Creamy Potato Cheese Soup

from Karen C. at church

6-8 potatoes, peeled & diced
2-3 carrots, sliced
1-2 stalks celery, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cube margarine
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 c. milk
1 t. salt
Pepper to taste
4 strips bacon, fried & crumbled
8 oz. cream cheese, softened

Combine potatoes, carrots, celery and onion in a stock pot; cover with water and boil until tender. Drain and set aside. Mix together margarine, chicken soup and cream cheese in stock pot (use heat of stock pot to melt cream cheese). Stir well then add milk, salt, pepper and bacon. Add vegetables back into stock pot with rest of ingredients and heat through.

Serves 4 (of our size serving :) ).

(this is delicious! Especially in a bread bowl or with biscuits on the side.)

BBQ Ribs

*Your husbands (and you) will love this recipe. This is Heidi's recipe too, SOO yummy!

Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs
4-5 pound baby back pork ribs
1/2 cup butter
1 onion chopped
1 T minced garlic
1/2 c. distilled white vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 cup water
1 cup ketchup
1 cup hickory smoke flavored BBQ sauce
1 lemon juiced
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Season ribs with salt and pepper. Place in a shallow baking dish. Brown in oven 15 min. Turn and brown another 15 min, drain fat.
While ribs are browning, prepare the sauce. Melt butter in a sauce pan and saute the onion and garlic until the onion is tender. Remove from heat. In a blender combine water, vinegar, ketchup, BBQ sauce, and lemon juice, season with salt and pepper to taste and pour in the melted butter mixture. Puree for 1 minute, then pour back into saucepan. Bring to a boil then remove from heat.
Place ribs in a slow cooker. Pour sauce over ribs and turn until coated. Cook on low 6-8 hours or more or until ribs are tender.

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Sweet and Sour Chicken
6 large chicken breasts ¾ cup sugar
1 tsp garlic ½ cup vinegar
½ tsp pepper ½ cup chicken broth
1 beaten egg 4 Tbsp ketchup
5 Tbsp corn starch or flour 1 Tbsp soy sauce

1. Mix garlic, pepper, egg and corn starch.
2. Cut chicken into small pieces and mix above mixture.
3. Heat a little oil in wok or fry pan and brown chicken.
4. Place in 9x13 dish
5. In sauce pan mix sugar, vinegar, broth, ketchup, and soy sauce to a boil
6. Pour boiling mixture over chicken and bake at 325◦ for 1 hour.
Serve with rice
Add green peppers and/or pineapple when you are cooking it for a nice touch.

*I am posting this recipe for Heidi since I asked her for it.

Connie's Weekly Menu, Dec. 13-18

Saturday - French Dip sandwiches with green salad
Sunday - Pot roast w/potatoes & carrots, biscuits
Monday -- Jenae's yummy Taco Chicken w/corn salsa recipe & Jello
Tuesday -- (on the go -- concert tonight)
Wednesday -- Beef Stroganoff w/veggie
Thursday -- Crockpot Pork Chops w/stuffing & broccoli

This Week

1. Turkey and Roasted Red Pepper Meatloaf with baked potatoes and green salad
2. Macaroni and gouda cheese with cauliflower (new recipe for me) and roasted acorn squash
3. Fake Pad Thai and Fake Chicken Satay with Fake Peanut sauce (one of our family favorites, but not very "authentic"--post a comment if you want me to post the recipe)
4. Tortilla melt--layered tortillas with roasted portabella mushrooms, pesto, tomato, mozzarella, and other good stuff. Again, post comments to request the recipe. Oh yeah, with a green salad, too.

That's all I got this week. The rest will be hot dogs, leftovers or a date night dinner out.

Turkey and Roasted Red Pepper Meatloaf

From Real Simple magazine

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1/2 bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped (optional--I left it out; I can only handle small doses of parsley)
1 7-ounce jar of roasted red peppers, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the all the ingredients in a large bowl. Use about 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, or just to your own taste. You might have to mash it all together with your fingers. Shape the mixture into an eight inch loaf and place in a baking dish large enough to allow air to circulate around the loaf for even cooking.

Bake about 45 minutes or longer if the meat is still pink. I baked it about an hour, and it was just right, but it may vary depending on your pan and how you've shaped the loaf.

Let the meat loaf rest for about 15 minutes before slicing it.

Easy and good, if you like meatloaf, that is.

Weekly Menu

Pita Pizzas
O'Brien Sausage Skillet (new recipe) *Tried it--probably won't make it again*
Creamy Potato Cheese Soup (I'll post this recipe soon -- SOoo Good)
Taco Salad (in tortilla bowls)
Easy Cheesy Chicken Bake (new recipe)
Pasta & Green Beans
Roasted Veg. Quesadillas (from this site)

12-8-08 menu

Mon - Spaghetti with salad
Tue - Beef Pepper steak with rice
Wed - Ham and potato soup with peasant bread
Thurs - Chicken Cordon Blue with baked yam and broccoli
Fri - Ward Christmas dinner
Sat - leftovers
Sun - ? I don't know yet, probably one of my freezer meals

Monday is Leftovers?

Not a good sign, but yes, we had leftovers last night.

Tonight: leftover turkey crockpot vegetable soup with french bread
Wednesday: omelets (with veggies for me, without veggies for the kids)
Thursday: Oven-baked corn dogs with slaw (it's a Rachael Ray recipe)
Friday: Black bean and sweet potato hash
Saturday: Pineapple Fried Rice with Tofu (remember, my son likes tofu)
Sunday: try really hard to get invited over to someone's house for dinner

Let me know if you want me to post any of these recipes.