Sausage, Potatoes, & Green Beans

EASIEST. MEAL. EVER!

This is my go-to meal on busy weekdays.  Simply throw some canned green beans (mine were from my parents' garden), diced up potatoes (no need for peeling), and some sliced smoked sausage or polska keilbasa into your crock pot, add a couple cups of water and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  No need for extra seasoning because the sausage gives the green beans and potatoes tons of flavor. Even my kids love this one!

 

Life At The Bakery...

My food blog has taken the back burner these last couple of months and I do apologize for that. As we all know, sometimes life gets a bit crazy. Things have been super busy around here so I promise to post as often as I can.

Here's a peak at a few of my favorite cakes I made this week at work.

Ruffle Cake...



300 Cupcakes for U of M...



2 Tier Kit Kat and M&M Cake...



 Have a wonderful week!

Frozen Peanut Butter Turtle Pie

I always try to make a yummy dessert when having out of town visiters.  This time I needed something to make ahead of time so I tried this recipe from Kraft. Can't go wrong with a frozen peanut butter pie! It was pretty amazing and I even made my own caramel sauce for it instead of buying the pre-made caramel ice cream topping from the grocery store. I've been nibbling on the leftovers all week and sadly, it's all gone.  I need some more guests so I'll have another excuse to make some dessert! :)



Frozen Peanut Butter Turtle Pie
Source: Kraftfoods.com

1 tub (8 oz.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese Spread
1/3 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 c. sugar
2 c. thawed Cool Whip
1/4 c. caramel ice cream topping
1 Oreo Pie Crust
1/4 c. coarsely chopped Planters Pecans, toasted
2 squares, Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Beat cream cheese spread, peanut butter, and sugar in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add Cool Whip; mix well.

Spread caramel topping onto bottom of crust; cover with cream cheese mixture. Freeze 4 hours.

Top with nuts just before serving. Melt chocolate as directed on package; drizzle over pie.

Our Heaviest CSA Veggie Box Yet!

Look at today's CSA box of veggies that we got today! My mouth is watering just looking at it!

We got purple basil, purple royalty beans (that turn green when you cook them) a black beauty eggplant, 6 ears of bicolor sweet corn, watermelon, heirloom tomatoes, peppers, squash, and some of the biggest sweet potatoes I've ever seen! I can't wait to dig in and get creative!

Beef Stroganoff Soup

Only one more week until school starts here in Michigan! My kindergartener is super excited to get started, ride the bus and meet all of his new classmates!

Fall is just around the corner so I have a delicious soup recipe for you today.  The recipe says you can leave this as a runny, broth soup or you can add some cornstarch to thicken it up a bit.  I like my soups on the thicker side, so I took the extra couple of minutes to thicken it up a bit.  It turned out great! The beef was oh so tender and just full of flavor!

Beef Stroganoff Soup

Source: For The Love Of Cooking

Yield: 6

Prep Time: 10 min.

Cook Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 20 min.

INGREDIENTS:

3 t. olive oil
3/4 lb. of lean chuck, cut into small bite sized cubes
1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
8 oz. button mushrooms, sliced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
3 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
6 c. beef broth
1 T. Dijon mustard
1-2 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
2 c. egg noodles
2-3 T. corn starch + 1/4 cup of beef broth (if thicker soup is desired)
3 T. sour cream
Chives, chopped, for garnish

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the beef and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until browned. Add the onion and mushrooms then cook, stirring often, for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme then season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste; cook stirring constantly for 1 minute. Add the beef broth, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and bay leaf to the Dutch oven then stir until well combined. Cover with a lid and simmer for 2-3 hours.

Turn the heat up to medium then add the noodles and cook for 10 minutes or until the noodles are cooked through. If you would like a thicker soup mix 2-3 tablespoons of cornstarch with a bit of beef broth then add to the boiling soup and stir well until thick. Remove from the heat and let sit for a minute or two to cool down. Add the sour cream and stir until well combined. taste the soup and re-season with sea salt, freshly cracked pepper, Dijon, or Worcestershire sauce if needed. Serve immediately. Enjoy.

Busy At Work...

Things have been busy at work and I've had a lot of fun decorating cakes lately! Thought I'd take a minute to show you a few that I made the past couple of weeks. Decorating cakes never gets boring because each one is always different from the next!

Caprese Salad

Caprese salad is a favorite of mine! When we got a pile of tomatoes and a big bunch of basil in our farm share box, I immediately thought of this salad!  I live really close to Zingerman's Creamery which just so happens to make fresh mozzarella cheese daily!  It doesn't get any more fresh than that! Freshly picked tomatoes and basil plus fresh mozzarella = one amazing caprese salad. I've made this several times this summer!


Caprese Salad
Wash and tear basil leaves and toss with fresh chopped tomatoes and chunks of mozzarella
cheese. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine.