Saucy Sausage Soup

Today's creation came from my husband asking me to make soup with Italian Sausage in it, he asked while we were in the produce section so, here you go!! Oh, and there are pics this time!

1 lb Italian Sausage (flavor of your choice)
3 red potatoes diced
2 celery sticks diced
1 large yellow onion diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper diced
1/2 green bell pepper diced
1 box Chicken Stock
1 med size can of Tomato Sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can drained dark red kidney beans
1 can drained white navy beans
1 tsp Basil (fresh or dried)
1 tsp Thyme (fresh or dried)
1 tsp Salt (I prefer sea salt)
1 tbl Parsley (fresh or dried)
Pepper (I love fresh cracked pepper)to taste
Shredded Romano/Parmesan cheese (or whatever you have on hand)to top the soup with

Cook Italian Sausage in skillet and make fine or chunky (however you like it), when cooked through, drain and set aside. While cooking Sausage, boil your diced potatoes in a pot with about 1 tsp of salt until NOT QUITE FORK TENDER, then drain.

In a large pot add ALL ingredients together including the sausage and potatoes. Bring to a medium heat and cover for about 30 min, stir occasionally. When you think that the veggies are getting tender enough then you can either eat OR place on LOW heat and let cook for another 30 min to melt together all of the flavors. Now you are ready to taste test, dish up in a deep bowl, top with cheese and eat!! Serve along with an Italian bread or Bread sticks, great for dipping.

My favorite is to slice a loaf of flavored Italian bread, butter each slice on one side, place that side face up and bake on about 350 for 5 minutes. Yummy!

Spicy Ham 'n' Corn Chowder

Tonight I made Spicy Ham 'n' Corn Chowder. I served it with Cheesy, Garlic, Dill Biscuits! I will start adding photos in the future, that is one thing that I love is seeing how it is supposed to turn out :)

4 tbl butter
2 slices of bacon (diced) uncooked (OR Real bacon in a jar - NOT bacon bits)
1 medium onion, yellow, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced (no seeds)
2 celery spears, diced
2 stems fresh thyme OR 1/2 tsp thyme seasoning (omit if you don't have)
sea salt & fresh cracked pepper, to taste
2 tbl hot sauce (like Tobasco)
2 tbl all-purpose flour
2 tsp Old Bay seasoning (or Creole or Blackening or Soul Seasoning)
2-3 cups Half & Half
2 cups chicken broth
1-2 cups frozen hash-browns
1 small ham steak diced (or pkg of diced ham)
1 cup corn (can drained or frozen)
Serve With: Parsley as a garnish (fresh or dried)

In a medium pot (or cast iron pot--my fave!), melt butter on med heat. Add bacon, bell pepper, celery and thyme. Season with Salt, Pepper & Hot Sauce and cook 5 min. Stir in flour and Old Bay and cook 1 more min.

Stir in 1/2 & 1/2, once mixed well, add broth. Bring to a bubble then add in hash-browns, corn & ham. Simmer about 15 min, lower heat a tad so it doesn't stick. Stir occasionally. Don't cover. It will be ready when it is a bit thicker than a broth, might coat a spoon. If it is too thick, add more broth! It's as easy as that!!!

Took about 30-40 min. Fed about 4.

Also served with Cheddar, Garlic, Dill Biscuits. I bought Garlic, Cheddar biscuits at the store, added milk like it said but also added dill. They are similar to Red Lobster and they are sure yummy! Just spray your cookie sheet, drop them down and bake!

Hope you enjoy!

My Creations

Well, for many years I have wanted to create my own cookbook. I have always had a passion for cooking. The best Creations are by mistakes or by just trying new things. I have always gone out to eat and I see many items on the menu but for whatever reason, you cannot mix & match. WHY NOT? If you have the ingredients then why can't I make up something that sounds good? So, I have been so used to experimenting with my cooking!

I must caution you, I don't cook with seafood because I don't like it. I don't try too many cheeses, I like the simple cheese and I take it to the next level with my own flavors. I love simple meals that come from the mind having a spark go off with a new thought of something to add to the meal!! When my husband eats my food and gets silent, I know it's a good one. When my 1 1/2 year old says "mmmmm....", I know it's good. When my husbands friends tell him that he is sooo lucky to have me as a wife because he gets my cooking all of the time, I know it's good.

One additional note: I DON'T BAKE. WHY? Hmmm...not sure, too many recipes to follow maybe. Why follow a recipe when you can just experiment? You should see my cookbooks, so many side notes with changes OR combine 1st 7 ingredients from page 39 with the last 4 from page 232. I hope you can follow my recipes (as they aren't much of a recipe). My hope is that those who think they cannot cook, CAN! Those who want to try something new but is too afraid to experiment, WILL!

I sure hope you enjoy my blog and share my blog with others to become followers. If nothing else, this is my own online cookbook. I will not disclose my exact ingredients all of the time and will come close to telling you measurements but it will never be the same as what I did, close but not the same. I have to keep some secrets to myself. TRUST one thing though: I will not ever steer you wrong.

Thanks for viewing and hope you get some happiness from these entries. ~Brianna~