Hamburger Soup

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Mmmmm...lately it's just all comfort food all the time on this blog!



This is another family favourite...Best of Bridge's delicious Hamburger Soup!  This is one of my mom's best-loved recipes, and totally reminds me of home.  At under 300 calories per bowl yet satisfyingly filling, this is the soup that eats like a meal baby!  When I cook this bad boy I usually make a double batch and freeze half, and that way I can simply defrost for a quick and easy dinner or work lunch a few weeks later.

Ok, so two quick disgusting stories about this soup that should never be told by a food blogger on a food blog that I want people to return to, but I am going to tell anyways.  If you are planning on making this soup today and have a queazy stomach then maybe just skip right below to the recipe.  Here we go...

Story 1:  When I was a teenager, one time my parents left my brother and I at home when they went on vacation.  My mom wanted to make sure we were well fed while they were gone, so before leaving she made a slow cooker full of this Hamburger Soup.  Not knowing my way around the kitchen at all (like, at all!) when I was a teenager, when the slow cooker finished cooking and turned off, I didn't know that meant that eventually I should put into the fridge.  I happily fed my brother and myself leftover counter-top (microwave reheated) Hamburger Soup for a few days, finally noticing near the end of the batch that it was starting to taste a little off.  Ummm...try rancid!!!  I had essentially left a soup with ground beef out of the fridge for days and kept eating it.  My mom honestly must have wondered where she went wrong in raising such an incompetent child.  It took awhile to eat Hamburger Soup again after that.

Story 2:  When I moved out of my parents house into my first apartment, I was missing my mom's cooking from home.  I went to the store and bought all of the ingredients for Hamburger Soup, and spent the entire afternoon making it (I was a slower vegetable chopper back then!).  The final ingredient to add was the barley, which I had purchased in the bulk section of the grocery store.  I dumped the barley in and started noticing that the soup appeared to be crawling.  Ummm....crawling with bugs!!!  The container of barley must have been infested, because only then did I realize that the bag that I had put the barley in was crawling on the inside.  All of my hard work went to waste and I had to dump the whole double batch down the garburator.  The good news was I went back to the grocery store to let them know to clean their bin, and they comped my whole grocery bill from that day!  It took me awhile to eat Hamburger Soup again after that too.

End of gross Hamburger Soup stories.  I'm sorry.  And if you still feel like making it, the recipe is below.

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  White Chocolate and Cranberry Cheesecake
Two Years Ago:  Easy Peasy Cauliflower Cheesy Soup
Three Years Ago:  Minestrone Soup

Hamburger Soup

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1 & 1/2 lbs. extra-lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups water
• 3 x 10-ounce cans consomme
• 1 x 10-ounce can condensed tomato soup
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 3 celery stalks, chopped
• 1/2 cup barley
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions
In a large pot over medium-high heat, cook ground beef and onions until the beef is brown.  Drain off all liquid from the pot.  Add all remaining ingredients to pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer on low for at least 2 hours, or all day.

Recipe Source:  Best of Bridge 'Best of the Best' Cookbook

Land of Nod Cinnamon Buns

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Happy New Year!!

Just had to do a quick blog post today about these cinnamon buns that we ate for New Years Day brunch this morning.  This is a recipe that we make in my family as a tradition for almost every holiday or special occasion brunch since I was a kid.  The whole family loves it.  It's ridiculously easy to make, and you prep it the night before so you just have to quickly pop it into the oven in the morning and, voila!, delicious home-made cinnamon rolls on your table in 25 minutes.  Everyone will think you are a genius who has been up baking cinnamon buns for hours!  The recipe comes from the Best of Bridge cookbook series, and the page for this recipe in my cookbook at home is worn out from overuse.

We served this as one of the dishes for our friends this morning after a very fun New Years Eve games night* at our place with us and three other couples.  The cinnamon buns were served alongside a hash brown casserole, an egg frittata, and fresh fruit.  Oh, and Baileys/coffee and champagne mimosas too, because if you are with some of your best friends then why not be drunk twice in 2015 before noon on January 1?

*no games were actually played.

Ainslie, Kendra, Sara, and me!

I wanted to get the recipe up on the blog today because I was asked for it a couple of times.  We didn't turn off the lights last night until past 4am, and I was in bed nodding off before I realized that I hadn't made the make-ahead night-before cinnamon buns!  Out of bed and off to the kitchen I went (with Hubby sawing logs already).  Good thing they are super easy to make and take no longer than five minutes to assemble, if you don't spill half of the melted butter on the floor (I did), which does in fact delay the process.  I was still back in bed in a matter of about five minutes, and the effort was worth it this morning!

Speaking of beds, I just want to show off our new bed and bedding because this is my blog and I can do that!

The bed is from Costco (my favourite store in the world), the bedding is from West Elm, and the new mattress is so high that we almost touch the ceiling!  The Hubby says he is excited for hot summer nights since he will be so close to the ceiling fan!  I always thought I just was a person who has a sore back all the time, but ever since getting a new mattress my back pain has disappeared....hooray!  It's the most comfy bed in the world.  New year, new bed...woo hoo!  But, I digress...

Definitely make these gooey, sticky, delicious cinnamon buns for your next brunch and then the one after that too...you won't regret it!!!  One quick word to the wise...the recipe calls for a bundt pan, not an angel-food cake pan.  You cannot use an angel food cake pan for this recipe.  I have tried to do so, my mom has tried to do so, my best friend has tried to do so, and each time the recipe fails miserably.  You can pick up a cheap bundt pan at the thrift store if you don't have one already.  I'm not sure how this would work in a loaf pan, but if you try it with success (or with a failure), please let me know!

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Chocolate Mocha Roll
Two Years Ago:  Meyer Lemon Chicken Piccata
Three Years Ago:  Egg Nog Supreme (another Best of Bridge winner!)

Land of Nod Cinnamon Buns

Ingredients

• 20 frozen dinner rolls
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup vanilla dry instant pudding
• 1 - 2 tablespoons cinnamon
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup melted butter

Directions
Grease a 10-inch bundt pan, add half of the frozen dinner rolls, then sprinkle with half of each of the brown sugar, pudding powder, cinnamon, and raisins.  Repeat with the other half of the rolls, sugar, pudding, cinnamon, and raisins.  Pour the melted butter overtop.  Cover the bundt pan with a damp cloth (make sure not to omit this step as it is important), and leave out on the counter overnight at room temperature.  In the morning, preheat your oven to 350F and bake for 25 minutes on the middle rack.  Remove from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes, then flip it out onto a serving plate.  Enjoy!

Recipe Source:  Best of Bridge Land of Nod Cinnamon Buns

Alex's Brussels Sprouts Salad with Bacon, Avocado, and Lemony Dijon Dressing

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I dare you to try this salad and still tell me that Brussels sprouts are not your thing...

I remember when Brussels sprouts were the reject side dish at my family's holiday dinner.  That is for everyone except for my younger brother who would always request them for some unknown reason, probably just because he knew I would dread having to eat my requisite one sprout, and making things a little annoying for me was his duty as younger brother.  Or maybe he actually liked them, but probably not.  My granny used to make them with a delicious cheesy sauce on them, and that was my favourite way to eat them because I could smother my requisite one sprout with five servings of delicious cheese sauce to mask the flavour.  It barely worked.  But my love for cheese sauce grew stronger and still grows every day.

Nowadays Brussels sprouts are cool again, and I don't know if it's that my tastes have changed, or more likely if it's the bacon that always seems to get thrown in with them, but I love like them!  Back in 2012 I posted this Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Shallots recipe that I made as a side dish to a bacon themed dinner party that we hosted at our house.  Since then I can't get enough bacon and sprouts, which is where this salad comes in.  

The recipe is adapted from one found on my brother's girlfriend Alex's blog, The Bookish Cook, and it is bright, crisp, and packed with flavour.  Alex is a total natural in the kitchen, and ALL OF HER recipes come from her own head, which is something I am insanely jealous of.  She makes this salad at home because it's my brother's favourite (you can see he is still keeping up the charade that he likes Brussels sprouts!), or in his words it's, 'sick.'  Well frick, I agree, this salad is downright flu-like!  I'm feeling chills coming on.  I may need to take a day off of work.  I...ok, ok, that's more than enough.

This salad takes a little while to prepare because you have to peel each little Brussels sprout 'head' (well, that's what they look like!) one by one to make the leaves for the salad.  The Hubby stood at the counter and peeled for about 30 minutes, with only about four or five curse words...so all in all pretty good!

The Hubby's Peeling Efforts

The effort was worth it in the end. Once you have your sprouts peeled, you throw them in their raw form into a bowl with some toasted pumpkin seeds, some fresh sliced avocado, some crispy bacon, some dried cranberries, and some lemony dijon dressing, then toss and serve.  This salad is a nutritional powerhouse.  If you have leftovers, the salad will stay fresh and not wilt if you want to eat the rest the next night.  The Hubby must have been ok with all the peeling because he suggested we quadruple the recipe and bring it to Boxing Day dinner this year...that's 4 pounds of sprout peeling in our future!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!
-Megan

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Amy's Lentil Soup Copycat Recipe
Two Years Ago:  The Best Mashed Potatoes I've Ever Eaten
Three Years Ago:  Chicken Cacciatore

Brussels Sprouts Salad with Bacon, Avocado, and Lemony Dressing

Serves: 6 - 8 side dishes

Ingredients

• 1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed
• 3 sliced cooked bacon, chopped into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds or pepitas, toasted (I put into oven at 325F for 10 minutes, monitoring closely, then cool for 10 minutes)
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries, chopped into small pieces
• 1 avocado, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 & 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• Freshly grated black pepper

Directions
Start by slicing off the hard end of each Brussels sprout, pulling off the leaves one by one, and placing the leaves into a medium-sized salad bowl.  Once you are done, give yourself a pat on the back.  Next, add the bacon, pumpkin seeds (or pepitas), dried cranberries, and avocado to the bowl.

To make your dressing, add olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, lemon zest, and pepper to a container with a lid.  Close lid and shake for 10 seconds until well-combined.  Add dressing to salad and lightly toss.  Enjoy!

Recipe Source:  The Bookish Cook - Dijon Brussels Sprouts Salad with Bacon

Mom's 'Fall Off The Bone' Oven-Baked BBQ Pork Ribs

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Even writing this blog post has me salivating.

Seriously!

These oven-baked BBQ pork ribs are one of my favourite things to walk into my parents' house for Sunday dinner and smell cooking away in the kitchen.  They are so saucy, tender, fall-off-the-bone delicious that I can't believe it's taken me this long to get this recipe up on the blog!  Whenever I make them it reminds me of my mom, who pretty much has the market cornered on delicious comfort food.

Speaking of which, we were going to make them for supper when my parents came by a couple of weekends ago, but then The Hubby informed me that it's a faux pas to cook something for someone that they make for you when you go to their house (who knew?!), so we had them the next night instead because after getting them into my head I couldn't get them out!  For those of you who don't like loose ends (or if you just like me and don't like not knowing all of the details to every single thing all the time), we ended up having steak for dinner the night my parents came (also good).

These ribs are best served with mashed potatoes to soak up the BBQ sauce, and in my family we always use this delicious baked cheesy mashed potato recipe when eating them (and pretty much every other time that dinner demands mashed potatoes!).

My version of the recipe follows below, but here it is in my mom's own words...the sign of a great recipe is in the food splatter marks all over it!

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Healthy Southwest Chicken and Rice Bake
Two Years Ago:  Baked Chicken with Creamed Spinach and Squashed Potatoes
Three Years Ago:  Chicken Cacciatore

Mom's 'Fall Off The Bone' Oven-Baked BBQ Pork Ribs

Serves: 6

Ingredients

For Ribs:

• 6 pounds 'country-style' pork ribs
• 2 lemons, thinly sliced
• 2 onions, thinly sliced

For Sauce:

• 3 cups water
• 2 + 1/4 cups Heinz chili sauce
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons molasses
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 6 teaspoons chili powder
• 3 teaspoons celery seed
• 3 teaspoons dry mustard
• 1 + 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Cut excess fat off of ribs.  Arrange in a single layer in a lasagne pan.  Distribute lemon and onion slices over top of ribs.



Cover with foil and bake for 1 + 1/2  to 2 hours.

Meanwhile, to make your sauce combine all of the sauce ingredients in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour uncovered, stirring occasionally.

When the ribs are cooked, remove from oven (leave oven on) and discard the lemon and onion pieces.  Drain off the liquid from the pan and discard.  Pour the hot BBQ sauce from the saucepan over top of the ribs.  Return the ribs to the oven and baked uncovered for about 1 hour, basting every 10 minutes.  Do not let the ribs dry out or they will be tough to eat.



Serve with a green vegetable, mashed potatoes (such as this delicious recipe), and a green salad, for a comfort dinner like no other.

Recipe Source:  My wonderful mother.

Easy Refried Bean Soup

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Do you ever buy an entire case of refried beans at a time from Costco?   Ha ha, yeah, me neither obviously! *looks awkwardly at floor.*  But if you have, this is a good soup for you to use them up.

This is one of my mom's recipes, and it's sort of like a cross between a vegetarian chili and a soup, with a smoothness because of the refried beans.  It makes for a very filling meal, packed with taste.  The best part?  It's the easiest soup I have ever made in my life.  Basically all you do is open some cans...

They had a Western Family brand sale...
and then I made a pyramid of cans.

And, well, that's nearly it.  It's that simple.

Now you do it!


One Year Ago: My Dad's Teriyaki Salmon Recipe
Two Years Ago: Triple Coconut Banana Muffins (Paleo / Gluten-Free)

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!



Refried Bean Soup

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 large onion (or 1 cup), chopped
• 1 green bell pepper (or 1 cup), chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (14.5 oz.) Mexican-style stewed tomatoes
• 1 can (15.5 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed well
• 1 can (15.5 oz.) red kidney beans, drained and rinsed well
• 1 can (16 oz.) refried beans
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Sour cream, cilantro, and taco chips for garnish (optional)

Directions
Heat the olive oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat, and add the onion and bell pepper.  Cook for 2 - 3 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.  Add the garlic, broth, and tomatoes, and stir.  Raise the heat to high, and add the black beans, kidney beans, refried beans, and cumin.  Stir well.  Cover the pot and let the soup come to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and stir occasionally for 5 - 7 minutes or until ready to serve.

Recipe Source:  My mom!

Slow Cooker Philippine Pork Stew

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Ok, this one comes VERY Hubby approved and recommended.  He seems to throw this comment out kind of often, but apparently this was the, 'best meal this year.'  Then I reminded him he said that about a pasta I made about a month ago, and so he said, "ok, this one is second place then."  Then I reminded him that he said that about a dinner he had at a restaurant we went to on our anniversary and another dinner that we had a week after that at another restaurant.  So, who knows really with him, but he definitely thought this was a keeper!

He put a cookbook into my stocking last year called The Best of Bridge - Slow Cooker Cookbook, and I have made only one or two things in it so far, but something triggered him to remind me of it this week.  I told him to go get it off the shelf, choose anything in the book, and I would make it.  The majority of the summer hasn't exactly been 'slow cooker bubbling away on the counter season,' on account of the heat wave, but a couple of weeks ago we were experiencing a bit of an Augtober that kind of put a 'damper' on things, and a CrockPot dinner seemed like just what the weatherman ordered.  The 'Pork Adobo' recipe caught his eye, and thus a Wednesday night dinner was born.  To be honest, it's probably something I would have turned the page on and never made if not for him choosing it this week.  Ingredients like, 'cinnamon stick,' and 'whole clove,' aren't usually up my alley, but a deal was a deal and I made the dish anyways.  Are we ever glad we did!  The Hubby gave rave reviews, and I always especially know it's a good meal when he excitedly packs his leftovers for lunch the next day.  He admitted afterwards that he chose the recipe because the cinnamon and clove seemed weird.  Haha.  Side note - a stick of cinnamon from the bulk section of our grocery store costs $0.03.  A whole clove is too light to even register on the store's scale, so the cashier shrugged and put it into the bag for free.  The bay leaves were the same way.  I basically robbed the grocery store!!

Mango and Black Bean Quinoa Salad

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"You can't have the Mango!" - Mango, SNL

I feel like I already know the answer to this question, but does anyone else think of Mango, the short-lived mid-90's Chris Kattan character from SNL, whenever they see a mango?  Just me again?  Wow - every time!  Well, here are some classic Mango quotes anyway:

"Can you catch a falling star without burning your hand?  Can you put the sky in your mouth?  Can you say to an earthquake, 'Hey, hold still for a second?'  No!  Such is Mango." - Mango

"Can you know the mighty ocean?  Can you lasso a star from the sky?  Can you say to a rainbow, 'Hey, stop being a rainbow for a second?'  No!  Such is Mango" - Mango

"No Mango for you!  Why must I be Mango?  Why I ask?  Why God, why?  Why can't I be someone normal like John Ritter?  Mango is like a drug.  You must have more and more and more of the Mango until there is no Mango left.  Not even for Mango!" - Mango

So those are the quotes that I think of when I look at or taste a mango, every time!!  I just look at a mango and I have a little chuckle to myself.

'Mini' Greek Salad (Humour Me!)

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This salad is perfect for the heat wave (mid-30 C / high 90-F!) that we are currently simultaneously loving and complaining about at the same time.  It's fresh, refreshing, healthy, and cool.

It's also obviously not brain science or rocket surgery!  I'm not re-inventing the wheel here...essentially this salad is the exact same concept as a regular sized Greek Salad except with baby, pint-sized, itsy-bitsy, minikin vegetables (I know - tomatoes aren't vegetables, and Pluto isn't a planet, but I'm still going to pretend that they are!).  Also, it's hot and hard for me to care about cooking or picking up my camera to take a picture while cooking or using my insanely hot laptop (seriously, why is it so hot!?) to talk about my cooking.  I made a really, really, really delicious pasta the other night and The Hubby kept asking why I wasn't taking pictures.  Answer - I was too hot and too lazy, and all I cared about was watching Big Brother, and am now way full of regret because I don't remember all of the steps for that pasta to be able to recreate it!  Sigh, sigh, sigh!

Back to the salad.  In this version, I have traded in full-sized cucumbers, bell peppers, and tomatoes for their ridiculously cute baby versions.  The other ingredients aren't tiny...I was considering using shallot or pearl onions in place of the red onion, but chose not to because who knows what that might have been like.  The olives I had no teeny substitute for other than capers, and that seemed weird.  The feta is also not mini...in fact, the the less mini you get with cheese in any recipe the better/tastier/merrier, amiright?

Garlic Scape Pesto

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Garlic Scape Pesto

Warning:  For garlic lovers only...all others beware the deliciousness!!!

It's garlic scape season again!!!!!!  Run, don't walk, to your nearest farmer's market and pick up some of these green beauties while you can, because their season is very short, too short, only 2 - 3 weeks in duration short.  I get a bit freakishly excited when I see garlic scapes at the market.  For example, my friend texted me that she picked up some garlic scapes and my reaction was 'Jealous!'  I've been known to buy armloads at at time, then go back for another bunch, then talk about it to whoever will listen.

Garlic Scapes !

Garlic scapes are one of the best kept secrets in the world of produce, and I'm here to out them.  The garlic scape is the long, bright green, usually curly stem that grows out of the garlic at the plant's maturity.  The closest thing that they resemble visually is a green onion, but they are hard to the touch unlike the soft green onion, with the stiffness of the stem of a daisy.  Their season is very short, from late June to early July (where I live anyway), and they can typically only be found at your local farmer's market.  Garlic scapes range in price from $1 to $2.50 a bunch - cheap, cheap, cheap - so get out there and support your local farmers.  They taste is exactly like garlic to me, which since I'm like very into garlic, works for me.

Golf Themed Cake

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I love my dad.  So much.  Enough to learn how to frost a cake with a cake decorating tip for his retirement party last year.  Which is something that I could never, ever, be great at.  I've just never been crafty...I don't think that I got that badge in Girl Guides.  But I do think that the golf-themed cake still turned out pretty well, all things considered.  This could be a great cake for your dad/husband/brother's celebration of their birthday/father's day/retirement.  Or hey, let's not discriminate here; it's great for golf-loving moms/wives/sisters/friends too!

I went to Michael's to buy the cake decorating tip, and may I just say that there is a whole world that I never even knew existed at Michaels in the cake aisle, including a whole section just for the various types of cake decorating tips alone.  To put it in perspective, the tip that I selected was called, "Grass," so that's how specific the cake tip selection gets.  Overwhelming.  I purchased my cake tip and left.
 

Creamy Bacon and Leek Pasta

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My family likes to cook.  So recently when we went away for a nice relaxing three-day weekend in Birch Bay just over the US border from our place, we decided to have a pasta throwdown.  Because why wouldn't you have an intense pasta competition on your relaxing family vacation.

The competition gets underway.

My family is obviously also competitive.  So when I called my dad a few days before our trip to let him know what kind of pasta I would be making and what my ingredients were, I shouldn't have been surprised when he remarked that he couldn't believe I had willingly given up my recipe so close to the competition and that he could really use this to his advantage.

Mini Peppers Stuffed With Goat Cheese and Asparagus

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Hurry and make this, while asparagus is still cheap in the stores!

I needed a healthy appetizer for when my sister-in-laws came over for some wine the other night.  I had a bag of mini bell peppers, a bunch of asparagus, and some goat cheese in the fridge, and this appetizer came to life.  Besides those three ingredients, the only other things you need are some olive oil, red pepper flakes, and garlic.  Although simple in terms of the number of ingredients, these healthy bites pack some delicious flavour.  And those mini peppers are just so cute.

My sister-in-laws and I gobbled down an entire platter of these mini peppers...they are so worth the asparagus pee!  But actually, in addition to eating too much food and drinking too much wine, the whole point of getting together that evening was to have an occasion to put on our wedding dresses one last time.  We pre-planned to meet at my place and throw the old gowns on for the night, because why spend so much money to just get to wear them once, right?!  I had never dry-cleaned mine after the wedding, so it still had McDonalds ketchup on it from the drive-thru on the way home from my wedding.  My sister-in-law Caitlin had mustard on hers for a similar reason, so there was no judgement.  The dresses didn't stay on too long, on account of then being extremely uncomfortable, but we had fun!

Classic Spinach Dip in Bread Bowl

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People have asked me why I don't have a spinach dip recipe on my blog.  Well, it's because I use the same spinach dip recipe that you probably already have the recipe for.  It's the one that your mom uses, or you ate at that baby shower last week, or that you bought in the deli section of the grocery store the other day.  This guy...

It's the recipe almost straight from the Knorr website, which you can link to here.  Dead easy, and always devoured quickly.  Why mess with a good thing, right!

I have a question though...how do you say 'Knorr?'  I usually say it with the 'K,' but always feel weird about doing so, and even weirder when my friend straight up laughed at how I said it the other day.  It's a German company, so I had always assumed that that K should be used.  I also seem to remember from television commercials as a kid that the K was used, but logically it seems wrong, like it would to use the K in the words Knife or Knight.  In any event, since I'm in my 30's now and set in my ways, I will probably go on pronouncing it with the K because I fear change.

Update:  No wonder everyone is I am puzzled!  This is another Canadian / American word difference thing.  In Canada, we use the 'K,' and in the United States you don't.  I live an hour from the US border, so these types of confusing word situations come up a lot.  So, 'K'-Norr it is for me for now and forever more then!

Curried Coconut Chicken Vegetable Soup

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Healthy.  Delicious.  Satisfying.  Orange.  

 

Souper Sunday has arrived early this month...you're welcome!  Here's a goodun' for ya.  Chock full of veggies galore (you've got carrots, cauliflower, onion, and celery in there), flavourful spices (how does a combination of curry powder, ground coriander, cumin, and chili powder sound?), shredded chicken (delicious bite sized chunks...no two pieces the same!) and rich coconut milk (coconut anything and I'm sold...you?), this soup is a keeper.  The Hubby and I have pounded this soup for lunches at work this week.  You can choose to puree some or all of the soup to create a chunky or smooth texture based on your preference.  Don't worry, the chicken gets added in after the pureeing step.  

Spring Equinox Salad with Roasted Beets, Goat Cheese, and Pecans

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Here's a little salad that's perfect for late winter / early spring, and / or for when you have only four days left before you (well, me actually) have to squeeze into a bikini.

I mentioned in my last post that Hubs and I had just been in New Orleans for 10 days, and now we are off to Mazatlan on Friday.  We are officially on a salad-only dinner regime until we leave. New Orleans is one of our favourite cities in the whole world, but low-cal it is not...from all of the deep fried food to the massive portions to the sweet alcoholic drinks, it's hard to come back without a few extra pounds to call your own.

For instance here's The Hubby looking unimpressed by the size of his dinner order, 'Catfish Dinner with a side of fries and onion rings.'