A Soup Every Man will Appreciate: Cheddar Ale Soup

Unless they are sick there is nothing harder then getting a guy to eat soup for an easy weeknight meal. Unless it's La Madeleine Tomato Basil...I don't know what it is about that soup that EVERYONE loves! Still, sometimes it's just to hard to come home and make a full meal every night. Soup (plus or minus a grilled cheese on the side) is an easy fix for that and a healthier alternative to a frozen dinner. Plus most of them take minimal effort. Unfortunately, for those of you with spouses or significant others eating soup somehow makes them less manly.

This recipe though was found AND COOKED!!!! by one of my guy friends Braden. He suggested this soup with potato nachos (a recipe for another time) one night to watch the playoff games. I have to admit when he told me it was a Cheddar Jalapeno Ale soup I was a little suspicious (rightfully so I think), but I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was! Beware that it definitely has a kick too it. It's a great fall/winter soup because it's a little thicker and heartier than say a chicken noodle.

Don't knock it till you try it because it was truly very good. Now that could change depending on what beer you use. Braden used the Alaskan Amber. If you want one that will for sure taste good I'd go for that. Stay away from anything too light or fruity. I wouldn't be surprised if Shiner went really well with this recipe. Be sure to comment if you try a certain beer you like!

You could also pair it with a beer bread or a sourdough to dip in the soup! Without further ado here is the recipe. Good luck!

<3 Tanner

Cheddar Jalapeno Ale Soup

1/2 Lb. bacon, 1" slices

2 stalks celery, diced

2+ Jalapeño peppers, diced (**we used 3)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 Tbs. butter

1/4 C. flour

12 oz. Ale

2 C. Chicken Broth

1/2 C. Heavy Cream

1 tsp. dijon mustard

1 Tbs. Worcestershire

2 C. Cheddar Cheese, shredded

Cayenne to taste

Salt & Pepper to Taste

Step 1: After slicing the bacon go ahead and cook it IN the pot you are going to make the soup in. When done scoop it out onto paper towels. Drain the pot, but reserve 2 Tbs. of the grease and keep it in the pot.

Step 2: Add celery and jalapeños and cook until they have softened and are fragrant. Then add the garlic and thyme and stir for a minute or two.

Step 3: Add the butter and stir till it melts. Slowly add the flower stirring constantly so it doesn't stick to the bottom.

Step 4: Add your beer of choice along with the chicken broth. While stirring be sure to wipe down the sides of the pan with your spoon so nothing is sticking. Add the bacon and cook for about 10 minutes. 

Step 5: Add your heavy cream, worcestershire and cheese. Cook until all the cheese is melted, but be sure that the soup doesn't reach it's boiling point!!

Step 6: Flavor as needed with the salt, pepper, and cayenne and serve it up! 

Enjoy!!!

Easy Weeknight Dinner: Crab Cakes

This is a little bit of a summery dish, but sometimes in the middle of the cold winter something light and (semi) fresh is just what the doctor ordered. These crab cakes are actually really easy to make. Even using the canned crab they still taste amazing. The seafood selection is not anything to brag about here in Lubbock, but they do have fresh? crab. It's just easier and a huge time saver to buy the canned lump meat. And like I said it taste good. BUTTTTT of course my motto is fresh is best so it's up to you.

I like to serve these with a salad. I usually just use romaine, green onion, feta, yellow tomatoes, a little salt and pepper and Brianna's Real French Vinaigrette dressing. Let's side bar about that for just a second. My aunt Nancy introduced me to Brianna's. I have tried a couple different ones and I love them all, but the Real French Vinaigrette is her best in my opinion. It's light and delicious and so far out of all the salad's I've made is everyone's favorite dressing. I literally could eat this salad every single day. Annndddd maybe I do, so shoot me :)

Ok but back to the crab cakes. They only take about 20-30 minutes total time in the kitchen, which is awesome!! Especially when there is a ton going on. That kind of time frame makes it so no one has any excuse to heat up a frozen dinner anymore. And 1 serving of this recipe is only 4 weight watcher points!!!!!

Give them a try, you won't be disappointed. And it's SO EASY! They only look hard to make, It's basically just mixing everything together forming little patties and pan frying. It doesn't get too much easier than that.

Crab Cakes

16 oz. "fresh" lump crabmeat, drained

4 large lemons

4 oz. diced pimiento, drained

2 green onions chopped

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 Tbsp. mayonnaise (less WW points if you use the light kind!)

1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning

2 tsp. Dijon Mustard

1 cup pank bread crumbs

Canola Oil

Step 1: Forge through the crabmeat and make sure that no pieces of the shell got left behind. It's not that big of a deal if you miss one though

Step 2: Zest the lemons and cut them in half. Juice the lemons so you get 1/4 of a cup, but I just squeeze them right into the mixing bowl. It's up to you! Stir together zest, juice, pimento, onions, egg, mayonnaise, old bay, and mustard. Stir until everything is mixed together completely. Begin mixing in the crab and half of the bread crumbs.

Step 3: Gently form patties from the mixture. You can make them as big or as small as you like, but make sure they are firmly packed so they don't fall apart in the pan. Right before you are ready to put them in the pan coat the patties in the remaining breadcrumbs (you might need a little extra panko for this)

Step 4: The recipe said to cook them in 2 Tbsp. of hot oil in a non stick skillet. I personally think they cook better if you use more oil than that. I make sure the entire pan is covered in the oil and is about an 1/8 of an inch thick. This will mean you may have to drain the pan because any panko that falls off will start to burn. I just think the extra oil makes them cook faster and more evenly without burning, but that's just my experience with them. Cook for 2 minutes on each side or until they turn golden brown in color (you can pretty much eyeball this - does it look cooked? Then it probably is!) 

Step 5: Drain the Crab cakes on a paper towel to get off the extra grease. 

Serve them with lemon wedges and you are done!!!

Hope you enjoy! <3 tan tan

Quick Lunch: Italian Chopped Salad

New Year's Resolution #4 of 1,000,000. Eat out less and make healthier meals! I know this is always everyone's goal, but I am reallllllly going to try to stick to at least this one out of my bagillion resolutions. We can make excuse after excuse about how there is not enough time to make lunch, or I'll just heat up this frozen meal to save some time or to encourage our laziness. But fast food and even frozen foods are just so TERRIBLE for you. Don't get me wrong I love some McDonald's chicken nuggets every now and then, but one happy meal (you know those things for kids) is 17 weight watcher points. 17!!!!!!! That's 2/3 of my daily allotment. Just start doing a little bit of research, and you can see how much garbage goes into these products. Just knowing that will instantly help you make better choices!

We need to stop making excuses for ourselves and really put in the effort. If you plan your meals on sunday, when there is rarely going anything on anyway you can even make a ton of it ahead of time and be ready to go for the whole week.

This was a pintrest recipe I found, and it was a wonderful wonderful salad! It's 11 WW points per serving, but it's all good points! You could substitute meats or cheeses to minimize those points if you really wanted to. Just in general don't be afraid to play with recipes. I'm definitely guilty of looking at a recipe and saying "Yeah. No thanks!" That's silly. You can almost always substitute ingredients or play with the amounts to get a taste that suits you. In this particular recipe I played with the dressing. I wanted to tone down the red wine vinegar flavor. I added a little more garlic, salt, and pepper until it tasted right for me. You could also just pour in less red wine vinegar (but I didn't know that until it was already made).

One more challenge: FRESH IS BEST!!! Don't be afraid to use fresh vegetables because they go bad, or are more expensive. You can plan your menu around similar ingredients for the week. But either way it's worth it to eat fresh. It's better for you and it tastes better too!

This recipe also makes a ton, so just don't toss it in the dressing and you can have it a couple days in a row. Trust me you won't get tired of it. You'll want it all week!

Italian Chopped Salad

4 Romaine Hearts Diced

2 Roma Tomatoes, Seeded and Diced

1 Green Bell Pepper, Seeded and Diced

1/2 Red Onion, Diced

1/3 C. Kalamata Olives, Pitted and Diced

8 Oz. Fresh Mozzarella

4 Oz. Italian Dry Salami, Chopped

1 Tbs. Fresh Basil

1 Tbs. Fresh Parsley

Herbed Red Wine Vinaigrette

1/4 C. + 2 Tbs. Red Wine Vinegar

2 Garlic Cloves Pressed

1/4 tsp. Dijon Mustard

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Italian Seasoning

Pinch of Ground Pepper

3/4 tsp. Sugar

1/4 C. + 2 Tbs. Olive Oil

Step 1: To make the salad Just combine all the ingredients!

Step 2: In a separate bowl add all ingredients through sugar and whisk to combine. Slowly add the oil whisking constantly, until combined. (Really give this a little bit of time so the flavors bend well) 

Step 3: Adjust the flavors as needed. (I topped the salad with fresh black pepper and it was amazing)

HOW EASY WAS THAT!!!! Enjoy!

Sinfully Addicting Red Velvet Brownies

I want to write about how just how amazing these brownies are, but the words cannot do these little guys justice. It's definitely the most requested recipe by friends and family, and they have been huge hits when i've given them as gifts. With Valentines day right around the corner, this could be a good recipe to perfect!

I will give fair warning about experimenting with the recipe though. I tried to double a batch and it was a failure. I haven't decided if it's because the ingredients don't work well doubled or if it just made them two thick. I used the same size pan as a single batch, so perhaps if I had switched to a rectangle they would have cooked more evenly. That being said, if any of you try to alter the recipe and succeed (or fail ;) ) please let me know!

Another helpful tip about this recipe is in the parchment paper. I HATE trying to get parchment paper to stay or to keep it's shape when pouring in batter. To do so is an art form...one i am still trying to perfect. But  I have found it helpful to fold the sides to help it keep its shape, and just tape it to the outer edge of the pan until you pour in the batter (just don't forget to remove the tape!) It really does make a huge difference.

But without further ado.......drum roll please!!!!

***I forgot to take a picture when they were done!!!! WHOOPS!

Red Velvet Brownies

1/2 C. of room temperature butter

1 1/2 C. Sugar

2 Eggs

2 tsp. Vanilla

1 1/4 C. Flour

1/4 tsp. salt

3 Tbs. Cocoa Powder

2 Tbs. Red Food Coloring

White Chocolate Icing (optional...but necessary)

1/2 C. Room Temperature Butter

2 1/2 C. Powdered Sugar

1 tsp. Vanilla

4 Oz. White Chocolate

1-2 Tbs. milk

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and either line a baking pan with parchment paper or grease and flour it. (**If bringing to a party I recommend the parchment paper it makes it easier to cut clean squares)

Step 2: In a small bowl mix the cocoa powder, food coloring, and 1 tsp. of vanilla to form a paste like mixture. 

Step 3: In a larger bowl cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy!!! (**"IT'S SO FLUFFFFYYYYYYY" - I love Despicable Me, what a great movie!) Add the eggs one at at time and then the rest of the vanilla. Beat in your paste mixture, and then SLOWLY add the flour and salt.

Step 4: Pour into your prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. DO NOT ICE THEM UNTIL COMPLETELY COOLED!!!!

Step 5: Melt the white chocolate (**You can find instructions on the package or ask me!) then set it aside. Then cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy again. add the vanilla, and then slowly start adding the powdered sugar. When mixed in add the white chocolate. Finally add just tiny bits of milk a time until you reach the desired consistency. (**If you over do it just add more powdered sugar) Then you can ice them and eat up!

If you gain 20 pounds because you can't stop eating this...don't blame me! I tried to warn you