A Happy Hive

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Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup with all the fixin’s

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Have you ever had a Twice Baked Potato? Well this Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup is like having a bowl full of the creamy inside of a twice baked potato. It’s delicious, incredibly filling and very frugal to make. Oh and easy, too.

Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup with all the fixin’s
 
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Recipe type: Soup
Ingredients
  • 3½ pounds of potatoes, peeled and cut into ¾ inch pieces – I probably used more like 4 pounds
  • 1 red pepper, seeded and chopped – I left this out to avoid my kids complaining
  • 1 package (10 oz) of frozen chopped broccoli
  • 4 cups of low sodium chicken stock – I used my slow cooker chicken broth from earlier in the week.
  • ⅓ cup of half and half
  • ⅓ cup of sour cream (plus extra for garnish)
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1¼ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • Garnish ideas – Sour cream, scallions, bacon (cooked and crumbled), shredded cheese, diced ham – what else do you put on your baked potatoes?
Instructions
  1. Combine potatoes, red pepper and broccoli in slow cooker. Pour chicken broth over potatoes. Cook for three (3) hours on high or six (6) hours on low – basically until potatoes are tender.
  2. Right before serving – in a small bowl, whisk together half and half, ⅓ cup sour cream, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Remove cover from slow cooker and mash potatoes slightly and stir in liquid mixture.
  3. I used a potato masher to mix everything up and get the consistency I wanted.
  4. Serve with your favorite toppings!

Jenny, who sent in the recipe, likes to add an additional bag of broccoli about an hour or so before the soup is done. The first bag of broccoli you toss in will completely break down, so if you want big broccoli chunks you can add another bag like Jenny does.

This was such a hearty dish that I was able to make two extra dinners from it! I used my FoodSaver to package up two batches for later dinners! When I want to thaw these, I can boil the bags and dump into a saucepan to heat up. Or, you can cut off an edge and drop the frozen brick into a hot sauce pan and cook that way, too. Or you can plan ahead and take them out the night before.

I’d love to hear from you – how would you dress this up? What toppings would you put on your soup?

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Garlic and Parmesan Smashed Red Potatoes

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Parmesan-Mashed-Potatoes

These potatoes laugh in the face of gravy. They need no topping or gravy – they present a delicious side option without the gravy goodness that we usually pour on our potatoes. I started making this recipe because I was so bad at making gravy (although I’ve improved) and these are a great alternative when you just don’t feel like going through the whole gravy process.

Garlic and Parmesan Smashed Red Potatoes
 
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Recipe type: Potatoes
Ingredients
  • Red potatoes (or any variety you like)
  • Fresh Parmesan (shaved or grated). Must be fresh, doesn’t work with the powdered stuff. Look for $1 tear pads for the Kraft parmesan cheese. Spotted these at Safeway where the tubs (like pictured above) are on sale for $2.50 – so after coupon only $1.50.
  • Garlic, about four cloves but more if you love garlic
  • Butter, about half a stick, but the whole stick if you really want it to be good
  • Sour cream, about 8 ounces
  • Chives
  • Olive oil, tablespoon (optional)
Instructions
  1. Wash and quarter potatoes. They are going to be mashed, anyway, so no need to keep them pretty. The smaller you dice them the quicker they will cook. Leave the skins on.
  2. Add peeled, whole garlic cloves and potatoes to a big pot of salted water. You can add a tablespoon of olive oil to the water for flavor. Bring to a rolling boil.
  3. Boil potatoes until they are fork tender.
  4. Drain potatoes and return to pot. Add butter, sour cream, chives and parmesan. Garlic should still be with potatoes.
  5. Mash, mash, mash using a masher. Don’t use a mixer. They should be chunky.
  6. That’s it. Super easy. Add more parmesan cheese and butter for more flavor.

I think one of the secrets to this recipe is boiling the garlic with the potatoes – it seems to really infuse them with the flavor. So you kind of have to like garlic to like this recipe. ? Another potato recipe you might like is my Pesto Red Potato Salad.

My disclaimer on all my recipes are: I’m NO cooking pro, I just share recipes I personally make at home. With most recipes you can add more of what you like or less of what you don’t. If you have ideas or suggestions to improve the recipe – I’d love to hear!

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Crockpot Corn Chowder

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After a weeklong hot spell the weather in the Northwest cooled down quite a bit today. So I threw together some Crockpot Corn Chowder – it hit the spot and it was just the thing to use up the gobs of frozen corn I have in the freezer. My husband raved about it, so I think I’ll be making it again real soon.

Crockpot Corn Chowder
 
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Recipe type: Soup
Ingredients
  • Potatoes, peeled and cubed, about 5 Cups (5-6 potatoes)
  • Corn, I used frozen, 5 Cups
  • Chicken broth, 4 Cups
  • 3 Carrots, peeled and diced
  • 3 Celery stalks, diced
  • ½ Onion diced and sautéed in olive oil
  • 5-6 slices of cooked bacon
  • 2 Tablespoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon Thyme - Don’t leave this out, I think it really adds to the flavor.
  • ¼ teaspoon Garlic Powder - Or you could probably use fresh garlic, I was out. Maybe 1 -2 cloves, minced.
  • 1 Cup Heavy Cream (I used whipping cream because it’s what I had)
  • 1 Cup regular milk (I used 1% milk) - Or I think you could just substitute 2 Cups heavy cream
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Toppings: Shredded cheddar cheese and diced bacon if you like
Instructions
  1. Throw potatoes, corn, chicken broth, carrots, celery, onion, bacon, butter, thyme and garlic powder into crockpot (basically everything BUT the milk).
  2. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8-10 hours. Since the bacon and onions are pre-cooked you really only need to get the potatoes soft, the smaller you dice those, the quicker that happens.
  3. About 30 minutes before you serve, add your milk or heavy cream or whipping cream. Whatever you have to make it creamy.
  4. You can used an immersion blender if you wanted to thicken it up by pureeing some of the potatoes (be careful if it’s hot). I tried this, but frankly, I like it chunky so I didn’t mind.
  5. Serve with shredded cheese and bacon bits for toppings.

My kids aren’t really soup eaters. They never have been, unless it’s Miso soup, then they love it (strange huh?). Usually what we do is use a slotted spoon and serve them the soup without the broth. We don’t even tell them it’s soup, it’s veggies and cheese or whatever it happens to be.

I served this with warm batch of my Grandma’s homemade rolls. I hope you enjoy!

What are your favorite things to add to chowder? Do you make chowder in the crockpot or stove top?

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My Grandma’s Roll Recipe, Plus a Time-Saving Tip

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Rolls-Baked

One way to save on bread and baked goods is to make them from scratch. I am not a baker. I’m not an expert. But I can bake one thing well, thanks to my Grandma. I’m going to share with you my Grandma Ramona’s roll recipe. She’s been baking these (and I’ve been eating them) for as long as I can remember. A staple at big family dinners, they are always a big hit.

I’m warning you – you can’t eat just one. I called my Grandma and asked her if I could post this recipe on the blog. She said sure. I warned her that Oprah might call her (because I know you check my blog daily, right Oprah!?) and I told Grandma that she could soon be famous once word gets out about her rolls. She just chuckled and said she had to get back to her card game with the ladies.

Disclaimer – I am so not a Martha Stewart. I will try my best to explain this recipe to you but I don’t even know all the proper lingo. ? I think this might even be the first recipe I’ve ever posted on the blog – so there you go, good luck!

GRANDMA RAMONA’S ROLL RECIPE

Grandma Ramona's Rolls
 
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Recipe type: Bread
Ingredients
  • 2 eggs and water to equal 1½ cup
  • ½ cup butter
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • 4 cups flour (my Grandma prefers Gold Medal, I use whatever is on sale)
  • ¼ cup powdered milk
  • 2 teaspoons rounded yeast
Instructions
  1. Add two eggs to a big measuring cup, add warm water until the level reaches 1½ cups. Pour into bread machine.
  2. Add butter (I warm mine first), salt, sugar, flour and powdered milk to bread machine – in that order.
  3. Make a well in the top of your ingredients and add your yeast.
  4. Turn the bread machine on dough setting (this just makes the dough, it doesn’t bake it).
  5. My bread machine takes two hours. After dough is done, take it out of bread machine and set it on counter, cover and let rise for 30 minutes
  6. I spray olive oil instead my Pampered Chef stoneware pan (but you can use any pan, just butter or grease it first).
  7. Break the dough into small pieces and form them into balls. Make them smaller than you’d think – they will grow in the oven.
  8. If you want, you can brush melted butter on top of your rolls, we don’t do this and they still turn out just fine.
  9. Have your oven preheated to 350 degrees F. Put rolls in for 28 – 30 minutes. This could vary by oven or pan type – so just watch them closely after 25 minutes.
  10. Remove and cool. Enjoy.

Don’t have a bread machine? You could easily knead this by hand. How to do that, I don’t really know, I recommend consulting Google. ? My grandma uses a bread machine, so that’s the way I do it. This is also the same dough recipe that my grandma uses for her amazing cinnamon rolls – that’s another post for another day.

Time saver tip – I actually measure out the dry ingredients ahead of time and put them in big gallon Ziploc bags. This way, I don’t have to haul out all the ingredients every time we want rolls. All I have to do is add my eggs and butter, dump in my bag of dry ingredients, throw in the yeast and push start on the bread machine. Big time saver and it makes it easy for my son to help out because he just dumps the bag in the bread machine and ta da – he’s made rolls. ?

Make up four or five batches at once and just store them in the pantry! You can also reuse the bags for next time.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. It really is near and dear to me! My kids LOVE these and it warms my heart to know they’re enjoying the same goodness that I grew up with.

Do you have a favorite family recipe that you adore? How do you save time and money baking?

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Clam Chowder with Golden Potatoes, Corn and Bacon

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Clam-Chowder

Although my husband and I both like clam chowder this is only the second time we’ve ever made it at home. I’m reminded of how easy it is to make and just how delicious real home cooked chowder can be! We ended up inviting our awesome neighbors over for dinner – and I’m so glad we did, we had a great time and this chowder just feels like it should be shared. It’s like a “hug” in a bowl.

We meshed together a few recipes for this variation of clam chowder – picking our favorites from all the recipes. We hope you enjoy!

Clam Chowder with Golden Potatoes, Corn and Bacon
 
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Recipe type: Soup
Ingredients
  • Bacon, recipes say eight slices, but honestly we added more like 12. Chopped.
  • 4 cans chopped clams (6 oz each), drained - We used Bar Harbor All Natural Chopped Clams, 6.5-Ounce Cans(Amazon link) after reading great reviews and we were impressed! If you buy 12 cans through subscribe and save it’s only $2.62 a can!
  • 16 oz of bottled clam juice
  • 3 pounds of diced Yukon Gold potatoes (or any kind, really) – As you can see from picture our potatoes are larger than probably preferred, but we called it “rustic” style and honestly it tasted great to me anyway.
  • 1½ cups milk
  • 1½ cups heavy cream
  • 3 tablespoons flour
  • 1½ cups corn (we used frozen)
  • 3 stalks celery
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. In a large saucepan cook bacon until crisp. Drain excess grease, leaving just a teensy, tiny bit for ingredients to come (hey, didn’t say it was healthy). Add diced onion and celery – lightly season with salt and saute until tender with bacon and remaining grease. Then add diced potatoes and cook for five (5) minutes.
  2. Once tender, stir in the flour and cook for three (3) minutes – stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in clam juice until there are no lumps. Then whisk in milk, heavy cream, clams, bay leaves and thyme.
  3. Bring to a strong simmer (don’t boil) then reduce and allow to simmer until potatoes are cooked all the way through, which is about 10-15 minutes. Add pepper to taste. My husband also added hot sauce to his.
  4. Enjoy.

Recipe inspiration from: New England Clam Chowder, BonAppetit Clam Chowder and over on Amazon: Northwest Inspirations: Flavors of South Puget Sound (LOVE this book!).

Do you have a different twist to Clam Chowder? Would love for you to share your recipes.

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How to Freeze Pineapple – Buy it when it’s on sale, freeze for later!

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Stock-up-price-pineapples

I told you yesterday that I was freezing my $1 pineapples from QFC and I’m happy to report that it turned out great! I had never done this before, but it was so easy, that I definitely think I’ll be doing it again.

First I cut them all up into chunks. I used a pineapple peeler, corer gadget. Have you seen these before? The verdict is still out on whether I think they are more a pain than a help. They are very sharp, so be careful. I didn’t cut myself. . . this time. I got this from my days as a Pampered Chef peddler. I wonder about something like this – Easy Tool Stainless Steel Fruit Pineapple Corer Slicer Peeler Cut (Amazon) – anyone have one? Does it work?

After dicing my pineapples into 1-2 inch chunks, I spread it out onto a cookie sheet and popped it in the freezer for 24 hours. I did this so that the pieces of pineapple wouldn’t freeze in one big chunk inside a bag. I wish I would have put down parchment or wax paper because they did freeze to the pan.

But I just used a metal spatula and I scraped the pineapple into gallon bags and we’ll probably use it for smoothies!

I heard some of you bought as many as 50 pineapples at your local store! I can’t imagine processing that many pineapples but the price just can’t be beat! I did the math and I weighed the “meat” after I trimmed them up and I got about 1.5 pounds from each one! That comes out to $0.67/lb – not too shabby!

Have you ever frozen pineapple before? I also think it would be delicious to dehydrate!

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How to Dehydrate Pineapple

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Drying pineapple is a fantastic way to preserve it as a healthy snack. As a mother with two small kids, it’s a way I can take a sticky, generally messy fruit and make it a snack safe for the car or for on-the-go! It’s great to chop up and add to trail mix.

This particular time, I used canned pineapple!  I couldn’t find any information online about drying canned pineapple – so I thought I’d just try it (the price was right!). It worked great, in my opinion. As we head into the summer we should see fresh pineapple for as low as $1 each – and when that happens ‘ll be picking some up for drying at that time.

How to Dehydrate Pineapple
 
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Recipe type: Fruit
Instructions
  1. If using canned pineapple, use the sliced variety. Drain pineapple well. Place slices on drying trays. If using fresh pineapple, remove skin and core pineapple (these pineapple corers and slicer would be ideal!)
  2. Cut pineapple into even slices, about ¼ inch thick.
  3. Place on your dehydrator trays, dry at 130 degrees F for about 14 to 16 hours.
  4. You’ll know it’s done when the pineapple feels dry and leathery but is still flexible.

I dried two whole cans of pineapple and my kids had eaten it within 24 hours! They loved it.

I love how they look like little flowers. Wish I was creative enough to figure out a way to use them as “flowers” in some other application – perhaps as a cupcake topper or something?

Store in an airtight container away from sun, moisture. . .and if you want them to last for more than a day. . . away from your kids.

I referenced these books especially, which I’m guessing you can find at your local library (or Amazon):

As for the type of dehydrator that you need – I think all of them are pretty great. First you can check your local thrift shops, because they are big appliances I think people get tired of storing them and donate them a lot.

I personally have the Excalibur 3900B 9 Tray Deluxe Dehydrator, Black – but it’s probably much more than the average person needs. The only reason I splurged is because I found a crazy good deal that included a lightning deal and a gift card I had. But I have to say that I do love it and it has amazing reviews for a dehydrator.

I’ve been a drying a lot of things lately! See my recent posts:

I’d love to hear from you – what do you dehydrate? How do you use your dehydrator? Have you dehydrated pineapple before? Have you used canned pineapple before?

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How to Freeze Peppers

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Bell peppers are one of those things that seem to be either a super great deal ($0.50 cents or less) or NOT at all (as much as $3!). I stock up when I find them for $0.50 cents or less and then freeze them for future use, so I don’t get stuck paying full price when I want fajitas!

Let me just start by saying that I don’t think you can freeze a pepper and have it come out with exactly that same crunch (and flavor) as you’d find from a fresh one. At least not that I can figure out. But they will be great for stir fry, omelets, fajitas and any cooked application. Besides the flavor of frugality can’t be forgotten!

Some people will BLANCH the peppers and then submerge in ice cold water before freezing. This supposedly kills an enzyme that might break down the peppers in the freezer. I went for simple and just froze them without blanching. You can try both styles and see which you prefer.

Here’s what I did:

How to Freeze Peppers
 
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Recipe type: Vegetables
Instructions
  1. Start by gathering your peppers, a large cutting board, sharp knife, Ziploc (or freezer) bags and a large bowl (for garbage/compost).
  2. Peel off any produce stickers. Rinse peppers and dry well. Any extra moisture on them will only create extra ice on the peppers when you freeze them.
  3. Slice in half. Using your hands scoop out all the seeds inside and dump into your garbage/compost bowl.
  4. I like to slice mine into strips because we will most likely use ours for fajitas. These can also be thawed and quickly chopped for a frittata or omelet.
  5. I diced a bunch of the peppers into smaller pieces, for when I make eggs or omelets – I like quick options! Freeze in portions that you’ll think you’ll use. These pictured above are in quart bags.
  6. Place peppers into Ziploc (or freezer bags) and remove all possible air. An easy way to do this is leave the Ziploc bag open and fold the top half of the bag over the bottom part and push down on the table. It will squeeze air out and keep it out until you seal the top. Works best when bag is about half full.
  7. like to spread my peppers out into a flat layer, so the bags will freeze flat and will stack easily. I would recommend using with 3 months. I usually lay them in a box, inside the freezer until they are frozen, then I stand them up on their sides, so I can easily find them.

Tell me – Do you freeze peppers?

I’d love to hear your tips for freezing peppers or other vegetables or fruits!

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Pear, Chicken, Pecan, and Gorgonzola Salad

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Pear-Chicken-Pecan-Salad

We stocked up on organic pear this week and I was excited to make a pear, chicken, pecan and blue cheese salad for dinner tonight. Super fresh, crunchy, sweet – and super easy!

Pear, Chicken, Pecan, and Gorgonzola Salad
 
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Recipe type: Salad
Ingredients
  • Spinach
  • Pears, sliced finely
  • Chicken, we took the easy route tonight and used a rotisserie chicken from Costco
  • Pecans, also from Costco or buy in bulk at Winco
  • Gorgonzola or blue cheese, crumbled
  • Optional: red onion, diced finely
  • Dressing: Balsamic vinegar and olive oil
Instructions
  1. The instructions are very difficult: put everything together in a bowl or on a plate. Drizzle balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil on salad. Eat.

What are your favorite pear recipes? 

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Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Red Onions

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I’ve never roasted sweet potatoes before. All I have to say is I’ve been missing out. Tonight for dinner I roasted sweet potatoes with red onions. The “marinade” was super easy and it has a little spice, a little sour, a little salty and a little sweet.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Red Onions
 
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Recipe type: Vegetables
Ingredients
  • Non-stick cooking spray
  • 2 large sweet potatoes, uncooked, peeled and diced in 1-inch chunks
  • 1 large red onion, peeled, diced in 1-inch chunks
Marinade:
  • ¼ tsp chili powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
  • 1 Tablespoon Agave (you could probably substitute honey)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
  2. Spray a baking sheet with the non-stick spray.
  3. In a large bowl, add all your diced sweet potatoes and onions.
  4. In a small bowl, make the marinade.
  5. Pour in marinade. Toss until it’s evenly coated.
  6. Spread vegetables out evenly on your baking sheet and put into oven.
  7. Bake at 425 degrees F for 30 minutes. I recommend halfway through (15 minutes) that you take the pan out and turning them over with a spatula, so one side doesn’t get overly done. Then putting it back in for the remaining 15 minutes (for a total of 30 minutes).

I have a funny story to tell you about this recipe.

I told my son to try it.
He replied, “I don’t like sweet potatoes.”
I said, “You’ve eaten sweet potato fries and you liked them.”
He replied, “Yeah, well those were made with fries.”

How can I argue with that?

I’d love to hear – how do you make your sweet potatoes? What are your favorite vegetables to roast? You can also check out this recipe for Roasted Root Vegetables with balsamic vinegar – yum!

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