Roasted Cauliflower Cheese Soup

Hi there everyone....hope you had a good day.....Wednesday's are always wonderful.....because it is "Hump Day" and there is only 2 days to go till the week-end. You know how we ALL LOVE THE WEEKENDS!!!

So Monday I bought a big head of Cauliflower for $1.48. I was thinking of slicing it to make "Roasted Cauliflower Steaks," then I thought of a soup of some kind....tossed it back and forth in my mind for a few days. Finally, while walking Kylie I thought, just to roast the cauliflower along with some onions and carrots in a 375 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes. Poured olive oil, salt and pepper on the vegies and mixed together to cover thoroughly.

The recipe I am using is "Cheesy Broccoli Soup," and will just change it up a bit....I tend to do that with a lot of my recipes before even trying the original recipe. We'll see how this goes....so far, so good. It's smelling pretty good and that's just roasting vegetables in the oven. JP always acts as my taste tester.....well, he has not died yet.

Here the vegies are all roasted and they totally tasted delicious. I had a little bowl with some "Yum Yum Sauce" on it.....maybe I should have made 2 roasted cauliflowers?????? In the next picture is the vegies in the hot water and cooking up some more. I added 3/4 cup of instant potatoes to make it thicker.  

I took an immersable blender and blended the soup, as you see in this last picture. Here is where I added the chicken bouillon, cheese and chopped bacon.

Here is the recipe:

8 cups water

1-2 Tablespoon chicken bouillon

1 roasted onion

1 roasted cauliflower

Olive oil, salt and pepper to taste

1/2 bag of sliced roasted baby carrots

3/4 - 1 cup instant potatoes

1/2 package shredded Colby cheese

3 - 4 strips of cooked bacon, chopped

I shall have to give this "Cheesy Cauliflower Soup" 5 stars, I really liked it. The true test will be when JP has a bowl. I will let you know.

So there you have it, dinner for tonight, soup along with some fruit and maybe pulled pork on toast. Friday I will be making corned beef and cabbage....looking forward to that dinner. No....I am not Irish, but I do enjoy the corned beef and sandwiches on rye bread.

Time to go downstairs and work on some cards. I am still making those cards that I showed you the other day. It is fun and I will show you a few samples in the next few days. Sunday I am going to a Stampin'up camp and there will be more cards to show you.

Well, time to close here......keep looking up.....better days are here and the weekend is coming!!!! Cheers ~ Louise

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Hi there everyone....hope you are having a super day. Well, I guess the weather is going to be hot and steamy over the weekend. 90 degrees....uge, I shall either stay in the kitchen where the air conditioner is or go down stairs where the temp is cooler.....yeah, we still have a few places to run to, to keep cool. The back yard is pretty shady too, not going to exert myself too much this weekend, that is for sure.

I have been putting my pressure canner to use quite a bit lately....today I am going to make the corned beef that has been marinating in the frig for 7 days. I bought a small cabbage and some potatoes yesterday....so I am ready to make this dish. Oh and I got the rye bread ready for some sandwiches. Easy, peasy cooking weekend.

I am really loving this appliance and would recommend it to you or anyone else. I say, where have you been all my life????? I called the company yesterday, as there is a rack for canning that I did not get with the canner....geez, you would think that would be something that would be included with the canner, wouldn't you? So now I am looking forward to doing some canning, maybe tomatoes and pickles to start.....we shall see.

So in the top and bottom pictures are the piece of brisket, I have marinating....it's looking pretty good here. Will take a picture of this lovely piece of meat after it is cooked. I did buy a manager's special spoon roast for a meal next week....hopefully it will get tender enough for JP to chew on one side.

Here is the finished product....all cooked up. I put his plate of food on the table...and by the time I got his fruit on the table his plate  was almost gone except for some potatoes. "Was it good JP?" "It's almost gone!" he said.

 

I shall do this again, as I have another hunk of brisket in the freezer. My next experiment will be roast beef sandwiches with onions and peppers and Italian seasonings. I am having fun with this canner, that is for sure.

JP has his appointment on Monday to have 4 teeth pulled....please keep him in your prayers. He will have Monday and Tuesday off from work, so hopefully he will be a fast healer.

I have my first eye surgery on Wednesday, pray for me also. A nurse called today to ask some medical and medicine questions. Would you believe she was actually singing to me on the phone. I said I was a little nervous about the procedure and she said, Oh no need to worry, it's quick and fast and she went through the whole thing, explaining step by step what will happen. Why, she even sang to me about the "Black Bird" "pack up all your cares and woes, here I go singing low...by-by black bird" Not to worry, maybe I could get something from my Doctor to kind of calm me down. Guess that is why I need some prayer....I was nervous about the deep cleaning at the Dentist and that went well....now this, hope it goes as fast as the teeth cleaning went.

Well, time to close, need to take a little nap before the Schwan's man comes. Ribs, fries and guacamole sauce....yummie!! Then next Thursday comes my first box from "Blue Apron." Will be fun to see what they send. Since I signed up with Blue Apron, I have seen other Companies that do this same thing....some do not tell how much it costs....or it's hard to find. Then another company is $10 more....so we shall see....I may do this just for the summer, I need to see if this is cost effective for us. The thought of having your meals come to the house is intriguing....a savings on gas and time shopping.

Well, I was going to close here...guess I will do just that. Have a great day and keep looking up. Cheers ~ Louise

Flowers 2 X 2 and Brined Corned Beef

Hi there everyone. Hope you had a good day. My days are getting better, been sick lately with another round with the ulcer.  I guess JP's problem with his teeth got to me. He went to the Dentist on Monday and it has been decided that he has 4 teeth that need to be pulled. I had my second deep cleaning on the other half of my mouth Tuesday. Then got sick Wednesday and Thursday, finally throwing up with diarrhea Thursday. TODAY praise God I am feeling so much better and eating a bit more. Lost a few pounds...so that I will take.

Another thing I am dealing with is the cataract eye surgery on July 22nd and August 5th. All the pre-ops and post-ops that come with it. I suppose there will be the eye drops that have to be applied. Oh I don't know, this sure has been a tough year for JP and I....here's hoping things calm down for us in the next few months.

So below are my two lovely Brown Eyed Susan's that come back every year.....love these flowers. This year I got lots of seedlings to start....So I shall be planting them all over my yard....yayyyyyy!

                              Two lovely orange-red Lilly's

                         Two lovely red Bee Balm blossoms.

Two lovely yellow trumpet Lilly's. Not sure that is what they are called, but I do, cause they look like little trumpets to me.

                         Two lovely yellow Begonia flowers.

This is not a picture of my corned beef in the brine, but from the site I got the recipe from. I made the brine and heated it up, it is now sitting on the stove cooling down. As the recipe said, can't add the hot brine to the cold meat....both must be cold then let it sit in the refrigerator for 5-7 days. I made this years ago when we lived on our 20 acres and raised our own beef....yep, those were the golden days for us....lots of work but we ate really good.

I will let you know how this turns out, as I probably will cook it in my pressure cooker along with some cabbage and potatoes. (golly it is not even St. Patrick's Day!!) I cooked up some steamed broccoli in the pressure cooker tonight....delicious, that will go with the chicken and potatoes (that was cooked in the oven). JP's dinner is all cooked, now I just have to do the dishes.

Well you all have a good evening and a great Saturday.....oh how we love Saturday's!!!!! Keep looking up!!! Cheers ~ Louise