Mimi's Kitchen

If you're looking for quick-and-easy school-night meal ideas, have I got a recipe for you! This amazing chowder is not only delicious, it's so easy to make, you can have it on the table in just 10 minutes. All you need to make this a well-balanced meal (see http://www.choosemyplate.gov/) is a veggie side-salad and a 1/2 ham sandwich (choose reduced or low-sodium ham, and whole-grain bread).

My favorite thing about this chowder? It costs less than $1.00 per serving!

10-Minute Corn Chowder
(Serves 4 @ about .71 cents per serving)

1 teaspoon	vegetable or Canola oil
1⁄2	small onion (chopped)
1 teaspoon	garlic (minced)
4 tablespoons	flour (all purpose)
3 cups	nonfat milk
2 teaspoons	prepared yellow mustard
1⁄4 teaspoon	thyme (dried)
	black pepper (to taste)
2 cups	corn kernels (frozen)
4 tablespoons	shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

1. Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high. Add the oil and saute the onion and garlic until golden, about 2 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, place the flour, milk, mustard and seasonings in a small bowl and mix well.

3. Add the milk mixture to the skillet followed by the corn; mix well until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens, about 3 minutes. Stir frequently to keep the mixture from burning.

4. Divide into four bowls and top each with 1 Tablespoon of shredded cheese.

Note: If you want to "up" the deliciousness factor even more, try sprinkling some real bacon crumbles over the cheese just before serving. Heaven!

Serving size: 1-1/4 cup



 

It's week 11 of the Year of Soup Challenge here in Mimi's Kitchen, and I have another awesome guest post! This week's soup recipe is from Sofia, another of my foodie friends from Half Hour Meals. Sofia, a wonderful cook and a native of Portugal, has shared many of her delcicous, authentic Portuguese recipes with us at HHM, and I'm thrilled that she agreed to do a post for Mimi's Kitchen!

Please be sure to stop by Sofia's blog, Food Ideas, to check out some more of her wonderful recipes. And, if you're interested in a chance to win a pair of one carat diamond earrings, just become a facebook fan of GemEx, the company she works for! Are you ready to get cooking? Get out your soup pots and your ladles and let's make some Portuguese Kale soup!

Ingredients:

6 potatoes

1 lb of kale or Chinese cabbage

2 quarts of cold water

Today I'm trying to play "catch up" by getting week 2 of my "Year of Soup" challenge posted. The recipe for week 2 is something a bit different, and perhaps even unusual...it was inspired by the amazing BBQ baked beans my cousin Wendy makes for every family picnic at my Aunt Pat's house in PA. They are so good, I really believe that there would be a family riot if she ever showed up without those beans!

So how did I make Wendy's yummy beans into soup? Well, I have a colleague and foodie friend, Anne Coleman, who loves to take entrees, sandwiches and other non-soup foods and "morph" them into soups (check out her great blog, A Thousand Soups). I just love her idea, and I wanted to try it for a contest recipe I was developing. So, even though I have never gotten that wonderful bean recipe from Wendy, the taste of them is a delicious and unforgettable memory that I called on to create my new soup recipe, BBQ Baked Bean Soup (thanks Wendy!).

BBQ Baked Bean Soup (serves 4-6)
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 tbsp. chili powder
1 ½ tsp. dry mustard
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 (15-oz.) cans stewed tomatoes, roughly chopped, reserve juice
2 (15-oz.) cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed, 1/3 cup of beans reserved and mashed
¼ cup molasses
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 lb. smoked sausage, cut into 1-inch slices
4 cups water
Salt
Pepper

Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add onions and cook over medium-high heat until soft. Add chili powder, dry mustard, cayenne pepper, and cook for 1 minute. Add stewed tomatoes and their juice; add whole beans, 1/3 cup mashed beans, molasses, brown sugar, smoked sausage, water, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce temperature to medium, and cook uncovered 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Fall is here and that means it's pumpkin time! At our house that means pumpkin pie, pumpkin-raisin muffins, and pumpkin-apple soup, among other things. My family, especially my husband and son-in-law, are pumpkin freaks, so, needless to say, we go through a lot of pumpkin around here. As you can probably guess, I usually have several cans of puree in the cupboard at all times.

• The first step is to pick a small pumpkin. "Sugar pumpkins" or pumpkins marked for pie work best. The giant pumpkins are not good for pie because they have stringy, bland insides and their flesh is not nearly as firm. You want to choose one that is 2 to 3 pounds with less-pronounced grooves and skin with a dull appearance.
• Once you get your pumpkin home, wash and dry it thoroughly. Next, cut it in half vertically through the stem end, and remove the seeds and stringy pulp. Note: roasted pumpkin seeds are delicious, so don't throw them away!
• Lay the pumpkin, cut side down, on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until the pumpkin yields to slight pressure. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 20 minutes.
• Once your pumpkin is cooled, scoop the flesh from inside the shell with a spoon, and puree in a blender or food processor until smooth.
• Store puree in airtight containers in the refrigerator or freezer. Use within 3 or 4 days if refrigerated, or within 6 months if frozen.
• Use your puree as you would the canned variety. Note: My 2 lb. pumpkin made about 2 cups of puree.

Here is one of our favorite pumpkin recipes, Pumpkin-Raisin Muffins, from Country Cupboard restaurant in Lewisburg, PA. They bring you a basket of these warm from the oven when you dine there, and I have to say that the first time I tasted one, I though I had died and gone to heaven! I can't think of a better use for homemade pumpkin puree than these fragrant, spicy muffins!

It’s the time of year when the days are getting shorter and the evenings turning cooler, and I start craving “comfort food” again. I just love comfort foods because they include some of America’s best dishes such as chowders, stews and casseroles. Whether it’s grandma’s beef stew or mom’s chicken and dumplings, there is something special about these recipes that satisfies more than just my hunger.

At our house we LOVE comfort food and look forward to the arrival of the cooler weather that gives us an excuse to eat some of our favorites. The following recipes are for two of my family’s best-loved comfort foods. The first recipe, Mimi’s Famous Meatloaf, is moist and delicious and great for sandwiches the next day. Serve it with the sauce included in the recipe or covered in brown gravy. Either way, I promise your family will love this meatloaf! The second recipe, Mom’s Easy Macaroni and Cheese is the ultimate in comfort food. Tender elbow macaroni is baked in a gooey, tangy cheese sauce and topped with a golden-brown layer of even more cheese. It doesn’t get any better than that! It’s so easy to make that I often prepare two at a time and freeze one (baked or unbaked) for our next comfort food craving!

Both these recipes are super-easy, use ingredients you probably have on-hand right now, and are perfect for making ahead and freezing (baked or unbaked). The next time a comfort food craving hits you, try out these delicious recipes and satisfy more than just their hunger. Your family will be glad you did!

Mimi’s Famous Meat Loaf
Meatloaf:
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef or ground chuck
1 egg
1 5 oz. can evaporated milk
1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup Mix
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
Sauce:
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp. white vinegar
6 Tbsp. onion -- chopped
1/2 cup water
1 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350.
Place meat in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, use a wire whisk or a fork to lightly beat egg and milk.
Add dry soup mix and continue to whisk until combined. Pour egg mixture on top of meat.
Pour bread crumbs and oats on top of meat.
Using a fork, gently mix meat, egg mixture and dry ingredients together until well-mixed. Do not squish or squeeze the meat as overworking it compacts the meat and results in a dry meatloaf.
Place meat mixture into a loaf pan, using your hands to flatten and shape the meat into a smooth loaf.
Bake at 350 for approx. one hour.
While meatloaf is baking, prepare sauce.
Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Pour 1/2 of sauce over meat last 30 minutes of baking; warm remaining sauce and serve on the side.

Note: If you plan to freeze the meatloaf (baked or unbaked), don’t make the sauce until the day you plan to serve it. Thaw frozen unbaked meatloaf in refrigerator for 24 hours, then bake and follow directions for sauce as usual. Thaw baked meatloaf overnight in refrigerator. Prepare sauce and pour over thawed meatloaf before re-heating in oven or microwave.

Mom’s Easy Macaroni and Cheese
2 tsp. butter or margarine
1/4 cup onion -- chopped
1 10 3/4 oz. can Cheddar Cheese Soup
1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp. Texas Pete hot sauce (optional)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (your choice mild or sharp)
1 cup shredded Colby-jack cheese
3 cups cooked elbow macaroni, prepared according to package directions (1 1/2 cups dry macaroni = 3 cups cooked)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt butter over medium heat in a large saucepan.
Add onion and cook, stirring often until tender, 2-5 minutes.
Whisk in soup, milk, hot sauce (if using), and 1/2 cup each of shredded cheeses, stirring until cheese is melted.
Add macaroni, stirring well to coat with cheese mixture. Pour into a lightly greased 9-inch square baking dish.
Top with remaining 1/2 cup each of the shredded cheeses and bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned on top.

Note: Thaw frozen baked or unbaked macaroni and cheese overnight in refrigerator. If freezing unbaked macaroni and cheese, put cheeses for topping (1/2 cup each cheddar and co-jack) in a zippered freezer bag and tape to the wrapped macaroni and cheese. Frozen baked macaroni and cheese should be thawed as directed above and then reheated in the microwave or covered with foil in a 350 degree oven for 30-45 minutes.