Slow Cooker Italian Sausage and Vegetable Soup

 

Wintertime is here!  It seems like the entire country is in a deep freeze this week.  Today was the day to bring out the slow cooker and make a big pot of soup.

This version was the result of having a well stocked freezer, fridge, and pantry.  Months ago, I had made a batch of chicken stock and today was the day it left the freezer.  I put the two quarts to "melt" in the slow cooker.  Of course, if you don't have homemade stock, store bought is perfectly fine.  I would suggest you choose a low sodium brand.

The surprise ingredient?  A 28 ounce jar of Prego Traditional Pasta Sauce.  If you don't have a large can of crushed tomatoes in your pantry, you just might have a jar of pasta sauce, right?  Of course, by using a jar of pasta sauce, all your seasonings are right there in the sauce.

Here are the ingredients:

2 quarts low-sodium chicken stock

1 - 28 oz. jar of our favorite pasta sauce

1 - 16 oz. package of mild Italian Sausage (casings removed)

2 cups chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups chopped cabbage

2 cups fresh green beans, cut into bite sized pieces

3 small carrots, peeled and sliced into 1/4" pieces

1 - 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 - 14.5 oz. navy beans, rinsed and drained

1 - 14.5 oz. dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 - 14.5 oz. light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 - 2 t. dried Italian seasoning

2 cups (packed) baby spinach

red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese for garnish

Set the slow cooker to high and add chicken stock and pasta sauce.

While that begins to heat, brown the sausage in a large skillet, over medium high, breaking apart with a wooden spoon.  When the sausage has cooked through, drain the fat and discard.

Add the sausage and the next 10 ingredients.  Stir well to get everything combined.

Place the lid on the slow cooker and let cook on high 2 - 3 hours.  

Stir in the baby spinach and set temperature to low and let cook another hour or so.  Taste and adjust seasonings by adding a little salt and pepper if you desire.

Ladle into bowls and serve with garlic bread.  Top with red pepper flakes and shredded parmesan cheese.  

Come Into My Kitchen: where food is made and people are cared for

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A New Project for Me

I've decided to branch out a bit from my blogging and social media.  

I'll be sharing more in depth writing with more memories and stories (with a few recipes thrown in) to dive deeper if you will.

Here's the link to my page and I'd really appreciate it if you would go read my Welcome post and, if it speaks to you in some way, click on the subscribe button.

I hope you enjoy!

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Tuscan Tuna and Cannellini Bean Salad

 

After the excess of the holidays, I'm leaning toward more simple and healthy meals.  I spent a few hours in the kitchen a few days ago playing with different recipe ideas and mixing and matching flavors as I went.

One of the results is this delicious, protein packed tuna and cannellini bean salad.  I've been enjoying this as a snack or as a lunch with a few Wheat Thins.  This batch made 4 cups.  Just enough for a few days lunches or snacks.

When I make this again during the summer, I will definitely add fresh basil and oregano from my herb garden.  

2 (5 oz.) cans StarKist chunk light tuna in water (drained)

1 (14.5 oz.) can Cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

2 t. capers

1/2 t. minced garlic

1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup diced English cucumber

1/3 cup diced red onion

1/4 t. dried Italian seasoning

1/2 cup cooked orzo

1/4 cup Skinny Girl Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing (or your favorite balsamic salad dressing)

salt and pepper to taste

Combine first nine ingredients in a medium bowl.  Pour balsamic vinaigrette over salad ingredients and stir to thoroughly combine.  

Add salt and pepper to taste.  You can add dried red pepper flakes if you'd like a little zip!

Serrano Lime Eggs

I kept seeing these viral videos for Serrano Lime Eggs.  I was intrigued so I decided I'd whip up a batch and see for myself.  

I was so delighted with the result!  These are yummy to have as a snack, as a side dish with roasted meats, or to serve as an appetizer for a taco, tamale, or enchilada meal.

They're super easy to make and you can prep the onion and pepper while the eggs are cooking.

You can make 1 egg or 3 dozen!  Just add onions and peppers to balance out in relation to how many eggs you boil.

You can definitely add chopped cilantro and if I had some without a trip to the grocery store, you can be sure I would have.

Boil the eggs for 8 - 10 minutes and place in an ice bath for about 5 minutes. Peel and cut in half lengthwise.  Leave yolks in the whites.

Place the egg halves in a shallow dish or plate.

While the eggs are boiling, thinly (very thinly!) slice the red onion, serrano pepper (remove seeds if you want less heat), and chop the cilantro.

Cover the egg halves with the onion, peppers, and cilantro (if using) and squeeze a lime over the top of the eggs.  If you have prepared more than 3 eggs, I'd add more lime juice.  Add salt and pepper or, do like I did, and use lemon pepper!

Cover and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes before serving to let all the flavors meld.

Around Lolly's Sideboard: Waffle House Christmas

We love to enjoy breakfasts at Waffle House!  Did you know that each year that they have special Christmas mugs for sale?  You better grab them around the end of November because they go fast!

When I unpacked my Christmas mugs this year and saw the few sets I've been able to acquire, I decided a Waffle House Christmas sideboard would be perfect.

Did you know that you can order authentic Waffle House merchandise by clicking on this LINK?

I was thrilled to realize that we could have true Waffle House waffles, syrup, grits, hashbrowns, and coffee right here in our kitchen.  We will be doing exactly that on Christmas morning!

Check out the mugs that we have been able to purchase the last few years.

The coffee is in convenient K-cup pods!

I used my white Fiestaware plates to mimic the Waffle House style plates.

And they also serve eggs (prepared your way or as omelets) so I included a bowl of eggs waiting their turn to be whisked into something delicious.

I love grits especially cheese grits!  How do you enjoy yours:  with salt and pepper, or cheese, or topped with butter and sugar?

Oh those hashbrowns!  Scattered, chunked, topped, diced, peppered, capped, and countried (gravy).  How do you order yours?

Yes, I was able to acquire a couple of menus that were about to be discarded due to excessive use.  I had to use them on this sideboard!

Now to the star of the show:  the waffles!

I've never been a fan of pancakes, but I absolutely adore a crispy, lightly browned waffle.  Waffle House waffles are my favorite along with their delicious syrup.

When my mama passed away in 2023, and I was cleaning out her household goods, I came across this Westinghouse waffle iron in the back of a cabinet.

Imagine my surprise and delight to find this note, written in my mama's handwriting, giving me the details.

My mother was born in 1930 and she obviously remembered her family beginning to use this very waffle iron around 1939!

We plugged it in and it began to heat immediately.  

What a treasure!

I made sure to have two of my mom's Santas on this sideboard as well.

I hope you've enjoyed this trip down memory lane with me and check back to see our Waffle House Christmas Breakfast!

Air Fryer Broccoli Casserole

As I made our late lunch today, I realized I had two small heads of fresh broccoli that needed to be used ASAP.  A quick check of the pantry provided a can of cream of mushroom soup, and the fridge had sour cream, mayo, an egg, and shredded sharp cheddar!  Let's make a casserole!

Lightly grease an 8 x 8 baking dish.  

Trim the fresh broccoli and separate the florets into bite-sized pieces.  I rinsed my broccoli florets and drained in a plastic colander and then zapped them in the microwave for a minute to start the cooking process.

In a medium mixing bowl, I combined one small can of cream of mushroom soup, 4 oz. sour cream, 1/4 cup of Duke's mayo, one large egg.  Add salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.  Fold in the broccoli.  (I had about 4 cups of broccoli.)  Stir in about 2  cups of shredded sharp cheddar.  

Spoon into the prepared baking dish.  

I already had potatoes baking in the air fryer, so I placed the baking dish on the tray and into the air fryer it went as well.

I baked at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes.  You can certainly use your conventional oven.

This made the perfect amount for our late lunch and we even had a little left over for another meal.  It was a great way to use what I had on hand for a great side dish.

Crawfish Dressing

 

For Thanksgiving, chicken and dressing is a must.  There's no other choice but for me to bake chicken and dressing for our table.  But this year, I thought I'd shake up the routine a bit and add a second dressing to the Thanksgiving menu.  Now I'll be perfectly honest with you here.  The general consensus of my diners was this:  "You can never NOT make chicken and dressing, but this crawfish dressing is delicious!"

Make sure you purchase wild caught crawfish from the Gulf Coast if possible.  We really can't be sure about foreign farm raised crawfish.  Pay the extra cost for wild caught, please.

1 T. extra-virgin olive oil

8 oz. Conecuh sausage (sliced lengthwise and then into 1/4" rounds)

4 T. unsalted butter, divided

1 large yellow onion, copped

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

2 ribs celery. chopped

3 - 4 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound frozen crawfish tails, thawed

4 t. Cajun seasoning

2 skillet of homemade buttermilk cornbread**

4-5 cups of low-sodium chicken broth 

2 green onions, chopped

1 - 2 t. poultry seasoning

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

freshly chopped parsley for garnish, if desired

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Lightly grease a 9 x 13 baking dish and set aside.

In a 10-inch nonstick or cast iron skillet, brown the smoked sausage in 1 T. of olive oil over medium heat.

Add 2 T. butter, onions, bell pepper, and celery to the same skillet and cook for 2 - 3 minutes until softened.  Add the crawfish, garlic and 2 t. of Cajun seasoning and cook for 2 - 3 minutes until crawfish are heated.

Transfer the cornbread to a large mixing bowl.

**Here's the link to my Buttermilk Cornbread recipe!

Add in the crawfish, sausage, vegetable mixture along with the remaining Cajun seasoning, green onions, poultry seasoning, salt and pepper and 3 cups of chicken broth to the cornbread.

Stir in the beaten eggs and then gently mix and add more broth until desired texture is reached.  The dressing should have the texture of thick oatmeal; wet, but not soupy.

Transfer the dressing to the prepared baking dish, smooth into an even layer and top with the remaining 2 T. of butter, sliced into thin slivers.

Bake the dressing, covered with foil, for 35 minutes.  Bake an additional 15 - 20 minutes uncovered until the center is no longer jiggly and edges are browned,  Garnish with fresh chopped parsley if desired.

Adapted from Pink Owl Kitchen

Betty's Green Bean Salad

My mom made this salad every year for Christmas. It was so popular that she began to make it for Thanksgiving as well. I've found the tartness of the dressing really helps cut through the richness of the other holiday dishes.  

I found her handwritten recipe and tweaked it slightly.  Instead of the sugar, I very successfully substituted Stevia and adjusted the white vinegar/vegetable oil ratio.  This is really an easy side dish that I'm sure your guests will love as much as our family does.

2 cans French style green beans, drained

1 can small English peas, drained

1 medium jar chopped pimento, drained

1 small bell pepper, diced

1 cup diced white or red onion

1 cup sugar or Stevia

1/1 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup Wesson vegetable oil

dash of salt and pepper

Mix first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar, vinegar, oil, salt, and pepper.  Pour over vegetables and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate at least 24 hours before serving. 

Turkey, Conecuh Sausage, and Vegetable Stew

We've enjoyed turkey sandwiches on rosemary bread this week.  There's just something about Thanksgiving leftovers that make me happy.

Today was a cold, drizzly, and gray day.  As I contemplated the remaining turkey, I knew this was a perfect day to stay indoors and continuing decorating the house for Christmas and start a big pot of stew.

I had saved the broth/stock from roasting the turkey by placing it in the freezer last Thursday.  You can use either turkey, chicken, or vegetable stock in your stew.

This recipe has a combination of fresh, canned, and frozen vegetables.  Read through the ingredients, check out your pantry, fridge, and freezer, and adapt the recipe to what you have on hand.

2 T. butter

2 T. olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 ribs celery, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced 

6 - 8 oz. Conecuh sausage, sliced lengthwise and sliced into 1/4" inch thickness

2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes with juice

1 (14.5 oz.) can navy beans, rinsed and drained

3 cups frozen or fresh okra

1 (10 oz.) bag frozen mixed vegetables

3 Russet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 T. dried Italian seasoning

2 bay leaves

4 cups diced cooked turkey

6 - 8 cups chicken, turkey OR vegetable stock

salt and pepper to taste

In a large Dutch oven (I used a 7 quart pot), heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat.

Saute onion and celery for 4 - 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add in garlic and sausage and cook, stirring frequently, until the sausage has browned.

Stir in next 9 ingredients and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer.

This is right as my stew begin to simmer.

I set the heat to the lowest setting and went on about my day.  Every 30 minutes or so, I'd give it a good stir, recover the pot, and check back later.

After a few hours, we were ready to eat.  Here's the stew ready to be ladled into bowls!  Taste and add salt and pepper if you'd like.  Make sure you remove those bay leaves before serving.

This was an excellent and delicious way to use up that leftover turkey.

Thanksgiving Sausage Balls

 

If I had kept count through the years, I would bet I have made 10,000 sausage balls!  I've been making them for over 35 years with breakfast sausage, cheddar cheese, and Bisquick.

But I've been seeing a new version on my social media feed lately.  How about substituting the Bisquick with a boxed stuffing mix?  Well, that got my attention!  You can choose any flavor you'd like, but I chose the cornbread variety.

Empty the stuffing mix into a large mixing bowl.  

Pour in 1 cup of boiling water and stir to combine.  Let it cool for a few minutes.

Next, using a large spoon or your (very!) clean hands, mix in the sausage and the shredded cheese.

Spray a rimmed baking sheet with non-stick spray.  Roll the mixture into 1-inch diameter balls and place on the baking sheet.  I had 40 sausage balls with this batch.

Place the baking sheet into the refrigerator for an hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake the sausage balls for 25-28 minutes until the internal temperature checks as 165 degrees F.

You can serve these little bites of Thanksgiving goodness with cranberry sauce or gravy to dip them.  I had some spiced cranberry jelly from Aldi left over from our Oktoberfest meal.  That made an amazing accompaniment! 

Ground Pork and Cilantro Lime Rice Stuffed Peppers

Through the years, I've made many variations of stuffed peppers.  I've used all sorts of fillings and many different types of peppers.  

Aldi had these gorgeous multi colored bell peppers and I immediately started mentally choosing the ingredients for the filling.

You can use whatever salsa and rice you prefer, but for this recipe these were my choices.

  

I always pre-cook the peppers for about 10-15 minutes before I add the filling.  This way, you're ahead of the game!  Slice the tops off the peppers and set aside.  You'll want to remove the seeds and the membranes from inside the peppers and discard.  Trim the stem from the top part you removed and dice the pepper that remains.  You'll use those bits of goodness in a few minutes.

So now that you have that instruction in your brain, let's go to the ingredients.

You'll need:

5 - 6 medium bell peppers prepped as stated above

Your favorite salsa

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 T. chopped garlic

3 T. taco sauce

2 - 3 T. fajita seasoning

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 pkg. Cilantro Lime rice, prepared according to package directions

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese

Garnish:  sliced green onions, cilantro, sour cream

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Spray a baking dish with olive oil spray.

Add 1/3 - 1/2 cup of salsa to the bottom of the prepared baking dish.  Fit the prepared bell peppers on top of the salsa.  You may need to slice a little off the bottoms of the peppers to get them to sit upright all nice and level.

Place into oven while you prep the pork filling and rice.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, begin to brown the ground pork while the rice cooks.

When the pork gets about halfway cooked, add the onions, the diced bell pepper, and the garlic.

Now stir in the taco sauce and the fajita seasoning.  Lower the heat to medium low.

Stir in the beans.

Your cilantro lime rice should be finished by this time.

And it gets stirred into the mixture at this point.  Turn heat to off.

Stir in one cup of the shredded cheese.

Carefully remove the peppers from the oven and divide the filling between the peppers.

Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Cover the baking dish foil (you may want to spray the foil with nonstick spray before covering the peppers so the cheese won't stick).

Bake for 25-30 minutes until the peppers pierce easily with a knife point.

Remove the foil during the last five minutes or so of cooking to brown the cheese.  You may want to turn on the broiler for a few minutes.

I topped ours with the thinly sliced green onions.  

For plating, add a few spoonsful of salsa on the plate.  Carefully place the pepper on top of the salsa.  Enjoy!