Soup? Or a Cheeseburger? YES!

I have this strange quirk about me. You see, I love to make soup. It’s probably one of my most favorite things to cook. I love to chock my soups full of veggies and deep flavors. There’s only one problem.

I don’t really like soup. I endure soup, but it’s never really a culinary event for me. Know what I mean?

I know, I know. Quirky. What this phenomenon has done, though, is set me on a quest to find soups I really do like! So be prepared, there will most likely be a lot of soup recipes on this blog in the future. The ones already posted… Broccoli Cheese, Creamy Cauliflower… they are probably the top two out of three soups I like. What’s the third, you ask?

After covering the veggie-based soups, I wanted to find something really different. Not your everyday chicken noodle or even the beloved Italian Wedding Soup. Thus, I give you… Cheeseburger Soup.

This is one hearty soup. Save this recipe for a cold winter’s night when you’ve been out all day and are chilled to the core. This soup will thaw you right out. It begins deep within, slowly warming your chill. Don’t eat this at the table, though. Grab a bowl, spoon, blanket and your favorite movie and feast on it whilst curled up on the couch.

Now, you see? That, my friend, is a culinary event worth having.

Gluten Free Cheeseburger Soup

1 Tbsp butter

½ lb ground beef

¾ cup chopped onion

¾ cup shredded carrots

¾ cup chopped celery

3 cups chicken stock

4 cups cubed potatoes

¼ cup cornstarch

2 cups cubed cheddar cheese

1 ½ cups low-fat milk, divided

¼ cup light sour cream

2-3 tsp yellow mustard

1 Tbsp ketchup

In a large soup pot, melt 1 Tbsp butter over medium heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned. Add onion, carrots and celery and cook until slightly tender.

Add the chicken stock and potatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are tender, 10-12 minutes.

Add 1 ¼ cups of milk, bring almost to a boil, stirring occasionally. In a small bowl, mix together remaining ¼ cup milk and the cornstarch. Add to the soup and stir until it becomes thickened. Lower heat and add cheese, mustard and ketchup (when cheese is almost completely incorporated, taste test to see if more mustard and/or ketchup is needed). When the cheese is melted, add the sour cream and heat through, but do not return to a boil. Serve immediately or refrigerate and reheat at a later time.

Serves 8.

Fuhgetaboutit!

There are certain things in my house that give me great joy… mostly because I can “set it and forget it”.

First, the dishwasher. I can remember, in one of our pre-kids apartments, mentioning to Tim that the sound of a dishwasher running in the evening was so relaxing, mostly because it was the sound of dishes being cleaned… without me doing them.

Second, the washer and dryer. When shopping, I purposely avoid buying any article of clothing with the wretched words “hand wash only” or “lay flat to dry” on the tag. I mean, really. The majority of women purchasing the clothing are most likely working full-time in the working world or working full-time in the home… or a happily retired lady who is way too busy with her social schedule. Either way, who has time to hand wash clothing? Any way you look at it, the washer and dryer are lovely things. You pop in your dirty stuff and an hour or so later you have clean, fresh clothing, towels and sheets!

Third, the slow cooker. Seriously now. 15 minutes or so of work in the morning and – voila! – a scrumptious, warm dinner waiting for you. One pot, no sweating over the stove or watching the oven to make sure you don’t burn dinner to a blackened crisp.

I usually utilize the slow cooker on those days when I know that dinner won’t even cross my mind until, at the earliest, Tim is walking in the door. Yesterday, I kept thinking about making a stew only to realize at 4:30pm that this particular recipe was an all-day slow cooker meal.

Note to self: CHECK THE RECIPE. EARLY.

So because of my goof, tonight’s dinner was Slow Cooker Beef Stew. Sure, it wasn’t one of those crazy days. Both Tim and I were home all day… but there was still great satisfaction in knowing that dinner was percolating away and I wasn’t doing a darn thing. At least not having to do with dinner.

Gluten Free Slow Cooker Beef Stew

1 ½ to 2 lbs cubed stew meat

¼ cup rice flour

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1 bay leaf

2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

4 medium red potatoes, cubed

2 stalks celery, thinly sliced

1 onion, chopped

2 cups beef stock

Place the stew meat in the bottom of the slow cooker. Sprinkle the rice flour, salt and pepper and toss to coat the meat. Add the bay leaf, carrots, celery, potatoes and onion. Toss everything completely. Pour beef stock over everything. Set slow cooker to low and cook for 8 hours. Remove bay leaf and serve. Serves 8.

Sacrificial Love

If someone were to ask me to name foods I can live without… the top three on my list are probably the top three on my husband’s “Foods I Love” list. Steak, mushrooms, seafood. I can eat steak and sometimes I even enjoy it, but I have never craved it. Mushrooms, if mixed in with other things are virtually undetectable and therefore edible. Slap a large portabella mushroom on my plate, though, and it’s just not going to make it into this girl’s mouth. No matter how much I will myself to do it, it’s just not going in.

Seafood, however, will never cross my lips. It’s completely and utterly a psychological issue. They are creepy, crawly ugly things. We shove them in boiling water, toss them on a plate, crack open their exoskeleton and eat what’s inside. Personally, that makes my stomach turn. Repeatedly.

My husband, though, loves it. He practically trembles when we vacation in Chincoteague, VA because it means soft shell crab is on his menu at some point during the trip. I have ventured into the seafood realm far enough to make him some Balsamic Glazed Salmon… and even Shrimp Fra Diavolo for his birthday… but I must confess that I was slightly gagging while making both. (Which, in my mind, is just a testament to how much I love my husband. Right?)

Once in a while I’ll have a tender moment in Wegman’s Market when I feel sorry for my husband who has a wife who doesn’t cook some of his favorite foods. So I’ll grab some mushrooms and steak. This past weekend’s trip to the grocery store included one of those tender moments.

Hence, tonight’s dinner of Steak Stroganoff.

The beauty of this recipe is that it actually is two recipes in one. If you omit the very last ingredient (cream cheese) you have a lovely, slightly thickened mushroom gravy to pour over a perfectly grilled steak. Add the cream cheese and you have Steak Stroganoff!

My hubby thoroughly enjoyed his steak and mushrooms tonight. Do you think the fact that he isn’t sure when – or if - he’ll get this meal from his wife again may have made it even tastier for him? (Poor guy.)

Sacrificial love on both sides, isn’t it? He sacrifices some of his favorites for me… I sacrifice a settled stomach to cook things for him. *wink*

PS – I can’t conclude this post without telling you a scary truth: I really liked this meal. It was creamy and gentle and the steak was yummy. DON’T TELL MY HUSBAND.

Gluten Free Steak Stroganoff

1 (1 lb) flank steak

1 tsp oil

1 ½ Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp canola oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 lb baby portabella mushrooms, sliced

2 bay leaves

¼ tsp dried thyme, slightly crushed

1 ¼ cups chicken broth or stock

1 tsp cornstarch

¼ cup water (or chicken stock)

4 oz cream cheese

In a large skillet, heat the ½ Tbsp butter and oil on medium-high heat. Cook the steak for 2 minutes on each side until browned. Remove steak, place on a plate and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.

Lower the stove temperature to medium and add the remaining butter to the same skillet. Add onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, bay leaves and thyme and cook for 10 minutes. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Simmer on lower heat for 5 minutes.

In a small cup or bowl, stir together the cornstarch and water (or broth). Add to the mushroom mixture in the skillet and turn heat up to medium. Heat until the liquid thickens.

STOP HERE FOR MUSHROOM GRAVY… continue on for stroganoff.

Add the cream cheese, stirring until it melts. Discard the bay leaves.

Cut the flank steak across the grain into thin slices. Add the slices into the skillet and cook for 5-7 minutes until the meat cooks through.

Serve over gluten free buttered noodles or rice. Serves 4.

I Made a Complete Mess of Dinner

My hubby is so very laid-back, he’s happy with whatever I put on the table. I’m not kidding. If it’s been a crazy day and dinner just didn’t happen, he happily sits down and has a bowl of cereal. He will often give me the night off and whip up his specialty… breakfast for dinner.

There is one dinner, however, that my hubby will actually ask for, especially if we haven’t had it in the recent past. So when he asks, I deliver. I mean, how could I not? He endures cold cereal without even a cringe. The man deserves to have a request granted now and again.

The best part about his one main request is that it is embarrassingly easy. I don’t even bother with a recipe anymore. I just slap it together, bake it in the oven and dinner is on the table.

You’ll thank me for this one. It’s great for anything from a quick dinner to your next Super Bowl Party and get this… the leftovers are amazing!

Say hello to Mexican Mess. I just know you’ll be good friends.

Mexican Mess

1 bag tortilla chips

1 pound ground beef

1 packet taco seasoning (I use Ortega)

1 15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 jar taco sauce (or enchilada sauce, if you are into spicy stuff)

1-2 cups of cheddar or colby jack cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare the ground beef and taco seasoning as directed on the seasoning packet. Add the black beans in the last few minutes of cooking to heat through.

Crush handfuls of tortilla chips into bite-size pieces and cover the bottom of a 9x13 pan with them. As much or as little as you like! Spread ground beef mixture over chips.

Pour about ½ of the taco sauce (less or more, if you choose) over the ground beef.

Sprinkle shredded cheese over the taco sauce.

Crush handfuls of tortilla chips again and cover the cheese with them. Again, as much or as little as you like!

Bake for 25 minutes. Serve with salsa and sour cream.