Creamy Shrimp and Tomato Chowder

Once Fall hits I start craving soups like crazy. So we've been eating a ton of soup lately and I have a few more to make this week. Enjoy!

Time: 18 minutes

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

2 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)

1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)

1 Tbs olive oil

2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano, undrained

8 oz medium peeled cook shrimp

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup water

Ground black pepper

Directions:

In a large saucepan cook celery and onion in hot oil just until tender. Stir in tomatoes; heat through. Add shrimp, whipping cream, and water. Cook over medium heat just until hot. Season to taste with pepper.

Pumpkin Roll

Okay, so these are absolutely amazing!! Thanks to Larissa for the recipe! They're really rich though, don't try eating more than one at a time.

Ingredients:

Cake:

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup canned pumpkin

1 tsp lemon juice

3/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

Filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

4 Tbs butter, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

In a large bowl combine eggs and sugar. Add pumpkin and lemon juice; mix until blended. Add flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Mix well. Spread batter into greased wax paper-lined cookie sheet. Bake @350 F for 15 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean when poked into the middle). Cool 15 minutes. THen place cake on clean tea towel (or a towel with no texture) sprinkled with powdered sugar. Remove wax paper and cool 10 more minutes. Roll cake up in towel. Set aside.

Beat together cream cheese and butter. Stir in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Unroll cake. Even spread filling over cake. Roll up cake. Wrap in plastic wrap. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour. Slice and serve sprinkled with powdered sugar and whipped topping. Refrigerate or freeze any leftovers.

Enjoy!

Chicken Rolls

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cube butter, softened

3-4 cooked and cubed chicken breasts

3 cans crescent rolls

1 cube butter, melted (for dipping)

cornflake crumbs

Directions:

Mix cream cheese, butter, and chicken in a bowl. Unroll crescent rolls. Put a spoonful of mixture in center of separated crescent roll. Roll tightly. Roll crescent roll in melted butter and then roll in cornflake crumbs. Bake @ 350 F for 15 minutes or until golden. Serve with creamy gravy (see below)

Gravy:

Mix and heat 1 can cream of chicken soup and half a can of milk.

Chicken Stir Fry

Prep Time: 15 min Cook time: 10 min

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 (4 ounce) boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 cup sliced celery (1/2 inch pieces)
• 1 cup thinly sliced carrots
• 1 small onion, cut into wedges
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules

Directions

1. Cut chicken into 1/2-in. strips; place in a resealable plastic bag. Add cornstarch and toss to coat. Combine soy sauce, ginger and garlic powder; add to bag and shake well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. In a large skillet or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of oil; stir-fry chicken until no longer pink, about 3-5 minutes. Remove and keep warm. Add remaining oil; stir- fry broccoli, celery, carrots and onion for 4-5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add water and bouillon. Return chicken to pan. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.

Amazing Peach Cobbler!!

I went down to Fairview this weekend and learned to can peaches with my Grandma. It was a blast!!! And I had some extra fresh peaches so I decided to try this recipe for peach cobbler. It is to die for!!!

4 cups peeled and sliced fresh peaches (blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds to remove the skins)

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon flour

Cobbler crust:

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons brown sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2/3 cup buttermilk

1 tablespoon brown sugar, for topping

Whipped cream

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Generously butter a 1 1/2-quart shallow baking dish. Place the sliced peaches in the dish and sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, and flour. Mix gently and spread evenly again. Bake for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile combine all dry ingredients for cobbler crust in a bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers, to make the texture like coarse crumbs. Add buttermilk and stir to form a soft dough.

Remove fruit from oven and drop rounded spoonfuls of dough on top. Sprinkle with last tablespoon of brown sugar and return to oven. Bake until fruit is bubbly and crust topping is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream {we served with vanilla bean ice cream}.

Lamb Chops with Balsamic Reduction and Rosemary Baked Potato Wedges

I wanted to try something a little more fancy the other night and found this great lamb recipe and a little something to go with it. It really wasn't that difficult and looked beautiful on the plate. The name makes it sound a lot more complicated than it is, so give it a try!

Lamb Chops with Balsamic Reduction

Serves 2

Prep time: 10 min Cook time: 15 min

Ingredients:

3/4 tsp dried rosemary

1/4 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

4 lamb chops (3/4 inch thick)

1 Tbs olive oil

1/4 cup minced shallots

1/3 cup aged balsamic vinegar (I just used regular balsamic vinegar that I already had, I honestly don't know the difference between that and "aged" except that the latter is obviously older)

3/4 cup chicken broth

1 Tbs butter

Directions:

1. In a small bowl or cup, mix together rosemary, basil, thyme, salt and pepper. Rub this mixture onto the lamb chops on both sides. Place them on a plate, cover and set aside for 15 minutes to absorb the flavors.

2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place lamb chops in the skillet, and cook for about 3 1/2 minutes per side for medium rare, or continue to cook to your desired doneness. Remove from the skillet and keep warm on a serving platter.

3. Add shallots to the skillet and cook for a few minutes, just until browned. Stir in vinegar, scraping any bits of lamb from the bottom of the skillet, then stir in the chicken broth. Continue to cook and stir over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, until the sauce has reduced by half. If you don't, the sauce will be runny and not good. Remove from heat, and stir in the butter.

4. Place lamb chops on a bed of baby spinach leaves and pour reduction over them. Serve immediately.

Rosemary Baked Potato Wedges

Serves 4

Prep time: 35 min Cook time: 45 min

Ingredients:

1 1/2 tsp olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons butter, melted

1 1/4 pounds Yukon God potatoes, scrubbed and cut into wedges

3 Tbs and 1 tsp flour

3 Tbs and 1/2 tsp bread crumbs

1 1/2 tsp rosemary

3/4 tsp garlic powder

3/4 tsp onion powder

3/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 F. Prepare one cookie sheet with cooking spray.

2. Stir together the olive oil and melted butter. Place the potato wedges in a large bowl; pour the butter mixture over the potatoes; toss to coat. Mix together the flour, bread crumbs, rosemary, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt; add to the potatoes and stir. Spread the potato wedges in a single layer on the baking sheet.

3. Bake in the preheated over until browned, about 40 minutes.

Butternut Squash Bake

Butternut Squash Bake

Prep time: 20 min Cook time: 35 min

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 (4 pound) butternut squash - peeled, seeded, and cubed (if I ever made this recipe again I would just buy squash already peeled, seeded, and cubed because that part alone almost doubled the time needed for this recipe.)

1/3 cup yellow onion, minced

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs

1 Tbs minced fresh thyme

8 ounces crumbled blue cheese

sea salt and ground black pepper to taste (or you can use just regular salt and pepper. No need to get fancy)

1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 425 F.

2. Toss the squash, onion, olive oil, 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs, thyme, and blue cheese in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Pour mixture into a large baking dish. Sprinkle 1/4 cup bread crumbs over the mixture.

3. Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned on top, 35-40 minutes.