Potato Ham Chowder

Soup is a wonderful thing. I know a lot of people associate soups with cold weather, and while that is definitely warranted, it's not my view. Don't get me wrong, there are few things more enjoyable than coming in from the cold to a warm, delicious bowl of soup. It's fantastic, but I love to turn to soup for comfort. When I've had a long, or bad, or both day, I take comfort in the fact that I can make a big pot of something warm and creamy to enjoy. This soup was no exception.                                                                                             I got to use another new, to me, ingredient in this recipe! Ham steak! It made everything go smoothly due to being already cooked. All I had to do was dice the amount that I needed. This particular steak provided way more than I needed so I save the rest for ham sandwiches later in the week. So, let's make some soup shall we?

What you'll need:

Melting the butter.

• 4 slices bacon, diced
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1.5 cups frozen corn kernels
• 2 tsp fresh thyme
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 3.5 cups milk
• 2 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 7 oz ham steak, diced
• salt and pepper, to taste

Between steps 2 & 3.

What you'll do:

Ready to serve!

1. Heat a large skillet over med-high. Add bacon and cook until brown and crispy. Set aside on a paper towel lined plate.
2. Melt butter in a Dutch oven, or large pot, over medium heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in corn and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes.
3. Whisk in flour until lightly browned, only a minute or so. Gradually whisk in milk and cook, continuously whisking, until slightly thickened, and 1-2 minutes. 
4. Stir in potatoes.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 12-15 minutes. Stir in ham, salt and pepper. 
6. If you feel your chowder is too thick you can slowly add milk as needed.
7. Serve immediately, garnished with the bacon!

I found this recipe on Damn Delicious, and it was definitely damn delicious. Wonderful for a cold night! I topped mine with some shredded cheddar and it was perfect! 

Bon appetit!

Lauren

Turkey Lasagna

Remember this?

Well, it's high time I show you how to use it!

We're making Lasagna!

This was super tasty and really good for you! By that I mean it's from Clean Eating Magazine so the ingredients are fresh and very minimally processed. This recipe does call for no-boil lasagna noodles, which I had never used before. Word for the wise, make sure that the entire noodle gets covered with sauce when you're doing your layering. If not there will be no moisture and the noodle will not get cooked. AKA you'll have crunchy bits of noodle. Slightly off-putting. 

Let's get started.

What you'll need:

Spinach turkey mixture.

• 9oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1lb ground turkey breast
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 15 oz reduced-fat ricotta cheese, drained
• 1/3 cup loosely packed chopped fresh basil leaves
• 12 whole-wheat no-boil lasagna noodles
• 4 oz reduced-fat, grated Italian four cheese blend
• Homemade Marinara 

What you'll do:

Between steps 5 & 6.

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. Place spinach in a mesh strainer and press firmly to drain. Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high. 
3. Add turkey and cook until no longer pink, about 4-5 minutes. Add spinach, salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
4. In a second bowl, combine ricotta and basil. 
5. Reheat marinara on medium until steaming hot. Spread 3/4 cup sauce inside a 9x13 baking dish. Top with 4 noodles, half the ricotta mix, 1/3 of cheese blend, half the turkey mix and 1 cup of sauce. 
6. Repeat once more, starting with noodles and ending with sauce. 
7. Top with remaining noodles, remaining sauce and remaining cheese blend. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.Remove foil and bake until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling, 5-10 minutes more. 
8. Allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving. 

Ready to go in the oven! 

I got this recipe straight from Clean Eating Magazine, which I LOVE!!!! If you ever want to borrow one, just ask! They have lots of recipes that not only taste great, they're great for you!

I'm gonna go write some more, overdue, blogs now! Enjoy!

Lauren

Start Something Beautiful

Wow. 

My life never seems to slow down. Seems like Monday the 3rd was yesterday and I was looking at the calendar not sure how I'd make it to my day off on the 12th. Now that's just two work days away. 

Let's talk about work shall we? So much has changed for me recently. At the farm I have moved into a secretarial role. Yay! Kinda. Now I spend most of my day up in the office doing paperwork, answering the phone, doing all the laundry and keeping the place clean. I know what you're thinking and no, it's not what I started there intending to do. But nothing has really gone the way I planned in regards to my career there. I will say this, I'm pretty happy with this change of pace. I was worried that being in the office would mean I was less active overall but my FitBit has been telling me otherwise. So hopefully that's where I'll stay until I leave for culinary school. 

As for culinary school, it's not all worked out yet. Don't worry, there'll be a blog when it is :P

In other career news, you may have seen on Facebook that I have become an Independent Beauty Consultant for Mary Kay. I cannot tell you how excited I am! I've been going through the training and new materials and I really feel like this is something I can be successful at. Which is nice because I'm going to need an income during culinary school. Please please PLEASE don't be hesitant to talk to me if you are at all curious about Mary Kay! I'm happy to share my knowledge with you and show you how wonderful Mary Kay is!

Well friends, it's bedtime. Once again I'm going to leave you with a promise to blog more. My jar needs more funds haha!

Thanks for reading, 

Lauren

Mmm...Marinara!

Mmm...doesn't that look delicious?

I don't know about you guys but I definitely prefer to use homemade ingredients over store bought. Unfortunately, like most people, I simply don't have the time on a regular week night and pre-packaged wins. 

However, when I do have the time, I go all out. This week I found this delicious Turkey Lasagna recipe in Clean Eating magazine and part of making it is making the sauce! Since I had Monday off, I knew I had to try it! And you know what? It was really easy and really tasty! I'm really glad I ventured out and tried it because now I have this in my arsenal and nothing impresses more than saying "I made it myself".

What you'll need:

• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled & chopped
• 1 large celery stalk, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 28oz cans unsalted, whole tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

What you'll do:

1. In a dutch oven(or large saucepan) heat oil on med-high heat. Add onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly browned. About 10 minutes. 
2. Add garlic and oregano and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add vinegar and let bubble 10-20 seconds while you scrape browned bits from the bottom of the pan. 
3. Add tomatoes and stir to combine, breaking them up as you go. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium or med-low to maintain a steady simmer.
4. Cook for 1 hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes, until thickened. 
5. Stir in honey, salt and pepper.
6. Using an immersion blender, blend the sauce to your consistency liking. If you don't have one, carefully transfer the mixture to a food processor or blender and proceed. Just be cautious as the mixture is still very hot.

This sauce can be made up to two days in advance, provided it is stored in an air-tight container in the refrigerator. So you don't even need to have a whole day free to make this tasty meal! Just make the sauce the night before! Oh, and don't worry, the lasagna recipe will follow in a later post!

Stay tuned,
Lauren

Slow Cooked Brown Sugar & Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

Now that I've got your attention, let me assure you that this pork loin was just as delicious as it looks. Actually, it's probably more because those Cinnamon Orange Glazed Carrots were pretty darn tasty too! 

Pork loins were on sale last week so I knew that the slow cooker was going to make an appearance at least once! I bought two but the other one is still sitting in the refrigerator waiting to become pork chops. *drools* Uh, sorry about that...Let's get on with it shall we? I also couldn't pass up a chance to use my new serving platter, a Christmas present from my grandma. I stole this recipe from Six Sisters Stuff, I love their blog, and have probably gotten a third of my food pins from them. Check 'em out!

Slow Cooker Brown Sugar & Balsamic Glazed Pork Loin

What you'll need:

•  boneless pork loin (2-3 lbs)
• 1 tsp ground thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce

What you'll do:

1. Combine thyme, salt, pepper, garlic and rub over roast. Place in slow cooker with the water and cook on low for 6-8 hours. 
2. About an hour before the roast is done, combine remaining ingredients to make the glaze in a small saucepan. Heat and stir until mixture thickens. 
3. Brush roast with glaze 2-3 times during the last hour of cooking.
4. Serve with remaining glaze - I spooned the remaining onto my platter before transferring the loin to it.

Cinnamon Orange Glazed Carrots

What you'll need:

• 32 oz pkg baby carrots
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3 Tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Leinenkugel's Orange Shandy

What you'll do:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Place the carrots in a pot of water and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain.
3. In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients EXCEPT for the honey. Add in the carrots and stir.
4. Transfer mixture to a baking dish and bake 15-20 minutes.
5. Allow carrots to cool a few minutes before drizzling with the honey.
6. Devour.

Hope you guys enjoy this double feature! 

Lauren

Resolutions!

Wow! 

We've already seen a whole week of 2014 come and go! How does that happen so fast? I'll admit, I'm like most Americans in that I set a New Year's Resolution. However this year I only picked one. Why? We'll let me tell you! I read an article in Fitness Magazine that said you're more likely to stick to your resolutions if you only pick one or two. Which, when you think about it, is totally believable. Instead of spreading yourself thin and stressing over multiple rules you get to channel all your focus and energy on one. So, since I really want to commit to this change, I'm sticking with just one.

What is it you ask?

 I am giving up pop/soda/coke whatever you call it. In all forms, diet, regular, caffeine free or not. This is a change I've wanted to make for a while and while I could have started earlier, making it a resolution was just so convenient. I'm proud to say that I've made it the whole week without a sip AND without any cravings. I say that last part with a little apprehension because I usually turn to pop when I'm stressed or mad, and thankfully I have not been either of those(at least enough to trigger cravings).

All that being said, I'm still going to strive to keep up on my blogging. However, since I pay myself for writing them, I'm not considering it a resolution.

Good luck on yours, help keep me honest!
Lauren

A Real World Snow-day!

Well guys, I guess hell has frozen over. I couldn't make it to work today because of the weather. 

I get a snow-day!!! 

Seriously though, I never get the day off of work for something like this. 

I mean, I worked Thanksgiving and Christmas...

Don't get me wrong, I tried to go in. My roommate and I were outside at 4:45AM shoveling
 and scraping to get my car out of the parking lot. It took a little rocking but I finally made it out of my spot. Then I drove 30-40MPH for 40 minutes to get to my halfway point. At this point I'm thinking

"Well, I made it this far, who cares if I'm late?!?!" 

Sadly, it was not meant to be. I got stuck on the small side of a major snow drift blocking my one route

to work. I really wasn't sure I was going to get out of it by myself. But with a little determination 

I was able to rock myself back and forth until I finally broke loose! 

The fun part came next when I had to back about 150 feet down the road until I could turn around in the nearest driveway. At that point I called my boss, apologized and headed home. 

So now I'm just bumming around, trying to be productive on this rare extra day off. 

Honestly, if I get some blogs pre-written, I'll consider it a productive day!

In the meantime, I hope everyone is smart and stays safe indoors! 

Enjoy your snow-day!

Lauren

My commute ending snowdrift!