Hella Good Potato Leek Soup

My mother-in-law has so many wonderful dishes in her repertoire. Her leek and potato soup has to be my absolute favorite. I could drink gallons of this like a diesel truck drinks fuel. If I could fill a swimming pool with this soup, I totally would. Its creamy and full of amazing comfort flavors. I just keep saying "this is sooooo delicious!" the entire time I'm eating this. It's the perfect cozy fall soup. 

Ingredients: 

3 tablespoons butter

2 slices bacon, chopped

2 large leeks, (the white part only) chopped

2 pounds potatoes, peeled and chopped

4 cups chicken stock

2 bay leaves

4 sprigs of thyme 

15-20 peppercorns (can sub pepper to taste)

1/2 cup white wine

1 cup heavy cream (can sub whole milk)

Directions:

In a heavy pan, melt your butter and add your bacon. Cook bacon until crisp and all the fat is rendered off into the pan. Add your leeks and potatoes to the pan and cook until your leeks are soft. Add your wine, stock, bay leaves, & thyme.  Tie your peppercorns in a cheesecloth bundle with the green parts of the leek and add that to the pot too. Simmer until the potatoes are very soft. You can then blend the soup with an emersion blender until its creamy with just a few chunks. Remove from heat and cool slightly before adding your cream (so your cream doesn't curdle) or temper your cream before adding it to the hot soup. Reheat slowly and salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve with bread, or the Nelson favorite is to pair this soup with crab. 

I've said it once, but I will say it a million times. This soup is sooooooo good. Creamy, full of comforting flavors, and the perfect velvety texture. Make this today and I dare you not to fall in love with it. Actually, I double dare you. 

Ooey Gooey Fluffy Sweet Rolls

Growing up, my mother made Sweet Rolls. Somewhere along the line I started calling them Cinnamon Rolls. I realized a good chunk of the world calls them Sticky Buns. Whatever you call them, you will certainly call them delicious. Behold! 

These magical rolls are made of light and fluffy dough. They have the perfect amount of sweet and spice. The oozy gooey frosting makes the melt in your mouth. They are literally finger licking good. 

Ingredients for the dough: 

1 small package of yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1 egg

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon lavender salt

3 1/2 cups flour

Ingredients for the center: 

1/4 cup melted butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Ingredients for the frosting: 

4 tablespoons room temperature butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons hot water

Directions: 

In a small bowl disolve your yeast packet in warm water. In a separate bowl heat your milk in the microwave to almost boiling. In your kitchen mixer, use your dough attachment and mix together your milk, sugar, melted butter, egg, and lavender salt. Slowly add your flour and then add your yeast water. Mix on medium speed for about 4 or 5 minutes. The dough should form a sticky ball. Grease the sides of your mixing bowl and cover it with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Keep it in a warm spot on your counter until the dough doubles in size, about 60-90 minutes. 

Then knead your dough back into its original size. Using the backside of a greased cookie tray,  roll out your dough until it matches the tray in size. Cover your sheet of dough with your melted butter. Then mix together your cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle your mixture all over the melted butter. Roll it up from the long side so it makes a long skinny roll of dough. Cut it into 12 equal pieces. Place those pieces in a greased casserole dish, spaced into 3 rows of 4. Let rise again, until the dough fills the pan and about doubles in size again. This should take 30-45 minutes. 

Heat your oven to 350 degrees and back for 25 minutes or until just slightly golden on top. As soon as you pull your rolls from the oven, mix together your butter, vanilla, powdered sugar, and water until its a smooth consistency. Pour your glaze over your rolls once they have cooled slightly. Serve immediately. 

This is the best desert I have made in a long time. We made it for lds general conference this weekend, which is always a perfect time to bust out a delicious and special breakfast treat. This is the perfect desert for a morning family gathering. But if you know my family, you better make a double batch. Enjoy!

Sweet Balsamic Dressing

I love finding a new recipe for a homemade dressing. Anything you can make that makes vegetables not taste like vegetables is a good thing. This dressing has only a few ingredients, but tastes much more complex. It comes together in a cinch and you can save it for days and reuse it. If you're bored of the same old same old dressing, give this one a try. 

Dressing Ingredients: 

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 good quality balsamic vinegar

1/2 clove garlic

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper 

You want to add all of your ingredients except for the olive oil into a mini prep, and blend them together. Then slowly add the oil so it can emulsify. Blend until smooth and fully incorporated. 

For this particular salad we used shredded romaine hearts, radishes, grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, croutons, and blue cheese dressing. The previous day I made this salad we used feta cheese, spinach, cucumbers, and almonds. Both of these salads were fantastic. That's the great thing about a good dressing. You can put it on about anything and it will taste fantastic. 

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Enchiladas with an Avocado Mole

I'm resurrecting an old favorite on this old blog because I re-made this tonight and remembered just how delicious this is. They are creamy and full of unique satisfying flavors. This recipe is actually incredibly healthy when it comes to most enchilada recipes I've seen; but it doesn't taste like a healthy recipe which is important criteria in my book. The whole time we were eating this for the first time my husband was like "Does this have cream in it? Does this have chicken in it? How much cheese did you use? It tastes like there is a rich mole on this! This recipe is a keeper! Best new recipe yet!" High praise from my picky Love Muffin. While this recipe doesn't have an expensive protein or unhealthy cream in it, it totally satisfies. I love meatless meals that my husband approves of. Plus it comes together in a snap, I love easy meals that my stomach approves of! 

Ingredients:

6 whole wheat tortillas 

1 can black beans, rinsed 

1 large onion 

1 garlic clove 

1 avacado

3 Roma tomatoes 

2 tsp chili powder 

2 tablespoons vegetable oil 

1 tablespoon water

2 tsp oregano 

1 medium sweet potato, skinned & shred (should make about 1.5-2 cups) 

1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Salt and pepper 

Heat oven to 450. 

In a blender, puree the tomatoes, avacado, chili powder, half the onion, 1 tablespoon veggie oil, water, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper until smooth.

Heat 1 tablespoon veggie oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the other 1/2 of the onion and garlic and cook 3 minutes until soft. Add the black beans, sweet potato, oregano, and ¼ teaspoon of both salt and pepper. Cook stiring frequently until the sweet potatoes are tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in 1 cup cheese. 

Spray a 9x13 pan with non stick spray. Fill your tortillas with the bean mixture and roll into enchilada shapes and fill pan. Cover rolled tortillas with blender sauce. Cover with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. 

Bake for 15 minutes until cheese is bubbly. Serve and enjoy! 

Notes: Husband suggests you grill your tomatoes and onion on the BBQ to get them nice and charred to add a smokiness to your mole. I say, that's a lot of extra work, but maybe worth a try. He also thinks adding an anaheim chili to the mole and omitting the water would be a nice way to keep the sauce thin enough but add some extra flavor instead. 

Anyway, meatless meal that satisfies your craving for a stick to your ribs dish. Unique and flavorful combinations that your family won't soon forget. Easy on the waistline and pocketbook, a cinch to pull together, what's not to love? These are one of my favorite ways to eat enchiladas ever, you've gotta try them. You won't regret it. 

Greek Tzatziki Burgers

If you haven't noticed a pattern on this blog, my husband loves a unique twist on a traditional dish. We also love "Quentin's White Sauce" found HERE. In summer, regular hamburgers can get a bit boring, so we decided to do a little Greek twist to ours today. Behold our Greek Tzatziki Burgers. 

These ooey gooey burgers are extremely flavorful. They have a wonderful crunch from the veggies, a bite from the tzatziki sauce, and then you finish it off with a supple 1/2 pound of flavorful beef. They are wonderful. Plus its fun shaping your burgers into little triangles. 

Burger Ingredients: 

1/2 pound of 80% lean ground beef per person

1 inch green onion stem per person, chopped, 

1/2 tsp fresh dill per person, chopped

1/2 pita per person

1 romaine lettuce leaf per person

5 slices of cucumber per person 

Tzatziki Ingredients: 

Found HERE

Mix your ground beef with your chopped scallions, dill, lavender salt & pepper. Shape into parties that are in triangle shapes or that will match the shape of your pitas. Grill until each patty has a nice crust on the outside. Fill your pita with one patty each, lettuce, cucumber, and then top with your fresh tzatziki sauce. 

I hope you enjoy another wonderful flavorful easy weeknight meal. 

Easy Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons!

Caesar Salads are one of our easy go to meals. We aren't big on bottled dressings around here. In fact, I don't think I've bought a bottle of salad dressing in years! Why would you want to when you can whip up a homemade version that tastes better, is less expensive, and just as easy? This salad is so good. A garlicy dressing with a savory bite to it, the salty parmesan  and don't get me started on these crunchy on the outside chewy on the inside herbalicious croutons. So so good.

Dressing: 
1 tsp salt
1 garlic clove (minced in a garlic press)
3 tsp anchovy paste
2 egg yolks (no whites!) 
1 tbs dijon mustard
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tbs water
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup grated parmesan 
1/2 tsp pepper 
Mix all of your dressing ingredients in a mini prep food processor as you add them so that the olive oil can emulsify. If you don't have a mini prep, you can use a whisk, just beat it super hard until it all mixes together.)

Salad: 
2 heads romaine lettuce, washed, spun in salad spinner, and cut up into bite sized pieces
Homemade croutons (see recipe below)
1/3 cup grated parmesan
1-2 breasts cooked chicken, cut up into bite sized pieces and cooled

Croutons: 
Cut 1/2 of an Italian loaf bread into large squares. 
Spray the bread with your olive oil mister. (Or just drizzle if you don't have a mister).
Sprinkle liberally with Italian seasoning.
Season with salt and pepper. 
Bake in oven at 425 for 10 minutes. 
These are flavorful, crunchy on the outside yet a little tender on the inside. They are much healthier and yummier than any type of crouton you can get in the store. Look at these beauties!

Once you have your dressing and croutons made, you can simply assemble your salad and serve it immediately  This will make about 4 meal sized salads. This is the type of caesar salad you would expect to be served at a lovely restaurant, only now you can enjoy it at home in just minutes. 

Bon Appetite!

Our favorite pizza dough

Its time for our favorite pizza dough to make another appearance on this good old blog of mine. This time in a flavorful bacon and brussel sprout pizza. This pizza has a lovely crunchy and creaminess from the cheese. Enjoy!

Our Favorite Pizza Dough

Ingredients: (makes dough for 2 pizzas) 
1 envelope yeast
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup warm water
2 tablespoons olive oil 
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Add your yeast, sugar, salt, water, and olive oil in your mixing bowl and stir. Using your dough hook, add your flour slowly and beat on medium until a ball of dough forms. Cover your dough ball with olive oil and leave in bowl covered with plastic wrap in a warm spot until it has doubled in size. Divide it into pieces and knead it lightly and let it sit for about 10 minutes before forming into pizza circles. 

Pizza Toppings: 
8 brussel sprouts
16 ounce package of bacon
1 garlic clove
3 ounces goat cheese
1/3 cup feta cheese
Olive oil for brushing
Black pepper
Balsamic glaze

Cook your bacon in a pan over medium heat until crispy. Remove from pan and drain off all but 1 tablespoon of the excess oil. Trim your brussel sprouts into small shavings. Add them to the remaining bacon grease in the pan and cook until wilted. Add 1 minced garlic clove and cook for 1 additional minute. Cut your bacon into small pieces. Brush your pizza crust with olive oil. Cover with brussel sprouts, bacon, goat cheese, and feta cheese. Crack some black pepper over your pizza. Drizzle your pizza with your balsamic glaze. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes and crust is golden.