Beefy Tomato Pasta Soup

Hello one & all...spent the most wonderful Autumn weekend. Saturday I joined my sister and niece for a day at the Buffalo Zoo. We hadn't been in a year and I was amazed at the changes and additions. I spent many a childhood day running around that kiddie hot spot...it always brings back the fondest memories for me. Sunday brought a day of Autumn splendor at the Genesee County Park. Joined by my sister-in-law and her family, we lazed the day away in the surprisingly strong fall sun while the kiddos rode their bicycles and worked hard at conquering the heights of the playground. We had such a great time that I took the children back again yesterday, with bikes on board, for yet another afternoon. It is absolutely beautiful there this time of year and very quiet.

My sister-in-law brought a crock pot of soup on Sunday that warmed us both body and soul and sent me in search of soup recipes both old and new. Came upon this one that I will share and thought it was to be a winner for sure...so glad I was right as the brood was super hungry after yet another day in the fresh air.

Beefy Tomato Pasta Soup

1# ground beef (or venison)
2 medium green peppers, chunked
1 medium onion, chunked
2 cloves garlic, minced
5-6 cups water
2 cans (14 oz.) Italian chunked tomatoes, undrained
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
1 TBSP brown sugar
2-3 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups uncooked spiral pasta

In a dutch oven or soup kettle, cook meat, green pepper and onion till no longer pink. Drain. Add the rest. Bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook for slightly longer than recommended time, stirring occasionally. Pasta should be tender but not mushy. Top with Parmesan cheese and croutons if desired. ***This is a wonderful, hearty soup that I served with bread and butter and a side salad.

***Made this with ground beef (my venison is running low!) and home canned herbed tomatoes. If using home canned I recommend that you go a little heavier on the salt. Also, feel free to use regular diced tomatoes and simply up the Italian seasoning.

Make and enjoy! Blessings, Eve

Easy Bake Oven Recipes

Hello one & all...after a wonderful weekend that included celebrating my husband's birthday, we are back to the daily grind. And that includes entertaining our children. This one is by special request...Easy Bake Oven Recipes. (That you can actually afford and that taste somewhat decent!!! Really!)

Brownies (makes one serving)

2 1/2 TBSP sugar
1/8 tsp. vanilla
4 tsp chocalate syrup
2 TBSP + 1 tsp flour
1 tsp oil

Stir all together until the batter is smooth and chocolate covered. Pour batter into greased and floured pan. Bake 15 min.

Quick Cake

3 TBSP boxed cake mix (or snitch a bit when you make from scratch!)
1 1/4 TBSP water

Start with 1 T water and add as needed to make a traditional cake batter consistency. Grease and flour pan. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.

Chocolate Cake

1 cup sugar
3 TBSP unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup shortening

In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients. Stir with wire whisk until blended. Cut in shorteneing until resmbles coarse meal. Spoom about 1/3 cup mixture into 11 ziploc bags. Use within 12 weeks.

To use:
1 packet cake mix
4 tsp. water

Grease and flour pan. Easy bake for 12 to 13 minutes.

Make and enjoy! Blessings, Eve

Cream of Tomato Soup with Basil

Hello one & all...been canning up a storm with my "barely noticeable" free time and have a nicely stocked pantry in the basement. Will share the totals at the end of the season. (For my own personal satisfaction, if nothing else!) But for now I am still finishing up and have found myself with a few handfuls of tomatoes straggling in every few days. Not enough to can and I have 5 or so bags put up in the already full freezer. So hubby suggested this soup that I made a few years back and it brought to mind how much we enjoyed it. I will be slipping it into the menu this seek and thought I would share.

Cream of Tomato Soup with Basil

2 cups of cut-up fresh tomatoes, seeded and skinned
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 chopped onion
2 tsp brown sugar

Simmer, covered about 15 minutes. Cool till a manageable temp. and puree in a blender. Simmer again till needed.

Prepare 4 cups white sauce:
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp basil, dried or 1 T fresh
1 tsp salt
4 cups milk (dried, reconstituted works fine my notes say...apparently I was short of milk at some point when I made this!)

Gradually add the puree into the white sauce, stirring constantly. Garnish with sour cream if desired.

Make and enjoy! Blessings, Eve

Canned Apple Pie Filling

Hello one & all...been canning up a storm and this little goodie is on the schedule for this week so I thought that I would share! This recipe is wonderful for pies, crisp and other recipes. I make a pork, stuffing apple casserole that is all the better for a jar of these apples from the basement. My hubby likes it with smoked polish sausage as a breakfast side through the fall and winter. (Plus the added benefit of no corn syrup like the store canned version...another one of my "things!")

Canned Apple Pie Filling

4 cups sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
10 cups water
3 TBSP lemon juice
1 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Cook first 5 ingredients until thick and bubbly. Place cold apples in clean, hot jars.

Pour hot syrup over apples, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Seal and process 20 minutes in a hot water canner. This syrup makes enough for about 9 quarts of apples.

Make and Enjoy! Blessings, Eve

Gotta Have a Plan

Hello one & all...been doing a lot of thinking (and let's face it, talking!) about menu planning. Cannot stress enough how much money, time and stress using a menu plan will save you. Different schools of thought on how to best approach a week or month of menus. I have always "shopped" from my freezer for protein and then added on from the store. I have a friend who is coming up with four weeks worth of menus based on her food budget and she plans to rotate these menus each month. (Variations will come based on sale items. For example: turkey breast on sale? Swap for a chicken recipe that week...or for several weeks if you stock up!) I am toying with combining the two. Wouldn't it be grand to simply shop from a master list that has been coupled with a weeks worth of menus? To know that your family enjoys them all and that you can purchase all items at one "discount store" and be done with it? Interested yet?



Not quite far enough in the planning stages to share yet, but I will when the time is right. I do have two weeks of menus for you, though. May give you some ideas...may not.



M- grilled Venison Tenderloin, zucchini sauteed with onions and Italian seasoning, cheesy rice and tomatoes, pickled red cabbage
T- Baked pork chops, stuffing, fried apples & onions, quartered new potatoes (from our garden!) and Parmesan baked tomatoes
W-Sausage, rice and corn, tomato salad, 90 minutes rolls
TH-Spaghetti, garlic bread (one leftover hot dog rolls) and tomatoes with ranch dressing
F-Chuck wagon Chili (see search for recipe), cornbread muffins and apple slices
S-Turkey Breast (in the crock pot), Old fashioned corn pudding (see last post), mashed potatoes and gravy
S-Ramen noodles tossed with turkey and peas (Really! The kiddos love it and the hubby does not mind it...a real winner!)
M-Turkey Barley Soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
T-Spanish Rice Enchiladas (this was a crock pot Spanish rice recipe gone bad! Worked great for the enchiladas though...will make it again on purpose...) canned corn
W-Rita's Sausage, Potatoes and Peppers (Search for recipe) and carrots from the garden
TH-Bacon Burgers, FF, baked beans and cucumbers and sour cream dressing
F-Tuna casserole with peas on the side
S-Grilled chicken 1/4's, parsley chunk potatoes, broccoli and cut up tomatoes with ranch
S-Venison roast in the crock pot with mashed potatoes, gravy, peas and applesauce

Blessings, Eve

Old-Fashioned Corn Pudding

Hello one & all...don't let the name throw you. This is absolutely delicious! Sweet, savory side that I served with a turkey breast dinner last night.

Old-Fashioned Corn Pudding

3 TBSP flour
1 cup sugar (will use 2/3 cup next time...a bit too sweet for me!)
2 eggs
15-1/4 oz. can corn
5-oz. can evaporated milk (I used skim milk with perfect results)

Whisk together flour and sugar. Whisk the 2 eggs, milk and sugar. Combine and add corn. Stir well. 2 quart casserole, uncovered. 1 hour at 350. This will easily double...next time I will probably double and decrease the sugar by about 1/3.) So good and very "fallish" (is that a word??)

Make and Enjoy! Blessings, Eve

Remember me?

Hello one & all...long time, no post, huh? Didn't realize exactly how long till I signed on. Wow! The nice weather and the children being home has sent me for a tailspin this year. Seems we are non-stop every day. They have vacation bible school this week. The littlest (2 1/2) is doing wonderfully after hiding behind my shirt for the first half of today's session. By noon one would think that she played there every day! Praise God!!! Momma can use the break and the fellowship and she can use The Word.

Found a nice little freebie to share with you. This is a page on the Usborne Books website (LOVE their books!) that offers up some PDF's of their wonderful doodle pages. Great, detailed coloring pages perfect for older kids and/ or color pencil lovers. The squid is my favorite...print and enjoy! http://www.myubam.com/ecommerce/Doodle.asp?sid=D0036&emkt=199

Blessings, Eve