Chunky Beef Noodle Soup

It was a rainy weekend in Halifax two weeks ago and Steve and I felt that we needed a good hearty meal for our Sunday night supper (this was even after we had spent the afternoon at Greek Fest and tried all of those delicious dishes!). We flipped through our cook books, magazines, and favorite recipe websites and finally agreed to make a soup from the Taste of Home -Winning Recipes cookbook.

Steve and I had never made soup before, but we felt that after stuffing chicken and making our own sushi, we could probably handle a soup. We read over the ingredients and were happy to learn that we already had all of the ingredients in our kitchen and wouldn't have to make a special trip to the grocery store (I think everyone enjoys those 'small wins' in life when things just work out really easily and don't require any extra steps).

Here are the ingredients that we used:

• 1 pound of boneless round steak, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil,
• 2 cups water
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• We used two tomatoes
• 1 can (10-1/2 ounces) condensed beef consomme, undiluted
•  1-2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 cup uncooked spiral pasta
• We used penne
• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

And here is how we brought it all together:

1. In a large saucepan, cook the round steak, onion and garlic in oil until the meat is browned and the onion is tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Stir in water, tomatoes, consomme, and seasonings; bring to a boil.
3.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1-1/2 hours and until meat is tender.
4. Stir in pasta and green peppers.
5. Simmer, uncovered, until noodles are tender, about 8 minutes.
6. Add parsley.
   This recipe makes about 8 servings.

We loved this soup! It was so easy but was exactly what we were looking for - tasty and hearty. Because it made 8 servings we were able to enjoy it for a few days too - always an added benefit of a large dish that you really like.

Next time there is a rainy weekend I recommend you give this recipe a try - hopefully we will have great weather in Halifax this summer and you won't need to try it for a few months.

Bon appetit & enjoy!

This recipe is from:
Taste of Home - Winning Recipes / Reader's Digest Book
Reiman Media Group Inc. 2010
Soups & Chili
Chunky Beef Noodle Soup
Page 83

Chicken Sliders

It's been awhile since my last post but believe me - Steve and I have still been busy in the kitchen, just not as diligent in writing the posts.

About two weeks ago, Steve and I decided to finally make sliders at home - we both love getting them when we go out to eat, but never actually made them at home. We had already recently picked up a copy of Sobey's Inspired magazine which had a few suggestions on Sobey's own sliders (salmon, beef, and chicken).

Steve and I picked up a box of the chicken sliders, Sensations by Compliments Mini Ciabatta buns, cucumbers and tomatoes.

NOTE - Steve and I rarely make supper from a box like this - but we wanted to give these a try before we went the route of making our own chicken sliders.

I took care of slicing our vegetables and Steve took to the BBQ to get our chicken sliders ready.

We were both really impressed with the Sobeys brand chicken sliders and will definitely be trying them again many times of the summer months.

If you're looking for a really quick meal idea, pick up a box of the chicken sliders and a bag of the ciabatta buns on your way home from work - it will be delicious!

Bon appetit & enjoy!

Curried Pork & Cheddar Hot Dogs

As I mentioned in a post earlier this week, Steve and I tried a few recipes from the 'All You Need is Cheese' recipe magazine. We really enjoyed the Mozzarella Pasta with Chicken, Alfredo -Style, so we were encouraged to keep on our quest for trying new cheese infused recipes. The next recipe that we decided to try was the Curried Pork & Cheddar Hot Dogs.

My friends, family and co-workers will know that I love hot dogs - just plain old simple hot dogs - for some strange reason they are a great comfort food for me and I just love them (in New English style hot dog buns and lots of ketchup!) The only thing better is a Fenway Frank or two!

So to say the least - I was really eager to try this recipe simply because it was referred to as a hot dog. But other than the simple name familiarity, I was eager to try to recipe because it involved pork and curry - two other things I really enjoy. I was working some very long hours over the last week - so Steve was the lead chef in our house and took the lead in making this recipe (I did nothing for this one).

For the complete list of ingredients and the recipe please visit the 'All You Need is Cheese' website.

Steve shared with me that this recipe was very easy to make. The only adjustment that he made to the recipe was that he left out the raisins - as neither one of us case much for those. We also chose to have different 'toppings' than the lettuce and tomato that the recipe suggested. Steve also decided to make some in the shape of hot dogs and some in the shape of hamburgers - allowing for us to simply use all of the remaining buns that we had in the house.

This recipe got that thumbs up from both Steve and I. The flavour of the 'hot dogs' were a nice variation from the traditional hot dog and/or hamburger. We will definitely be making this recipe again!

Bon appetit & enjoy!

Mozzarella Pasta with Chicken, Alfredo-Style

 Last week Steve and I received the 'All You Need is Cheese' magazine that was full of great recipes - so we decided to use recipes from the magazine for all of our supper-time meals last week. The first one that we decided to try was the Mozzarella Pasta with Chicken, Alfredo Style - mostly because we already had some fresh mozzarella left over from the Pesto Gnocchi we made the week before.

The recipe was really easy to make and was delicious and we only made a small adjustment to the original recipe- we choose not to cook the ingredients in the papillote.

Here are all of the ingredients that you will need for the recipe:

•   5 cups (1.25 l) short pasta, cooked 
•   1 cup (250 ml) store-bought Alfredo sauce
•  1 tbsp (15 ml) store-bought pesto - we choose to add 3 tbsp because we really enjoy pesto
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• 2 cups (500 ml) grilled chicken, cut into strips
• 3 cups (750 ml) vegetables, your choice - we chose to use zucchini and broccoli
• 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) Canadian Mozzarella, diced
• Pepper

This recipe was really easy to bring together, here are the steps that we followed (which differ from the steps provided on the recipe link above):

1. Add cooking spray to a frying pan or skillet and heat the chicken over a medium heat until cooked thoroughly. Once the chicken is cooking throughout, remove from the skillet of frying pan and cut into chunks. Keep chicken warm until it is time to add it to the rest of the dish.
2. Wash and chop all of the vegetables that you choose to use. Place the vegetables in a saucepan and cook over a low-medium heat. Once the vegetables start to loose their crisp texture, add in the Alfredo sauce and pesto.
3. Once the vegetable/sauce has started to heat up, add the chicken chunks. Allow the vegetable-sauce-chicken mixture to simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and separate into 4-6 equal servings.
4. Dice the fresh mozzarella and add to the top of each serving. Adding the mozzarella at the end allows for it to melt over all the other ingredients. You can also leave some of the mozzarella on the side and let your dinner guests add as much or as little as they would like - depending on how cheesy they are feeling.

This recipe was excellent and it was another great recipe with mozzarella - a cheese that both Steve and I really enjoy. It was a great recipe to start in the 'All You Need is Cheese' magazine - give this one a try!

Bon appetit & enjoy!