Cheddar Chicken Chowder

This recipe is so yummy and great for winter.

2 slices bacon
1 C chopped onion
1 C chopped red bell pepper
1 lb chicken, cut into bite sized pieces
1 3/4 cup diced red potato
4 C chicken broth
2 1/4 cups frozen corn
1/2 cup flour
2 C milk
3/4 C cheddar cheese

Cook bacon in bottom of saucepan. Remove and set aside. Saute chicken, onion, and pepper in bacon fat for about 5 minutes. Add diced potato and broth. Simmer 15 minutes, add corn.

Whisk together milk and flour. Slowly add to soup and cook until thickened, about another 15 minutes. Add cheese.

I like to serve with cheese and crumbled bacon on top:)

chocolate chocolate chip oatmeal raisin cookies

I was going to be clever and call them Chocolate-Covered Raisin Cookies since they remind me of chocolate covered raisins, but my husband said it was deceiving as they are not really chocolate-covered cookies. So I stuck with the no-nonsense-straight-forward-this-is-what-they -are title. I developed this recipe just recently when I couldn't decide what kind of cookies to make for Brian to take to some friends. I made three batches in four days. The third batch was the winner. Fortunately, Brian is able to dispose of excess cookies at school. In fact, it improves his popularity quite a bit when he walks the hall with an open bag of homemade cookies.

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. (scant) baking soda
2/3 cup cocoa
2 cups flour
3 cups oats
1 cup (generous) chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups raisins

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, beat well. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Drop by large tablespoon (I use the smallest cookie scoop by Pampered Chef. You could make them bigger just adjust the cooking time if necessary.) Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Split Pea, Beef and Barley Soup

Yeah! My first contribution to Amy's cooking blog. Either I haven't had pictures, or a solid-write-it-down kind of recipe, or the recipe I've thought of was one of Amy's in the first place.

So this soup sounds strange and looks kind of unappetizing-gloppy-green but it is seriously yummy.

The original recipe is from Sunset Magazine January 2007. I've tweaked it a bit.

1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. (more or less) lean beef stew meat (I cut mine into pretty small pieces)
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 large onions (I usually just use one, the original recipe calls for four)
1-2 leeks finely chopped (make sure you wash them really well)
2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped
2 cups green split peas (one 160z. package)
3/4 cup dried baby lima beans
3/4 cup pearl barley
5 carrots (or equivalent in baby carrots), peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

1. Heat oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Season beef with salt and pepper, then brown on all sides. Set aside.
2. Add onions, leek, parsnips, celery. Cook, stirring often, until onions soften about 5-8 minutes. Return beef to pot and add split peas, lima beans, and 4 qts. water. Increase heat to high and bring to a uncovered, 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
3. Add barley and simmer 45 minutes. Stir in carrots and cook 20 minutes more. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper.


So, about the veggies... I've done different combinations before. In fact, when I made the soup in the picture I didn't have onions, leeks, or parsnips. I used dried onion, celery, a zuchinni and a ton of chopped up brocolli. It tastes the same. You can cram a bunch of greenish vegetables in this soup. I usually end up with a pot full of veggies, more than the recipe calls for. They all seem to cook and meld together with the peas. I also didn't have any dried lima beans (which are yummy in the soup) so I added a can of butter beans after it was all cooked. There is no substitutions for the beef, barley and carrots though. The soup just wouldn't be the same without them.

Oh, and if it gets too thick, just add water to thin it out a little.