cheesy chicken & veggie soup

Do you have a bunch of leftover chicken or turkey or even veggies you need to use up? Want to get your kids or hubby to eat more veggies? Want something nice and hot to warm your bones? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then do I have the answer for you....
Ha ha, don't I sound like a TV commercial, selling the latest and greatest chopping gadget for only $9.99?
But seriously, this cheesy soup is super easy to make, very versatile when adding any type of leftovers, and I swear your kids might just love it. If my over-the-moon fussy hubby eats it--veggies and all, then so will your fussy kids. The best part I love is you can add whatever veggies you have from the ice age in your freezer and chopped leftover chicken or turkey (never tried roast beef, but hey, I bet it might work too).
I was just frozen today, pretty much all day. No amount of hot tea was going to warm my cold bones up. I wanted a hearty, warms you to your bones, soup. This is it for me. Yeah, plus I had a bunch of leftover roasted chicken that I needed to use up too. Leftover potatoes would be wonderful in this too. See, just about anything can go in this cheesy soup.
This time around I added in leftover broccoli, corn and leftover roasted chicken. Wouldn't it be great to add this soup to a hollowed out bread to use as a bread bowl?

Cheesy Chicken & Veggie Soup

2 TB butter
2 TB of extra virgin olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
2 cups cooked chicken breasts, grilled is even better
1 cup frozen peas, corn & carrots veggie mix, or whatever you crave
8 oz Philadelphia cream cheese
1 can (14.75oz) creamed corn
1 cup milk
2+ tsp. of chicken bouillon cube, chopped fine (add as much or as little)
Couple dashes of black pepper
1 cup of mozzarella cheese
Chopped fresh parsley as garnish, optional

Melt butter and olive oil in a saucepan and add onions. Slightly brown the onions.
Remove onions to plate. Then stir fry the chicken breast slices till fully cooked. (or you can grill the chicken, cut it up into cubes).
Add veggie mix, then add the cooked onions back in. Stir together, then add in the cream cheese, stir until the cheese is melted. Add in the creamed corn and milk; sprinkle in the chopped chicken bouillon. Stir well to mix and bring to just boiling, turn off heat, and stir in the mozzarella and some black pepper. Taste test to see if you need more chicken bouillon or salt. Serve with crusty, warm bread.

Serves 4 (depending on portion size)

Note: I like my soup very thick. If you don’t want it thick then add a couple dashes of water or more milk to thin it out. The next time I make this I will be adding chunks of cooked, cubed potato.

aged cheddar, cranberry & pecan crackers

Savory. Very savory. I loved these little cheesy critters immensely. I almost want to call it a cheese shortbread; so thick and rich. The tartness of the cranberries melded so well with the aged cheddar. Plus I added in some roasted nuts. You simply must try these if you are a lover of cheese crackers. I did make these once using craisins and I was so very sorry I did; I just don't like the taste of craisins, they don't taste like cranberries to me. But feel free to use whatever you like, even raisins might go well in here. These go great with a nice cold glass of white wine.
Are these a cracker or a cookie? Maybe even a savory shortbread nib. Who knows, they are delish. Perfect for upcoming summer parties.

cheddar & cranberry cookies/crackers
print recipe

1 & 1/2 sticks butter, room temp.
1 1/2 cups extra old (at least 3 years old) cheddar, finely grated
1 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans
1/2 cup rough chopped dried cranberries
(I also used a dash of half & half as the dough was really dry)

Cream the butter and cheese together at high speed in your stand mixer. Sift the flour, salt and baking powder together. Combine flour mixture, nuts and cranberries with the butter mixture on high. (there is where I added in the dash of h&h)
Turn dough out onto a large piece of waxed paper. Roll the dough into a log shape, roll the paper around it and twist the ends shut. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. You can freeze the dough at this stage as well.
When ready to bake; preheat oven to 375F.
Unwrap the dough log and, using a very sharp knife, slice the log into rounds 1/2 cm thick. Place rounds on cookie sheets and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the bottoms of the cookies are golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Should make about 30.

root beer bundt cake

The root beer flavor in this cake is intense. I wasn't sure about making this because most times you hear about a soda flavored-cake and, for me, it tends not to be that flavored; you can't even taste what the original flavor was supposed to be. I hate that. And I hate wasting all those ingredients for nothing.
But this cake is very tasty--lots of root beer flavor in there, Recipe comes from a cookbook I'm dying to get which hails from a famous bakery in Brooklyn called Baked. I know a lot of you foodies have heard of this bakery and the more popular cookbook. I cannot wait to get my hands on this cookbook. This root beer bundt cake recipe uses root beer snapps. Bingo! That brings out flavor indeed. So, if you are a root beer lover as I am then try this, it's not a boring bundt cake at all. Everyone in our house loved this, it did not last long at all. That frosting, oh that frosting! Update! I have gotten the book and it's worth it! Very worth it. Modern baking at it's best.

root beer bundt cake
From Baked: New Frontiers in Baking
print recipe

Cake:
1 1/2 cups root beer (do not use diet root beer)
1/2 cup root beer schnapps (if you cannot find schnapps then use 2 cups of root beer, not the 1 and 1/2 cups as stated above)
1 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces
1¼ cups granulated sugar
½ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs

Frosting:
2 ounces dark chocolate (60% cacao), melted and cooled slightly
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup root beer OR 1/8 cup of root schnapps
2/3 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder
2½ cups confectioners' sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Generously spray the inside of a 10-inch bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray; alternatively, butter it, dust with flour, and knock out excess flour.
In a small saucepan, heat the root beer, root beer schnapps (if using), cocoa powder, and butter over medium heat until the butter is melted. Add the sugars and whisk until dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together.
In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until just beaten, then whisk them into a cooled cocoa mixture until combined. Gently fold the flour mixture into the cocoa mixture. The batter will be slightly lumpy - do not overbeat, as it could cause the cake to be tough.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time, until a small sharp knife inserted into the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Gently loosen the sides of the cake from the pan and turn it out onto the rack.

For the root beer fudge frosting:
Put all the ingredients in a food processor. Pulse in short bursts until the frosting is shiny and smooth. Use a spatula to spread the fudge frosting over the crown of the bundt in a thick layer. Let the frosting set before serving.

banana bread french toast

What to do with leftover banana bread you ask?

Well, let's make banana bread french toast!


I know Veggie Girl will relate to this as she eats a lot of banana bread when she's not eating her Lara Bars.
This french toast does not need any syrup, just butter. A little crispy on the outside and soft & cake-like on the inside. This is so easy to make too, just use the same egg batter you would with regular french toast, fry in butter, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar or whatever you're craving, top with butter, and eat. Easy.

I'm trying out my new camera that I got for Christmas. It's a Canon something. It takes really good pictures in the worst of light which I love since my last camera I literally had to have the stars align in order to get great photos. This new camera is just so much easier, but now I have to learn how to use all the buttons to make my photos even better for shooting food so that my shots are a little more in focus.

What did everyone get for Christmas? Do tell.....

Cheez It Bark

I'm sure you've all seen the "ghetto toffee" recipe floating around food-bloggerland for the holiday season. But my question to you is, have you seen it this way?

Yep, I totally went there--I used the ever-so-tasty Cheez-It crackers. Trust me on this one. It is WAY better than saltines. The sweet buttery toffee mixed with the salty taste of Cheez-It's. Oh yeah! Now we're talking tasty toffee.

cheez it bark
from vanillasugarblog.com
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1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1 cup, packed light brown sugar
2 bags of 11.05 ounces of milk chocolate chips
½ box of the Big-size Cheez-It’s (use the big ones, as they cover more room)
1 cup of crushed toasted pecans (or walnuts or whatever you crave)

Preheat oven to 400ºF.
Line jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray. Or just use a non-stick jelly roll pan.
Lay a flat layer of Cheez-It crackers out on the foil. I did a layer and a half, making sure to cover up any gaps with Cheez-It’s.
In a saucepan, melt the sugar and butter until a boil is reached. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 3-4 minutes or until mixture is thickened and sugar is completely dissolved. Pour this mixture over the crackers and spread to coat evenly. Do not mix! Just pour, and fill in any gaps with a spatula.
Bake in pre-heated oven for 5-8 minutes, or until the toffee becomes bubbly. Turn off oven, then take out of oven and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Then sprinkle on the chocolate chips. But tray back in oven to help the chips melt a bit. When chips are melted a bit, spread them into an even layer like you would frosting a cake. After done spreading the chocolate this is the time to sprinkle on the chopped nuts or whatever else you want to add.
Let cool and/or refrigerate until hardened. Once firmly cooled then break into pieces.
So good. Trust me the Cheez-It’s make all the difference!