sweet potato and sausage soup

Or better yet, let's call this post "clean out your cupboard".
I asked on facebook if you wanted a few of my quick & easy dinner fixes (nothing fancy).  I knew a few of you would say yes because I'm sure you're just like me, and want to use up stuff sitting in your cupboards, freezer, fridge, etc...
Anyone can throw together a quick and tasty soup.  If you look in your fridge and your cupboards I'm willing to bet you have the right ingredients for a quick and tasty soup.
That is how this sweet potato and kielbasa soup came about.
I made it on one of those winter days where the temperature outside didn't get above 30 degrees.
You can imagine how excited I was to go home to this hot and hearty soup stewing happily away in the crockpot.
Next time you go to Trader Joe's stock up on this sweet potato bisque--I'm telling you it's the perfect vehicle for soup add in's, AND the best way to use up leftovers in your fridge.
Nothing fancy, but it sure is satisfying.

You don't have to follow this exactly, you can create your own ad in's.
I just want to try and show you that it's quite easy to get creative in the kitchen even when it comes to leftovers.

And soup is the perfect vehicle to use up leftover veggies, leftover take out, and if you want to get your kids to eat more veggies.

I gave the veggies and sausage a quick stir fry/browning before going in the crockpot--you don't have too.
You can just throw them in there.
But I love a browning on my sausage.


Man was this tasty.
I know I already said this, but stock up on that sweet potato bisque from Trader Joe's.
It is so good!

sweet potato & sausage soup
print recipe

1-2 boxes of Trader Joe's sweet potato bisque
12 ounces (more or less) of cooked kielbasa, chopped
1 jar of roasted red peppers, chopped
1 medium sweet onions
1/2 - 3/4 cup diced drained tomatoes or leftover plain salsa
dashes of hot sauce
olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

cook notes:
the beauty of this recipe is that you don't have to follow it to a tee.
you can add in or take out what you don't like.
I just want to show you how easy it is to get creative with leftovers.

I gave the veggies, onions and chopped sausage a quick stir fry to get them all browned.
Then put them in a crockpot with a bit of olive oil. Got those heated through.
Then added in the sweet potato bisque, some chopped or diced tomatoes, and the chopped
red peppers.
Heat on low for a few or couple hours.
Taste test to see if you want to add hot sauce and salt & pepper.
Feel free to add in anything else like: leftover rice/pasta, leftover veggies, kale, corn, etc...(endless list).
Use hamburg or ham or shrimp if you don't like sausage.
I left this in the crockpot for about 5 hours on low, and it was fine.
I would NOT use the high setting for this.

 

vanilla sandwich cookies w/ spiced rum buttercream

After my creation of double chocolate-mint filled Oreo's, I've wanted to do a "vanilla" version.
But to be honest, vanilla was just so boring.
I had to spice it up a bit.
Not wanting to mess with the vanilla cookie, I thought about adding peanut butter or maybe a spicy-savory version to the filling.
Seriously?
Nothing was jumping out at me to use until literally the bottle of captain morgan's spiced rum fell out of the cabinet and into my hands.  
Knowing how good this is with Coke, with root beer, somehow someway the food creations memory cells kicked in and said 'use this in your vanilla sandwich cookie'.
Pretty cool right?  I just love when ideas like that happen.
This filling, do I even need to stress to you how 'crack-like' addicting this taste is?
The spiced rum, mixed with the creamy butter, salt, and the sugar---serious flavor combination.
This spiced rum buttercream is going on a cake next!
Expect that recipe soon!

Are these crunchy like the double chocolate mint Oreo's I made?
No, not as crunchy.
BUT, I am fairly certain that if you slice the cookie dough very thin (the opposite of what I did--see photos below) you should be able to get them crunchier.


If you don't want to use alcohol what is a good substitution 
Can I just stress to you that the spiced rum is what makes this cookie amazing?
But if you had to, I guess you could try a splash of butter extract and a splash of root beer?


Yeah my rolling bites here.
Please do better than I did, for I had to re-roll the cookies.

See?  They were not round.  So I had to re-roll each slice into a ball, then gently press down.
So next time, remember to roll a nice ROUND log, wrap in plastic wrap, chill, then slice with a very sharp knife.
And as I stated before, the thinner the slice, the crispier the cookie.

vanilla sandwich cookies with spiced rum buttercream

print recipe

vanilla cookies

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

2 ts cornstarch

¼  ts baking powder

½  ts baking soda

½  ts salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temp

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 egg yolks, room temp

2 ts pure vanilla extract

spiced rum filling

8 TB unsalted butter, room temp

1 cup + confectioners' sugar (might need a bit more)

giant pinch of salt

1 oversized Tablespoon of “Spiced Rum” (captain morgans has the best flavor)

Cook Notes: 

I’ve found the thinner you slice your cookie dough the crispier you can get your cookies.  This will lend itself to an almost vanilla Oreo cookie-like texture.  Of course the thicker the cookie the less crunchy; so do what you feel is best.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on med-high until well mixed.

Add in 2 egg yolks and vanilla extract and mix.

Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.  Please do not overmix.

Scrape the cookie dough out onto a very lightly floured surface.

Form it into a two long logs.  Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerator at least 2 hours or overnight.  I find that once the log is wrapped its easier to form it into a more even log by rolling it back and forth as if it were a rolling pin.  Get it as uniform as you can since we will be using this to slice out round cookies.

When ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Remove one log of cookie dough from the fridge, place on lightly floured wooden board, and using a sharp knife slice cookies as thin as you can get them.  Place on cookie sheet about two inches apart.  If your cookies slices didn’t come out as thin or round as you like, then do what I did (see photo above) and roll into ball and gently press down into circle.

Bake the cookies for 9-10 minutes, or until they have puffed and the tops look set. Remove the sheets from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for about 8 minutes before transferring them to cooling rack.  Cool completely before adding the filling.

For the filling:

Using a hand mixer or stand mixer mix all ingredients until well combined.

Do a taste test and see if it needs more salt or rum.  Chances are it won’t.

Using a plastic bag with edge snipped off or a pastry bag, place filling in bag and pipe onto cookies.

I don’t remember how many these made, sorry, but I think it was 20-25 sandwich cookies.  I know there was enough filling for all. 

gluten free pb-chocolate chip cookies

Have you, when financially times were tough, ever gone to a "cheaper" dentist to have semi-major work done?

This would be me about five-six years ago when hubby was in between jobs and money was tight--extremely tight.

And this is of course was the time that a tooth of mine decides to present a cavity.

For years having found the best dentist possibly on cape cod, who I love, admire and truly adore his craftsmanship for staying on top of the newest advances in dental work.  

Sadly this was the time I could not afford him.  

He is a lot pricier than other dentists and of course my dental insurance does NOT cover people like him.  

Which brings me to another point: why can't we go and get dental or other medical work done where we want?  The whole reason I'm going to a better dentist is so that it lasts longer/permanent and that its done RIGHT the first time.

Out of all the work I've had done with my good dentist, I've never once had any problem, nor will I ever have to have any of his work re-done later on in life.  

Whereas with the crappy dentist, every single tooth that I've had done I've only had to go to the good dentist to RE-DO!  Plus they still use unsafe materials (mercury).

Doesn't dental insurance want me to be fixed the right way the first time and save them money?

Or do they want me to keep going so that they make money--I know it's painfully obvious which choice it it.

So my day (yesterday) was spent at my good dentist fixing a problem tooth that was done as I said, five to six years ago.  The tooth couldn't handle the crown anymore; the crown was put on wrong (I knew this and lived with it, knowing I would have to at some point go back and get it done again).

But the pain it was causing was unbearable, so I spent most of the day at the dentist, dreading the six different needles I'd get.  

As I sat there waiting I became so enraged at the dental insurance and the fact that I'm supposed to use "one" of their approved dentists in the plan.  And on top of that, I think I'm allotted a mere $900.00 per year for dental work?  

Unreal right?  

I vowed to write the dental insurance a letter voicing my complaint, but I'm sure it would just fall on deaf ears.

As part of my "blogging new year" promise to you, I am finally going ahead, as per your with hundreds of requests of creating more 'gluten free' baked goodies.

And as luck would have it, my first attempt at baking gluten free came out perfectly.

I knew I wanted to use peanut flour, but it's so hard to find, and Trader Joe's doesn't carry it anymore sadly.

So I used coconut flour, which is wonderful, but a little pricey.

But the flavor the coconut flour lended to the cookies, mixed with the peanut butter....oh heavenly.

You must try these cookies!

You would never know they were gluten free.  Even my fussy husband loved these.

They are an odd shape, but who cares when they are just the tastiest lil nuggets.

gluten free peanut butter-chocolate chip cookies

print recipe

1 cup all-natural chunky or all natural smooth peanut butter (oily is ok, just not too oily)

¾ cup dark brown sugar (NOT packed)

1 large egg, room temp

1 egg yolk, room temp

1 ts pure vanilla extract

½ cup coconut flour

1 ts baking soda

1 ts sea salt

½ cup Bittersweet chocolate chips, optional

Cook notes:

This is very dry dough, so forming into cookie dough balls is a bit of work.

So what I did was just leave them as balls. They don’t spread at all when baking.

They are delicate and tend to break apart if you make them big.  Make the dough balls bigger than a tablespoon size.   You need to use this dough right away; leaving in fridge overnight will dry out the dough even more.

This recipe makes a small batch (about 12-15), if you want more, just double all the ingredients. I used bittersweet chocolate, semisweet was just too sweet and milk chocolate was way too sweet.

In a small bowl add the coconut flour, baking soda, and salt and mix, set aside.

In a small bowl mix the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.

In a mixer or by hand, combine peanut butter and sugars until well combined.

Add egg to the cookie mixture, mix well.

Add in the flour mixture, by sprinkling it over the cookie dough, not just depositing it in one large dump. Mix till just combined.  (I used my hands to combine this—it was much easier).

Cover bowl with plastic wrap well and let it sit in fridge for about an hour to come together. Do not let this sit overnight as the dough becomes very dry!

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 365 degrees F.

Roll into tablespoon sized balls and place on non-stick cookie sheets or greased cookie sheets. If you can flatten them without breaking then go ahead.

Bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned. These cook up very fast, so I really wouldn’t go past the 15-minute mark.  To tell if they are done, there should be a slight crisp of the edges and a light golden brown color on the edges as well.

Cool on a baking sheet for a while. Do not try to lift them off the cookie sheet; they need to harden

Should make about 12-15 cookies (small batch). If you want more, just double all the ingredients.

They lasted about 3 days, covered.

blondies with chocolate truffles and cookie butter drizzle

Actual occurrence:
I have a bag of my favorite dark chocolate truffles (see photo below) sitting on counter.
I do not want to open truffles for fear of eating the whole bag.
(warning: the dark chocolate truffles from Whole Foods taste really good!)
So what do I do?
Bake with them, that way I cannot eat the whole bag.
Seems logical to me, right?
Well, it worked.  And I got a new recipe out from it!
Win win.
I swear blondies are the perfect baking vessel for leftover candy.







I'm having too much fun with the cookie butter drizzle.
I also made these cookie butter rice krispie treats.
Seriously "the" only way to make a rice krispie treat from now on.

cookie butter rice krispie treats

blondies with chocolate truffles and cookie butter drizzle

print recipe

10 TB unsalted butter, room temp

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 (heaping) ts baking powder

3/4 ts salt

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 ts pure vanilla extract

about 12-15 chocolate truffles (or you could use Hershey kisses—dark chocolate would work best)

cookie butter drizzle:

½ cup cookie butter

½ -1 TB vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Grease up an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking pan with non-stick spray or butter or if you prefer using parchment paper then do so.

In medium bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt, set aside.

In a glass or cup, mix the eggs and vanilla extract until combined.

In a large bowl mix the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; cream on medium speed until smooth and fluffy.  Then add in eggs and vanilla mixing well.

Pour batter into prepared pan; spread with a rubber spatula or wet hands.

Place the chocolate truffles on top of batter.

Bake in oven for about 25-35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into blondies comes out “almost” clean; okay to have a few bits of crumb on the cake tester. 

Cooking times vary depending on oven, so please check at 25-minute mark. 

Cool brownies at least an hour.

In a small saucepan heat up the vegetable oil, over low heat, add in the cookie butter. 

Stir until nice and creamy.  Drizzle melted cookie butter over cooled brownies.

Cut into squares.  You should get about 10-12 squares depending on how you cut them.

merry christmas everyone!

Happy Holidays everyone!
Thank you for being a part of my food blogging world.
It's because of you, your emails, your comments, your tweets that I keep on creating new
recipes.  You truly keep this alive, and I thank you for that.
I get so many emails asking for more cape cod beach photos, and it's been a while since I've
posted some.  So here you go...enjoy.

nauset light eastham, ma



When the sun does come out here, the sunsets of lately have been magical.
Seaview beach, south yarmouth, ma


chapin beach rd, dennis, ma (a great place to watch the sunset)


more of chapin beach rd. Like a ghost town in the winter. Not a soul around--so peaceful.

harwichport, ma 

harbor rd, town pier, harwichport, ma

harbor rd, town pier, harwichport, ma

harbor rd, town pier, harwichport, ma

nauset light beach, eastham, ma

le count hollow beach, wellfleet, ma

bayview beach, dennis, ma. This was about four hours before hurricane sandy hit.

bayview beach, dennis, ma.

seagull beach, yarmouth, ma

corporation beach, dennis, ma

chapin beach rd, dennis, ma

sandy neck beach, sandwich, ma
Summer is coming!