Just what the doctor ordered: potato-leek soup

So, I’ve been sick since New Years Day though I finally seem to be on the mend. The problem is that when I’m sick, we tend to eat horribly and rely on takeout a lot. This probably isn’t helpful to the recovery process as takeout isn’t exactly the most nutritious food out there

So I mustered up some strength and tore apart the fridge, taking my cutting board and veggies into the living room to chop and prepare while sitting down as much as I could. (Standing for long periods of time just won’t do when you are lightheaded.)

Luckily, there were lots of veggies to choose from including leeks, which is something new to this household. I’ve wanted to try them out for a while and just thought to pick them up with the last grocery run. And when you’re ill, what’s the first thing you generally want to eat other than toast or crackers? Soup!

Now, I haven’t had any stomach problems with this illness, so I didn’t need it to be broth-based, so here’s what I did…

Too hot to bake? Try microwaving! Apple-raisin-cinnamon nuked muffin.

It’s been too hot to cook, too hot to bake, but I’ve had a craving for muffins. So of course, I went scouring through search after search, just making myself more and more hungry, until I stumbled across a recipe called “Blueberry Muffin for One”, which gave baking instructions for both the conventional oven, as well as the microwave!

I didn’t have all of the same ingredients, so I played around with it a bit and substituted some things out with what I actually had. Here are the results…

Chicken schnitzel? Yes please!

I have a confession to make: I love chicken schnitzel. I love it, I love it, I love it. It is so tasty. But this does not mean that I get to actually eat it very often.

The last time I ate it was the last time I was at a German restaurant. And that was back when there was actually snow on the ground, so it’s been many, many moons.

Surprisingly enough, I had never made schnitzel, myself. I thought, for some reason, that it was a really tough dish to make and that I wouldn’t get the knack or do it justice. After watching the Food Network over time, I have learned this is not so.

And since hubby had picked me up a meat tenderizer at one point, I thought this week I’d try my hand at it. I only wish that I had a third hand to take pictures, because this was so incredibly easy that I want the world to know and have everyone make their own because it is just so darned yummy.

Savory muffins: cheese, onion & bacon muffins

Sometimes you want something small to eat. Sometimes you want something bread-based. And sometimes you want a muffin, but you want something savoury at the same time.

Why not make savoury muffins? 🙂

I’ll warn that the dough seems dry when you make them. It’s up to you whether or not you add more liquid, but I kind of like how they turn out as-is. (These are based off an old recipe I found a few years back, but I don’t recall the source. I apologize if this looks familiar to someone else’s! I did, however, make adjustments based on my own tastes.) This makes 12 muffins.

How I saved my overcooked chicken

So last night, I knew I had several boneless, skinless chicken breasts which needed to be cooked up but I rapidly found myself running out of evening to cook them in. I thought I’d be clever and throw them into the crockpot with some honey-garlic sauce (VH), onions and a can of pineapple, let it on low and wake up in the morning to fantastic chicken.

Boy, was I wrong. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are not good for the crockpot, because they dry out very easily, despite being drenched in liquid. I didn’t realize this.

Hubby said he’d eat it, but I told him to leave it alone, let me think about it and I’d see if I could salvage it and make it more palatable. I had a few ideas after searching through my cupboards. Here’s how I saved my chicken…

Kelly’s Extra Cheesy-Cheesy Noodles

When I left for work this morning, it was a rather nice start to the day: cool, yet a little sunny.  When I left this afternoon, it was snowing and blowing again. I generally like the snow, but it made me really crave comfort food. What says comfort food to me? Mac ‘n’ cheese!

I’m horrible when I make mine because I tend to overload it with cheese. It’s very filling (I’m lucky if I get through one serving), very fattening, but oh-so comforting. I’m going to share my recipe with you, but be sure to tailor this to your own tastes. Not everyone will like it so loaded down with so much cheese. And I recommend starting with a half portion if you’re going to stick to my recipe, then serve some veggies or a nice, refreshing salad with it — that is, unless you’re a huge cheese-lover like me!

Leftover Cheesy Turkey Pasta

Here’s another quick recipe for you if you’re bored with your leftover turkey already. I’m basing this, once again, off of my bacon-wrapped stuffed turkey breast dinner, but I’ve adjusted the recipe below to assume you’ve just made a regular turkey dinner. Adjust as you wish!