Creamy Potato & Kale Soup with Rosemary

Every Sunday my husband John and I have a post-church lunch time tradition: soup and grilled cheese. It started when that was the easiest thing I could gather for us after church a time or two and now it's expected! Except canned tomato soup and american cheese are big no-nos in this house! I'm kind of a snob about it! My apologies if you like those two food items. :)

This week I made a potato and kale soup! We LOVE kale. We eat it so much when it's in season at the farmers market i'm sure all the vitamin K makes our blood like syrup! Kidding, but serious. 

My apologies for not having step by step photos but I do have my Instagram pic of the soup :)

 Creamy Potato & Kale Soup with Rosemary

-2-3 tbsp olive oil

-4 garlic cloves, sliced

-1 to 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

-2 large potatoes, diced

-2 small/med yellow onions, diced

-bunch of chopped kale (about 6 cups)

-1 carton of veggie stock/broth 

-2 cups water

-1 cup heavy cream

-salt and pepper to taste

Heat large pot with the olive oil. 

Add garlic and rosemary. 

Cook until very fragrant. 

Add potatoes and onions.,sauté until cooked and lightly browned/crisp. 

Add broth and water and kale, bring to a boil. 

Reduce and cover with lid, leaving a crack for a little steam to get out. 

Boil until potatoes are tender with a fork. (Around 20 minutes) 

Remove rosemary stems, and add cream. 

Let heat through and then season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve with cheese on top if you like! 

Homemade Peach Iced Tea

I absolutely LOVE peaches. In just about every form. A special favorite of mine if fresh peach ice cream on a waffle cone. *yum* It takes me back to the days of going on vacations to Florida every summer and making a pit stop at this peach farm and deli shop in Alabama on both the trip down and back home. We would buy big crates of peaches and eat them all week long on breaks from the beach. Then on the way home we would stop again and buy more to bring back to Kentucky. They were so good. 

I still remember the way the little place smelled, and watching it grow from year to year. And sometimes if we were lucky we would eat lunch there at the deli. There is something about a southern deli and rocking chairs on the porch. But if we were even luckier we were able to get ice cream. They also had ice cream that they made. All if which was delicious but I always got the peach for myself. They used their own peaches in a vanilla ice cream base and it was to die for. And that’s big coming from me cause there are very few sweets I like that don’t include chocolate. I’m kind of a diva that way. 

So when I started seeing peaches at the farmers market this year I wanted some. Unfortunately the husband isn’t a huge fan of peaches. He’ll eat just about anything but he doesn’t like peaches. How can this be? So I finally did buy some from the farmers market, but it’s so hard to me to eat that many before they go bad! 

So I decided to make peach iced tea with them! And believe it or not this IS one peach thing John will enjoy. Plus we’re cutting back on buying coke at the store and making a switch to pitches of Crystal Light in the fridge, so this is basically the same thing! 

This was SO easy and it tastes great! 

All you have to do is make some iced tea. Use whatever tea you like normally and make according to the package. I prefer Luzianne for my iced tea. It comes in the big bags {one bag per quart of water but I always throw in one extra bag cause I like my tea strong}. Leave some room in you pitcher with the peaches, ice, and cool water. 

For the peach flavor you need a few ripe peaches. The peaches I had gotten were small ones of I use three but if you have big ones two would be enough. 

I pitted and skinned them. My were SUPER ripe so it was kind of a mushy mess. I made sure to do it all over the bowl I was collecting them in so all the juices were together and not running down my counter. 

Then I put them all in my food processor. {Seriously this thing is one of my best friends. It amazing. I think I use it almost every day at least once.} 

I chopped it all up until it was a soupy! I added less than 1/4C of water to help make it very thin. 

After I took my tea bags out of my pitcher I mixed in my liquid peaches and some sugar {sweeten to your liking with sugar, sweetener or a combo} I think I used a little less than 1C. 

Once everything is all mixed up and dissolved add a bunch of ice and if you still have room some cool tap water to fill your pitcher up. And now you’re good to go! 

The tea is ready to drink now if you pour it into a glass completely full of ice or you can refrigerate it until you’re ready to drink it. 

I would say it’ll last up to a week in the fridge but good luck making it last that long! 

*sorry if the pictures are a little blurry, I may have dropped my camera last week and then lens may be bent...

the great {cheap} steak out.

Like most husbands mine loves him some red meat. I know, I know. Shocking! But with keeping the groceries within budget and under same much as possible it’s safe to say we’re not eating porterhouse and filet mignon every week!! But we do enjoy a yummy steak every other week. And we honestly only spend (give or take a little) $5 on it.

Tips for a yummy and CHEAP steak:

1.) Buy a cheap cut. We buy a “marinating cut” at the store. Your store should have it and it’ll be right on the label. Between the two of us we rrreally can’t (and shouldn’t) eat more than a pound of meat. So we buy something under one pound. Also look for one that is in the $4-$6 range (for two people) that has the most “marbling” aka fat throughout the meat. This will give you a more tender steak.

2.) It’s a marinating cut so of course marinate it. Obviously it’s not a super expensive steak so the meat alone isn’t like going to Malones (not that I’ve ever been) so you aren’t gonna “ruin” it by not eating it as is, you want to enhance the flavor. 

For our marinade I use the same basic ingredients but sometimes edit it based on my mood or what we have in the house. 

You want to mix in a container that will fit your steak all the ingredients. Use about equal parts of the liquid ingredients, just enough so you can submerge your steak in it once it’s all mixed up. And I would guess close to a tablespoon of the dried herbs, I just sort of dump a little in.

-Soy sauce

-Red wine vinegar 

-Balsamic vinegar

-Worcestershire sauce (insert Shrek the 3rd Donkey quote)

-Canola/Vegetable/Olive oil (which ever you prefer or have on hand)

-2 or 3 fresh garlic cloves, minced

-Basil

-Parsley

-Rosemary

-Oregano 

-Black pepper

Again you can made substitutions or add something to it. Today I added a little cumin and I’ve also put fresh jalapeño, cilantro, and red onion that I minced real fine in my food processor first into it instead of the more “Italian” herbs before. 

After you have it all mixed up submerge your steak in it for at least 2-3 hours. If you think it get it ready earlier then do it! I wouldn’t do it any sooner than the morning of though. 

3.) Before you cook it let the steak come to room temperature! This helps to keep it tender. Take the steak out of the marinade and let it sit on a plate for maybe 20 mins or so. This will give you a more tender steak and that’s what you want! 

At this point I’ve also started sprinkling a little garlic salt on the steak while it sits. Not too much cause that can be wayyy too salty but just a sprinkle over the top will do.

4.) Now you’re ready to cook it! You can cook it any way you want but one last important thing to remember is to use a meat thermometer! This way you don’t over cook it. I always cook ours medium rare. 

We have one of the thermometers that you can set what you want to cook it to and leave it in the meat and it will beep when it’s ready. Super handy. 

So you can grill it, sear it, or broil it. We can’t have a grill where we live so we have a handy dandy George Forman and I cook it on that. 

5.) Once your steak it done put it on a platter and let it rest again for a few minutes. This way all the juices have time to soak into the meat. If you cut it too soon all the juices will run out but if you wait they will stay put!

6.) Eat. Enjoy. 

I hope you enjoy a cheap and yummy steak sometime soon!

best ever cheese sticks

One of my favorite parts of being a wife is weekly menu planning and grocery shopping. I know. I’m crazy. But I absolutely love it. Sometimes I feel like have I more meal ideas than we can get to and a few favorites we can’t get enough of. Plus I love planning our list, clipping coupons and finding us the best deals. 

One way to balance things is by having a system of sorts. To cut down on our grocery bill we have at least one vegetarian and one pasta dish a week. And then to make sure we get some of our favorites in without getting sick of them we have steak one week and pizza the next. Repeat.

This week of pizza week. And not to toot my own horn but I knocked it out of the park tonight. In fact the hubs would rather have my pizza than order some. On the menu tonight? Buffalo chicken pizza, cheese sticks, and salad. 

I’ll admit that my inspiration for my cheese sticks are not 100% my own cause I did work briefly...very briefly...at a pizza place in college. Did I mention that it was a sketchy pizza place? But that’s besides the point. But here is how I did it. Ready?

Ok, so I have to share this. The biggest garlic clove EVER. I had to cut it into three different portions so it would fit in my garlic press. I had to do three rounds of pressing. 

Just to compare. Normal seedless grape. Grape tomato. Largest garlic clove ever. {And please ignore all the cut marks, that is what you get when renting an apartment.}

There she is. The best cheese sticks. Yummy.

And again. I didn't cook it on this sheet though, after I snapped some pics I covered it in foil and a towel on here to keep warm till we were ready for it!

Bubbly, brown cheese, ready for their close up. 

Here’s what you do for the best cheese sticks you’ll every make.

Best Every Cheese Sticks:

-pizza dough

-3 tbs butter

-2-3 garlic cloves

-shredded mozzarella cheese 

Pre-heat oven to 450F.

1.) Melt the butter and add the garlic (depending on how big your cloves are is how many you need and also if you like it extra garlicly or not! Me, I love the garlic. Bring! It! On!) Once all melty set aside.

2.) Take the pizza dough and roll it out. I like to roll mine out and then place on a pizza peel that has been dusted with cornmeal since I cook mine on a pizza stone and it keeps it from sticking BUT you can cook it on a baking sheet if you want and if it’s non-stick {or you use parchment paper/baking mat} you don’t need cornmeal.

3.) Once the dough is rolled out take your pizza cutter and cut the dough in half and then cut strips of dough going across the opposite way. Cut the strips as thick as you want your cheese sticks. You’ll end up for a bunch of sticks that are half the length of your dough this way. If your dough pulls apart after cutting push them back so they are close together. 

4.) Then brush the dough with the garlic butter. Really slather it on there. 

5.) Now it’s time for the CHEESE. Take your shredded cheese and sprinkle allll over your dough. Really cover from edge to edge like you would a pizza. And if some cheese is hanging off that’s ok because it creates the crispy “burnt” cheese and that is yummy. 

6.) Place in your pre-heated oven and bake for about 10 mins (give or take). You want to cook it till it looks like the dough is cooked and all the cheese is melty. The cheese on the very edge with start to get dark brown. 

7.) Now it’s time for the real fun. Switch your oven off bake and turn on the HI broil. This will start to rrrreally make your cheese bubble and brown. You HAVE to keep your eye on it. If you don’t you might burn all your sticks. Watch it. It will bubble madly but wait until you get more browning of your cheese to take it out but don’t over do it and burn it. You can go quickly from toasty to burnt with the broiler. 

8.) Eat. Your. Heart. Out. Dip in left over garlic butter, pizza sauce, or creamy thick ranch. 

So it’s not healthy but I didn’t say it was the healthiest cheese sticks ever. Just the best. 

And just in case in you weren't hungry enough I wanted to share pics of our buffalo chicken pizza. Yum!

Jealous yet?