Mashed Potato Waffles

After 2 years without a waffle iron, I got a new one for Christmas.  I love making waffles (and my son loves eating them), so I was happy to get a new waffle iron.  I came across this recipe a few weeks ago when I was looking for another recipe in a potato cookbook I've had for about 10 years.  I made mashed potatoes for dinner the other night and saved a few for these waffles.  It's going to be hard not to do this with leftover mashed potatoes every time I have them now.  These waffles were so good!  They had the right balance of flour and mashed potatoes and the batter was really easy to work with. The buttermilk made the waffles nice and fluffy.  Since the waffles were savory, I didn't want maple syrup on them.  Potato pancakes in restaurants are usually served with applesauce and sour cream. I wasn't in a sour cream mood this morning, and applesauce sounded a little plain, so I used apple butter on half of the waffle (just butter on the other half).  The apple butter went really well with the waffle...but they were good with just butter, too!

Mashed Potato Waffles

from Beyond Burlap

yield: just over 4 cups of batter (in my waffle maker, that's 4 waffles)

1 1/2 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used grapeseed)

1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

3 eggs, lightly beaten

8 slices bacon, crisp-fried, crumbled

3 green onions, finely chopped

1) Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and mix well.

2) Blend the oil into the potatoes in a medium bowl. Add the buttermilk gradually. Add the eggs, beating until fairly smooth.  I used a stick blender for everything in this step.

3) Stir the bacon and green onions into the flour mixture. Add the potato mixture and mix well.

4) Lightly oil a preheated waffle iron. Pour in enough batter for 1 batch. Spread with a spatula (don't skip this step) and close waffle iron. 

5) Cook until the waffle iron opens easily and the waffles are crisp, which was about 4 minutes in my waffle iron. 

6) Top with butter, apple sauce, sour cream, or apple butter. 

Tortilla Soup

My mom and I came across this recipe when I was 12 or 13.  She has a cookbook called "Creme de Colorado," that had a recipe for Chili Verde in it. I made the Chili Verde for a chili cook-off at church and noticed the recipe next to it, called Sopa de Tortilla. My mom and I thought it looked like a great recipe and decided to make it for Christmas Eve.  We all loved it and it turned into our Christmas Eve tradition.  With the exception of a few years when I've been on the road for Christmas Eve, I've made this soup every year. My husband always looks forward to it.  His favorite part is when I roast the poblano pepper.  He loves the smell! I've made a few changes to the recipe over the years and have started making it in a crock pot.  The first time I made this for my in-laws, I also made some black beans.  My father in law ended up putting the beans in his soup, so now we add a can of beans to the soup.  One year, I had a ton of bell peppers, so I diced one and put it in the soup...now an extra bell pepper is a must. I make my soup pretty mild because of the kids. If you like spicier things, go ahead and make it with the full amount of chili powder and poblano (or even jalapeno). I set out extra roasted poblano peppers so people can add some spice if they need it.
I usually go ahead and toast the corn tortilla strips...but this year there was just too much to do. I ended up buying some salad toppers that were multi-colored tortilla strips. They work just fine in a pinch.

For the Kids: Some of the broth with alphabet pasta

Merry Christmas!!

Tortilla Soup
Adapted from Creme de Colorado
makes 6 - 8 servings

1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups beef broth
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup tomato juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 to 1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1 poblano pepper, roasted, seeded and diced (I only use 1/2 in the soup)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups cooked chicken, cubed or shredded
4 corn tortillas, cut into 1/2-inch strips
Soup toppers:  monterey jack cheese, diced tomato, avocado, green onions, additional hot peppers, and black olives

1) In a large pot, saute onion, bell pepper and garlic in oil for about 5 minutes.
2) Add beef broth, chicken broth, tomato juice, cumin, chili powder, poblano pepper, salt, and worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered for 1 hour.
3) Add chicken and black beans and cook for 15 minutes longer.
4) Heat oven to 350. Place tortilla strips on a baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes.
5) To serve soup: place a few tortilla strips in the bottom of a bowl. Ladle soup on top. Top with desired toppings.

Crockpot instructions: Saute onion, bell pepper and garlic in a skillet. Combine with  beef broth, chicken broth, tomato juice, cumin, chili powder, poblano pepper, salt, and worcestershire sauce in a crock pot. Cook on low for 6 - 8 hours. Add chicken and beans for last 30 minutes.

Crockpot

Parmesan Schnitzel

There is a German restaurant in town that we love to go to. I occasionally get bratwurst when we go, but usually I end up with schnitzel. Since it isn't something I make very often, it's a fun treat to have when I go out.  A few weeks ago, pork cubed steaks were on sale.  I knew it would save me the work of pounding meat for schnitzel, so I bought some. I've made this recipe before with pork chops, but I think I like it better with the thin, pork cubed steaks. On the thicker cuts of pork, the parmesan cheese can burn, but this recipe left a nice, golden-brown crust on the pork. The only disadvantage to working with this cut of meat is that it is very, very tender, so it tends to fall apart during the breading process.  I served the schnitzel with oven roasted potatoes and applesauce (store bought). The meal was a huge hit with my husband and kiddos!

Parmesan Schnitzel
Adapted from Food Network

1 pound pork cubed steaks (or pork chops, pounded thin)
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup dried Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup panko
3/4 cups grated parmesan cheese (I used the already grated kind from the specialty cheese section)
salt and pepper
Oil, for frying (I used grapeseed)

1) Set out 3 shallow bowls for coating the pork. In the first bowl, place the parmesan cheese. In the second, the eggs, and in the third both the Italian and panko bread crumbs.
2) Heat enough oil in a large skillet to cover the bottom about 1/4 inch deep. Heat over medium heat for 5 minutes.
3) Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper on both sides.
4) Dip each pork chop in the coating in the following order: parmesan cheese, egg, and bread crumbs.
5) Fry for 3 - 5 minutes on each side. Drain excess oil from pork before serving.  

Beans, Beans...

My soil is getting a little tired after 3 years of constant gardening. I decided to rest one side of my garden this season and will be resting the other half in the spring.  I planted a few cabbages, greens, and broccoli, but since they take up so much room, I planted a lot less of those than I have the last 2 years. Between sales on seeds and the seed of the month club I joined, I had a ton of bean seeds.  This fall, we planted empress beans, pencil pod wax beans, royalty purple pod beans, and dragon tongue beans.  After getting off to a rough start with some really warm weather, followed by a ton of rain, then bugs, the beans are doing quite well. I had to apply neem a few times to get rid of the bugs, but they seem to have moved onto other plants. This year, I will finally have beans ready to be harvested on Thanksgiving! Since growing the beans has been a family affair this year, we're all pretty excited about the bean harvest.

Empress and Royalty Purple Pod Beans in my small garden

Royalty Purple Pod Beans (they turn green when cooked)

Empress Beans

Our first harvest

My son has an Earthbox.  He is growing 8 pencil pod wax bean plants and 8 dragon tongue bean plants. The dragon tongue beans are pole beans, so we added a few stakes to the center of the box. We've harvested a few pencil pod wax beans. The dragon tongue beans can be harvested as a snap bean or dry bean. We've decided to be patient and let them turn into dry beans. 

My son's Earthbox with 16 bean plants.

Pencil pod wax beans.

Dragon tongue beans

My Favorite Snack

I've been exercising quite a bit lately and have even added weights to my workout.  I wanted to find a good high-protein snack to have a few times a week.  This snack was inspired by several Facebook friends who recommended Greek yogurt with honey.  As a breakfast, this is very filling and works well after a workout since the potassium from the bananas helps keep away muscle cramps.  I was definitely afraid of plain Greek yogurt at first since I've been a flavored yogurt girl for as long as I can remember.  Once I added the honey and granola, I didn't notice a big difference from the vanilla. The recipe is pretty simple: 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt, 2 tablespoons granola, 1 teaspoon honey, and 1 sliced banana.  It's also really good with crunch peanut butter, banana, and honey!

Acorn Squash Soup

After quite a bit of debate (with myself), I decided to include chicken broth in my Meatless Monday recipes. Most of my soup recipes call for chicken broth and not all of them work well with vegetable broth.  I realized that if I already had the chicken bones sitting around in my freezer, it was keeping with the healthy/inexpensive/less wasteful theme of Meatless Monday.
My friend Kayla sent me this recipe.  I love getting recipes from friends...especially friends who are also busy moms! I made this as a lunch for my husband and I last week. We both loved it.  I didn't have any heavy cream in the house, so I used milk.  I think I'll use cream next time, just to make a thicker soup.  You could use any type of squash you wanted for this soup. I used golden acorn squash because it is easier to cut than butternut squash.
Hopefully I'll have more recipes to post this week.  Still getting used to blogging when I don't have both children napping at the same time!

Acorn Squash Soup
2 acorn or 1 butternut squash
Butter
2 cloves garlic
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1) Cut the squash into fourths, and scoop out the seeds. Place the squash in a microwaveable bowl and top the squash with butter.
2) Cook on high until squash is tender (it took about 8 minutes for my acorn squash). Scoop the squash out of the skin.
3) While squash is cooking, heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the whole garlic cloves, cooking until brown on both sides.  When the garlic is done, use a garlic press to mince the garlic.
 4) In a large saucepan, combine squash, roasted garlic, chicken broth, heavy cream, and red pepper flakes.
5) Heat over medium heat until it comes just to a boil.
6) Turn off heat and blend well. I used an immersion blender, but you could use a traditional blender or food processor.
7) Add salt and pepper, to taste.

Chicken Strips

Chicken Strips Tossed in Buffalo Sauce

My kids love chicken nuggets. I prefer to give them the chicken tenders that are whole pieces of chicken, but I haven't found affordable frozen ones that both kids like. I decided to tweak my favorite chicken strip recipe to make it "crunchier" like the nuggets my kids like, and added panko bread crumbs.  I've been hungry for buffalo wings lately, but haven't felt like spending the money on a night out for wings.  I rolled some of the chicken strips in buffalo sauce and made boneless wings for my husband and I. It was definitely cheaper than going out (or buying frozen chicken strips). I even bought organic/free range chicken breasts for the meal. The cost for the chicken and oven fries was under $2 per person (I already had the blue cheese and buffalo sauce in the fridge).  You can't do that at a restaurant. I didn't toss the strips for my kids in sauce.  My son chose to dip his in some homemade apple butter, and my daughter ate hers "naked."

Chicken Strips

serves 4

Peanut oil, for frying

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut to desired size (can also use chicken breast tenderloins)

1 cup flour

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups panko bread crumbs

salt

pepper

peanut oil

dipping sauces (buffalo, honey mustard, bbq, etc.)

1) Fill a large skillet with 1/2 inch of peanut oil. I used 2 skillets so I didn't have to fry multiple batches. Heat over medium heat for 5 minutes.

2) While oil is heating. Set out 3 bowls for breading the chicken. Fill one with flour, one with egg, and one with the panko bread crumbs. 

3) Season chicken strips with salt and pepper and dredge each chicken strip in flour. Dip in egg, then coat with panko. Add to hot oil.

4) Fry each chicken strip for 4 minutes. Turn and fry 4 more minutes. If chicken strips are not browned, fry for 2 minutes more on each side. 

5) Serve with your favorite dipping sauce