I don't want to bore you with another squash soup but ...

I'm going to anyways. I think no less than 20 posts have been dedicated to butternut squash soup so I didn't want to expose you to yet another recipe. But, because of my lack of inspiration in the kitchen lately and for fear that I won't have anything interesting to post about this month I will go ahead and say that I tried this Squash Soup recipe but wouldn't recommend it. It's way too sweet with the honey ... although it sounds interesting. I prefer a more savory tasting squash soup. I hate posting things with bad reviews so let me point you to another Food Network favorite of mine especially during this time of year ... Paula Deen's Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cakes, which I have not made this season yet but hope to have a reason to.

Cheese Muffins by Paula Deen

We love to have soups when the weather turns cold, but I got tired of serving crackers or sandwiches along with them.

This is a great and easy and tasty recipe for cheese muffins. Another plus for me, is that I almost always have all these ingredients on hand - So no special trip to the grocery store. We usually serve them with potato soup. If you have leftovers, and we always do, the are great reheated for breakfast!

1 1/2 c all purpose flour
1 T sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Sift together the above ingredients.

Add 3 cups coarsely grated cheddar cheese ( I sometimes add a little extra). Stir until all the pieces of cheese are coated with the flour mixture.

In a separate bowl, combine 1 egg and 1 c milk with a whisk or fork.

Stir the wet mixture into the flour mixture just until blended. Then add 1/4 c melted butter and stir just until incorporated.

Bake at 350 degrees in greased muffin tins (I alwasy use Pam spray) for about 20 minutes.

Look familar?

I was browsing the food network site trying to find something to make for this challenge. One of my new favorite shows is Quick Fix Meals with Robin Miller. I was looking at her recipes when I came across the Slow-Cooker Chipotle Lime Chicken Thighs that Robin posted. I had actually made it early in the week, and the picture is from when I served it leftover. (I love leftovers)

This was a pretty good recipe, but I think the fresh avacado is what made it great. I served it over brown rice.

Turkey Bolognese by Giada

I still had some leftover turkey and tried Giada's Turkey Bolognese. I didn't really like it because the turkey was over powering. I love the idea of a pasta with carrots and celery, but this one was not for me. Surprisingly, the kids ate it pretty well...maybe they were just really hungry.

Jam Thumbprint Cookies-Ina Garten

I am at a disadvantage for this challenge because we haven't had cable in 3 years. However, before we gave up this luxury, I saw Ina make these cookies as Christmas gifts for her friends. They are now a part of our Christmas cookie lineup every year, though they would be delicious any time of year. Sorry, no photo, but take my word that they are as beautiful as they are tasty.

Turkey Monte Cristo with Potato Soup

B has been wanting soup and grilled cheese everyday that it has been cold. I decided to try and spice it up a bit. We had some left over turkey so I did a search at foodtv for cooked turkey.

Among the 27 pages of recipe, I found this one for a Turkey Monte Cristo. The sandwich was fun and scrumptious. I could find any cranberry relish to put it, B thought it needed it :)

Then, I wanted to make a potato soup. I have never made one before and, heck, I am pregnant so it is OK that its not the healthiest soup, right? I didn't find one that looked good so I ended up using Potato soup with shrimp and Cheddar corn chowder as guides.

I sauteed the onions and carrots.
Added some butter and flour.
Then added some Chicken Broth and Milk.
Threw in some potatoes and let them cook.
Finished it with some half and half and some cheese.
Need less to say, it was good:)

December Challenge - Food Network!

Is is really December already? How did that happen?

I had a lot of trouble trying to figure out a challenge for this month. Everyone is so busy this time of year, I didn't want to pick something that was too strict, but wanted to experiment with different things (drinks maybe, cookies) so I figured if the challenge was any recipe from the food network, that would give us a lot of options.

So, anything from the Food Network, or Food Network chef, or Food Network chef's cookbook is fair game!