It's been a while...

The title says it all really.  It has been a long time since I've updated this blog.  There has been a lot going on outside of the Littlefield kitchen.  I'm still working full time, while trying to start a Professional Photography and Video business with my husband, as well as taking care of our now 3 pets, 2 cats and a small dog.  I'm still cooking and trying new recipes, I just forget to take photos and post them here.  Things get very busy and there just aren't enough hours in the day!  Even my couponing has taken a back seat to everything else. 

To tide you over, Pinterest has been a great discovery and I have a few boards on there.  If you have an account you can check out my "Recipes I've Made" board.  They are recipes I've tried, and most likely modified to my liking. I am going to try REALLY hard to start taking photos and writing down my version of the recipes to post on the blog here.  I also may switch this blog over to Wordpress, like I did my photo blog, but at the moment, I will probably keep it here, unless I decide to make it a standalone website.

In other news, I actually discovered that I have a food allergy!  Of all things to be allergic to, I have an allergy to red onions.  Yes, just the red ones.  I ate some in a salsa/salad type thing I made over the summer, and my throat got scratchy.  The only ingredient in the salad that I hadn't really eaten before were the onions.  I didn't think much of it, but then ate some potato salad a couple weeks later with them in it.  Needless to say, I felt extremely ill for a few hours, and my throat was swollen half shut and scratchy.  Allergy confirmed!  I have not yet been to my doctor or undergone allergy testing, but I'd say it's true.

This brings me to my next point.  When you go to restaurants, ALWAYS remember to inform them or ask about the contents of food if you or one of your kids has an allergy!  I get a lot of funny looks when I say I'm allergic to red onions, and it is really annoying to ask every time we go out, but I don't feel like being sick for the rest of the night.  The worst was going to a work conference at Gillette Stadium, the home of the New England Patriots, and having to find the catering staff to ask whats in the food.  Talk about getting strange looks.  It turns out there were red onions in just about everything, including the pasta salad I almost ate.  I found a few safe items so I was alright, but I'm glad I asked.  You never know what is in food, or if the chefs have prepared your food around any allergens.  

That is all for an update for now.  Hopefully I can get some new recipes up soon!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Bars

I actually found this recipe in a circular for a local supermarket.  They looked easy to make and sounded great so I went for it.  They were a hit on Superbowl Sunday and the next day at work!

Ingredients:

1 Pouch Betty Crocker peanut butter cookie mix

Water, Vegetable Oil, and egg called for on cookie mix pouch

6 Nature Valley pecan crunch or oats 'n honey granola bars finely crushed (3 pouches from box)

1 bag of chocolate chips

1/2 cup mini M&Ms

Method:

Heat oven to 350. Spray the bottom only of a 13x9 in. pan.  In a large bowl or mixer, stir cookie mix, water, oil, egg, and crushed granola bars until soft dough forms.  Press dough into the bottom of the pan.  Bake 15 minutes or so or until the edges are light golden brown.  Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle the chocolate chips over the bars.  Let stand 2 minutes or so to soften chocolate.  Spread chocolate over bars.  Sprinkle on the M&Ms.  Refrigerate until the chocolate is set.  Cut and serve.

Verdict:

These were very tasty, and a huge hit!  The only thing I will change when I make them is to cook them a little less.  I have a gas stove that cooks very quickly, and even at 15 minutes, the cookie part came out a tiny bit dry for my taste, but over all they were great!

Potato and Corn Chowder

Hey everyone!  I know it's been a while (since October!) but I'm back, and trying to multitask so I can get back on track with this blog.  My photography has been taking off, and I've been very busy with it, especially through November and December, so I was making a lot of repeat recipes, and any new ones, I forgot to take pictures.  I have challenged myself to a photo a day project, so when I make a new recipe, I'm going to try to make my photo for that day of the recipe I make.  Multitasking at it's best!  Anyway, onto this awesome soup recipe.  I found this one on another blog through Pinterest, and modified it to my liking.

Ingredients:
8 oz (1/2 lb) bacon, cooked until crispy.  I used Turkey Bacon.
2 1/2 lbs Russet Potatoes, rinsed, NOT peeled, and diced into 1/4 inch cubes
8 cups kernel corn (frozen is fine)
1 medium-large yellow onion, finely chopped
6-8 garlic cloves, minced or crushed
32 oz Chicken stock or broth
16 oz half & half or heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
salt & pepper to taste

Vegetarian Substitutions:
Veggie Broth instead of Chicken Broth
Veggie Bacon (yes this does exist, I Googled!)

Method:
This was originally a crock pot recipe but I modified it for the stovetop.  Simmer garlic and onions in a small amount of the chicken broth until tender.  Add in the rest of the broth, potatoes, and corn, and seasoned salt.  Turn up the heat, bring to a boil and let cook until the potatoes start to get tender, 10-15 minutes or so depending on your stove.  While that is cooking, chop up the bacon into whatever size pieces you like.  I like them a bit smaller.  When the potatoes are tender, add in the bacon.  If you have a hand blender, remove soup from the heat and blend about half of it.  If you don't, take out half the soup and blend in a blender.  Return to pot/heat.  Add cream, and salt & pepper to taste.  I added in a little more seasoned salt too.  Cook until blended and heated through, and serve.

The Verdict:
We loved this the first time I made it, and I decided to make it again since it's pretty simple.  Very tasty.  It can be made vegetarian with the substitutions I listed above.  It came out a bit thicker the first time I made, it and it was really good.  I didn't weigh my potatoes this time around, so I think I didn't have as much.  If you like a thicker soup, use more potato.  If you like it a bit thinner, use less.  Simple as that!  Enjoy!