White Bean & Meatball Soup

This soup was completely made up on the spot and inspired by our homemade potato sausage that I made into meatballs. I baked the meatballs in the oven and then threw them in the freezer to use later…

Pop this soup in the crock pot and you’ll have a hot bowl of soup before you know it!

8 cups water with bouillon (I use Better Than Bouillon) or beef stock

1/2 onion, chopped

1 can white beans, drained

1 1/2 pounds of precooked meatballs (fresh or frozen)

3-4 potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 stalks celery, sliced

salt and pepper

Cook on low 6-8 hours or on high 3-4 hours. About 15 minutes before serving, throw in about 1-2 cups of baby spinach.

Potato Sausage

I have to confess that while making and sampling all the sausages we made, this one was not my favorite. But that was before I made it into meatball soup! Yum!!! I’ll post that recipe tomorrow. First, here’s how to make the sausage…

If you need help with the basics of sausage making, check out this post HERE.

4 pounds ground beef

4 pounds ground pork

4 pounds potatoes, peeled, brought to a boil and drained

2 pounds onions, chopped

3/4 pound bacon pieces

5 Tablespoons salt

3 Tablespoons fresh cracked pepper

Run pork, beef, potatoes, onion and bacon through meat grinder. Combine all ingredients and mix well until fully incorporated.

Chill immediately. Cook a small bit to check taste. Add more spices or more meat according to your taste. Know that they flavor will alter some after a few days.

Use within a day or two or freeze for longer storage.

Cranberry Fruit Gels

This is the latest chapter in my candy making obsession… I mostly just think about making candy but since I have perfected my fudge and caramels, I am now turning my attention to gumdrops. I wouldn’t called these gumdrops exactly, but they are pretty tasty! Next time I’m gonna try more fruit juice and then experiment with different flavors…

Mix in small bowl:

4 envelopes of unflavored gelatin

2 ounces cranberry juice concentrate, thawed

3 ounces cold water

Let this stand while you boil your syrup. This will get very thick! Don’t worry, it will be just fine!

Bring to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat:

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup water

Bring to a boil. Lower heat and let simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat and add thickened juice mixture. Don’t worry about the chunks, they’ll melt as you stir them into the hot syrup.

Pour them into a pan lined with foil and sprayed with non-stick baking spray.

Chill in fridge at least overnight. The longer they chill the better!

I didn’t get any pictures of this part. :o(

Lay a piece of parchment paper on the counter. Sprinkle liberally with sugar. Peel the gelled candy off the foil and onto the sugared paper. Sprinkle the top with sugar, too.

Now cut out your candies with a knife, small cookie cutter or pizza cutter into desired size and shapes.

Sprinkle them with sugar on all sides to prevent sticking.

Place back in fridge.

Chill them up to 2-3 days more before serving.

Peppermint Marshmallow Hearts

What’s better than a fluffy homemade marshmallow??? A tiny pink heart-shaped peppermint homemade marshmallow dipped in dark chocolate!

Combine in stand mixer bowl:

3 packets of unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

1 1/2 tsp vanilla or other extract of your choice

It gets thick immediately

Combine in medium saucepan:

2 cups white sugar

3/4 cup boiling water

1/8 tsp salt

Cook on medium high heat until candy thermometer reads 236. Stir occasionally. (It took about 10 minutes) Add 3 drops of red food coloring.

Remove saucepan from heat and pour into gelatin mixture in mixer bowl.

Beat with whisk attachment on medium high speed until the consistency of thick marshmallow cream. It should form peaks in bowl. (It took me about 15 minutes) Start mixer slowly after adding sugar syrup. It’s HOT and you don’t want it to splash!

Pour into a well-greased and powdered-sugared baking dish.

Let sit in fridge or at room temperature until set.

Remove from pan and cut into heart shapes with small cookie cutter.

Dust well with more sifted powdered sugar until no longer sticky. (It takes quite a bit of powdered sugar)

Shake off excess sugar and store in air tight container.

Make a chocolate dip by melting 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 Tablespoon shortening in the microwave for 60-90 seconds.

Dip or drizzle marshmallows into the chocolate. Or just enjoy them plain in a cup of hot cocoa!

Beef N Mushroom Shepherd’s Pie

This is my idea of convenience food! Mostly thanks to instant mashed potatoes! The baby red roasted garlic & parmesan ones are perfect for this recipe and all ready to go in about 8 minutes!

Having already browned hamburger frozen in the freezer makes it even faster and easier!

1 pound ground beef, browned

1/2 onion, chopped

4-6 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

salt and pepper, to taste

2 packets of instant mashed potatoes, prepared

http://www.idahoan.com

After the beef is cooked add the onion, garlic and mushrooms. Sauté just until they are tender. Add seasonings.

Pour the beef mixture into a greased glass baking dish.

Spread with mashed potatoes.

Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes. Super fast and super easy dinner!