Main Dishes, Recipes, Soups

Sweet Potato Soup

Sarah

SWEET potato soupThey say necessity is the mother of inventions… and let me tell you, last Tuesday night soup was a necessity for me! It was cold and rainy and I had just come from a terrible class. After class, I went to the grocery store and intended to buy potatoes for my favorite soup in the whole wide world… but forgot until I got home. That’s what happens when you don’t write things down on your grocery list, at least in my world. There was no way I was heading back into the nightmare that is a grocery store in a college time after a school break, nosireebob. My sweet husband offered to go out in the cold and the wet for those potatoes, but I didn’t want him to have to do that. But I still wanted that soup… so I improved. And thus, this soup was born. One day, when it is all grown up, I can tell it the tale of it’s birth on a cold, dark November night… but for now, I can just enjoy it in its infancy.

This is a top-notch savory sweet potato dish, folks. Forget all notions of Thanksgiving’s sweet potato casserole smothered in brown sugar or marshmallows [fact: I’ve never eaten sweet potato casserole with marshmallows… it’s brown sugar topping for me all the way!]. This sweet potato soup is subtly sweet, with just a hint of sweet via the nutmeg and the star of the show, the sweet potato itself. This soup is rich without being heavy, but is warm, chunky, and cozy–everything a hearty soup is destined to be, is called to be, can be.

How’s that for a introduction? Can you tell that I’m enamored with this soup, that I’ve been eating it gladly for days straight, that I haven’t dished leftovers into tupperware to freeze for future lunches for my husband? I hope you can, because I’m not sure how else to sum up my feelings about this soup. Amazing!

Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients:

  • 7 cups sweet potato, roughly peeled and chopped [for me, this was 2 large]
  • 1 cup carrot, diced [2 medium]
  • 3/4 cup onion, minced
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 12 ounces fat free evaporated milk

Directions:

Combine sweet potato, carrot, onion, and chicken broth in a large stock pot and cook over medium heat until the sweet potato is soft [hint: the smaller the pieces of sweet potato, the faster it will cook… and stir constantly or you may end up with a not-so-nice layer of crusty potato at the bottom of your pot…whoops!]. Mix in sage, basil, pepper, and nutmeg, then bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and then add the milk, stirring constantly until fully combined. Simmer for at least 15 minutes or until heated through.

Click here for the printable: Sweet Potato Soup

Question of the Day: What has been your latest invention? Doesn’t have to be food-related at all! Please share in the comments 🙂

Breads, Recipes

Suit Yourself Biscuits

Sarah

So sometimes I’m just in a cookie cutter mood. Do you ever get like that? I just wanna use cookie cutters, please! NOW!

So a few nights ago, instead of using cookie cutters for the obvious, I used them for biscuits. More specifically, Joy the Baker‘s Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits. Cut out with my grandmother’s suit-series cookie cutters. Fabulous, I know!

suit cookie cutters

Cheddar pairs with black pepper to make these biscuits. These delightfully flaky biscuits.… oh man.

biscuits

And when they’re cut to look like a deck of cards [he he he, I crack myself up], they just taste better I think. Regardless of their shape though, they crumble oh-so-nicely into perfect pieces which just melt in your mouth. Topped with some butter, they’re a delightful addition to dinner or breakfast. Divine, I say. D-i-v-i-n-e!

Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits [by Joy the Baker]

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
  • 1/2 cup shortening, cold and diced [I used Crisco sticks]
  • 1/4 cup butter, cold and diced
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk, cold
  • 3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • a touch of heavy cream and black pepper for topping the biscuits before baking [I used evaporated milk because I had a can opened…]

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking powder, and cream of tarter. Use a pastry blender to cut in butter and shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Fold in pepper and cheese. In a small bowl, whisk egg and buttermilk together and then pour into dough, mixing together gently.

Turn dough out onto a floured cutting board or countertop, and knead together for a minute or so [Joy recommends 15 times]. Then pat dough out to a 1 inch thickness and cut dough with a biscuit/cookie cutter or in squares with a knife. Brush tops with cream and pepper. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for about 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

Click here for the printable version: Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits

Question of the Day: What’s your favorite cookie cutter shape?

Breakfast, Pancakes, Recipes

Pumpkin Pancakes

Sarah

So, it’s no secret that I love breakfast. Especially pancakes. I don’t know what it is, but I just love those things. Mmmm. I’ve posted 8 recipes for breakfast foods in the 5 or so months I’ve been blogging, and that doesn’t even come close to the all the breakfast recipes I’ve tried in that time span. Only the best of the best are posted here, folks. 🙂 And also, it should come as no shock that I love pumpkin. Another 8 recipes. *ahem, are we sensing a trend here?* However, what should come as a complete and UTTER shock is that I have never had a pumpkin pancake in my life. NEVER!

Ohmygoodness.

What kind of breakfast/pumpkin lover am I?

Fortunately though, I don’t have to ponder that anymore, because I recently made that previous statement false. I made and consumed pumpkin pancakes. I thoroughly enjoyed them… with their little fried and crispy edges, soft middles, and spicy pumpkin aroma and flavor… and when you make them [because you will], you will enjoy them too! [And then you will crave them while writing term papers and then you can go defrost the leftovers from your freezer and eat them for lunch and be happy. Really, really happy. Or, at least as happy as you can be while doing schoolwork.]

pumpkin pancakes - a classic recipe you'll use again & again!

On that note, I bring you the recipe… because that’s all you care about, right, not my sad term paper plight? 🙂

Pumpkin Pancakes

  • Servings: 3-4 depending on how hungry you are
  • Print

from The Brunette Foodie; originally AllRecipes.com

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 1/2 cups skim milk
  • 1 cup pumpkin
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 2 teaspoons canola oil
  • 2 teaspoons vinegar
  • Mix-ins of your choice: pecans, chocolate chips, etc.

Directions:

Preheat a griddle pan over low to medium heat.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: milk, pumpkin, egg, oil, and vinegar. [Side note: yes, vingear in batter seems odd. But you can’t taste it, I promise! More info here.] Fold wet ingredients into the dry until just combined and add mix-ins if desired.

Add oil to the griddle, then scoop out onto hot griddle and cook as usual. The batter will be thick, so allow each pancake to cook for about 2 minutes before flipping. They shouldn’t burn if you keep the heat down. Repeat until batter is gone, then serve with butter and syrup if desired. They were so good I ate them plain!

Question of the Day: What do/did you snack on while doing schoolwork? In college, I was all about nachos–shredded cheese melted on tortilla chips in the microwave, or those big Kroger cinnamon rolls… mmm…

Menu Plans

Menu Plan

Sarah

So, I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving! I sure did, except for the huge project I had due today which I spent over 14 hours working on yesterday and today to finish before 4 pm this afternoon. But I finished…yay! We had a lot of delicious Thanksgiving food and lots of time with family. Thursday morning, Ben and I ran [along with his brother and a friend] a local Turkey Trot 5K. We had great weather and I ran a great time–21:22, placing 5th in my age group and 96th overall [out of over 1600 people!]! But now it’s back to school… the end of the semester… 3 papers and a final in the next 2 1/2 weeks… almost there!

I’ll be back with a new recipe tomorrow but for now, check out my guest post on Today’s Housewife with some yummy Autumnal Muffins!

Week of November 29

Monday: leftovers

Tuesday: egg sandwiches with Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits [that I didn’t make a few weeks ago]

Wednesday: Green Chile-Chicken Enchilada Casserole in the crock pot

Thursday: leftovers

Friday: lasagna before seeing The Nutcracker!

Saturday: mustard chicken [that I didn’t make last week]

Sunday: out to eat