Mushroom barley soup throwdown!

I love soup. It is probably one of my favorite foodie things. I am probably one of the few people who crave soup on even a summer day. Even on the worst of days, a warm, hearty soup just makes the day better.

Some days when I'm out running errands I have my lunch at Whole Foods market. On this particular afternoon my brother met me for lunch and we decided to split a sandwich and some soup. The soup that caught both our eye was a mushroom barley. It looked hearty and healthy. I really enjoyed it. So when I got home I decided I had to duplicate that soup. I had some mushrooms on hand I wanted to use up so I started cooking. This is what I came up with. I love this soup and so did my meat loving husband.

If you love soup but are tired of the same ol' chicken noodle, give this a try.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1 cup of diced onion
• 3/4 cup diced carrot
• 1/4 cup diced celery
• 3 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 lb of sliced mushrooms
• 6 cups of beef broth
• 3/4 cup of pearl barley
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic; cook and stir until onions are tender and transparent. Stir in mushrooms and continue to cook for a few minutes. Pour in the beef broth and add barley. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer until barley is tender, about 50 minutes. Season with salt and pepper before serving.

Friday pizza creations

Usually by friday I am out of my leftovers from the dinners I made for the weeks, and by then I'm tired and want a quick easy dinner to make. I always have pillsbury pizza dough, pizza sauce and some kind of cheese on hand. From there I look in my pantry and fridge to see what type of pizza creation I can throw together. This friday was slim pickin's but I got an idea and it turned out well. This friday's pizza creation ended up being; pineapple, green chillies and basil pizza. I use Pillsbury dough because it is quick and easy. The two cheese I had in my fridge this week were Monterey Jack and Parmesan. This pizza was quite delicious, Bri and I even were even guilty of finishing the whole thing by ourselves. What pizza creation have you thrown together???

Hot and Sweet drumsticks

These were very easy and a crowd pleaser. Would be a great chicken dish to bring to your next summer picnic!

Ingredients

• 1 cup apricot preserves
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons of tabasco or another hot sauce
• 3 lbs drumsticks

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. In a small saucepan, combine preserves, ketchup, soy sauce, garlic and hot pepper sauce. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until preserves are melted.

   Arrange drumsticks in a single layer on a 13 x 9″ baking pan. Pour sauce over drumsticks, turning to coat. Bake, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes or until chicken is done, spooning sauce over drumsticks while baking. Serves 6.

   
   

Creamy Spaghetti Chicken Casserole

I found this recipe and I'm always looking for something to do with the Costco roasted chickens. I usually buy one every couple weeks and make two different recipes out of one chicken. This week I made chicken enchiladas and this Spaghetti Chicken. I do like casseroles because they stretch during a busy work week for my husband and I. I was pessimistic that my husband would enjoy this dish because he usually does not like stuff that is "creamy". Well I was quite wrong, he loved this dish and couldn't figure out the unusual ingredient he liked so much....It was the pimentos. So if you love casseroles, recipes to make with Costco chicken, or simple comfort food, give this dish a go.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Cooked Chicken
• 3 cups Dry Spaghetti, Broken Into Two Inch Pieces
• 2 cans Cream Of Mushroom Soup
• 2 cups Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• ¼ cups Finely Diced Red Pepper
• ¼ cups Finely Diced Onion
• 1 jar (4 Ounce) Diced Pimentos, Drained
• 2 cups Reserved Chicken Broth From Pot
• ⅛ teaspoons (to 1/4 Teaspoon) Cayenne Pepper
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 1 cup Additional Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Directions

Cook 1 cut up roast chicken and pick out the meat to make two cups. Cook spaghetti until al dente. Do not overcook. When spaghetti is cooked, combine with remaining ingredients except additional 1 cup sharp cheddar.

Place mixture in casserole pan and top with remaining sharp cheddar. Cover and freeze up to six months, cover and refrigerate up to two days, or bake immediately: 350 degrees for 45 minutes until bubbly. (If the cheese on top starts to get too cooked, cover with foil).

2nd chance dinner with pork tenderloin

The day after we made the pork tenderloin was the Academy awards. It is a tradition with my mom to watch it and have yummy food. I thought of making little sandwiches with the leftover pork on my way to the gym that morning. I bought little potato rolls, made caramelized onions, thinly sliced the leftover pork and put a little apricot marmalade on the roll. My mom, husband and me all loved this little sandwich. I will surely make these again, and they would be great for a party!

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Apricot Marmalade glaze

We bought some pork tenderloins from Costco the other night for our weekly saturday dinner. I hadn't planned on that so I had to find a recipe using the ingredients I already had in the pantry. I found this and thought it sounded good. It was originally with orange marmalade but I had apricot and pork really tastes good with any fruit so I thought I'd give it a try. It was really good and I did a second chance recipe the next night, which were little sandwiches.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup of soy sauce
• 1/3 cup apricot marmalade
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of rice wine vinegar
• Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 lb pork tenderloin
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, bring the soy sauce, marmalade, honey, rice wine vinegar, and red pepper flakes to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the flame and let cool to room temperature. Distribute the glaze evenly in 2 bowls. Marinate the tenderloin roast for a min of 1 hour in the glaze.

2. Heat the grill to 350°F or medium. Put on the tenderloin. Grill 8 minutes on one side (check at 6 minutes), depending on size of pork loin. Then flip it, baste it. Grill another 6-10 minutes. Start checking with a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat, at about 6 minutes on the second side. Cook until internal temperature reaches 140°F. Remove from heat.

3 If you have let the temp get above 140°F, you may need to slice the pork immediately or the meat will continue to cook as it rests and become overcooked. If you have taken it out in time, let the pork rest 10 minutes. Thinly slice, sprinkle with the remaining glaze and scallions.

Serve with rice.