Sausage, Kale and white bean soup

 

I make this in a 6 to 8 quart enamel dutch oven. 

Serves 6 to 8

ingredients 

1 lb. Mild Italian Sausage

1 lb. Turkey kielbasa 

1 bunch Kale 

1 cup shredded carrot

1 large green pepper chopped

1 large onion or 2 medium 

2 cans white beans drained

1 32oz. Chicken broth

20 oz. Water

2 tb. Chicken bullion

3 tb garlic

Salt and pepper

1/4 tsp chili pepper flakes

Saute vegetables (not kale),  Sausage, kielbasa, in soup pot until cooked through.

Add broth, seasonings, and water. 

Bring to boil,  and add chopped Kale and beans.

Simmer 15 min until vegies tender.

Serve with crusty bread like a good Sourdough loaf, or garlic bread.

Great on this cold Oklahoma day here where it is 22 degrees...

Hope you enjoy.

Brat.

Black Bean Soup

 Black Bean Soup

3 cans Black beans

2 small cans chicken broth

3 carrots chopped

2 stalks celery chopped

1 medium onion chopped

1 lb. of sausage. (Italian, kielbasa, Hot sausage)

1 tb. chopped Garlic

Sat

Pepper

1 tb. cumin

Cooked brown rice.

Cook sausage in pot with onions, celery, carrot until meat is cooked through.

add chicken broth. (if using kielbasa, slice and add with the beans)

drain black beans but do not rinse, add 2 cans to pot. reserve 3rd.

add seasonings and cook for 30 min. using a potato masher, mash the beans to thicken soup.  Add third can of beans, heat 5 min.

Serve with Brown rice, either over the top or beside as in the picture above.

may need to add a can of water if the soup is too thick.

**Serve with chopped onion, or Tabasco sauce if desired.

**Some times I will add a can of Rotel Tomatoes.

Great and easy recipe for those cold winter days.

Zucchini Lasagna

We still have zucchini to eat up, so today I made Zucchini Lasagna

I sliced the Zucchini in 1/8th inch diagonal slices, and used

Them in place of the lasagna noodles.

I sliced a bunch of zucchini, and placed them in layers in the pan I 
Planned to use, so I knew how much I needed to make 3 layers.

So since this doesn't have noodles, this is 
perfect for gluten free diets.

Zucchini Lasagna

1-2 large zucchini sliced into 1/8th inch slices

1 32oz container low fat ricotta cheese

2 eggs beaten

1 cup parmesan cheese

Italian seasoning, garlic, onion powder,basil, to your taste specification

2 to 3 cups mozzarella ( low fat if you like ) divided 1 cup for top layer.

1 lb ground turkey, cooked and crumbled, Add while cooking: basil, garlic, sage, coriander, salt and pepper, allspice, onion powder ( you could also add a chopped onion while cooking the turkey if you want )

1 jar marinara sauce

This needs to be made in a lasagna pan, or a pan a little larger than a 9x13

Put 1/2 cup of sauce in bottom of pan.

Add Layer of zucchini trying to cover whole surface of pan.
Continue to layer ingredients.

Layers:1/2 of ricotta, zucchini, meat, sauce, 1/2 of mozzarella, using up your ingredients as layers, and ending with sauce, and then rest of the mozzarella as the very last layer.

Bake 375 degrees for about an hour. Or until nice and bubbly.

Let cool for 20 to 30 min to set if possible.



This is baking right now and it looks divine...

**This was good, it does have a lot of moisture in bottom of pan, we just used a slotted spoon to serve it and left the extra moisture in the pan. 

It was really good.... and will definitely make it again.


I had intended to put mushrooms in this lasagna since they were on sale, but in putting together the lasagna, I overlooked the mushrooms sitting there on the counter.  You could also add a layer eggplant, or of spinach, or fresh basil leaves.

Hope you enjoy!

~ Brat~

Strawberry Cheesecake Salad

Here is another salad I'm making because it just sounded yummy....




Strawberry Cheesecake Salad

12 oz. Cool whip
1 -3 1/2oz. Pkg of cheesecake instant pudding
3   6oz containers of strawberry yogurt
1 lbs strawberries sliced up
1 pkg mini marshmallows
1/2 to 1 pkg graham crackers broken in small pieces, not crushed.


Mix all but strawberries and graham crackers together.
Let setup in refrigerator for at least an hour.
Mix in strawberries.
Layer into serving bowl with layers of graham crackers in between.



I couldn't find the cheesecake instant pudding, so I substituted white chocolate instant pudding..... it is really good and it looks pretty layered in my glass bowl from IKEA.

Here is the website that had basically this recipe.
I added the graham crackers to make it taste more like cheesecake.

I can't wait to try her recipe... 

Strawberry Cheesecake Salad

Update:   this was a great success today at the Bridal shower....  
Using the white chocolate instant pudding, and broken pieces of graham
Cracker layered throughout like a trifle.
Yummy.



~ Brat~

Who Wants a Boring Lunch???

Who Wants a Boring lunch every day of the year?
With a little pre-planning, that doesn't have to be the case.


I just got done reading this article about packing lunches that are not boring, 

and this lady has done a lot of research on the topic.  

Ideas for children, teens and and adults, and even some GF ideas too.

There are a lot of great recipes and links as well as some printable

 ideas for you as well.

Take a spin around the article and use some ideas to perk up

Your families lunches, and make them feel special as well as satisfied by a 

Filling and yummy lunch.... 

Link to article

Thirty Days Of Lunches to Pack




I loved this link from the article, and the Dr. Who themed Bento Box
Lunch idea.... So clever....

Bento box lunch ideas

And another great link from this article.
Over 200 days, this lady shares what she packs for lunch.
Mostly healthy ideas.

Operation Lunch Box

I hope you find some inspiration to bless your family or self with 

Some great lunches that you will be excited to eat...

Have a Blessed Day

~ Brat~