Thursday, September 15, 2011

Cheeseburger Soup

adapted from a Taste of Home recipe.


We had this for lunch today. I subbed a gluten-free cheese soup (not condensed) for the Velveeta cheese, butter, flour, milk, and sour cream. The kids AND DH love it!


Cheeseburger soup

  • 1/2 lb. ground beef (I used 1 lb. because I didn't read the recipe that well before putting the beef in the pot)
  • 3/4 c. chopped onion
  • 3/4 c. shredded carrot
  • 3/4 c. diced celery
  • 1 tsp. dried basil
  • 4 Tbsp. butter, divided
  • 3 c. chicken broth
  • 4 c. diced peeled potatoes
  • 1/4 c. all purpose flour
  • 2 c. (8 oz.) shredded or finely cubed Velveeta cheese
  • 1 1/2 c. milk
  • 3/4 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 to 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/4 c. sour cream

In a 3 quart sauce pan, brown the beef; drain and set aside. In the same saucepan, saute the onion, carrots, celery, and basil in 1 Tbsp. butter until veggies are tender (I just browned them with the meat). Add the broth, potatoes and beef; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, metl remaining butter. Add flour; cook and stir for a minute until bubbly. Add about 2 c. liquid from the soup slowly and whisk until smooth. Add mixture to the soup and bring soup to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Add the cheese, milk, salt and pepper; cook and stir until cheese melts. Remove from heat and blend in sour cream.

Yield: 8 servings (about 2 1/4 quarts)

Monday, September 12, 2011

Honey Mustard Chicken

This is a quick-to-fix tasty chicken dish! We prefer to use chicken leg quarters but this would be good on breast meat, too.




Honey Mustard Chicken

  • 3 Tbsp. honey
  • 3 Tbsp. spicy brown mustard
  • 1 Tbsp. vegetable or canola or coconut oil
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. black pepper
  • 3 lb. (8 pieces) chicken
Mix all but the chicken together. Spread on chicken pieces. Place pieces on a foil lined baking pan that was sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 400° 35 to 40 minutes.

Our meal plan for the week!

I just love to plan my meals out! Well, not L-O-V-E...but it really helps me to keep meal times organized.

Here is our plan for this week!


September 11 – 17, 2011


Sunday:

breakfast – almond flour blueberry pancakes (freeze leftovers)

lunch – sloppy joe salad (making up double the meat and freezing one batch)

dinner – roast beef/potatoes/carrots in crock pot


Monday:

breakfast - spinach/onion/cheese omelets

lunch - vegetable beef soup (freeze leftovers in quart jars)

dinner - honey mustard chicken, oven fries, carrot salad, pickled beets


Tuesday:

breakfast - dairy free coconut peach smoothies, gluten-free pumpkin muffins

lunch - egg salad on cucumber slices

dinner - porcupine meatballs (making double batch & freezing one), sweet potatoes (from my garden) in honey butter, tossed salad


Wednesday:

breakfast - coconut custard & fruit

lunch - cheeseburger soup, GF pumpkin muffins

dinner - Spanish steak & rice (using cooked rice from my freezer meal supply), cucumber salad


Thursday:

breakfast - spinach/onion/cheese omelets

lunch - leftovers or thaw veggie beef soup

dinner - roasted chicken with veggies (one pan meal)


Friday:

breakfast - hard boiled eggs, morning glory muffins (gluten-free)

lunch - chef salad or chicken salad (chicken from Thursday's dinner) on cucumber slices

dinner - salisbury patties with gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans


Saturday:

breakfast - Caprese omelets

lunch - leftovers/clean out the fridge

dinner - Hawaiian chicken over rice (using cooked rice from my freezer meal supply), tossed salad



Snacks: peanut butter on celery sticks, sunflower seed raisin cookies, peaches, apple slices w/ peanut butter, popcorn.