Zuppa Toscana

You may know, 'Zuppa Toscana' is Italian for 'Tuscany Soup'. The soup is just a little spicy, in a creamy broth, with a little of everything for everyone. It originates in the Tuscany region of Italy, and it is de-lic-ious!!!

This is one my all-time favorite recipes. I've made it many, many times, with and without the recipe handy. It's a lot like Olive Garden's version of the yummy soup, only this one has bacon, and it uses chicken base (which you can find in the spices section of a grocery store like Kroger, or Publix, or FoodLion) instead of chicken bouillon or chicken broth. I love the one from Olive Garden, but making it yourself is much cheaper and much more rewarding!!

--1-1/2 cups spicy Italian ground sausage

--3/4 cup yellow onion, diced

--6 slices bacon, chopped (I don't recommend thick-cut bacon)

--1-1/2 tsp. minced garlic

--2 cups fresh kale leaves, torn into thin strips or bite-size pieces

--2 tbsp chicken base

--1 qt. water

--2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes

--1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1. Saute sausage, bacon, and onions in a large saucepan or dutch oven until onions are clear (almost see-through).

2. Add garlic and saute one more minute.

3. Add chicken base, water, and potatoes. Simmer 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

4. Add kale, simmer 3 more minutes, then remove pot from heat and turn off the burner.

5. Using a ladle, dip some broth out of the pot and mix it with the cream. This makes the cream a little warm before adding it to the soup, because if it's still cold it could curdle. Now add the warm cream* (with the soup you added to it of course) to the pot, and stir it in. Serve with warm buttered bread, if you like, or garlic toast.

*My dad likes to add a little cream to each individual bowl, but that's just him. You can do that, if you like, or simply add it to the whole pot of soup.

I hope you enjoy this amazing soup as much as I do :) And I hope making it is a pleasure ♥

Charlie's "Alfredo" Sauce

This recipe came out of something that happens a lot: I was hungry and couldn't find anything to heat up real fast, or just eat cold (like a salad). So I took it as an opportunity to come up with something new. I knew I had a bunch of different pasta, and I saw some heavy whipping cream in the fridge, so I thought, 'Hey, how about some homemade alfredo?' The first thing I did was research a simple alfredo recipe, one that used cream cheese--because I had lots of that, too. But you know me, I modify everything. So I added in lots of yummy things :) But notice, there's no salt (except the lawry's) on the ingredients list. That's because if all goes well, you shouldn't need it! Just go by your own salty preferences :) Here it is, my super-delicious creamy pasta sauce:

-stick of butter

-8 oz. cream cheese, cut into small cubes

-1 tsp minced garlic (if you love garlic, add more if you like! I'd say I used about 2 cloves)

-2 cups cream, divided (maybe more, maybe less--I didn't measure...again)

-3/4 cups parmesan cheese, grated

-dash of Lawry's seasoned salt

-dash (or 2) of garlic powder

-dash of onion powder

-dash of red curry powder (I don't recommend buying this just for this recipe! If you already have it, great! If not, either use regular curry powder, or leave it out completely.)

-1/4 cup dry white wine (about that...."dry" doesn't mean literally dry, like a powder. It's white wine in a bottle that isn't sweet. I mention this because I know I used to confuse it, but I'm sure a lot of you knew that already. If you didn't, well, you learned something.)

-3 or 4 large spoonfuls of a simple tomato pasta sauce (like RAGU Old World Style)

-dash cinnamon

-1 tbsp oregano

Instructions:

Okay, I'll admit, I don't really have instructions for this. But I'll write some just for you :)

1. Melt butter in medium to large saucepan.

2. Add cream cheese, garlic, and 1/2 cup of cream--cook, stirring very frequently, until smooth, and cream cheese is melted. Add the parmesan cheese and stir until smooth again.

3. Stir in the rest of the cream, garlic powder, onion powder, red curry powder (if desired), the wine, and the tomato sauce. Stir until creamy--it should be a sauce-like consistency. If not, bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until it is.

4. Just before serving, stir in the cinnamon (just a SMALL dash, it shouldn't be a lot at all) and oregano. Enjoy!! :)

Gemelli Speciale

A long time ago, in the kitchen, my mom was trying to come up with something to make for dinner. We looked everywhere, and since we were tight on money, we came up with some gemelli pasta, some chicken we'd cooked (baked, sauteed, doesn't matter--just plain chicken), some leftover steamed broccoli, and a little bit of shredded mozzarella. We threw it all together and sprinkled on our favorite seasoning, Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt. Today, it's STILL a favorite.

Although you can use however much you want, here's the list of things we threw together, and an  approximate amount:

-2 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite-size pieces
-1 cup steamed broccoli
-1/2 a package of gemelli pasta, cooked according to package directions
-1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
-dash of Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt (OR your own favorite seasoning!)

Simply mix the first three ingredients together, and top each serving with cheese, and sprinkle the seasoning overtop.

I hope you can enjoy this super-easy meal as much as I have over the years!

Charlie's Oreo Milkshakes

As usual, I modified the recipe I found, so here's what I ended up with:

-3 cups vanilla bean ice cream

-9 Oreos, divided--crush six

- about 1-1/2 cups milk, divided

-heaping spoonful of peanut butter

-1 tsp vanilla syrup

1. In a blender, frappe crushed Oreos, ice cream, 1/2 cup milk, syrup, and PB.

2. Add more milk, gradually, and as needed.*

3. Divide mixture (which should be at milkshake consistency, and it should be smooth) between three glasses.

4. Coarsely chop the remaining three Oreos separately, one to garnish each milkshake.

5. Serve immediately with a straw.

*I didn't measure the milk, but I found I needed more than the 1/2 cup the recipe called for. Just add a little at a time and blend until you get the right consistency.

Enjoy!! ♥

Yeilds: 3 servings