Joy in the Kitchen!

  We've just finished with our latest snowstorm.  I really wanted to say that was our LAST of the season snowstorm, but it's still March and we had a snowstorm in May last year!   The BEST part of winter for me, is that it's Soup Season!  I LOVE soup! (… and chowder! Soup and Chowder will be used interchangeably in this post!)  I could eat it several times a week.   A delicious bowl of steaming soup just soothes all of the rough, cold, places in your soul.    Lately I've needed a generous portion of soul soothing!  Corn Chowder is one of my childhood favorites.  My Mom had a recipe I've never seen anywhere else. The only thickener used is saltine crackers crushed and soaked in milk.  Perhaps it was a depression era recipe as it is very basic and thrifty!  Recently, I wanted a soup that also used chicken (more protein) and I've had a bunch of veggies on hand that need used.  This Creamy Chicken Corn Chowder was ...

The other day I needed a dinner that I could make ahead and leave in the oven.  I combined a couple of recipes to come up with this.  It was a hit with our entire family. I like to buy full boneless pork loins at Sam's Club and then cut them into chops or leave the size we need for a roast.  The price is usually cheapest that way and I'm all about cutting our food budget.  I keep everything in this recipe on hand (aside from the French's Fried Onions) so it is something I could throw together  spur of the moment. Creamy Pork Chops and Potatoes 6-8 pork loin chops (boneless or bone-in) 6 LARGE  russet potatoes , peeled and sliced 2 10 oz. cans condensed cream of mushroom soup 1 12 oz. can evaporated milk 3/4 C. water 3 T. onion soup base (1 package of Lipton onion soup is a little over 2 T. so just use that if you'd rather not have a package open.  I buy mine in bulk so it's easier for measuring) 1/4 tsp. pepper 1/4 tsp. salt French's fr...

We've just finished Spud Harvest in our area.  All the potatoes are dug and the kids are back to school.  During potato harvest, I called my cousin who's family farms the land behind my Dad's house to see if I could buy some from her.  She let us come and pick potatoes off of the conveyor belt as they went into the cellar.  I took pictures of that last year and you can see those HERE .   We bought about 300 lbs of potatoes.  If the winter is cooperative, I'll have usable potatoes through April.  I love storing potatoes with the dirt still on!  They keep so much better with dirt on and in a gunny sack in a cool, dry area, than they do from the store in those nasty plastic bags.  But you use what you can get, right?  These potatoes are Russet Burbanks.  The BEST in my opinion. (and at my house my opinion is what counts! ) Now that Spud Harvest is finished, there is no better way to celebrate than to eat the harvest! ...

Born and raised right in the middle of Idaho potato country has allowed me to enjoy potatoes almost every day of my life.  We can grow potatoes in our garden but when there are fields and fields of them all around us it's so easy to buy bulk potatoes from a nearby farmer and store them for the winter.   This year I bought from my cousin who has a field just a mile from me.  This field is part of a farm my grandpa bought and farmed with his boys many years ago. Good soil for growing potatoes and families.  I grew up hearing stories of hand picking potatoes out of the rows in the fall harvest but with modern equipment harvesting is much easier!   There's nothing like the earthy smell of potatoes fresh out of the ground.   Freshly dug Idaho Potatoes heading into the cellar for storage. Big beautiful spuds!!! I like to store 200-300 pounds of potatoes through the winter.  If I pull them right out of the field and put them in gunny sacks or box...

Our garden is finally coming on nicely!  One of the things we look forward to the most from our garden is creamed potatoes and peas.  My Mom used to make these a few times every summer from the first digging of potatoes and the first nice picking of peas.  Mom never had a measured recipe and neither have I, however, my kids and others have asked several times how to make them so this last time I made them I measured ingredients so I could write a recipe. :)   This should be more helpful than "add more milk until it's the thickness you like" or "until it tastes right". If you don't grow a garden or have access to a nice farmers market, you could use small red potatoes and frozen peas and have a dish that is still tasty.  It isn't nearly as wonderful as fresh from the garden, but it is still good. Creamed New Potatoes and Peas 3-4 lbs. of new red or gold potatoes 2 C. freshly shelled green peas Wash potatoes leaving skins on. Cut potatoes in...

This recipe is out of a family cookbook on my husbands side of the family.  Aunt Jessie submitted it & she lived in Wisconsin at the time.  I'm not sure where the "Connecticut" part came from.  I like to think she got it from a friend who got it from a friend, because those are often the best sort of recipe! This casserole uses a nice amount of potatoes, making it a PERFECT dish for my Idaho-grown family!  We love it.  (Even Dave likes it and he prefers a "meat & potatoes" sort of meal)  Add a salad and vegetable and you've got a wonderful, filling, comforting meal. Connecticut Beef Supper 1 lb. hamburger 2 lg. onions, sliced 1 1/4 C. milk 1 C. sour cream 4 large potatoes, thinly sliced 1 can cream of mushroom soup 1 C. shredded cheddar cheese 1 1/4 C. Wheaties cereal, crushed Brown hamburger in skillet; add onion and cook until onion is transparent.  Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Pour meat mixture into greased baking ...

  Living in the middle of potato country, we eat a LOT of potatoes.  One of our favorite ways to eat them is mashed with gravy.  Once in a while we have leftover mashed potatoes.  I don't enjoy them reheated as much as fresh since they are often dry, but this recipe using leftover (or fresh) mashed potatoes is so tasty I purposely make extra mashed potatoes now so we can have this later in the week!  I love all the delicious toppings on a baked potato, and that is what I added to create this dish.  I think chives would be good on it as well - but we'll try that in the summer when my chives are growing and fresh. "Real" mashed potatoes are best.... but in a pinch you could use instant.  Here in Idaho it's just a shame to not use fresh potatoes though.  Loaded Mashed Potatoes 3 C. mashed potatoes (leftover or freshly mashed) 1/4 C. melted butter 1 C. sour cream 1 1/2 C. shredded cheese, reserving 1/2 C. 1/4 C. fried & crumbled bacon, more i...

We love Alfredo Sauce on noodles, however, right now I've got a bunch of potatoes stored that need to be used.  I figured we could do our usual alfredo sauce and some chicken tenders and settle that over some real mashed potatoes for a nice potato bowl.  It turned out terrific! You could use a bottled alfredo sauce, but it's really pretty easy to make your own if you have the ingredients on hand. Easy Alfredo Sauce 2 C. half & half or a mix of heavy cream and milk OR 2 C. of evaporated milk 1 C. milk 2 T. butter 3 T. flour 1 clove of garlic, minced 1/2 C. Parmesan cheese, grated salt and pepper to taste Saute the garlic in the 2 T. of butter until it softens.  Mix in flour and make a roux.  Add milk and cream slowly, stirring constantly over medium heat until all milk is added and sauce starts to thicken.  Add Parmesan cheese and stir until it's melted and blended in.  Salt and pepper to taste.  The sauce thickens as it cools.  If it's thi...

Scalloped potatoes are one of my comfort foods.  Warm and creamy, they are terrific for cool fall evenings, or freezing winter nights.  Mom used to make this recipe once in a while during the winter.  She often served it as a side dish to ham or chicken.  I like to use it as a side dish to ham, chicken, barbeque country style ribs, OR as a main dish by adding chunks of ham or chicken on the top before baking.   Mmmmm!  It is super easy to make pretty much an entire nice meal in one oven with this.  Scalloped potatoes (in a 9x13), a roast chicken or some ribs, and on the rack under the potatoes, some winter squash.  Easy! I'm sure we had these less when I was growing up because they use Cream of Mushroom soup, and Mom didn't buy that very often.  Sure seems like I use cream of whatever soup a lot these days!  I know there are plenty of recipes that use milk or cream, but this one is easy, and so creamy and delicious! Tonight I m...

I live in potato country.  I have a few hundred pounds of beautiful russet potatoes stored in my storage area.  One can never have too many good potato recipes!  Tonight we had FANcy Potatoes.  They are SO easy to make and serve.  We had these with Roast Chicken, corn frozen from last summers garden, and a nice, tossed green salad.  I used some smaller potatoes, a little smaller than my fist, and, since I have a teenage boy, I made a few extra. ;o)  I had one left to put in the fridge after dinner. FANcy Potatoes 6 medium russet potatoes   1 cube butter, melted shredded cheese or cheese slices bacon crumbles sour cream parsley, green onion, or chives Scrub the potatoes.  Slice each potato about 2/3rds of the way through at 1/4 inch intervals.  It will fan out as it bakes, if you cut too far through, it will come apart as you work with it later.  Place partially sliced potatoes in an ungreased shallow baking dish.  Bak...

Due to the below ZERO temperatures we've been having, I've had such a hankering for soup!  I've been trying to use ingredients on hand for our meals this month... and I've got a TON of potatoes stored in the garage. Okay... so actually only about 150 lbs, but still, a substantial amount.  Most of those potatoes are good old Idaho Russets, BUT, I have 1 burlap bag of beautiful red potatoes grown in our garden this summer.   So, in remembrance of warmer times, we enjoyed this Hearty Red Potato Soup for dinner.  Mmmmm!    I got this recipe from Gracie on the Frugal-Families website .  She said she doesn't remember where she found it and she mentioned she has used broccoli in place of the peas.   My family loves this soup.  My 14 year old son thinks it tastes ALMOST as good as creamed new peas and potatoes. (and THAT's quite a compliment!) If you're out of red potatoes or they are hard to find, a regular potato would work ...

My Mom didn't care for garlic and I grew up not really knowing what it tasted like. In my own kitchen, I often use garlic. I love it! These potatoes make an easy side dish, I use red potatoes most often, but if they're not available pretty much any type of potato would do. (I guess I haven't tried sweet potatoes lol but you just never know!) I don't have exact amounts because I just cut potatoes until the pan looks right... you can't really do it wrong. 6 fist sized red potatoes (or however many it takes to make a nice layer in your 9x13 pan) 3-4 cloves of garlic minced 1/4 - 1/2 C. butter salt & pepper Spray your 9x13 pan. Cut potatoes into chunks and spread out in pan. You want to keep them fairly shallow so they'll crisp up a bit as they cook. Melt butter in a small saucepan and saute' garlic for a few minutes. Pour butter mixture over potatoes & stir them around so they're coated well. Sprinkle salt generously over the pot...