Butternut Squash Soup

I know, I know, squash is one of those scary tasting vegetables, but this soup is really good.  It uses basic ingredients, and is a tasty was to use up some of Mom and Dad's plethora of butternut squash  : P

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped (optional, but you can't even taste it)
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 or 3 potatoes, cubed (use more if they're the small kind)
• 1 medium butternut squash - peeled, seeded, and cubed (stab it with a fork and bake it in the oven before you peel it)
• 4 cups chicken stock or broth
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (red pepper if you like the heat)
• sour cream

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large pot, and cook the onion, celery, carrot, potatoes, and squash 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Pour in enough of the chicken stock to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 40 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender.
2. Transfer the soup to a blender, and blend until smooth. Return to pot, and mix in any remaining stock and sour cream to attain desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper, basil, garlic etc.

Beef and Veggie Stew

Its getting colder, and i had a bunch of stewing beef to use, so i made this beef and veggie soup.  It takes a little while to make, but not as long as most soups.  You could also make this one pretty easily in a slow cooker.

Servings: 12
Prep time: 2-3 hours

Ingredients

• 3 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/3 cup Italian salad dressing
• 2 cups water
• 2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed beef broth, undiluted (i just added more bullion and water)
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 2 or 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon basil
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 6 medium potatoes, quartered
• 6 medium carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch pieces (you could use any kind of pepper really)
• mushrooms, celery, etc
• red pepper, curry (if you want to spice it up a bit)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (or cornstarch)
• 3 tablespoons cold water

Directions

1. In a Dutch oven, brown meat in salad dressing over medium heat. Add the next 10 ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1-1/2 hours or until meat is tender.  Skim the fat off that boils to the top. Add the potatoes, carrots, green pepper, onion, mushrooms and spices. 
2. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Combine flour and cold water until smooth; stir into stew. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Discard bay leaf before serving.

pictures with the new camera, and a spicy tomato chicken soup

i took these pictures with the camera dad gave me.  thanks dad!

the mustard monster. complete with spices

the two front burners died, so i took them out and covered them in foil

this is the spicy stuff. yum  :)

Apartment Hunting!

 and one night for dinner, i decided i needed to use some canned tomatoes. thats how this meal started

a few tasty ingredients to give it some zip. the dijon and ketchup go well together 

creole seasoning is amazing if you like spicy and salty foods

spicy ground pepper and basil pesto

Well seasoned grub

i think this has chicken in it too

mmm

this shot makes me hungry. i can see the johnnys garlic in the top left...yum

pandora. a great way to find good music, and nice when cooking as well  :)

My frisbee golf discs! The beast and valkrie are new, and mom and krista gave me the blue, red, and middle white disc

frolf!

deliciousness--johnnys garlic, basil, the spicy stuff, alfredo cheese, montreal chicken