Homemade Vegetable Soup

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope everyone's MLK Day was nice and that you got to spend it with your families. I know my son was out of school so we had a fun pajama day! I had a great trip over the weekend. As most of you know, we went out of town to visit family. It was a nice change from our small town living!

The weather here was nice over the weekend {thankfully} but now it has gone back to dreadfully cold! Burrr! So, I decided to make homemade soup for supper. It really hit the spot and was amazing!

{Ingredients}

• 1 lb ground beef
• a big can of Tomato Juice
• 1 can Whole Kernel Corn
• 1 can Cut Green Beans
• 1 can Whole White Potatoes
• 1 can Sliced Carrots
• 1 can Mixed Vegetables
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• salt & pepper to taste

As you can see, I used mostly store brand vegetables. If you have fresh veggies left from your garden that you froze, you can just those too. You can also cook potatoes until tender and then slice them up. I used a can of whole potatoes instead because we were out and this was a last minute supper decision. We wanted something quick and simple. I just sliced the whole ones up because it was much cheaper to buy them whole than to buy the sliced ones! If you have any other favorite veggies, throw them in as well! 

Once you get your ground beef cooked and drained, all you have to do is mix the ingredients in with it and cook until boiling. Then, reduce the heat and just keep an eye on it until you are happy with how well it looks!  I waited until it started to boil before I added my sugar, salt and pepper. This soup is so yummy and hits the spot on a cold night!

I hope everyone has a great day and here's wishing to warmer weather!  =)


From my front porch to yours,

Smoked Tenderloin & Ranch Potatoes

Happy Sunday Everyone! I hope everyone has had a wonderful week! Today, I'd like to share with you a great recipe for those who like to grill! We do a lot of grilling at our house. I prefer the grill over the oven any day! I'm also very lucky to have a husband that will grill no matter what the weather is like! We've grilled plenty of times in the snow!!

First and foremost, let me introduce you to the best kitchen tool ever! It's a Pampered Chef slicer. I love this for cutting potatoes! It works great when I make Ranch potatoes :)  Yum! Yum!

This is what my Ranch potatoes look like when I first throw them into the crockpot. I normally make these in the oven but I wanted to try something different! You will need to slice enough potatoes for your family and add butter and Ranch Dip Mix (seasoning) throughout the crockpot. I normally use a stick of butter to keep the potatoes from drying out.

This is what your potatoes will look like when they are finished! If you cook them in the oven, it will take about an hour. Be sure to cover your dish with aluminum foil for oven cooking. If you fix them in the crockpot, it takes approximately 3 to 5 hours depending on how many potatoes you use! I cook mine on low until all the potatoes are fork tender. Then, you can just switch it to warm and wait until the rest of your meal is done!

This is my hubby's masterpiece! He has become quite the griller! He smoked this pork tenderloin for about 6 hours on our big grill! We use McCormick's Pork Rub on the outside of the tenderloin to give it a nice crunch! The rub holds all the flavors in the meat nicely and makes it so tender that you can cut the meat with a butter knife! Be sure you cook it with the fat side up if you are going to be placing it on the grill! A tip from Mr. Grill-Extraordinaire himself!

This is a very yummy meal and requires a little work but not so much that it is overwhelming!

Be sure to check out my Southern Sundays Link Party and link up all your southern creations!!

Have a great day everyone! I'll see you all tomorrow :)


From my front porch to yours,



You can find me linked up to the following blog hops and link parties!

Homemade Strawberry Cake

A BIG hello all my wonderful readers! I'm blogging today from the lovely city of Clarksville, TN! We are up here visiting family from out of state, and I'm having a blast!

I just wanted to get a quick blog post in today before everyone got here. I will try to do a "city" photo post tonight as we venture out and view all the sights! Today, I'll be sharing the newest recipe in my collection with everyone ... Homemade Strawberry Cake! I'll admit, like most, I have always been a box cake mix person. Well, I think that is all about to change once I learn how do make different flavors and selections!!!

You can find the original recipe for the strawberry cake I made on Farm Flavor.com.

 {Cake Ingredients}

• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup canola oil
• 1 cup milk
• ¼ cup sweetened strawberries, mashed
• 1 small box dry strawberry jello

 

{Icing Ingredients}

• ½ stick butter or margarine, softened
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar
• ¼ cup sweetened strawberries, mashed

To get this bad boy cake started, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. You will need to mix together all the ingredients for the cake and pour into a 9" x 13" cake pan that has been greased to avoid sticking! Once your cake is ready to into the oven, bake it for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cake is completely done in the center. When I first inserted the toothpick into my cake, it was still runny in the dead center. The cake literally jiggled like Jell-O! So, I let it cook for an additional 10 minutes and it was fine!

While your cake is baking, go ahead and starting mixing your ingredients together for your icing. I recommend starting with a little and slowly working your way up to all the powdered sugar. If you need to add more powdered sugar or strawberries you can, just make sure the initial amount is smoothly mixed together before you add more. I didn't need to add anything extra. It was yummy as soon as it was smooth and creamy!!! The icing is also very rich and sweet so if you have a sweet tooth eater in the house, you might need to make 2 cakes!!

Once the cake has cooled, go ahead and spread the icing over the cake. My icing was easy to spread and covered the whole cake without any problems! It is best to put the cake in the fridge and let it chill for a few hours before serving. If you are like me and the crew at my house, it won't ever make it that long! The cake tastes totally different once it has completely chilled overnight! I love it!! I'm going to have to make another one soon, the first one is almost gone!

I hope you all enjoy this simple little recipe! This was my first homemade cake and it turned out great! I can't wait to try it with different Jell-O's and toppings!

Happy Baking Everyone!!!


From my front porch to yours,

Grandma's Chocolate Pie

Do you ever get the craving for something homemade and seriously sweet? If so, you may want to "pin" this recipe for later! It's a super yummy chocolate pie recipe that my family loves and never last longer than 2 days in my house! It does good to cool all the way before someone {usually me} decides to dig in! 

I actually found this recipe on one of those cute pie plates that I picked up our local Goodwill store. I have always loved those pie plates and wanted a collection of my own! I hope to find more on my journeys and hopefully the recipes of them will be as good as this chocolate pie one! 

{Ingredients}
2 cups of sugar
3 heaping tablespoons of flour
3 heaping tablespoons of cocoa
3 cups of half & half or milk
3 tablespoons of butter
vanilla (to taste)
3 eggs, separated
1 baked 9" pie shell (I recommend deep dish!)

{Cooking}

• Cook first four ingredients in a large saucepan over medium heat until thickened. 
• Whip egg yolks until creamy, add small amount of hot cocoa mixture, stirring constantly.
• Combine 2 mixtures into saucepan, cook until thickened; add butter, vanilla, allow to cool.
• Fill shell with mixture, top with meringue
• Bake at 350 degrees for ten minutes 

{Meringue Topping}

• Place egg whites in a glass/ceramic bowl (these work best) with 1/8 teaspoon of salt. 
• Beat at a low speed to begin with slowly adding a small amount of sugar as you mix. 
• Your meringue will begin to thicken and rise the more sugar you add
  (4 tablespoons is recommended).

Tada! A yummy chocolate pie for you and your family! I hope they enjoy it as much as we do! Oh yeah! Be sure to have a slice with a big ole glass of ice cold milk! It hits the spot every time!!!

From my front porch to yours,


You can find me linked up to the following blog hops and link parties!

My Take on Homemade Chili

Hello and Happy Monday to everyone! I hope you all had a super weekend!

Well, the weather is finally turning colder here in TN and to my husband that means one thing, crockpot chili! This recipe is something I picked up and added too a few years ago. My family loves it! It is super simple to make and doesn't take much at all!

Ingredients for my awesome crockpot chili:

2 pounds (or more) of ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cans of Bush's Chili Magic Chili Starter
(I use the traditional "mild")
2 cans of Hunt's Diced Tomatoes
(I use the Basil, Garlic, & Oregano)
1 can of tomato sauce

*The Chili Magic calls for one can to be used for each pound of ground beef that you use. Be sure you add more of the other ingredients depending on how much ground beef you add. We made 2 meals for 4 adults off of 2 pounds of ground beef, and I think there's still enough left for another bowl or two!

First off, you need to brown your ground beef and drain it well. Once you have this completed, simply return it to the stove (I always brown mine in a pot verses a skillet), add your chopped onion and add all your other ingredients. I leave it on the stove just long enough to heat up the mix and let the onions begin to cook. Then, just transfer everything over to your crockpot and you are all set! I let mine cook on low all night stirring every hour or so.

I use a 5 quart crockpot to make my chili. When it first starts out, it's almost near the top of the rim as you can see from my picture. It will begin to cook down the longer it sits in the crockpot. If you feel like you need to add more tomato sauce, you can once it begins to cook down. You can also add any other ingredients or spices you like at this point! Trust me, within a couple of hours, you will have your whole house smelling good!!! You can go ahead and eat a bowl if you just can't stand it once it is all heated thoroughly!

This is what ours looks like once it has cooked all night! Yum Yum!!!

I hope you all enjoy my take on homemade chili! Be sure to let me know how yours turns out! Also, leave me a comment if you add anything else to the mix once you begin cooking it in the crockpot. I'm always looking for new things to try! I always finish mine up with crackers, sour cream and shredded cheese once I make my bowl. It really does hit the spot!!!  =)

From my front porch to yours,

Yummy! Root Beer Floats

Good Morning Everyone! Happy Wednesday! I hope everyone had a good Christmas!! I want to share with you a quick and easy recipe for making root beer today. I never knew it was so simple until I found a bottle of McCormicks Root Beer Concentrate at my local Wal-Mart when I was shopping for Logan's birthday. I have just been waiting for the perfect time to try it out! Last night while we was cooking supper could not have been a better time!

Via McCormick's website

You can find the concentrate in in the same area of your local grocery store that has the vanilla extract and things of that nature. The bottle isn't very big, but it doesn't take much to make a liter of root beer. I think I paid close to $7 by the time I bought the concentrate and Club Soda. It's pretty cost efficient! 

Here's what you will need to make
Homemade Root Beer:
1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Root Beer Concentrate 
1 bottle (1 liter) Club Soda     




Bring water to a boil in medium saucepan. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Add concentrate; stir until everything is mixed well. 

Refrigerate until ready to serve. Slowly add Club Soda to root beer mix until well blended. 
*Makes close to 6 cups.



That's it! Now, you have some yummy homemade root beer! It smells wonderful and is very tasty! We would have done the Root Beer Floats, but ours didn't last long enough to get to the ice cream part. If you plan of making some to drink and making some for floats, I suggest buying more than one bottle of Club Soda! The kind I bought was only $1 so it wasn't that bad of a price. 

You can view the recipe on McCormick's Website for homemade Root Beer Floats! 

I hope everyone enjoys this as much as we did. I loved the way it made my kitchen smell. Yum! Yum!

I'd like to end my post for today by sharing some snap shots from Christmas!!!

I hope everyone has a great week and enjoys the snow if you were lucky enough to get some over the Christmas holiday!