Creamy and Spicy Corn Soup

I love the skinnyms.com website. I have found so many great recipes on there. This one was no exception. It's healthy and it really did taste delicious. For anyone looking for a tasty vegetarian meal, here you go. And it's also vegan friendly too! Click here for the link to this recipe.

This part took the most time. You need to take the corn off five ears of corn. I am not a master at this. Once I finally got the hang of it, I was pretty much done. I had a few fly away pieces. The onion and potato didn't take long since the recipe calls for small ones. I used the whole potato even though it says to just use half. It was not a large one but I thought it would add a little more to the soup. I'm glad I did it.

 I'm thinking that maybe I didn't need such a large pot. :-D

Looked and smelled great. I was anxious to try it!

Here is the finished meal. Looks a little gross in this picture but it tasted great. I added diced tomatoes (fresh or canned would work - I used canned), avocado, and a little bit of tortilla chips crumbed on the top. This would also taste great with chicken and cheese. I forgot to add the salt but it did not need it so it worked out okay.

Ingredients:

• 5 ears fresh sweet corn
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• 1/2 a medium yukon gold potato, chopped
• 2-3 cups vegetable stock (the more stock you add, the thinner your soup will be)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1.5 tsp chili powder
• A pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions

Cut the onion, potato, and trim the corn kernels off the 5 ears of corn. You can cook the corn ahead of time, however, it works well to just cook it for a few minutes when it goes in the pot.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, saute for 5 minutes until the onion is translucent. Add the potato and broth, bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are very soft – about 10 minutes. Then add the fresh corn and cook through for a couple minutes more. *Even though my potato was cut small, it did take a little longer than 10 minutes. Cooking time may vary.

Add a bit more vegetable broth if your soup mixture looks too thick. Add all of your spices (cumin, chili powder, cayenne, black pepper). Then puree with an immersion/hand blender, or with a regular blender/food processor. *This did not go over too well. I used the immersion blender just a little bit but since there isn't much liquid, it started to splatter all over the place. I'd say just use it enough to get things mixed up and thickened up a bit but use caution since you'll be doing this right in the hot pot.

Easy Chicken, Potato, Green Bean Recipe

This is a full meal put together in one casserole dish. It is easy to prepare and has great flavor. I'll definitely be doing this again!

Ingredients:

4 raw chicken breasts, or tenderloins

Potatoes, cut  up into bite sized pieces

Frozen green beans

Italian Dressing mix packet (I used only half and it was plenty.)

Butter, enough to drizzle over the top of the dish

Arrange in a 9 X 13 dish. Sprinkle with a packet of the dressing mix and then top with butter. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. 

*I made a mistake and did not cut the potatoes small enough so it took a little over an hour to cook. I also may have stacked them too high. :-)

*Whoops!  I forgot to take an after photo!

Pad Thai

I love Pad Thai so it's something I always order when I get Thai food.  However, the thought of making it at home always seemed a bit daunting. I was looking for an easy recipe that did not call for fish sauce. This was easy and it tasted great! You just need to remember to soften the noodles in hot water for about 25 minutes prior to preparing the meal. Other than that, this meal does not take long to put together. Definite do again!

Easy Pad Thai

Serves 4

8 ounces dried, wide and flat rice noodles
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus wedges for serving
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 squirt (about 1/8 teaspoon) Sriracha (optional)
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
3 scallions (green onions), white and green parts, separated and thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 large eggs, light beaten (optional)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped roasted, salted peanuts

1. Soak noodles according to package instructions. Drain.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, lime juice, soy sauce, and Sriracha.
3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add scallion whites and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Add eggs and cook, scraping skillet with spatula until eggs are almost set (about 30 seconds). Transfer eggs to a plate.
5. Add noodles, scallion greens, and sauce to skillet. Cook, tossing constantly, until noodles are soft (about 1 minute). Add egg mixture and toss to coat, breaking eggs up gently.
6. Serve noodles with lime wedges, topped with cilantro and peanuts.

*You can skip the eggs to make this meal vegan.

*Add chicken or tofu for a little added taste and texture.

*Double the sauce if you find it's too dry. I did that and it was perfect.

Menu for the week of 6/10

My menu for this week is very simple and easy to prepare. Who doesn't love that?  :-D

Pad Thai - I love Pad Thai so I wanted to find an easy recipe that I could make at home. I'll be posting separately about how that turned out. I found this on Pinterest and let's just say...it was quite delicious and a big hit in my house.  P.S. This recipe does not call for fish sauce.

Pasta Dinner - Pasta, sauce (with ground turkey), veggies (frozen), and bread - Don't be afraid to use frozen vegetables. They are just as good as fresh. Pre-cut and ready to go. Can't go wrong! This is an easy meal and one that can be prepared in advance. And, it makes for great leftovers.

Burgers and Fries - Trader Joe's Veggie Burgers (avocado makes a great topping along with your other favorites) and sweet potato fries (frozen). I wish I had it in me to make my own fries but  no go. Maybe some day.

Chicken Caesar Salad - The plan was to get a rotisserie chicken and use that but they were all out so I will make my own chicken and put it on top of the romaine, Parmesan cheese, and croutons.

Cheeseburger Slider Desserts

At a Jimmy Buffet concert years ago, I saw these mini cheeseburgers. So cool! What's even cooler is that they are actually a dessert. Something I can't resist! They are very easy to put together. It takes a little bit of time but it's totally worth it. They will, for sure, be a huge hit at your summer gatherings. I was quite impressed by my little creations. Nice job for a first try.  And sooo delicious!

The following recipe makes 40 mini-cheese burgers:
1pkg – Nilla wafers (buns)
1pkg -Keebler’s grasshopper cookies (meat)
1pkg – white frosting (for adherence)
1 tube- yellow frosting (cheese & mustard)
1 tube- red frosting (ketchup & tomatoes)
1/2 package shredded coconut (lettuce)
Green food coloring.
Sesame seeds
Honey

Steps:

1.) Lettuce – mix shredded coconut with green food coloring – set aside

2.) Spread white frosting on the flat sides of the Nilla Wafers – lining them up as a top/bottom pair (2 nilla wafers for one sandwich)

3.) Place a Grasshopper cookie on one of the two nilla wafers (the bottom bun)

4.) Apply yellow frosting as a circular ring on top of the Grasshopper cookie.

5.) Apply red icing in random dots around the yellow icing.

6.) Layer bits of the shredded green coconut on top of the frosting

7.) Place 2nd Nilla wafer on top (top bun)

8.) Place a dab of honey on top of the top bun Nilla wafer and brush on evenly.

9.) Sprinkle sesame seeds lightly

10.) Smile at your cute little creation and store in a cool place!

I did chill mine a little bit before eating but they are just as good unchilled