to ease back into the cooking routine.  I was spoiled eating at Disney World- NO cooking, but best of all NO CLEANING!  Personally the mushrooms were my favorite part of this stew (but I love mushrooms!!) I am glad that I finally paid attention and wrote down how I made this stew because I always forget what I put in it.

Ingredients:

• Drizzle of Olive Oil
• 1 lb of Cubed Stew Beef
• 4 Carrots- cut into pieces
• 2 Potatoes- cut in to pieces
• 2 Stalks Celery- cut into pieces
• Small Onion- I leave my fairly in fairly large pieces
• 6-8 Whole Mushrooms- cut into thick slices
• 6 Cups of Beef Stock (I use Better than Bouillion- it comes in a jar.  I usually add a little more than the directions say on the jar to give it a little richer flavor.  I added 3 tablespoons for 6 cups of water)
• 3 Tablespoons Flour
• 1 Tablespoon Butter
• About three strips of Bacon- cooked and chopped
• 2-3 Tablespoons Red Wine (I used Shiraz because that is what I had open this time)
• A pinch of Steak Seasoning
• A pinch of Dried Rosemary
• 1 1/2 Cloves of Minced Garlic
• 1 Bay Leaf

Serves 4-5

Drizzle Olive Oil in a large skillet.  Add beef.  Sprinkle beef with steak seasoning.  Cook for about two minutes and then add in celery, onion, and carrots.  Cook for additional 3-4 minutes.  Pour meat and veggies into large slow cooker.  Add in potatoes, mushrooms, garlic, rosemary, bay leaf, bacon, and stir together.  

Pour in the wine and beef stock.  I know it looks like a lot of mushrooms in the picture.  Everything else is heavy and sinks to the bottom while the mushrooms float to the top.  Cook on low for about 6 hours.

Mix 2 tablespoons of flour with 1 tablespoon of softened butter to make a paste.  

Remove one cup of broth from the slow cooker and whisk in the flour butter mixture.  Pour back in the slow cooker and mix well.  If this isn't enough to slightly thicken it, remove another cup of hot broth and mix in another another tablespoon of flour.  I didn't want my stew super thick so this was perfect for me.  I then turn slow cooker to high for about 20 mins and served with garlic cheddar biscuits.

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Chicken Corn Chowder

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I know that Sherrie made a corn chowder last week that her husband absolutely LOVED, my husband is a little skeptical of it because he has never had it before (and neither have I) but what's not to love... bacon, chicken, corn, potato... It all sounds good to me!  My mother-in-law has been asking me to make it for awhile and she saw Sherrie's Recipe (because she is a devoted Magical Mom follower) and said that this was the one she wanted to try.  Sherrie included lots of tips and tricks in her recipe that I used. The biggest difference is that I am adding chicken to mine.  We had our Slow Cooker 8 Spice Lemon Chicken earlier this week and there is some left over so I figured it would be the perfect time to try Sherrie's recipe.

Ingredients:

• About 1 1/2 Cups of Rotisserie Chicken (shredded)
• 4 Slices of Bacon (cooked and chopped)
• 1 Small Sweet Onion (finely diced)
• Olive Oil
• 4 Idaho Potatoes (peeled)
• 1 Can of Cream Corn
• 1 Can of Cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 Cube Chicken Bouillon
• 1 teaspoon Cajun Seasoning
• 3 Cups of Milk (I used 1%)
• 1 Cup of Water
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Serves 6+

In a large pot drizzle a little bit of olive oil and heat.  Add onion and cook until they start to become soft.  Peel potatoes.  I took Sherrie's advice and quartered them and placed them in my Pampered Chef Manual Food Processor to chop them very small.  The smaller pieces allow for the soup to cook quicker and gives a great consistency to the soup.

Shred the chicken.

Add bacon, cream corn, cream of chicken soup, potatoes, chicken, bouillon cube, and cajun seasoning.  Stir to combine.

Pour in milk and water and stir.  Heat over medium heat stirring occasionally.  When soup is heated through reduce to low and simmer for about 30 minutes stirring often.

Slow Cooker Loaded Potato Soup

This is one of the easiest recipes you will EVER make!  I made my grandmother's potato soup recipe one time and boy was it difficult.  It was way to much work for something I knew I could make in the slow cooker.  So when I came across the original recipe to this potato soup I was so excited to try it.  Our version is a staple recipe in our house.  Perfect for a fall/winter day and it leaves me leftovers for my lunch too!
Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup diced onion
• 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 block of Cream Cheese (don't use fat free, it won't melt.  some times I use about 3/4 of a block to make it not so thick)
• 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
• 1 bag of Shredded Hash Browns
• 28 oz of Chicken Broth 
• 6-8 slices of Bacon cooked crispy and crumbled
• Scallions

Combine hashbrowns, cream of chicken soup, pepper, onion, and chicken broth in slow cooker.  Cook on low for about 5 hours.

For the last hour, cut cream cheese into cubes and place in slow cooker.  Add in crumbled bacon and stir.  I usually stir a few times to help the cream cheese melt and evenly distribute.

Top with a little more bacon, some shredded cheddar, and scallions.

This recipe was featured on our Appetizing April Menu. Check out the entire April menu for a variety of dinner ideas!

Snow Cream

This is the weather that we have been waiting for all winter! Today was the day, the Lewis Family FINALLY had snow (and a snow day).  The weather man has been teasing us for the last few months saying that we would get a few inches here or there, but he was always wrong.  Today we got a little more than a few inches so we are celebrating with ICE CREAM!  A few months ago, a friend of mine was telling me about how her children LOVE to make Snow Cream.  I had never heard of it before.  I grew up in Ohio with LOTS of snow, so I figured I knew everything about snow.  I guess I was wrong.  How could I not know about the super fun kid friendly activity?

Evan catching snow flakes on his tongue

Nathan and Daddy making the base for our snowman

Nathan taking a break from shoveling

Ingredients:

• A Bowl of Snow (make sure it's clean snow!)
• Vanilla Extract
• Milk or Cream- I used a combo of Milk and Heavy Cream
• Sugar
• Sprinkles, Mini Chocolate Chips, Crushed Oreos, or whatever Mix In you would like

I actually used our ice cream makers, but I think next time I would either not freeze the bowls for the ice cream maker or just use my electric hand mixer.  Nathan could not stop talking about what flavor he was going to make next time.  I didn't know how to tell him that he was going to have to wait until next winter because spring is right around the corner.