Tasty Tuesday - Cheeseburger Paradise Soup

Bet you thought I was dead? Nope, just been sick and crazy busy. Well mostly sick and trying to keep my head above water. Your in luck for the rest of the week though. Be thankful.

It's soup weather. Thank goodness. Now my husband can't make fun of me for wanting soup when it's 95 outside. The weirdo.

Him.

Not me. I'm never weird.

Hey! What are asking him for?!?! He's biased.

I was in the mood for soup, and when I was figuring out what to fix for dinner this week, my husband saw this recipe and was reminded how incredibly awesome it was and that we needed to add it to the weekly lineup. So lucky you, I remember to take pictures (of most of it) and now you can enjoy this stuff too!

Soups on:

In a large saucepan, soup kettle, or cooking device. Lid optional.

Okay, anyway, in the pot add your potatoes, carrot, onion, green pepper, jalapeno, water, bouillon, garlic, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Now, I am guessing that their idea of medium potatoes is different than my idea of medium potatoes, because by the time I threw everything in, the water didn't even cover everything. So, if your idea of medium potatoes is like my idea of medium potatoes, add enough water to cover everything. Just barely. The onions, carrots and peppers will add to the liquid. Trust me. I'm an expert.

Meanwhile, in a skillet, add some butter, beef, and mushrooms and cook until meat is no longer pink. If you need to drain, drain. Otherwise your soup will be greasy. Greasy soup is bad. Hopefully your burners don't suck as much as mine do and your potatoes will be done and you won't have to wait like I did. But when your potatoes get their act together, add in the beef mixture. But first - remember where you added more water? Does your potatoes seem awfully "watery"? If so, drain some out. Leave just enough to barely cover the potatoes and other veggies.

Trust me.

I'm an expert.

Then your going to forget to take pictures of the rest of the steps. But even though there are no pictures, that doesn't mean that you can ignore the rest of the steps, otherwise your soup will just be ingredients floating in potato and carrot flavored water.

Sounds.....atrocious.

Add the milk. Now remember, if you added additional water, you'll need to add additional milk. Otherwise it won't have the creamy texture that your looking for. You can substitute heavy cream or half and half to use less and still get the creamy-ness. I probably added about a cup extra of milk, but I added about 6ish extra cups of water.

Let everything bubble and boil and toil and....stew. In a small-ish bowl, add the flour and the remaining cup of milk. I left my flour the same and everything came out fine even with the additional liquid. Mix it all up until it's nice and creamy, and add it to the pot. Mix everything up and return to a boil. Let everything boil for a few minutes or until thickened. Now, your going to add cheese. Velveeta tends to help thicken, so don't get the soup so thick at this point that you forget that your adding Velveeta, otherwise your soup is going to become more like a casserole. So leave it a little runny, and start adding your Velveeta. It will continue to thicken.

Trust me.

I'm an expert.

Or don't trust me and live with runny soup. To run or not to run that is the question.

So just trust me. I'm an .... well you get the idea.

Once your Velveeta has been added and had the chance to melt and cover everything in its cheesy processed goodness, it's time to grab a bowl and a spoon. Top it off with some grated cheese, and the bacon and a few slices of green onion and inhale.

Note: If you make this the way I did, you'll have enough for several meals. For two of us it came out to about 4 meals...times 3. But that was my goal. Dinner now, and dinner again when it's close to finals and I'm too busy studying to care about cooking and then one more go round next semester. Just get it out of the freezer and let it defrost in the fridge overnight. Then you can either microwave it up, or stick in back in the pot and warm up that way. Either way works. Enjoy!


Hint: Want to print this easier? Just click on the title and print. You can keep what you need and what you don't.


Cheeseburger Paradise Soup

6 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 carrot, grated
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped seeded jalapeno pepper (about 2 peppers)
6 cups water
2 tbsp plus 2 tsp beef bouillon granules
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 pounds ground beef (or turkey)
1/2 pound sliced mushrooms
2 tbsp butter
6 cups milk divided
8 tbsp all purpose flour
1 (16 oz) Velveeta cheese, cubed
crumbled cooked bacon (optional)
grated cheddar cheese (optional)
diced green onions (optional)

1. In a large saucepan, combine the potatoes, carrots, onions, jalapeno, green pepper, water, beef bouillon, garlic, pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper; bring to a boil Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook beef and mushrooms in butter over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain well. Add to potato mixture. Stir in 5 cups of milk; heat through.
3. In a small bowl, whisk the flour and remaining milk until smooth; gradually stir into soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 3-4 minutes or until thickened. Reduce heat; stir in cheese until melted. Garnish with bacon, cheese, and green onions if desired.

Update on the List Progress

Sheesh. This semester is whizzing by, but at the same time, I find myself asking numerous times each week "is it Thanksgiving yet?". This has been one of those weeks, when I've wanted to drop all my classes and take a 6 month long nap. College at 34, with a full time job, a couple of free-lancing gigs, and trying to have a life that doesn't revolve around college, work, or free-lancing is kicking my butt.

Here's some updates on the progress on the list.

1. I'm working on that graduate thing. You know, trying to pass my classes and do my homework and all that jazz. There is progress. Somewhere. I hate homework.
2. I'm trying to "plan" my technology free weekend for this month. I hate that I can't just plan, but I've got to make sure that I don't have stuff posted on Craigslist, since texting will be out of the picture.
3. My plans to lose 60 pounds begin tomorrow.
4. Saving every $5 bill that comes into my posession has been hard. I keep forgetting to save them. Since I'm using part of my weekly allowance as "extra" money to help make my tuition payments, those $5 bills have been my only source of cash. While I'm still hoarding them, I'm also using them to keep up with other little things when I need too. I'll start doing better with this. It's harder than I thought.
5. My "thankful" list. This has been tough. School is kicking my butt and wearing me out. I took too many hours this semester and I'm paying for it. I'm not getting enough rest and my stress level is crazy, crazy high. I've got so much stuff going on, that I am barely, barely keeping my head above water. It's been hard to be thankful for the things I wanted to. Right now, I'm thankful for 5 hour energy, and weekends. So I can catch up on sleep and try to de-stress some before the next week starts beating me up again.
6. The recipes, well that's been easier. I have to cook on the weekends so that we have something to eat during the week. So that's worked out well for both of us.
7. The launching of a cooking blog - well, I'm sorta doing that here, so I'm going to consider it a work in process. I might start a separate one later, but I can barely maintain one blog let alone 2.
8. I keep looking at some of the things on that list and wonder what in the world I was thinking. Karoke? Seriously? I can't sing? I don't like getting up in front of people I don't know. What was I thinking?!?!?!?

Coming up next week......
1. A quick soup recipe that involves cheeseburgers.
2. Wordless Wednesday The theme is "things I do in my spare time". Don't worry there will be no pictures of textbooks. Sewing projects, cross stitch, and whatever else I find that I've made.
3. A Finance exam....well that one really isn't for you...but if you wanted to know where I'll be at 6:30 on Wednesday night, I'll be taking a Finance exam.
4. Hopefully something exciting will happen over the weekend and I can come up with something else for you for next week.

Tasty Tuesday - Magic Millionaire Pie

I love quick and easy. Homework, work, sewing, even cooking. Every now and then I just want something awesome to come together quickly.

That's exactly what this pie does. I call this a "dump" recipe, because you basically dump everything in one bowl and go. You can literally make this pie in under 5 minutes, then just put in the fridge to chill and viola! Instant dessert.

Its quick, it's easy, and the best part - it's amazing. My grandmother always requests this pie at all family gatherings when my mom asked to help. Always. I think that my grandmother things my mom slaves away hours to make this pie, it tastes that good. Most people don't believe that you can even make this, low sugar, low fat and still enjoy something this decadent. So are you ready to make one, punk? Well are you?

The stars of the show:

Graham cracker crust, vanilla pudding mix, crushed pineapple, sour cream, and whipped topping.

Like I said before, just dump. In a medium bowl, add the pudding mix and crushed pineapple. Straight from the box and the can. Don't drain or otherwise do anything. Give it a stir until the pudding and pineapple have became one. Now, dump the entire carton of sour cream in, now stir it all about and do the hokey pok....nevermind.

Stir until it's all mixed together. Now, here's the cool part. It's time for the magic. Say you need to make enough to feed 12 people. Obviously 1 pie isn't going to cut it, but never fear. Instead of the extra large crust that I used to make one pie, just split the ingredients between the two regular size crusts and top with their own tub of whipped topping and voila - 2 pies. Just want one pie, well, just dump it all in the extra large crust and - 1 large pie. See, magic.

Either way, dump the filling into the crust and top with whipped topping. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours or until set up. This pie really tastes the best when it can sit overnight and all the ingredients can really get acquainted.

Once the pie has set in the fridge for a few hours, cut it up and enjoy! Hopefully you have a trick to getting that darn graham cracker crust to stay together so your pie doesn't fall all apart. It might not be pretty, but it sure makes up for the ugliness with it's awesomeness. And as long as you get it all mixed up, you can't tell there is a drop of sour cream in it. It's sneaky and magic.








Millionaire Pie

1 box vanilla instant pudding
1 (16 oz) container sour cream
1 (8 oz) crushed pineapple
1 (8 oz) whipped topping*
1 large graham cracker pie crust*

In a large bowl, combine pudding mix and crushed pineapple; stir until pudding is dissolved. Fold in sour cream and stir until well combined. Pour into graham cracker pie crust (or divide if making 2 pies). Top with whipped topping. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight until set.

Note: You can make 2 pies instead of one. If you get the small crust you can make 2 pies, the extra serving pie will allow you to make one pie, but you will need 2 tubs of whipped topping, one for each pie.

A Day In the Life Of......

A couple of weeks ago you got to follow me through my super exciting life on the days that I go to school and pretend to be a college student. This week, well I've got something special planned for you.

That's right, this week, you can follow me around the other 3 days. I know you've been waiting for this.

7am - my alarm goes off. I roll over and hit the snooze button and think "Is there any reason that I have to go to work today?" Oh yeah. The paycheck. I'm kinda fond of those.

7:15am - jump out of bed, run to the back door and let the dogs out. (Who let the dogs out? Who? Who?)

7:30 - hair and makeup. The magic happens here people. I'm turned into someone less pale and freckled into a goddess.

7:45 - head to work

7:46 - curse traffic

8:00 - arrive at work. Turn on the computer, pick up the faxes off the fax machine, put my lunch in the fridge and begin going through the paperwork from the day before.

8:03 - curse idiot part timer

8:10 - log into Facebook

8:30 - my boss shows up. Usually with a McDonald's bag and a cup of coffee.

8:40 - find something else on the internet to do, because it is way to early to start on homework.

10:30 - decide that I've procrastinated long enough and start on homework.

12:15 - hope that no one will show up while I'm attempting to fix my lunch.

12:30 - I'll take a bite, and the phone will ring or someone will walk in the door. Never fails.

5pm - the angels sing. The heavens rejoice. There is peace on Earth. Because after I have done about 30 minutes of actual work, I'm going home

5:10 - curse traffic

5:30 - arrive home. Love the puppies. Wish I had a maid that cooked and cleaned.

5:40 - realize that dinner isn't going to microwave itself

6:30 - eat whatever awesome creation I have prepared

7pm - procrastinate

7:30 - If I want to go to bed at a semi decent hour, I should start homework.

10-4am - go to bed.

Repeat all over again tomorrow. Awesome, right?

So now that you know how super, awesome my life is, I'm sure you want to know what the requirements are so that you can trade with me. Here you go. In no particular order:
- must maintain a 4.0
- must be an awesome cook
- must be rich

What?!? No takers?

Wanted: Personal Assistant

Sarcastic, neat freak seeks assistant to help with daily duties. Duties to include, but not limited to:

Cooking, cleaning, forcing me to exercise and eat right. Take great pictures for Tasty Tuesday posts. Must love dogs and be willing to play fetch or tug of war with a moment's notice.

Skills required:

Must like to cook and read. Prefers someone with crafty skills (but not absolutely necessary). Doesn't mind text communications and will not respond with "k, r, or u" as that will get you fired. Must be willing to take exams and do homework for me. Sarcastic writing skills a plus. Must be willing to answer my phone calls no matter what time it is received and no matter what you are in the middle of. Don't expect to have a life that doesn't revolve around keeping me on task.

To apply for the position, please send your resume, writing samples, and college transcripts to 40littlemoments at gmail.com. Please include your favorite flavor of cupcake, cookie, pie, cake or other dessert. Payment is dependent on whether or not I'm in the mood to cook you something and how well you keep my grades up.

If you are not willing to show up at 2am to an undisclosed location and bring a shovel, trash bags, and snacks, please do not apply.

Wordless Wednesday

The innocent little deer that my husband hopes to kill in November. I hope he misses.

"Ha Ha Ha! Take that momma. I'm taking selfies while your at work" What's up boys?

Oh Emm Gee mom. Your embarrassing me. 

"I don't look like a monster. I'm adorable. No one can resist my charms."

Tasty Tuesday - Pink Velvet Cupcakes with White Chocolate Ganache

Ganache. It's like a secret code word for heavenly. Pink - I'm a girl, it's a rule. So I stumbled across this recipe about a year ago, and I've never made it, until now. But it's haunted me. I've dreamed about it. Then one day, I hunted the recipe down, and proceeded the hunt for the pink paste food coloring.

The culprits of the yummy goodness:

Butter, Vanilla, Sugar, Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Eggs, Salt, Buttermilk, Heavy Cream and White Chocolate

 In a bowl, add the sugar, butter and food coloring. If you want to get creative, you can use some other color, as this stuff doesn't change the taste. Beat until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time. And toss in the vanilla.

Now, you can be lazy like me, and add our salt, baking powder, and baking soda to the bowl your working in. That way you can just scoop the flour out of the canister and avoid washing an extra bowl. Or you can follow the directions and mix all that stuff in a separate bowl. Whatever floats your boat.

Now, add in the flour and the buttermilk alternately. Don't have buttermilk on hand, or don't want to buy it. Then just measure out your milk, and add a "splash" or about a 1 tsp to the milk. Let it sit, until it's thick and creamy. Viola! Instant buttermilk.

This is a fairly thick batter. Now...this is the most important step. Taste the batter. Don't look at me like that. Taste it. I was worried that the thickness meant I had done something wrong. So I tasted. Hmmm. It's okay. How disappointing. So in order to improve, I threw in some extra vanilla. And see that pink. That's the color I wanted after I added all the "white" remaining ingredients. You can always add more if you want to go darker.

Line your muffin tin. Sounds like an Army command. Line your tin soldier! Sir, Yes, Sir!

Get your batter in the tin. If you have a handy cupcakie - filler-upper then use it. Or an empty ketchup bottle works too. Just get the batter in the tins! Yes, Ma'am!

Now, you put them in the oven and turn yourself about and realize that your sink is full of dishes and that your too old to hokey pokey in your kitchen with a dog, and you discover that's what it's all about. It's been a long day.

Bake them cupcakes soldier. 25-27 minutes or until slightly golden and you poke a stick in them and the stick is still nice and clean. Then put the toothpick back in the container...think of it as recycling. Once the cupcakes are done, let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Then remove them and let them cool completely. Probably on wire racks, but if your like me and don't own wire racks, then just let them cool on your counter. You'll want them completely cool to ice them.

To make the Ganache. In a saucepan add your heavy cream. Bring it to a boil. Don't think, "Oh, I'll go do (insert activity here) and come back and check on the cream in a second. It's a trick. Don't do it.

There isn't much cream to start with, so it doesn't take long to bowl. I was washing the muffin tins and turned around it and it was boiling. It's fast. Pour over the chocolate and whisk until smooth. Then add in the butter, and keep whisking. You want it lump free. Now, taste it. Go on, you know you want to. Did you hear the angels sing too?

Now, the hard part, stick the ganache in the fridge. You'll want to leave it about 30 minutes, and try to remember to come by and stir it about half way through. If you happen to leave it in longer than that, just let it sit out and warm up some. I left mine in about an hour and just let it sit out and then you whip it. And whip it good. Soft peaks is what your looking for. It takes a bit, but not near as long as making whipped cream. Then frost those cuppycakes and decorate to your hearts content. 

Then pour yourself a nice big glass of milk and take a bite out of a mini piece of taste bud heaven. Then hide the rest, because you probably won't want to share. 

Pink Velvet Cupcakes with White Chocolate Ganache

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/8 tsp pink paste food coloring
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk

For the Ganache:

2 cups white baking chips
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp butter
pink coarse sugar and pink sugar pearls (optional)

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the food coloring and mix until incorporated. (You can add more color here if you aren't happy with your level of "pink". You still have lots of white stuff to add, so your color will be lighter than what you see right now.) Add eggs, one at a time and mixing well. Finally, add in the vanilla. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to the egg mixture alternately with buttermilk, mixing well after each addition.

Fill paper lined muffin cups. (The batter is fairly dense, so I did 3/4 of the way full and they came out fine.) Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes or until slightly golden and a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove to racks to cool completely.

Place white chips in a large bowl. In a saucepan, add the heavy cream and bring to a boil. Pour over white chips and stir until completely melted. Add in butter and continue to stir until incorporated. Chill for 30 minutes, stirring once.

Once chilled, beat on high until soft peaks form and frosting is light and fluffy. Frost cupcakes, and decorate with pink sugar and sugar pearls if desired. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Makes 2 dozen

Inspired by Taste of Home