Country Baked Potato Soup

First off I'm going to give a slight warning that this recipe certainly belongs in your "comfort foods" category, not with your "healthy meals". With that being said, I found this recipe to be the most delightful homemade soup I've ever made. SO YUMMY!!!!

Country Bake Potato Soup

4 large Russett Baking Potatoes
2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 Tbs white pepper (I didn't have white pepper on hand so I used regular and just did to taste...definitely less that 1 Tbs)
8 cups milk
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup green onions thinly sliced
1/2 pound bacon cooked and crumbled (substitute with Bacon Bits if you'd prefer the easier route)
1 cup cheese shredded, for topping

Preparations
Bake potatoes at 350 degrees for 65-75 minutes or until tender; cool completely. Peel and cube potato's into 1" cubes. You want it to be chunky, but some will break up. (next time i will definitely cube first and boil in water...much faster and easier)
In a large Dutch Oven, melt butter; stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth.
Gradually add milk. Bring to boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. If you want it thicker, mash a few potatoes against the side of the pot and stir, and it will thicken right up.
Remove from heat; whisk in sour cream.
Add potatoes and green onions. Place back on stove and heat to serving temperature over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Ladle into bowl and garnish with bacon and cheese.

Enjoy!

*I got the recipe from the Big Oven app for the iphone *

leftover turkey tacos

we used our leftover turkey to make these DELICIOUS tacos that, might I add, are pretty darn healthy too!

Turkey Tacos with Avocado-Corn Salsa

1 pkg corn taco shells
1 1/2 cups chopped avocado
1 cup sweet corn kernels
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 Tbs lime juice
1 pkg reduced-sodium taco seasoning mix
12 oz cooked boneless, skinnless turkey breast cut into strips (yummy when you use chicken too)
3/4 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 250'. Place taco shells on baking sheet
2. make salsa; mix avocado, corn tomatoes, and lime juice in medium bowl. Set aside
3. combine taco seasoning, turkey and water in medium skillet. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally
4. heat shells in oven 5 minutes or until warm.
5. Spoon turkey mixture into shells and divide salsa evenly among tacos

The following is the way I did it using leftover turkey rather than having to fully cook the meat, therefor taking some shortcuts.

Make salsa by following direction #2 above. I just cooked the frozen corn in the bowl before adding the remaining ingredients. Set aside.


Put desired amount of meat in a microwaveable bowl, shredding more if needed as you do so. Sprinkle desired amount of taco seasoning, add a sprinkle of water, to keep moist, and stir. Heat in microwave to desired temperature. I believe I did 2 minutes for mine.


I skipped heating the taco shells and went straight to dishing. We did use soft corn tortillas for the girls...I do recommend you lay a wet papertowel over each and warm in the microwave. Feel free to bring on the hot sauce or any other toppings if you desire, although its not needed. They're scrumptious on their own!

yummy fall breakfast

this is a perfect breakfast to have on a cold fall morning! bring on the holiday season!!!!!
(this makes more than one batch worth so you'll want a one-quart jar to store it in)

Cinnamon Pankcakes w/Cider Syrup

pancakes:
3 c. all-purpose flour 4 1/2 t. cinnamon
3 T. sugar 1 t. salt
2 T. baking powder

gently toss all ingredients together; spoon into a one-quart jar. (attach following instructions on some cute fall paper and its a great gift to give to a friend or teacher!)

instructions:
whisk 3/4 cup milk, one egg and 2 T. oil together in a medium mixing bowl; add 1 1/3 cups mix, stirring until just moistened. Pour by 1/4 cupfuls onto a hot, greased skillet; heat until bubbles form along the edge. Flip and heat until both sides are golden. Makes 10.


cider syrup:
1 c. sugar 2 c. apple cider
2 T. cornstarch 2 T. lemon juice
1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice 1/3 c. butter

Place first 3 ingredients in a saucepan; stir in apple cider and lemon juice. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils; boil for one minute. Remove from heat; stir in butter. Makes about 2 cups.

a good laugh

everyone could use a good laugh...one of these ought to do the trick.

ENJOY!

Training

The training is seriously the hardest part for me which is rather lame but true. Although raising the money is slow and takes a lot of work, I do work on it everyday in one way or another where as its really hard for me to find the time to do the training everyday. I do go to the gym everyday (just about), so I'm staying in shape at least, but it's hard to take my time to really "train" because I'm usually having to cut my workout shorter than I would like to get home in time for Ty to leave for work. My goal is to walk at least a half marathon straight at least once this upcoming week...hopefully twice. I did run for 2 miles yesterday which may seem pathetic to some of you but it was a big deal for me! :)

On a side note, during THE walk they have us walking a full circle which I find very symbolic...I love stuff like that! I'm SO excited to do this walk....I couldn't sleep last night thinking about it which for those of you who don't know me well, that's a BIG deal. I usually can always sleep, anywhere, anytime. I can't wait to meet new people and experience something completely new and foreign to me, I just pray I can raise enough money to get there! I keep getting tempted to lower my goal for fundraising but I just can't bring myself to do it. I have to give it EVERYTHING I can, and if I don't meet it I'll be REALLY bummed but I'll know that I did everything I could to raise as much as I could and I'll have learned a lot of lessons along the way to apply for next year.

For those of you who have donated and are continuing to support me by keeping updated....THANK YOU!!!! For those of you who are just supporting me by keeping updated and giving moral support...THANK YOU! BUT, if you would like to now donate....here's the site again. :) Loves to you all. GO PINK! :)

www.JensPinkWalk.com DONATE HERE!!!!

Enduring Rose

My thoughtful brother-in-law and sister were brainstorming ways they could help raise more money and they came up with an excellent alternative to donating. Bryson, my brother-in-law, and his family own a fabulous company called Enduring Rose and they are going to donate a portion of their proceeds on ANY rose purchase to help me raise money for Breast Cancer Research. They are BEAUTIFUL real roses dipped in gold. A rose that never dies! They have a variety of colored roses, as well as gold and white roses. They are the perfect gift for any occasion - anniversary, birthday, Valentines Day, Mothers Day, holidays, etc. So help a cause and get your loved one a timeless gift at the same time. Please visit their site at www.enduringrose.com and don't forget to SPREAD THE WORD!!! :)

Thank you again Bryson, Katie, and the entire Fish family. Your generosity is touching!

Fix It

A number was performed on So You Think You Can Dance awhile ago and it has been on my mind a lot lately. Not just the dance but what it represents, or who it represents I guess.

Throughout preparing for this walk I have been focusing more so on those directly effected by breast cancer or who will be effected. Today, I can't help but focus more on those who have watched, are watching, or will have to watch their loved one go through the battle of breast cancer. I can only imagine how badly they must wish they could remove their pain, their cancer, their heartache. Instead, they are left to watch and offer as much moral support as they can, meanwhile, inside I'm sure they are feeling they are not doing enough. LIttle do they know their presence in that persons life at that time is probably enough for the fighter. The patient must know that this is their battle to fight but just to have someone by their side while they do this probably means more to them then any of us will ever fully know or understand.

So to those of you fighting with all your strength, know that there are many people out there wishing they could do more to help you...more to "fix you". And to those of you trying to be the fixer, know that your support is probably more of a help then you think.

Here is the video that touched me so much.