Baked Potato Soup

I have never been able to make a really good potato soup until now. This recipe that I found on Foodie with Family is great and I thought pretty easy. What I thought really put this over the top was the Greek yogurt green onion mixture. Mixed into the soup was so good. It gave it a tangy, onion yumminess to go with the bacon bits and cheese. I enjoyed this soup for a couple of dinners and several lunches. I will be making this again.





Baked Potato Soup
adapted from Foodie with Family

Printer Friendly Version

12 one cup servings, 6 WW points per serving

Soup ingredients:

12 large baked potatoes, cooled (*see instructions below for directions on how to bake potatoes)
4 tablespoons butter, divided
6 tablespoons flour
1 onion, chopped finely
4 cups skim milk
6 cups chicken broth
2/3 cups Weight Watchers shredded Mexican cheese
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder
optional: up to one cup of instant mashed potato flakes to thicken soup

Creamy onion topping

2 cups Greek yogurt
1 bunch green onions (scallions), cleaned, trimmed of roots and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon salt

In a bowl mix together the yogurt, green onions and salt. Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge until ready to use.

To Bake Potatoes:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Gently scrub potatoes under cool running water to remove any dirt. Pat the potatoes dry on a baking sheet. Bake for 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of your potatoes. They are done when they yield to gentle pressure when you squeeze them. (Wear an oven mitt when squeezing them! ) When they are done, transfer to a rack on your counter to cool. Once cool peel off the skins and smash the potatoes in a large bowl and set aside.

In a skillet melt one tablespoon butter and cook the onions until soft. Add in the rest of the three tablespoons of butter. Once melted sprinkle the flour over the onions and butter and whisk until smooth. Turn the heat back to medium. Although at first the fat and flour will seem to seize up it will loosen and become liquid again fairly quickly. Once it returns to a liquid state and begins bubbling stir constantly and cook for 1 minute. This is your roux, or your thickener, for the soup. Whisk all of the milk into the roux and bring to a simmer. Simmer gently until thickened. To check whether your base has thickened enough dip a soup or wooden spoon into it and remove it. If it is still thin, simmer a little while longer or until it does coat a spoon.

Whisk the 6 cups of chicken stock into the thickened milk base and then stir all of the smashed potato innards into the soup. With the pot over medium heat, stir frequently to prevent scorching. You don’t need to boil the soup; you just need to get it steaming hot. When it is steaming check the consistency. If it is not thick enough for your liking, sprinkle two tablespoons of instant potato flakes over the top of the soup and stir in quickly. Wait a couple minutes and check the consistency of the soup again. You can continue adding potato flakes until it is as thick as you like it. We like our soup quite thick, so I have added as much as 1 cup of flakes before. Make sure, though, to wait a couple of minutes between additions as it takes a little while for potato flakes to reach full thickening power. Stir in the cheese until it is completely melted. Adjust flavors with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.

Remove the soup pot from the heat and serve immediately with Creamy Onion Topping, the bacon pieces, sliced green onions and shredded cheese.

BBQ Chicken Calzones

I found this recipe on Life as a Lofthouse's blog. Holly has some really great recipes and so far all the ones I have tried have been yummy. Will even liked these though he told me he would have liked them better without the green stuff, meaning the cilantro. I love cilantro and all this time didn't realize that he really doesn't. I really liked the filling for this calzone all by itself. I think it would make a great BBQ chicken salad.




BBQ Chicken Calzones
adapted from Life as a Lofthouse

Printer Friendly Version

10 servings, 4 WW points per serving

2 cans Country Style Biscuits (there are 10 biscuits in a can and they are smaller)
1 can Chunk Chicken, drained
1/2 cup BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup Real Bacon Pieces like Oscar Meyer's
2/3 cup shredded Weight Watchers Mexican Cheese or low fat cheese
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, mix together the chicken, BBQ sauce, onion, bacon, cheese, and cilantro together. Remove biscuit dough from cans. Take one dough piece and lay out on a clean surface. Roll out flat into a circle. Repeat with all dough circles.

In the center of a flattened dough circle, place 2 tablespoons of the BBQ chicken mixture. Take another dough circle and place over the top. Seal the edges by pressing them together. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. You will have 10 calzones total.

Bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately!

Pumpkin and Apple Donuts

I got myself a Wilton donut pan and I just had to use it. I knew I wanted to make pumpkin donuts and apple donuts. I thought that the pumpkin donuts needed something but the apple donuts were fantastic. Will loved them. I think he begged me to make more and I was a bad wife and didn't. What's nice about both of these recipes is that you don't need a donut pan. You can make them into muffins. I made these for my book discussion group. Once again these were a big hit, probably more so than the book. Though we did have a very good discussion on the book this month.









Pumpkin Donuts
from Culinary Cory

2 cups flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. cinnamon
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 eggs
2 Tbl. milk
¼ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, nutmeg and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside. Cream together the brown sugar, canned pumpkin, eggs, milk, butter and vanilla extract until the butter is well incorporated. With your mixer on medium low speed, slowly add the dry sifted ingredients to the wet mixture. Mix until just barely combined. Be careful of over mixing.

Spray the donut pan with cooking spray and fill each donut mold halfway with the pumpkin batter. Bake at 375 degrees for 6 – 8 minutes or until the exterior springs back when touched. Allow to cool completely and top each donut with cinnamon glaze.

Cinnamon Glaze

½ cup powdered sugar
1 Tbl. milk
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg

Mix until smooth and creamy. The glaze should pour easily from a spoon. You may need to add additional milk or powder sugar to get the right consistency.

Apple Donuts

from the Savvy Kitchen

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup low-fat milk
• 1 cup cored and finely diced apples

Topping:

• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix the first 5 ingredients with a fork. Add the shortening and mix until the shortening is broken up. Set aside. In another bowl combine the eggs, milk and diced apples. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix until just blended.

Spoon into a greased muffin pan, or use paper liners. Bake 20 – 25 minutes or until muffins are light to medium brown (15-18 minutes for mini-muffins).

While donuts are baking, melt the butter and set aside. Combine 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon in a separate bowl. When the donuts are done and before they have had a chance to cool, dip the tops in butter and then roll them in the cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Store in an airtight container.

Tortellini Salad

I have been wanting to make a tortellini salad for awhile and the Halloween party was my first chance to make one. What's nice about tortellini is that it is versatile. I think you could really put any type of ingredients in it that you want and it would taste great. I decided on tomatoes, red onion, bacon, and ranch dressing. This was great and I enjoyed it for several lunches as well.

Tortellini Salad
a Lacey creation

Printer Friendly Version

1 large package of refrigerated Buitoni Mixed Cheese Tortellini
1 package of cherry tomatoes, washed
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 package Real Bacon Bits for recipes
1 pint bottle Hidden Valley Ranch dressing

Cook the tortellini according to the package directions, drain and let cool. Once cool place in a large bowl with the remaining ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve. I recommend making the day before or several hours before serving so the flavors meld.

Queso

For the past seven years I have been having a Halloween party for my co-workers. This year was the first year I didn't have it at my house. My co-worker Vicki has a beautiful basement and she offered to have the party at her house. I took her up on the offer. Just because the party wasn't at my house didn't mean I wasn't going to cook. I always get pizza as the main dish and then I like to make a couple of side dishes and usually dessert. This year I didn't make any dessert due to being sick a few days before and I just didn't have the energy. Everyone brings something with them so we always have plenty of food to choose from. This year I made queso and tortellini salad. I made the queso using Velveeta. It was really good.

Queso

Printer Friendly Version

32oz. Velveeta (New Queso Blanco flavor)
1 can Rotel Mild Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies, drained
1 can Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Lime and Cilantro, drained.

Cut up the Velveeta and place it in a pot with the drained cans of Rotel. Place the pot over a medium low heat and stir frequently to melt. Once melted place in a crock pot on keep warm setting to keep warm or just place in a bowl and eat.

Or you can place the cut up Velveeta and Rotel right in the crock pot and place on low to melt before a party. Change to keep warm once melted.

Serve with chips.