Carrot Soup

I love this soup.  It's easy...it's comfort... and the left overs freeze well.  I always double the recipe.



In a large pot saute onion, garlic and margarine until soft.

Then add water, carrots, rice and chicken bouillon.  Bring to a boil an then simmer until rice is cooked and carrots are soft.  The recipe says 20-25 minutes...I find it takes 30+ minutes, but I don't chop everything really small.

This is the fun part...the messy part.  It's actually a bit tedious unless, you wait for the soup to completely cool.  If you do this when it's still hot, you only can add a bit at a time so it doesn't spill over when you blend.


Scoop the soup bit by bit into a blender and blend it until smooth.  If you have one of those immersion blenders, I'm sure that would work perfect.

Smooth.....and beautiful...

And messy.....

Very messy....but that might just be me.

Then I put it all back in the pot and make sure it's heated through.  Serve it with parsley, salt and pepper. Since I'm a dried herb kinda girl, I used cardboard parsley...fresh would be better.

Printable Version Here


You know the drill....let me know if you try it!!

November 8 - 13

Here is what will be served up at our house this week...


Monday - roast, potatoes, sweet and sour cabbage

Tuesday - roasted tomato soup with grilled paninnis

Wednesday - sweet and sour chicken over rice

Thursday - steak with baked beans

Friday - we're in Kelowna for the weekend

Are They Donuts or Muffins

These look like muffins, but taste like those mini sugar donuts from the fair.


A friend posted about them on Facebook, so I immediately asked for the recipe.  She got it out of her local paper and sent me the link for it.


I may or may not have eaten 3 of them immediately.


Actually at one point following the next couple of days after making these, I asked Ben how many he had eaten.  I was embarrassed by his answer, because that meant I had eaten the rest.


DO NOT MAKE THESE IF YOU HAVE NO WILLPOWER.


However...if you do make these, I'm accepting thank you notes in the comments section.


Printable Recipe Here


The only change I made to the recipe was that I added brown sugar to the white sugar and cinnamon at the end....the delicious mixture you roll the warm donut muffins in....mmmmm....so good.

Did You Know...

...that I can email you new post notifications?


Click on my profile to the right and email me your email address and I will email you when I put new posts up.

Chicken Pot Pie

This is not going to win you any culinary awards and it isn't the most beautiful dish you have ever prepared, however...it has flavour...and it's easy.


Embarrassingly easy....but we all need dishes like these.  Especially on busy nights or "I don't feel like spending lots of time in the kitchen" nights...


Yeah...you know what I'm talking about.


There is no "printable" version of this because there is no real recipe.  I have no idea where I got this idea from, but I've been doing this for years....I probably read it somewhere.

You start with some cooked chicken (this was about 2 breasts) that are just seasoned with salt and pepper.

Then you add some slightly undercooked potatoes...or potatoes that have completely cooled.  Mine were actually still warm and a bit mushy, so I didn't mix them in with the mixture...I put them in the crust first, then poured my mixture on top.

Because when I make this I'm extra lazy, I just use powdered versions of these...look....I'm so lazy I can't even refill the garlic salt...no wait...it's powder....apparently I'm cheap too...

Add some veggies.  I use a frozen vegetable mixture that I've thawed out....and by thawed out, I mean let hot water run over them until they are not frozen.

Then I added a can of cream of chicken soup and I added a can of cream of mushroom too, but it was no name brand and I was too embarrassed to take a picture of it....but then I told you anyways, so I guess it doesn't matter now.

Get one package of this...

Pour your mixture into one of the crusts.  Sometimes when I'm feeling extra naughty, I'll add shredded cheese at this point.  I did not deserve it tonight...so no cheese.  I put it on a cookie sheet to save my oven from spillage.

Take the second crust out of the tin plate and put it over top....pinch the edges.  You can try to make it look pretty, but I didn't feel like it.  Pierce some holes in the top

I baked mine at 400F for 40ish minutes.  You want to know the inside is hot and bubbly and the crust is nicely browned...

and if you're fancy like us, you just scoop it out with a serving spoon...

Enjoy!!

Crispy Orange Beef

Recipe found here


I read the reviews/comments at allrecipes.com and here are my suggestions based on those...

- after you coat the beef in cornstarch, let it rest 10 minutes, then put it in a strainer and shake it over the sink

- double the sauce if you're serving it with rice and you want a sauce for it

- use a little less orange

- do not use 2 cups of oil for frying...I just coat the bottom of a non-stick frying pan with vegetable oil

November 1 - 5

Here are our meals for the week...


Monday - taco salad

Tuesday - stir fry

Wednesday - chicken pot pie

Thursday - mac n' cheese with hot dogs

Friday - french onion soup


Okay...I know that Thursday's meal is probably more suited for the twenty-something just moved out on their own crowd....or the young families on the go, however, even though we're thirty-something and no kids...we sometimes need these kind of meals. 


I have lots to do in the evenings this week and to be honest my mind is having a hard time planning our meals right now, so I went simple...boring and simple.


Come to think of it, I might actually switch Thursday and Friday's around.  I have a Silpada party to go to Friday night, so a quick meal on the go might be better.  Yeah...I'll do that.