The winners, courtesy of random.org, of the $125 Amex gift card giveaway are:
Congratulations ladies, I’ll be emailing you soon.
And stay tuned to find out the winning town of Kraft’s Single Best Town contest.
We were teased by some Spring-like weather last week only to be shocked back into 40 degree days this week. And although I definitely prefer 40 degrees over 10 degrees, it still feels cold! I’m using that to my advantage though to squeeze in a few more soup nights around our house. With Michigan’s track record, we should have at least a few more soup nights in our very near future.
As much as I love soup, I just don’t make it all that much in warmer weather. Who wants a bowl of steamy soup on a steamy hot day? (Well, I probably would, but my family wouldn’t hear of it.)
Ground Beef & Barley Soup
1. In a large sauce pan or stock pot, heat olive oil. Add onion, carrots and garlic. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 3-5 minutes, until onions are translucent. Stir in barley and potatoes.
2. Pour in the beef stock and canned tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer until potatoes and barley are tender, about 30 minutes.
3. Add the peas and cooked ground beef to the pot. Season with Italian seasoning and additional salt and pepper, if desired. Simmer an additional 5-10 minutes and serve.
So what about you – do you serve soup all year round or just in the fall and winter?
Things have been pretty status-quo in the kitchen so far this week. We’ve been enjoying the bacon waffles and muffins for breakfasts. Lunches have been equally simple with leftovers or salads. Maybe Jen or Toni have more going on for you to read about.
I mentioned last week that I spent a good portion of a Sunday working on a new idea. It needed a little tweaking before meeting the oh-so-high standards of this family. But, I’m not complaining. I’m actually glad they have high standards. It gives me more confidence when I post my recipes.
This recipe is one that I’m so excited about. I’ve been concocting it in my head for a long time and finally decided to just go for it. The overall concept was inspired by a similar boxed frozen breakfast product. And trust me, if you like those, you will LOVE these.
To be fair though, I should warn you they are quite a bit of work to put together. But I got over 2 dozen with this recipe, so there are plenty for future breakfasts. I also think the process will get much quicker with practice.
Handheld Breakfast Pies
For the pie crust:
1. Combine flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Place in the freezer for about 10 minutes.
2. Cut butter into small chunks and add to flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture comes together in about pea-sized clumps. (I’ve learned that the trick to flaky pie crust is to leave the butter pieces bigger rather than smaller.) Slowly add just as much ice cold water as needed until the dough is smooth.
3. Place in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes before rolling out.
For the filling:
1. Melt butter in a large skillet. In a bowl, whisk together eggs and 1/4 c. milk. Pour into skillet, season with salt and pepper to taste and cook until scrambled. Remove to a large bowl with a slotted spoon.
2. Cook sausage in the same skillet until done. Add to the eggs, using a slotted spoon.
3. Stir flour into drippings in skillet and cook 2 minutes. Whisk in milk, bring to a slow boil and simmer until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and add cheese and seasonings. Stir until melted. Pour into eggs and sausage and stir to combine. Let cool.
To assemble:
1. Working with a small section of pie crust dough at a time, roll out on a floured surface. Using a glass or biscuit cutter, cut dough into circles. Spoon some of the filling into the center of half the circles. Cover each circle with another circle of dough and seal the edges with a fork.
2. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.
To freeze, cool completely and then flash freeze on cookie sheets for about an hour. Transfer to plastic freezer bags.
These reheat best in the oven, but the microwave will work in a pinch.
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