Cannellini Sausage & Kale Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp oil
• .5 lb smoked andouille sausage, medium dice
• 1 cup onions, medium dice
• 1/2 Tbsp garlic, minced
• 1 cup celery, medium dice
• 1 cup carrots, medium dice
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 14 cups kale, stemmed and chopped
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 3 (19-oz) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

Preparation:

• In a 6-qt stockpot, heat the oil on medium heat. Add the andouille sausage and sauté until it starts to brown. Put in the onions, garlic, celery, carrots, and thyme, sautéing until the onions begin to soften. Add the kale and sauté until it begins to wilt. Pour in the chicken stock and simmer until the kale is tender, about 15 minutes.



• Take 2 cans worth of beans and purée them in a food processor until smooth.



• Stir the purée into the soup and add the remaining whole beans. Simmer until the beans are heated through, about 5 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour or Measure for Measure Gluten-Free Flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt or 3/4 teaspoon regular table salt
• 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line several cookie sheets with parchment paper, or lightly grease with non-stick vegetable oil spray.
2. Beat together the butter and sugars until smooth.
3. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla one at a time, beating well after each.
4. Whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and add to the butter mixture in the bowl.
5. Mix until everything is thoroughly incorporated. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and mix briefly.
6. Stir in the chocolate chips.
7. Decide what size cookies you want to make. A muffin scoop (1/4 cup) will make 20 large, palm-sized cookies. A tablespoon cookie scoop (4 teaspoons) will make 50 medium (2 3/4" to 3") cookies; and ateaspoon cookie scoop (2 teaspoons) will make 100 small (2 1/2") cookies.
8. Scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1 1/2" to 2" between cookies.
9. Bake the cookies for 12 to 17 minutes, until they're a light golden brown, with slightly darker edges. Their middles may still look a tiny bit shiny; that's OK, they'll continue to bake as they cool on the pan.
10. Remove the cookies from the oven, and as soon as they're set enough to handle, transfer them to racks to cool.
11. Yield: 20 to 100 cookies, depending on size.

No-Bake Chocolate Oat Bars

TipHero

No-Bake Chocolate Oat Bars

No-Bake Chocolate Oat Bars

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• ½ cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups rolled oats
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips
• ¾ cup chunky peanut butter

Directions

1. Line a 8-inch-by-8-inch baking dish with parchment paper, and set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Heat over low-heat, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
3. Add the oats, cinnamon and kosher salt. Cook, stirring constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes.
4. Pour half of the oat mixture into the prepared baking dish. Spread out the mixture evenly, pressing down.
5. In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips and the peanut butter. Heat on high in the microwave, in increments of 40 seconds, stirring in between each increment, until melted and fully combined.
6. Pour ⅘ of the chocolate mixture into the pan over the pressed oats, reserving about ¼ cup for drizzling. Top with the remaining oats and drizzle with the remaining ¼ cup chocolate mixture.
7. Refrigerate for 4 hours, or until set.

SLOW COOKER PHILLY CHEESE STEAK SANDWICHES

Ingredients :

2 1/2 to 3 pounds beef round steak
2 green peppers, sliced thin
2 onions, sliced thin
3 cups beef stock
2 teaspoons garlic salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 envelope dry Italian dressing mix
1 to 2 large loaves French bread, sliced into sandwich lengths or 6 to 8 hoagie buns
Provolone cheese slices

Directions :

Spray crock pot with non-stick cooking spray or use a slow cooker liner. Cut meat into thin strips, place in slow cooker. Add green pepper, onion, stock, garlic salt, pepper and dressing mix. Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours, or high for 3-4 hours.
Spoon meat mixture onto toasted buns, top with cheese. You can then put the sandwiches on a baking sheet and bake an additional few minutes to melt the cheese and toast the sandwich. You can also serve with sliced sauteed mushrooms on top

Goulash

Ingredients

2 pounds lean ground beef
2 large yellow onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups water
2 (15-ounce) cans tomato sauce
2 (15-ounce) cans diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
3 bay leaves
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon House Seasoning, recipe follows
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
2 cups elbow macaroni, uncooked

House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix the ingredients together and store in an air-tight container for up to 6 months. Use as a seasoning on meat and when cooking vegetables


Directions

In a Dutch oven, saute the ground beef over medium-high heat until no pink remains. Break up the meat while sauteing. Spoon off any grease. Add the onions and garlic to the pot and saute until they are tender, about 5 minutes. Add 3 cups water, along with the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, bay leaves, soy sauce, House Seasoning, and seasoned salt. Stir well. Place a lid on the pot and allow this to cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Add the elbow macaroni, stir well, return the lid to the pot, and simmer for about 30 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaves, and allow the mixture to sit about 30 minutes more before serving.
Serve with garlic bread and a salad.

Italian Lemon Pound Cake

3 cups all-purpose  flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup of sour cream

4 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tsp. of fresh ginger, minced

Zest of 2 lemons ( about 2 tbsps.)

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees

1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in the sour cream, lemon juice, vanilla, ginger, and lemon zest.

2. Mix half of the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Mix in the buttermilk and then add in the remaining flour mixture. Mix just until the flour disappears. Pour the cake batter into a bundt panthat has been generously sprayed with baking spray.

3. Bake for 70 to 80 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.  Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Turn the cake over on a cake platter. Spread  the lemon glaze over the warm cake so that the glaze can soak into the cake. Let the cake cool completely and drizzle the lemon cream cheese frosting over the cake.

Lemon Glaze

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoon lemon juice, at room temperature

1. Whisk the  powdered sugar and lemon juice together and mix until the glaze is smooth.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz. of cream cheese, softened

1 tbsp. of lemon zest

1/4 cup of lemon juice

2 cups of powder sugar

1. Mix the all the ingredients together until smooth and creamy.

Banana Pudding Poke Cake

Oh YA... It's THAT GOOD
Banana Pudding Poke Cake

You Will Need:
1 Box Yellow Cake Mix (make according to box directions so you will need eggs, oil and water)
2 (3.4oz) boxes of instant banana pudding
4 cups of milk
1 (8oz) tub of cool whip
20 crushed vanilla wafers
Here is what you do:
*Make cake in a 9 x 13 pan...according to box directions
Allow to cool for 2-3 min..Then using the end of a wooden spoon or something similar poke your holes in the cake... be sure to go to the bottom...you are gonna
want the holes pretty big so the pudding gets down there.
*In a med bowl whisk your pudding with 4 cups of milk until all lumps are gone.
*Pour pudding over cake...use the back of your spoon or spatula to get down in holes.
*Put in fridge and cool for approx 2 hours
*Spread cool whip on top
*Sprinkle crushed vanilla wafers on top of cool whip...its good to have some bigger pieces...don't crush them too much.