Day Five: Decisions, Decisions

The other day I mentioned I was craving cheeseburgers. Again Taste of Home came to the rescue with not one but two recipes to try. I couldn't decide between the them so I'm making small batches of both! I'll let you know how they come out!

Cheeseburger Chowder

Ingredients

1/2 lb ground beef
1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup, undiluted
1 3/4 cups milk
1 cup frozen shredded hash browns
1 can chopped green chilies
1 tbsp taco seasoning
1 tbsp dried minced onion
1/2 tsp chili powder

Prep

In a large saucepan, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in the soup, milk, potatoes, chilies, taco seasoning, onion and chili powder. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered for 5 minutes or until heated brought. Garnish with corn chips, cheese, and green onion if desired.

Cheeseburger Paradise Soup

Ingredients

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 small carrot, grated
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped (seeded for less heat)
1 qt beef broth
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 tsp pepper
1 pounds ground turkey
1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
2 tbsp butter
2 cups milk, divided
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Prep

1 In a Dutch oven, combine the first nine ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are tender.
2 Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook beef and mushrooms in butter over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Add to soup. Stir in 1 cup of milk; heat through.
3 In a small bowl, combine the flour and remaining milk until smooth; gradually stir into soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Reduce hear, stir in cheese until melted and serve garnished with crumbled bacon.

*Note: Season the meat like you would season your hamburger. I use seasoning salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.

Quiche

As a kid my mom made quiche but I never ate it. I can't remember where I tried it but when I did I loved it. I also decided that I preferred vegetable quiche. The other day I went to the store and a large bag of spinach was on sale so I found a general recipe on Allrecipes and adapted it for what I wanted. Instead of butter I cooked two strips of bacon to saute the onions and garlic in, but I didn't actually use the bacon in the quiche.

Original recipe makes 6 servings

 2 tablespoons butter
 1 onion, minced
 1 teaspoon minced garlic
 1 cup chopped fresh spinach
 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
 4 eggs, well beaten
 3/4 cup milk
 1 teaspoon salt
 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
 1 tablespoon butter, melted


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Over medium-low heat melt butter in a large saucepan or crisp two strips of bacon and remove.

Add onions and garlic and saute until translucent not brown. Let cool.

Stir saute mixture into spinach and sprinkle with cheese. Spoon filling into crust

Combine eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in melted butter. Pour egg mixture over vegetables and cheese.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until center has set.

Jalapeño Popper Dip

I usually have jalapeños on hand because I love spice and I put them in a lot of things. I had a lot of extras and wanted to make something different. I found this recipe on Pinterest and gave it a try. I made it without the bacon because I didn't have any. Because I'm cooking for one I halved the recipe and still ate it for four days. I kept the same amount of jalapeños but they were on the small side, too small for stuffing. Next time I'll probably keep some seeds because it wasn't hot at all but still very tasty.

Ingredients

6-8 slices of bacon, diced and cooked crispy
2 8-oz packages of cream cheese, soft
1 cup of mayonnaise
4-6 jalapeno's, chopped and deseeded. The seeds will make it fiery hot.
1 cup of cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup diced green onion

Topping:

1 cup of crushed crackers (I used Club crackers)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 stick of butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Combine all of the ingredients into a medium bowl. Stir well.

3. Transfer to an oven proof dish. The size of the dish depends on how thick the dip is. The thicker the dip the longer it may need to warm up. I used a glass pie pan. My dip was a little less than an inch thick.

4. Combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle all over the top of the dip.

5. Bake the dip for 20-30 minutes or until bubbly.

Snacking