Potatoes with Sausage and Arugula Sauce

I love watching cooking shows (when I can!) and this recipe looked so good I had to try it for myself. It turned out pretty well and the husband liked it! The original recipe said to serve the sauce over baked potatoes, but we both thought it would be better over pasta so I'll try that next time.


What you need

- 4 baking potatoes, cooked
- 1/2 lb sweet or spicy turkey sausage with casings removed (I chose spicy)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 jar tomato sauce (whatever kind you like)
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 3 C baby arugula (or spinach)
- 1/2 C grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper to taste

Directions

- Scrub, prick and cook the potatoes at 400 degrees for one hour

- Halfway through the potatoes cooking time, start on the sauce

- Heat up some oil in a large skillet or dutch oven

- Add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions begin to sweat

- Add the sausage, breaking it up with a spoon as it cooks

- When the sausage has cooked completely, add the tomato sauce and stir well

- Add in the arugula and cook until it wilts down. I know 3 cups seems like a lot but it does shrink considerably as it cooks

- Once the arugula has wilted, add in the cream cheese and stir

- When the cream cheese has completed melted, add in the grated parmesan

- Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary

- Serve on top of your baked potatoes and enjoy!

Balsamic Roasted Vegetables and Sausage

Hey everyone! I know it's been a while since I've posted a recipe (mostly because these days I'm not trying anything new!) But I have a great one for you today! I made this the other night and the husband and I both really enjoyed it. This was originally a recipe that I found on Pinterest but I tweaked it a little. Thanks to the husband who went to the store (twice) for me to get things I'd forgotten in order to make this. And thanks to whoever decided to build a Publix right across the street. It's super convenient for my forgetful pregnancy brain these days! Here's the recipe!

What you need (adapted from KayoticKitchen)

- 4 sausages (funny story about what I used below)
- 4-5 potatoes (I used red)
- 1 C baby carrots
- 1 red bell pepper
- 2 small onions
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled
- 2 T oil
- 1/2 C chicken broth (or veg. broth)
- 1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 4 T balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper

Directions

- Preheat oven to 425 degrees

- Cut all your vegetables however you like and place them in a roasting pan

 - In a small bowl, combine the oil, broth, vinegar and italian seasoning

- Pour the vinegar and spice mixture over the vegetables and stir well

- Season liberally with salt (the potatoes need it!) and pepper

- Roast for 40 minutes

- When the vegetables have about 10 minutes remaining, cook your sausage.

*Story time: I had bought organic chicken sausage for another recipe that I didn't end up making so I froze the sausage until later. Once I thawed it out it was in the fridge for a couple days before I went to use it for this recipe. Now, I don't know if it was actually "bad" but it sure smelled kinda funny to me (thank you pregnancy super nose) so I threw it out. Thus my husband's 2nd trip to the grocery store to get some more. This time around we got beef kielbasa and it was delicious. But feel free to use whatever you like and whatever smells good to you! *End story time.

- Once the sausage is browned, add to the vegetables and roast for 3-4 minutes. This allows the sausage to soak up some of the vinegar sauce.

- Remove and let cool a bit before serving. Stir well to get all the juices up from the bottom. 

- You can easily add other vegetables to this. Broccoli, green beans, sweet potatoes, squash...whatever you like!

- Enjoy!

Freezer Cooking Day 1

Have ya'll heard of freezer cooking? I'm sure you have and many of you have probably done it before. I myself have done a few freezer cooking days and have always benefited from the results! I decided to do one a few months ago just as a way to make it easier to decide what to make for dinner and also to help with my work schedule. It's really nice having something ready to go when I get home! I decided I would document the day with what recipes I decided to make and how I accomplished making them all. I hope it helps inspire you if you've thought about doing a freezer day before, or at least gives you some new recipes to try!


In order to keep myself from going insane, I prepared all of these meals over 2 days (Saturday and Sunday). On Saturday I did meals that required cooking (stovetop or oven) and then on Sunday I did the meals that didn't require any cooking. I really like splitting it up this way and I was able to make a TON of food and still keep my sanity. I am in no way an expert at doing this, but this is what worked for me! So here is what my Saturday cooking day looked like!

Here's a full list of everything I made (links to recipe by clicking on the title)
- Tortilla Soup (I left out the chicken to make it vegetarian and split into 2 meals)
- Bean and Rice Enchiladas (I made 2 batches, one regular and one with chicken added)
- Twice Baked Potatoes (I left out the green onions and made a total of 16 potato halves)
- Macaroni & Cheese (I made 2 batches. Prepare as directed until baking time. Then wrap and freeze.)
- Chicken Chili (Cook as directed minus spinach, then store in freezer bags)
- Granola (3 batches, store in airtight containers)

Here's how I mapped out my game plan:

Step 1: Drink coffee before starting. If you don't like coffee drink something with caffeine. It's going to be a loooong day!

Step 2: Since I used Saturday as my day to prepare anything that required the stove or oven, I started with the things that would take the longest. The most involved recipes are the tortilla soup, enchiladas, and the twice baked potatoes. 

I threw the potatoes in the oven first, since they had to bake for 1 hr

I started cooking my rice for the enchiladas

And lastly I got my tortilla soup going on the stove

 By the time my soup was finished, the potatoes were done and the rice had cooked and cooled. I bagged up the soup into freezer bags (split into 2, quart sized bags) and into the freezer and cut my potatoes in half to cool off a bit.

Step 3: I started boiling the water for my macaroni noodles, threw 2 chicken breasts in the oven (for enchiladas and chicken chili) and made the filling for the enchiladas.

Macaroni noodles

Chicken baking for enchiladas and chili

Enchilada filling

Step 4: I finished the macaroni and cheese, and placed it into foil pans and into the freezer. I put my hubby to work wrapping the first batch of (meatless) enchiladas and I started getting my ingredients together for the chicken chili.

2 pans of Mac and Cheese ready for the freezer!

The hubby helping me out!

Chopping away for the chicken chili

Step 5: Remove chicken from oven and shred. Add 1 chicken breast to the enchilada filling and set the other aside for the chicken chili. Start the chicken chili, husband finishes wrapping the 2nd batch of enchiladas and while the chicken chili simmers, make granola.

Chicken Chili simmering on the stove

Making 3 batches of yummy granola!

Step 6: While granola is baking, finish the chicken chili and divide into freezer bags (I split it into 2, quart sized bags like the tortilla soup). Start washing those dishes!!

Step 7: When all three batches of granola are finished, have the husband finish the dishes and clean-up and put your feet up and REST! More to do tomorrow!

Baked Potato Soup

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE SOUP! I don't care if it's blazing hot outside I always enjoy a bowl of soup and it's one of the most versatile and inexpensive meals there is. Soup is also a great meatless option and there are always puh-lenty of leftovers for the husband to take for work lunches. What's not to love? This particular soup is creamy, filling and oh so delicious and the torrential downpour outside made this an extra cozy dinner at the Brown house! 

What you need (adapted from Annie's Eats)

- 5-6 small potatoes (I used yukons)
- 4 T unsalted butter
- 1/2 C GF all purpose flour, divided
- 6 cups milk (I used 2 cups half n half and the rest almond milk)
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 C shredded cheddar cheese
- salt and pepper to taste
Toppings:
bacon
green onions
sour cream

*NOTE: Please ignore the onion in this picture. I was going to use it but ended up using onion powder instead to keep the texture as creamy as possible.*

Directions

- Cook the potatoes until almost fork tender, drain and set aside. You could use regular baking potatoes if you have those on hand as well. I like to under-bake the potatoes a little because they will cook some more once you add them to the soup.

- In a large stockpot or dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat

- Add in 1/4 C of the flour and whisk to form a paste. Cook until golden, about 2-3 minutes

- Add in the milk, whisking constantly so it doesn't scald

- Add in the remaining 1/4 C of flour and cook until thick, about 8-10 minutes

- Add in the onion powder and garlic powder

- Chop your cooked potatoes into bite size pieces, and add to milk mixture

- Add in the shredded cheese and a bit of salt and pepper. Stir until melted

- Add in the cayenne pepper (You can omit this if you don't like spice...I think a little heat is nice in such a rich soup)

- Prepare your toppings

- Taste the soup to check your seasonings and add more if needed

- Serve with a nice salad and enjoy!

Shepherd's Pie

This was one of the first recipes I made when then husband and I were just married. I was trying to embrace his love of casseroles (I don't like them much) and come up with one dish dinners that were easy and tasty. That's all a newly married woman wants really...and easy and delicious dinner that her husband will ask for again and again. Well, this is mine! Next to a good steak, this is usually the husband's dinner request. It's on our menu at least once a month and is also a great meal to have stored in the freezer. Now for all you purists out there, I know Shepherd's Pie is traditionally made with ground lamb, but we don't do lamb in the Brown household so technically this would be called Cottage Pie. Call it what you like and hopefully you'll enjoy it as much as we do!

What you need

- 4 large baking potatoes or 5-6 small ones
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1.5 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 C carrots
- 1 C peas
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 T white rice flour
- 1/2 C broth (I used chicken)
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley



Directions

- Start by making the mashed potatoes. I used small yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed and then boiled in salt water until fork tender

- Add whatever you like in your potatoes and mash until desired consistency. I used a bit of milk, sour cream, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Set aside.

- In a large skillet or Dutch Oven, heat 1 tsp oil of your choice (I used coconut) over medium heat

- Add in the onions and the sugar and stir well. This will help the onions to caramelize

- When the onions have caramelized (about 7 minutes) add in the ground beef and brown

- Add in the garlic, carrots and peas and cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender

- Add in 1 T of white rice flour and the rosemary. Stir well

- Add in the chicken broth (or you could use beef or vegetable...whatever you have!) and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. That's lots of good flavor! Taste the mixture and add salt and pepper to your liking.

*NOTE: When I'm making this for the husband I sometimes will substitute a dark beer for the broth. He LOVES the flavor it adds but I don't care for it (I HATE BEER!!) So that's definitely an option too!

- When the mixture becomes thick and bubbly, transfer to a greased baking dish

- Top with the mashed potatoes you made earlier

- Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Take out of the oven and top with cheese and dried parsley

- Return to oven for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese melt and starts to bubble

- Serve up a big plate for the husband and enjoy!

Freezer Meal Instructions
- Follow recipe up until baking. Instead, layer in a freezer safe dish (I like using the foil pans) and cover  tightly with foil. When ready to serve, thaw out completely and then bake for 25 minutes, add the cheese and parsley and bake for another 10 minutes. Easy!