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Broccoli Cheese Soup

Once upon a time, in the not-so-distant past, I made broccoli cheese soup.

It was a disaster.

I’m not sure what went wrong, but it was inedible. Usually, even if dishes don’t turn out that great, we still suffer through so we don’t waste food. But this… this abomination of broccoli cheese soup will probably go down in history as the worst thing that I have ever made.

Since that day, I have stayed away from making broccoli cheese soup. Even though I love it so and my heart pines for it, I refused to try to make it ever again.

…Until now. As I’m entering my last few weeks of pregnancy, I’m trying to prepare for bringing the baby home. One way I’m prepping is to make a bunch freezer meals so I won’t have to worry about cooking for a while.

I came across this recipe for a healthy broccoli cheese soup and decided to overcome my fear and go for it!

It came out fantastic! In fact, it was so good that we ate all of it before I could get it into the freezer! So then I made a double batch so we could eat it and freeze it!

I am so happy with this soup. It’s so easy and it is so good! Hope you enjoy it as much as me!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, dice

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 c of butter

1/4 c of All-Purpose flour

1 c milk (I used Almond Cashew)

3 c vegetable broth

3 c broccoli (apxr 1 head), chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 c carrots, diced (I used pre sliced carrots and roughly chopped them)

½ tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 c cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

  1. In a large pot, heat the butter until it starts to melt.
  2. Add the flour and whisk constantly for about 2 minutes.
  3. Slowly add the vegetable broth and milk, continuing to whisk the mixture.
  4. Once combined, turn heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 min.
  5. Meanwhile, add olive oil to saucepan for medium heat.
  6. Add onion and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute. Remove from heat if finished before flour/butter mixture is done simmering.
  7. Once the flour/butter mixture is done simmering, add broccoli, carrots, and cooked onion/garlic.
  8. Add salt and pepper.
  9. Simmer for another 20-25 minutes, until vegetables are soft.
  10. Using a handheld immersion blender, puree about half of the soup. (If you don’t have a handheld blender, blend half the soup in a blender). You can also blend more or less depending on how chunky you like your soup.
  11. Add the cheese and stir until combined.
  12. Serve and enjoy! You can add some shredded cheese on top if desired!

 

To freeze: Once cooled place in the either a freezer ready plastic container or freezer bag.

To serve: Place in fridge to thaw about 24 hours before eating. Reheat either on stovetop or in a microwavable container in microwave until heated through.

 

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Secrets for an Amazing Grilled Cheese

A few years ago, my husband and I went to Florida. We were going to be staying in a friend’s condo for free, which was an amazing deal!

However, when we arrived, it wasn’t everything we expected. Apparently there had been some miscommunication between the owner and family members about who was caring for the condo.

It was… a disappointment to say the least. It was so dirty and disorganized. I don’t know if you have ever been to Florida, but they have these bugs called Palmetto bugs. They are similar to cockroaches and crawl out of the drains and toilets. Blech. When we walked into the condo, there were Palmetto bugs squished all over the floor! And it looked like someone had been living there because there were blankets and clothes thrown everywhere!

We were so excited to have saved a ton of money by staying at this free place on our vacation, so we tried to make it work. We spent three hours cleaning the entire condo which included my husband spending 20 minutes trapped in a bathroom with a giant, angry spider and a game of hide-and-seek with a lizard in the living room.

When I went to vacuum the bedroom, I discovered the entire wall behind the bed was covered in mold (It turned out that the condo next door had a giant leak and was soaking the walls with water to this condo, creating mold)! We gave up after that. Since it was so late, we did stay one night in the condo, but we left for a few hours to get something to eat.

I was dirty and tired and hated the vacation so far.

We found this cute little diner to grab some food and I spotted my meal immediately: the GrownUp Grilled Cheese.

It was everything I needed. Ooey, gooey, cheesy perfection. They took a simple grilled cheese and just took it to a whole new level.

I knew that when I got home, my usual grilled cheese needed an upgrade.

Here are my secret tips to make an amazing grilled cheese!

The ingredients and bread type don’t really have an effect on what I’m about to share with you.

Obviously the harder the bread and the better cheese quality (don’t use American, please) will give you a better grilled cheese. I usually stick with whole wheat bread, sharp cheddar cheese, and a slice of tomato. Sometimes I throw in avocado or a black bean burger. In the sandwich above, I have used mozzarella cheese, tomato slices, and a veggie burger for extra protein.

Steps for an Amazing Grilled Cheese:

Step 1: Butter one side of the bread. Sprinkle powdered garlic powder and grated parmesan cheese onto the butter. Put butter side down in a skillet heated on medium heat.

Step 2: Add your cheese to the bread. If adding other fillings, like tomato, make sure you add cheese on both sides of the filling so the bread will stick. So it will go bread, cheese, tomato, cheese, bread.

Step 3: Put a lid on the pan to allow the cheese to melt without burning the bread.

Step 4: Once the cheese is starting to melt, add the second piece of bread with butter, garlic powder, and grated parmesan. When the piece of bread in touching the pan is a nice golden brown, carefully flip your sandwich and cover again until the bottom piece of bread is a golden brown and cheese is melted.

Enjoy! Guaranteed this will take your grilled cheese to a whole new level and you’ll never go back!

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Easy Cheesy Spanish Rice

I have thing for rice. Or noodles. Whichever. I love them.

Or bread. Or potatoes. Maybe I actually just  have thing for carbs?

My husband thinks I am such a weirdo, but I could literally sit down and eat a whole bowl of rice/noodles and butter. Super unhealthy, but super delicious!

So anytime I can add rice to a meal, I’m all for it! A yummy, easy Spanish rice recipe is perfect for Mexican dishes! This dish is so easy and I almost always have all of the ingredients just sitting in my pantry!

This could probably be made into a complete dish with some beans… hmmm… Maybe that recipe will be coming soon!

Anyway, this dish can be made in about 30 minutes. The most difficult part of this recipe is adding the rice straight to the skillet. I had never done that to rice before and the first time I made this I was really nervous!

But don’t be nervous! It will be okay! Just let the rice cook in the skillet until it is becoming translucent or a little brown, but not burned. It is better to add the vegetable broth early than burn the rice.

You can also choose to make this rice as spicy or mild as you want! I usually prefer on the more mild side, so I usually have mild salsa. But if you like it spicy, add some hot salsa to kick up the flavor!

Quick Cheesy Spanish Rice

Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil

2 tbsp chopped onion

1 ½ c uncooked white rice

2 c vegetable broth

1 c chunky salsa

½ c shredded cheese

Directions:

  1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cooked until tender, about 5 minutes.
  2. Mix rice into skillet, stirring often.
  3. When rice begins to brown/become translucent (but not burned), stir in vegetable broth and salsa.
  4. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes until liquid has been absorbed and rice is fluffy.
  5. Turn off heat and add cheese. Cover until cheese is melted.
  6. Serve!

 

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Trees ‘n Cheese

 

Today I am bringing you a recipe from my mom’s cookbook. Growing up, my mom cooked everything in the microwave. We had this giant microwave that you could literally fit a whole turkey inside… It took up so much space on the counter and sounded like an airplane taking off in our kitchen. My mom claimed it lived to be a ripe age of 25 years old.

This particular recipe can be made in the oven or microwave, but to be honest, I’ve never had it or made it in the oven.

I usually try to stay away from foods that have a lot of preservatives or foods that aren’t “real,” but when you have a recipe like this, sometimes you just have to. Someday I might try and make it more healthy, but for now, when I’m remembering my mom and her Thanksgiving’s, this is the dish.

This was her signature dish. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

 

Trees ‘n Cheese

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz. jar Cheese Whiz
  • 1 can mushroom soup
  • ½ c. chopped onions
  • ½ c. chopped celery
  • ½ c. melted butter
  • ½ c. Minute Rice
  • 20 oz. chopped frozen broccoli

Directions:

Option 1:

  • Melt butter
  • Mix all ingredients together
  • Spread into a greased baking dish (any size will work)
  • Cover and bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes

Option 2: (Easier and my mom’s preferred way)

  • Melt butter in a casserole dish/microwavable dish
  • Add all other ingredients, mix well
  • Cover and microwave on high for 17 minutes
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