Do you like my fireplace? Its the first one hubby and I have ever had! We've always lived in an apartment, so when we moved into this house (which has two fireplaces, by the way!), we were super excited to have our first fire! So its no surprise that as soon as the weather changed and got a little cooler, we got a big fire in the fireplace and had a cozy little picnic on the floor in front of it!

It doesn't get cold here in Texas until much later than the other (normal) states. In fact, here I am writing this post a week before Thanksgiving and its about 65 degrees outside (which we consider pretty chilly, by the way). So needless to say, as soon as the temperature drops below 80 degrees, I bust out my stock pots, fuzzy house shoes, and blankets and get ready for some cold weather comfort food! As I've said a million times, hubby loves his soups, so that's the first thing I think of when it gets chilly outside.  This potato soup is a perfect meal for a chilly evening at home - and it only tastes better when you eat it on a blanket on the floor in front of your blazing fireplace! YUM!! (sorry for the crummy picture, it was already dark outside and I was too hungry to care)

Potato Soup
-my mom's recipe

5 -8 medium sized Russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (this will make a pretty big pot, but if you want enough for a large crowd, I'd use 8-10)
1 yellow onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
milk (approx. 1/2 - 1 cup, depending on how "soupy" you like it)

Put the potatoes and onion in a large stock pot and cover with water; let it all boil together for 10 - 20 minutes, or until potatoes and onion are extremely tender and mushy. Drain most of the water (you can leave some in if you want a thinner consistency), then mash up the potatoes with a potato masher or a large spoon (if you want it super smooth, you could use a blender, but I just use a masher - I like a few lumps) and return the pot to low heat. Add the milk until you get the desired consistency, then season with desired amount of salt and pepper. Stir constantly for 2 -5 minutes, then remvove from heat and serve. I like to top mine with cheddar cheese and bacon bits.

I am categorizing this under "Soups/Stews/Other" because I really have no idea what to call this dish....or what kind of dish it is, exactly. I figure it fits under the "other" category pretty well - so we'll just leave it at that.

I was a DARN picky eater as a kid...I hated a lot of things my mother would cook for us, as well as most restaurants. Some of the things my mom would make that I can remember having the most disdain for were her chicken enchiladas (WHA?! What was I thinking??!), chicken stew and stuffed peppers, to name a few. Of course I love all of those things now, but back then there was just something about them that made me absolutely despise them. I guess I was just your typical snot-nosed picky little girl....heheh- some things never change, I guess. ;-)

My sister was sort of picky too, I suppose, though not near as whiny and shrieking about it.  But there were some things that my sister and I loved that most kids wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. For example, everyday when we would come home from school, our choice of snack would always be canned, cold spinach and Vienna Weenies (you know, those short, stubby little weenies that come in the tiny little can?).  We'd sit there and eat the stuff right out of the CAN! Even though we could have our choice of cookies, brownies, WHATEVER! We always wanted the cold spinach and weenies. Even looking back now I wonder what the heck we were thinking...and we were little kids, mind you - I was in like, 2nd grade! Weird freaking kids.....

So yeah, we had a habit of liking odd, non-kiddy type foods. I mean, sure, I liked those little frozen kiddy dinners that came with the cartoon-shaped macaroni and a tiny little brownie, but some grown-up foods were very appealing to us. One of those foods was cabbage. My sister and I both loved cabbage.  I remember my Nana (hey Nana!) cooking cabbage in her big pot in the kitchen and my sister and I would absolutely gobble it up.

I still love cabbage to this day - its great in soups, as a side dish or cooked my personal favorite way - in a big pot with sausage and potatoes. YUM. I'm almost positive this dish came from somewhere, I just have no idea where. I don't have a title for it, nor do I know what kind of food category it would fall under. Obviously. All I know is, my mother got the recipe from our Uncle Benny. He didn't have a title for it either - he just thew it all in a pot and that was that. So, without further ado, I give you Cabbage, Sausage, Potato....stuff.

Cabbage with Sausage and Potatoes

1 head cabbage, roughly chopped (I guess you could use any type of cabbage you wanted - I just use the regular old "white looking" cabbage that you find everywhere)
1 pound fully cooked Hillshire Farms smoked sausage, sliced into big bite-sized pieces (I used Turkey sausage - fat free and you couldn't taste the difference!!)
2-3 yukon gold potatoes, cut into chunks
Salt and Pepper to taste (I also use a bit of Cajun seasoning)

Pour approx. 1/2 cup water in the bottom of a large dutch oven or heavy pot, then add the sausage; layer the potatoes, then the cabbage over the sausage, seasoning with salt and pepper as desired (not too much, though - the sausage will do most of the seasoning for you). Cover and cook over medium-high heat for 15-20 minutes, or until cabbage and potatoes are tender. Make sure the bottom of the pot never goes dry - if the water dries up during cooking, quickly add more. Serves 4.

* You can also add onions if you want; I just choose not to. My Uncle Benny likes to add a can of Rotel Tomatoes as well. I like to keep mine simple, though. But that's the beauty of this dish, you can pretty much add whatever you want to it - carrots, celery....whatever!

You could definitely serve this all by itself, but I like to have a little bread with it - I served this with Katie's Easy Cheesy Beer Bread.  This is seriously filling and delicious - hubby LOVES it. Plus, its a super satisfying meal in one pot that costs less than $5.00! You can't beat that, people!

Yep, that's right...we're trying to eat a tad bit healthier these days; so when I saw this creamy broccoli soup on Tastespotting.com (my new favorite website -check it out sometime...you might even see some of my photos on there from time to time!) I knew I had to try it! Hubby loves soups, so I make them pretty often and we both reeeeeally loved this one. The title makes it sound fattening, but its actually really healthy...and hearty!! And it goes absolutely WONDERFULLY with Katie's Easy Cheesy Beer Bread (see post below!).

Creamy Broccoli Soup
-Jillian @ Butter and Sugar 

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic chopped
2 tbsp flour
1 cup low fat milk
1 quart of chicken stock
1 sprig of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 cup water
6 cups of broccoli
1 cup of butter beans (canned)
2 tbsp grated parmesan
Salt and pepper

Heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat in large soup pot (at least 4 quarts). Add the chopped onion and sauté until translucent and add the garlic. Cook the garlic for about a minute and add the flour. Stir continuously for about 1 minute and add 1 cup of milk. Continue to stir until milk thickens slightly (enough to coat the spoon). Add the chicken stock and stir well to combine. Bring to a simmer and broccoli florets, fresh thyme, fresh ground pepper and a bay leaf. Simmer until the broccoli is just tender. Remove the bay leaf and thyme sprig and add the beans. Blend with an immersion blender or carefully transfer to a standing blender (note: if you do it with standing blender, be sure to blend it in two batches, otherwise your blender will overflow). Blend to desired thickness (I left some small unblended pieces of broccoli for texture). Stir in the parmesan cheese.
 

There were some girls over at one of my favorite cooking forums (the Nest's What's Cooking board) talking about recipes for lentil soup, which is where I got this one. It's one of Giada DeLaurentiis' recipes (and you can't go wrong with Giada), and it's thick, hearty and full of flavor. I think it would be perfect for a nice chilly Fall day or cold Winter night! I had never had lentils before and was definitely pleased with their taste/texture. I think they added a lot to this soup! I will definitely be making this again...soon!

Lentil Soup with Beef
  -Giada DeLaurentiis

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 large celery stalks, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
6 (14-ounce) cans beef broth
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes in juice
2 cups (about 11 ounces) lentils, rinsed
1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Heat the oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the beef with salt and pepper. Add half of the beef and cook until brown, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the beef to a bowl. Repeat with the remaining beef. Add the celery, carrots, onion, garlic, rosemary, and oregano to the pot. Saute until the onions are translucent, about 8 minutes. Return the beef and any accumulated juices from the bowl to the pot. Add the broth and tomatoes with their juice. Bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the meat is just tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Add the lentils. Cover and continue simmering until the lentils are tender, about 40 minutes. Stir in the parsley. Season the soup, to taste, with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.

(This makes A LOT of soup, so plan for company that night!)

My sister is one of those hard working women - with a job, a husband, a kid, a house and everything else to take care of, I don't know how she manages to find time to cook (and sometimes she doesn't - but a pizza night every now and then never hurt anybody, right?). Sometimes she'll stumble across a recipe that was extra yummy and kindly pass it on to me (woo hoo!). The latest recipe she's given me was this Okra Gumbo. Surprisingly easy and super fast, but really really tasty at the same time! Its one of those dinners that you can have on the table in no time on a busy night , yet it tastes like its been cooking all day! Hubby really enjoyed it, as did I! Thanks, big sis!! Keep the recipes comin'!

Lindsay's Okra Gumbo

1-16 oz. package frozen cut okra, unthawed
1 onion, chopped (I used half)
1-15 oz. can diced tomatoes (don't drain them)
2-3 slices bacon
salt & pepper and cajun seasoning (lots) to taste
(I added 1 1/2 chicken breasts cut up into small pieces for a little extra flavor)

In a large pot over medium-high heat, cook bacon, reserve grease. Remove the bacon from the pan and add the onion, cooking until translucent, then add the chicken (season it with a little s&p before tossing in) and sautee until cooked through. Add the frozen okra and tomatoes; season with plenty of salt and pepper and lots of Cajun seasoning (yum!), then add the bacon back in and cook over medium to low heat for 15 -20 minutes until heated through.

Serve over white rice.  *Here's a little tip: throw in a splash of white vinegar - it helps to cut the okra's "sliminess" and you don't taste it a bit!

This was a pretty uneventful Saturday, but sometimes those are nice...

We had originally planned on going out, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn't want to mess with getting dressed, fixing my hair and putting on makeup...all that stuff. Plus, I couldn't think of one single restaurant that sounded good. It was a little chilly and dreary outside, so I thought it might be fun to just stay in, eat something “comforting” and watch a movie. So, I decided on Chicken Tortilla Soup. This soup is one of our all time favorites. It takes no time to make and it's "no-fail", not to mention delicious. The lime juice adds such great flavor, and the melty cheese with the cool avocados and fresh, bright cilantro....Y.U.M. That's all I can say....

Chicken Tortilla Soup

-adapted from Williams-Sonoma: Food Made Fast: Soup

6 cups chicken stock, homemade or purchased (I use reduced sodium)

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (I like to roast mine)

½ white onion, chopped

(I also add 2-3 zucchinis, chopped)

2 teaspoons chili powder (I also use 1 teaspoon or so of cumin)

juice from 3-4 limes

salt and pepper to taste

1 cup crumbled tortilla chips

Coat a large saucepan with olive oil over medium-high heat, add onion and zucchini and saute until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the chili powder and stir until fragrant. Pour in stock and bring to a boil. Add the shredded chicken, reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the chicken is heated through. Add the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and top with tortilla chips and garnishes.

Garnish ideas:

shredded Monterey Jack cheese

chopped avocado

fresh chopped cilantro