Italian Wedding Soup

The weather outside is getting colder and The Other Williams and I start craving soups this time of year. Soups have so many benefits it makes it difficult to ignore them. The most important one for us is the comfort a warm bowl of soup can bring on a cold day.

This soup is truly a masterpiece in a bowl. It's delicate yet hardy. It has amazing textures and the flavor is outstanding. It reminds me of chicken noodle soup only better. Italian Wedding soup is traditionally a green vegetable, meat (meatballs or sausage) and a clear broth. I think the key to making this amazing is good homemade broth.

Freezer Friendly: Lasagna Roll-Ups

Do you ever have those days where you just do NOT feel like cooking? Believe it or not, we do too. With a busy life of school and starting a business sometimes cooking for ourselves is just the last thing we want to do. However, eating out a lot recently has started to show its side effects on the scale. So in an effort to stay home to eat more, even when we really don’t feel like cooking, it’s time to stock the freezer. It’s the single best way we know to keep us from just going out and one we’ve been doing for years. {Check out our other Freezer Friendly Recipes}

Having food already prepared is part of our business model for Terra Cuisine. We’ve even turned our business name into a verb at our house. For example, “we’re Terra Cuisining ourselves so we can heat and eat!” We get the same benefits that our clients do!

I recently discovered this wonderful recipe! Its portion control, it’s homemade, and it is really delicious! Why go out when in 30-40 min we could be eating these Lasagna Roll-ups? I made a HUGE batch of these and put them in 3 Pyrex dishes for freezing. When we know we’re not going to feel like cooking we just take these out and either let them thaw overnight in the fridge or on the counter for an hour. Then just pop it in the oven for a bit, add a salad, and dinner is DONE!

The recipe is so simple to make and doesn’t take too much time. I did cut the cheese back on ours a little and they still tasted so delicious! I also substituted Italian sausage (one link of hot and 1 link of mild) in place of the hamburger that the original recipe called for to add more flavor. I forgot to take a picture of the roll ups with sauce and cheese on the top but I did add that before they went into the freezer. Kids would love these and they would even be great for entertaining with. They are like personal little lasagnas! Enjoy!

Pastrami Pesto Picnic Sammich

As I mentioned in the previous post, we tried to keep our costs down during our recent Colorado trip by fixing our own food. But we couldn't just fix cereal and ham and cheese, it needed to be something yummy! Our Egg & Avocado on Toast was perfect for breakfast and this delicious sammie was perfect for our on-the-go picnics.

On Sat, we explored Bear Creek Lake Park in Lakewood, CO. It was breath-taking to say the least. Bear Creek Lake Park has so much to offer any outdoors person. They have several lakes for kayaking and boating, a campground, tons of hiking trails, and a huge bike path. We saw more cyclist here than we've ever seen before. Literally, like, a hundred cyclist, probably.

The park also offer some pretty awesome picnic locations all throughout the park. Each picnic table was covered, which I was very happy to see. A little known fact about Colorado to those of us who don't live there is that the sun is fierce! So covered picnic tables were an awesome sight for this lily-white girl! 

We even spotted a coyote on our way out!

Above is what our lunch looked like. We grabbed a fruit platter from the store and ate on that for breakfast, lunch, and some snacking. We also grabbed some Boulder Canyon Chips. OMG! We LOVE Boulder Canyon Chips! We grabbed some of these two years ago when we were visiting Boulder, CO and have been craving them ever since.

The view from where we sat at one of the picnic shelters was beautiful. While we were eating lunch in roughly 75 degree weather, there were these light fluffy seeds that were seemingly floating around everywhere we went. It made it look like it was snowing! Very beautiful, but unfortunately I wasn't able to really capture it with my camera.

This sandwich was partially inspired by the Italian Compressed Sandwich we did a couple of months ago. This one however is a simpler version that is quick to make and just as delicious to eat! Give it a shot for lunch tomorrow or on your next picnic!

Garbage Stir Fry

This recipe is created out of necessity and the notion of not throwing anything away. We've joined a CSA this year and each week we get a bag of goodies, er, fruits & veggies.

There is only two of us but it's a small share. Still, sometimes it's hard for us to get through everything. We try to freeze, pickle, or can the leftovers but we'd much rather eat them fresh. In comes the garbage stir-fry.

We've done this twice now and each time it's been a little different. Here's the concept:

Clean out the fridge!

Seriously, toss everything you can think of into this stir-fry. The stir fry is such an easy throw-together meal and it's so versatile.

Here's what went into our last one: zucchini, cucumber, green pepper, grape and pear tomatoes, green onion, and even some lettuce at the end. We marinaded some beef in soy sauce or teriyaki and threw that in also. Put it all over a bed of rice and you're done!

For a sauce you could use a store bought Asia-style sauce, teriyaki sauce, or make your own by throwing some stuff together. Feel free to use and adapt our Chicken Broccoli Stir-Fry recipe for this purpose!

So clean out that fridge and don't waste an ounce of your bountiful harvest!

Lasagne Bolognese with Spinach

You know how you can spend all day working on a lasagna and when you put it on the plate it looks like a complete mess? That won't happen with this recipe.

Instead of a sloppy tomato sauce this drier version uses a delicious and super flavorful Bolognese. Bolognese sauce is a meat sauce that is sometimes mistaken as a tomato sauce, but it's really only supposed to have a touch of tomato paste and that's it. The Bolognese is ALL about the meat.

Speaking of meat, you want to buy the best for this sauce. For us, that's grassfed, local beef chuck. The Bolognese is where you're going to get 90% of the flavor for the lasagna and the better the beef the better the whole thing will be.

This is one of those recipes you could spend the whole day making but it also freezes well! It would be perfect for a family gathering or a dinner party as you can do everything the day before and just pop it in the oven before the guests arrive.

We had a lot of fun spending a Sunday afternoon and evening cooking and preparing this together. Our whole house smelt delicious for hours.

Holiday Party Series: Brown Sugar-Bacon Wrapped Weenies

The Other Williams' mom told us about this recipe and people, including my 10 yr old nephew, couldn't stay out of them. They were sweet but not too sweet and very good!

• 2 packages beef cocktail weenies
• 1 pound good bacon
• 1 pound brown sugar
• tooth picks

1. Cut bacon and wrap around the cocktail weenies. One strip of bacon should wrap three weenies. Place a toothpick through to hold the bacon on.
2. Place all the bacon-wrapped weenies into a crock-pot and layer in brown sugar.
3. Cook for 4-5 hours on high
4. Skim off fat from the top and remove weenies.
5. Optional: for a thicker sauce pour sauce into a sauce pan and reduce. Serve hot.

When The Other Williams Cooks: Meatloaf

I'm the blogger in this family, not the cook.

But on occasion I have to cook and this is what I can do. My local grocery store will mix up a meatloaf mix which includes a meat mixture of pork, veal, and beef. They will also add the spices, eggs, and breadcrumbs. Yes, it's awesome. If they don't already have it mixed up I call ahead and ask them to mix it for us, which I do.

Once it's home, I add an addition egg and bread crumbs for more moisture. Then shape it and throw it into a baking dish with carrots and potatoes at 375. Around 45 min later, dinner is served and I barely did anything. I get a pound of meatloaf mix and we each eat 1/3 of it. (The rest goes into a lunch box.) The veggies aren't normally done when the meat is. So I take out the meatloaf and cover it then put the veggies back in the oven. That it. I love it and so does the other Williams

Homemade Pasta Bolognese

A few weeks ago we went to one of our favorite Italian places downtown, Trattoria Giorgio. The Other Williams got an amazing pasta bolognese and just had to give her old recipe a make over. This was the yummy result. The blend of veal, beef, and pork really put this recipe over the edge. We called ahead to our meat department and asked them to ground and mix the meat mixture for us.

The pasta is also homemade and a the recipe for that will be posted soon. If your craving some good Italian this is your recipe!

Freezer Stuffing - Mama's Beef Vegetable

This past weekend we did some major stuffing of our freezer. We made both lunches and dinners for future grab-n-go use and stocked our stand up freezer heavily with the goodies. We did the Adult Beanie-weanies, Minestrone & Beef Vegetable Soups (see recipe below), and Chili. I also made some trail mix that is super yummy for some healthy snacking! These were low cost meals that were easy to make in big batches and freeze well.

Having homemade grab-n-go lunches and dinners will allow us to eat more at home even when we're too busy to cook.

I've been eating this Beef Vegetable soup recipe all my life. My mother got the recipe from my Nannie and although it uses a lot of canned vegetables instead of fresh, for me you can't substitute the canned. It just doesn't have the flavor. My mom and grandmother would cook this soup for a minimum of 3 hours but I've had success condensing it down to 1.5 hours before. I would go any less than that.

This is also fabulous reheated. I remember coming home from school, pulling out the big pot with leftovers in it and heating up a small bowl in the microwave for a snack. This is great for lunches the next day or week.

This soup is very forgiving. You can't mess it up and you can use just about anything in it but I stick to my tried and true ingredients. I've also added my own touches to the soup, just as my mother did when she got the recipe from my Nannie. With each generation it gets better.

This is the kind of soup you want to take your time with. Open the windows on a fall afternoon, sit down with a good book, and pour all your love into the pot while the wonderful aromas fill your house. Patience is important for this one, it's not a quick fix. This soup will fill your tummy with warmth and love.

If I'm making a double batch I'll make it in two pots so as not to mess with the flavor too much. Great for freezing or on a cold day with some warm cornbread-everyone will love this one.


Mama's Beef Vegetable Soup

Servings: 6-8

1 lb Ground Beef
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
2 large cans of Stewed Tomatoes (Or 2 Quarts of home-canned tomatoes)
1 can Succotash (between canned veggies and tomatoes at the store)
1 tbsp Tomato Paste
1 can Veg-all (don't get the low or no sodium)
1 small can of whole corn kernels
1 potato, peeled and diced
1 cup Elbow Mac noodles
Kosher Salt, to taste

Add beef & seasonings to a large soup pot and cook until browned. Drain grease.
Add tomatoes, succotash, and tomato paste. Then fill tomato can twice with water and add. Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer. Let simmer for 30 minutes to and hour.
Add Veg-all and simmer 30 minutes to an hour. Add water if needed.
Add potato and corn and simmer 30 more minutes
Taste broth and season with salt, pepper, or other seasonings as you see fit.
Add Mac and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Serve hot with cornbread or cool and freeze.

Enjoy this tummy warming meal made with love.

Note: We have tried canning this soup and the noodles didn't hold up to well. If you want to can this soup leave out the noodles and follow canning instruction for tomato based soups.

Skirt Steak "Saltimbocca"

We enjoyed this meal on the back porch after being rained out of our picnic the other night. I can not even begin to describe how utterly amazing this meal was! It's what I term "Company Good." Which means, it would be a great meal to serve when you have someone over. I also thought it was "Restaurant Good", meaning I'd pay top dollar for this meal in a fine restaurant. The key is to not skimp on the ingredients, get the good stuff for this meal.

While we were on vacation last month we got to watch one of our favorite shows on Food Network, Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello. I just love him and his entertaining tips are always handy to know. I also like that a lot of his recipes can be done the day before and it allows you to spend more time with your guest's and not in the kitchen. He normally does an entire meal and this Saltimbocca was the main course. The Zucchini Pappardelle with Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette, Arugula and Feta Cheese he paired with this meal will be reviewed next week and is the salad you see in the picture.

We also really enjoyed the presentation quality and portions of meat and veg on the plate. This was a very healthy meal and you can tell that just by looking at it. The skirt steak is perfect for this but we had sirloin in the freezer so The Other Williams used that and pounded it out. We only used one steak for the both of us and the portion you see is just a half of a steak. Nice, right?

We paired this with the Macchia Zinfandel "Mischievous", which is just under $20 at our local Total Wine store. It went amazingly with this meal. I can't even begin to explain how utterly fabulous this meal was. This isn't a quick-fix meal but if you're doing an at-home date night or having company, I HIGHLY recommend this one. Cook together, sip the wine, and enjoy each others company. Salute.

Serving: 4-6

Ingredients
* 2 pounds skirt steak, trimmed of fat (we used one sirloin steak for the both of us)
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 6 ounces aged provolone, sliced
* 2 bunches fresh sage
* 12 slices prosciutto
* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut the steak into 3 1/2 to 4-ounce pieces. Pound each steak out evenly to about 25 percent of its original thickness. Season them with pepper. On top of each steak place a slice of provolone, some sage leaves, and 2 slices prosciutto. Roll them up into a pinwheel and secure with toothpicks.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and saute the pinwheels until they are brown on both sides. Place them in the oven and roast until they are medium rare, about 7 minutes. Let the steaks rest for 5 minutes before carving them into bite-sized wheels.

Put the skillet back on medium-high heat. Add the remaining sage leaves and cook until they are crispy. Drain them on paper towels; use them to garnish steak.

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Flat Iron Steak Sammie with a Three Pepper Rub

We had some friends over for dinner during the week and this quick and delicious meal is what we served. Everyone seemed to really enjoy it and it was truly yummy! The smokiness and heat from the peppers were just great. The steak was also delicious! The Other Williams mixed up some chipotle mayo to go along with this and to kick the heat up for those that liked more heat. We served this with a Southwestern Salsa.

This would also make for a killer fancy picnic. Pair with a nice red wine and tah-dah!

* 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon brown sugar
* 2 teaspoons chili powder
* 1 teaspoon chipotle sauce
* ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
* ½ teaspoon garlic powder
* ½ teaspoon onion powder
* ½ teaspoon ground cumin
* 2 pounds flat iron steaks
* 6-12 (depending on size) good sandwich rolls
* 1 avocado, sliced
* Salsa

Directions
1. Stir together the paprika, salt, sugar, chili powder, chipotle sauce, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin in a small bowl until blended. Rub the seasoning mix all over the flat iron steaks, then wrap them tightly with plastic wrap. Marinate in the refrigerator 2 to 8 hours (the longer the better).

2. Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat, and lightly oil grate.

3. Cook the steaks on the preheated grill until cooked to your desired degree of doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium. Allow the steaks to rest for 5 minutes in a warm location before slicing.

4) Assemble sandwiches on roll with desired condiments.

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Similar Recipes:
Chicken with Southwestern Salsa

Mini Reubens

For New Years Eve, we always do an appetizer buffet. This classic little mini sammy is one we've done for the past two years and it's really yum! Enjoy!

• 1 (1 pound) loaf cocktail rye bread
• 1 cup thousand island dressing
• 1 1/2 pounds deli sliced corned beef
• 1 (16 ounce) jar sauerkraut, rinsed and well drained
• 1 pound sliced Swiss cheese

1. Preheat the oven's broiler.
   
   
2. Arrange cocktail rye slices on a baking sheet. Top each one with about 2 teaspoons of thousand island salad dressing, then fold about 1/2 slice of corned beef to fit the bread, and lay over the dressing. Place a small amount of sauerkraut over the meat, then top with 1/4 slice of the Swiss cheese, or a slice about as big as the bread.
   
   
3. Broil for 3 to 5 minutes, until cheese is melted. Top with another slice of rye and serve warm.

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Beef Stroganoff

This recipe came from Terri's mom and it's one of our favorite meals to make and eat. It's quick and easy and the taste is just delicious! Let's start shall we?


Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
2 can's of Cream of Mushroom soup
1 small package of mushrooms, sliced
1 small container of sour cream
1/2 bag egg noodles
Onion powder (or onions if you like them)
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions

First Brown the hamburger in a skillet

Next add the sour cream, cans of mushroom soup, onion powder, and salt and pepper.

Stir together to combine

Add mushrooms and simmer 20-30 minutes, until shrooms are cooked

In another pot cook egg noodles according to package instructions

Drain noodles. Then plate noodles and top with beef mixture. YUM!

Camp Goulash

We had such a great time camping this weekend and cooked up some yummy food also. I’ll be sharing them throughout the week so stay tuned! This is one of our favorite meals on Friday nights when we camp. We normally leave work on Friday to go camping for the weekend. Friday is a really short day so sometimes it’s hard to cook a good dinner over the fire because we’re setting up camp. Instead we make this yummy, fast, throw together meal that’s hearty, tasty and totally easy. We use a propane burner to cook everything for this meal and try to do most of the prep the night before, like browning the meat. These could also be a quick meal at home oven the stove.

1 box Velveeta Shells and Cheese
1 can Whole, Peeled Tomatoes, Diced
1 lb ground beef or turkey, cooked and drained
Salt and pepper to taste

Prepare Velveeta according to the package instruction.

Add the tomatoes, browned meat, and salt & pepper to the pot. Stir and cook until thoroughly warm throughout.

Serve while hot.

Makes 2-3 big servings

Mini Meatloaves

On the Give peas a chance blog I found this WONDERFUL mini meatloaf recipe for lunches or on the go dinners. It was simply delicious and so easy! You can ask you butcher for the meat mixture or some grocery stores carry the meatloaf mix already packaged together. I highly recommend this mix as it left the meatloaf moist and didn't shrink up much at all. I have added a few spices for some extra flavor. We also used a regular muffin tin but you can also use mini muffin tins for bite sized meatloafs. The regular tins gave us 7 servings. We'll freeze these for lunches and pop them into a lunch box for reheating at work. It's amazing what you can put in a muffin tin! Hope you enjoy!

1/3 pound ground beef
1/3 pound ground veal
1/3 pound ground pork
2 eggs
sea salt
ground mustard
ground black pepper
Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic- minced
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 small onion chopped
3/4 cup bread crumbs plain
2 Tbs tomato paste
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
Ketchup (1/3 cup)

Preheat oven to 350

In a large bowl mix everything but the ketchup. Do NOT over mix, your meat will get tough.

Fill your muffin tins or whatever cooking vessel you decide to use. Spread the tops with Ketchup.

Cook about 15/20 minutes to bake at 350. We used a meat thermometer and highly suggest you do too for perfectly moist meatloaf. Temp should come up to 160.

Beef Colcannon

For St Patrick's Day, or Irish Day at my house, we normally prepare a special meal that is from Irish decent. The Other Williams found this one and it was not disappointing. The Other Williams, of course, made it her own and we added beef chuck roast, leeks, and garlic to the traditional Colcannon for a complete meal. It was really yummy! We of course halved this recipe for us. It still gave us two lunch-leftovers.

2 pounds Beef Chuck Roast
4 lbs (1.8kg) potatoes, or about 7-8 large potatoes ('old' potatoes or russet potatoes are best, waxy potatoes won't do)
1 green cabbage or Kale
1/2 cup leeks, sliced thinly
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup ( 7 fl oz, 240 ml) milk (or cream)
1 stick (4oz, 120g) butter, divided into three parts
4-5 scallions (green onions), chopped
Salt and Pepper
Fresh Parsley or chives

Method
Brown all sides of Roast in a dutch oven on the stove. Add two cups of water, garlic and leeks. Cover and simmer for about an hour to an hour and a half on low-med heat. Shred meat and let sit in broth for a while to get moist. Remove beef with slotted spoon.

Add potatoes to dutch oven. Cover potatoes completely with added water and cook until tender.

Remove the core from the cabbage, slice it thinly, and put into a seperate pot. Cover with boiling water and keep at a slow rolling boil until the cabbage is just wilted and has turned a darker green. This can take anything from 3-5 minutes depending on the cabbage. Test it and don't let it overcook, if anything it should be slightly undercooked.

When the cabbage is cooked, drain it well, squeeze to get any excess moisture out, then return to the saucepan. Add one third of the butter and cover. Leave it covered and in a warm place, but not on a burner, with the butter melting gently into it while you continue.

When the potatoes are soft, drain and return the saucepan, with the drained potatoes in, to a low burner, leaving the lid off so that any excess moisture can evaporate. When they are perfectly dry, add the milk to the saucepan along with a third of the butter and the chopped scallions if you are using them. Allow the milk to warm but not boil - it is about right when the butter has fully melted into it and it starting to steam.

With a potato masher or a fork mash the potatoes thoroughly into the butter/milk mixture. Do NOT pass through a ricer or, worse, beat in a mixer as it will make the potatoes gluey and disgusting.

Mix the cabbage & beef thoroughly through the mashed potato.

Before serving season with a little salt and sprinkle with fresh parsley or chives. Most importantly, make a well in the centre of the mound of potato and put the last third of the butter in there to melt.

Roasted Tomato–Beef Goulash with Caraway

Here's last nights dinner and it was really enjoyable! The sauce was thick and the beef was so tender. We both agreed this would be a little better over rice instead of noodles but the noodles were excellent also! We also didn't add the caraway seeds. Enjoy!

Ingredients
2 pounds bottom round roast, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons canola oil
2 tablespoons paprika, divided
1 to 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
1 1/4 cups coarsely chopped onion (about 1 large)
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained (such as Muir Glen)
4 cups cooked medium egg noodles (about 2 1/2 cups uncooked pasta)

Preparation
1. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper.
2. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add beef to pan; cook 3 minutes or until browned on all sides. Add 1 tablespoon paprika and caraway seeds. Reduce heat to medium, and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, remaining 1 tablespoon paprika, onion, celery, carrot, and garlic; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Serve over noodles.

Yield
8 servings (serving size: 1/2 cup goulash and 1/2 cup noodles)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 299(26% from fat); FAT 8.5g (sat 2.3g,mono 3.6g,poly 1.2g); PROTEIN 27.2g; CHOLESTEROL 91mg; CALCIUM 41mg; SODIUM 403mg; FIBER 2.9g; IRON 4.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 27.6g

Sheryl Chomak, Beaverton, OR , Cooking Light, MARCH 2008