Salmon and Wild Rice Chowder

I needed a healthy meal the day after I ate several cookies, handfuls of M&Ms, spinach dip and bread, chips and pretzels and let's not forget the beers I drank too.  In my defense, the beers were berry flavored, so I counted them as my fruit serving for the day! 

I am always looking for ways to spice up salmon, because I love it and it isn't one of my husband's favorites. This chowder has SO MANY tasty fresh ingredients  and the great thing is, you could almost choose any seafood to place in here.  In fact, when I asked hubby what I could do to improve upon the recipe, he recommended using shrimp instead.  Next time, he can make the damn meal!

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon butter
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup red pepper (I buy a jar of red and yellow peppers and just use those)
1 cup fresh or frozen green beans, cut into 1-inch piece
1-1/2 teaspoons dill weed (haha...what a dill weed!)
Salt and Pepper to taste (if you like spicy, some Cajun seasoning may be good too)
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup cooked wild rice (I keep a bag of wild rice in the freezer, and just pull out what I need)
12-ounces skinless salmon fillets, cut into 1-inch pieces
Cooked bacon, crumbled (I had some left over from breakfast, so I just threw it in. Like  
                                                  Corinne, bacon makes everything taste better!)

Thickening:
2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 cup fat free half & half (could use milk instead)

1.  Melt better in large saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion, red/yellow pepper and green beans.  Cook and stir for 5 minutes.  Stir in dill, salt and pepper.  Pour in broth and bring to a simmer. 

2.  Add wild rice and salmon to saucepan.  Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 6 to 8 minutes or until salmon flakes easily when tested with fork.  (If using shrimp, you might not want to cook as long, so the shrimp doesn't get too tough).  Throw in bacon if desired.

3.  In a separate small bowl, whisk flour into half-n-half until all the lumps are gone.  Stir into chowder to thicken.   

YUMMY!

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Slow Cooker Chicken Dinner

Sitting on the couch on a weeknight around 10:00 pm...suddenly I remembered I was supposed to prepare this dish for the following night's meal! In fear of having to come up with another idea for the next night's dinner...I dragged myself off the couch and forced my husband to help me chop the vegetables for this amazing one-pot meal. It was ready to go by 10:15 so I could hit the hay (yes, I'm lame and go to bed that early). This dish is great and you can prepare it the night before, put it in the fridge, and then in the morning turn the crockpot on before you head to work. The chicken and vegetables are very tender and flavorful - not to mention the house smells amazing when you walk in the door from work!

Ingredients:
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 pound potatoes, cut into cubes
- 4 medium carrots, cut into cubes
- 1 medium onion, cut into cubes
- 1 t. dried parsley
- 1 t. salt
- 1 T. honey
- 1/4 t. pepper
- 4 T. melted butter
- 2 T. paprika
- 1 T. lemon juice
- 1 t. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 t. cumin
- 3/4 cup chicken stock or water

1. Cut potatoes, carrots, and onion into bite-sized cubes. Toss vegetables together with parsley, salt, pepper, and 2 Tablespoons of the melted butter. Place in the bottom of your slow cooker.

2. Combine remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter, paprika, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, honey, cumin and a dash of salt in a small bowl. Rub chicken breasts with the paprika mixture and place chicken breasts on top of the vegetables in the slow cooker.

3. Pour in chicken stock or water just to keep the vegetables and chicken moist while cooking.

4. Cover and cook on High for 3-4 hours or on Low for 7-9 hours until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender.

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Sausage Sauerkraut Bites

I know I know...right now you're probably saying "Sauerkraut...ewwww!! Scary!!". That used to be me...until I tried these delicious sausage sauerkraut bites. I first got this recipe from my mom and now I make them on New Years Eve because they are so good and I can feel like I'm getting the sauerkraut in! You can make them ahead of time and then heat them up in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Ingredients:
- 16 oz. pork sausage meat
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 jar sauerkraut (32 oz.) drained & pressed dry
- 4 T. bread crumbs
- 6 oz. cream cheese
- 1/2 t. garlic powder
- 1/2 t. pepper
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup breadcrumbs

*make sure the sauerkraut is drained and pressed dry. I usually put it in a strainer and then squeeze all of the liquid out of it before adding it into the recipe.

1. Cook sausage meat and onion in a medium-high heat pan.

2. When sausage and onion mixture is cooked, mix in a bowl with cream cheese, 4 T. of breadcrumbs, garlic powder, pepper, and sauerkraut. Place in the refrigerator for 2 hours (or more).

3. When refrigerated, shape mixture into balls.

4. Set out three bowls and place the flour in one bowl, eggs in another, and breadcrumbs in the third bowl. Place the balls first into the flour, then the egg mixture, then the breadcrumbs. When coated, place into a medium-high heat pan with olive oil on the bottom.

5. Brown all sides of the sauerkraut bites in the pan. When finished, serve with spicy brown mustard. Enjoy!

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Turkey Enchiladas

This year I cooked my first Thanksgiving meal and in my preparation, I turned to my brother for advice. He recommended a 6 pound turkey breast for our Thanksgiving meal for 4 people…what was he thinking?! We had so much f’ing turkey leftover…I can only eat so many turkey sandwiches man!  I was relieved to come across this recipe to use some of my leftovers…Mexican style!

The recipe calls for gravy (Gravy? Did she say gravy?) to put inside the enchiladas to keep the turkey moist. I thought this was crazy…but you have to try it! The turkey was so moist and had that kick of extra flavor. If it’s not that time of year when you have turkey and gravy sitting around…substitute chicken and enchilada sauce for a more traditional enchilada.

Ingredients:
- 3 cups roasted turkey, chopped into small cubes
-  ½ cup gravy
- ½ onion, chopped and sauted
- 1 small can chopped green chiles
- 1 T. cumin
- 1 cup shredded cheese
- ½ jar enchilada sauce

1. In a bowl, mix the chopped turkey, gravy, sauted onion, green chiles, cumin, and a 1/2 cup of shredded cheese.

2. Spoon mixture onto the center of a tortilla and then roll up and place seam side down in a glass casserole dish. With this amount of filling, I was able to make 6 pretty big enchiladas. But if you're using smaller tortillas, you could probably make about 10.

 3. Pour half a can of enchilada sauce on top of the rolled up tortillas, and top with the other 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350.

4. Serve with your favorite spanish rice. Possible toppings: lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sour cream, guacamole.

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KJ Sausage Stew

My friend Kimberly told me about this dish and it sounded so good, I just had to try it!  It was so delish, I decided to name it after her.   While I was at the grocery store, I couldn't remember what kind of vegetables she used, so I just decided to use what I liked and what sounded tasty.  I will list the veggies I used and what she uses and you can pick and choose what you want when you try this yummiest of yummy recipes! 

Since I used chicken sausage, reduced sodium chicken broth and low fat balsamic vinaigrette dressing, it is not only low in carbs (the chicken sausage has 0), but good for Weight Watchers.  Each serving (approximately 1-1/2 cups) came out to be 5 points using the Recipe Builder function of Weight Watchers website.
 

Ingredients:

1 cup baby carrots cut in bite size pieces
1 small zucchini, cut in bite size pieces
1 cup chopped onion
1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut in 1 inch pieces
1-1/2 cups fresh mushrooms, halved
2 teaspoons Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Basil
1-1/2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 lb chicken sausage links, cut in 1" pieces
1/3 cup Light balsamic vinaigrette dressing

KJ Veggie variation:
(carrotts, small potatoes, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, cauliflower, yellow squash)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
 1.  Mix all veggies and spices in a 9x13 glass baking dish.  Pour chicken broth over veggies and bake in oven for 50 minutes (uncovered). 

2.  Cut up chicken sausage and brown in skillet until crispy. 

3.  After the veggies bake, stir in sausage and pour balsamic vinaigrette over top. 

4.  Bake for another 60 minutes.  Numnumnumnumnum....

Salmon Cakes

This is a good way to eat fish with a little more favor.  Plus anytime you can add my favorite ingredients of mushrooms, onions and bacon..it's a good day!  I also entered this recipe in Weight Watcher's Recipe Builder and each Salmon cake is only 2 Points.

Now, one caveat...When I'm cooking I don't always measure ingredients, but this is my best guess.  If it doesn't turn out, then it must be your fault, not mine. :-) 

First, go out and catch your own salmon as demonstrated below:

Ingredients:

2 pouches Pink Salmon, skinless & boneless (if you don't want to use the method above)
1/2 cup fresh mushrooms, cut in small pieces
1/3 cup cocktail sauce
4 slices crisp cooked bacon, cut in small pieces
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/3 seasoned breadcrumbs.  I like to use Panko
1 egg
Parsley, Pepper, garlic powder

1. Mix together salmon, egg, cocktail sauce, onions, bread crumbs and spices.



This is really a Rorschach test...if you see Donald Duck getting bludgeoned by an ax, seek immediate psychiatric help; I just made my appointment.



 
2.  Cut up bacon into small pieces and fry to desired crispness.  Drain and add to mixture above.

3.  I ALWAYS use fresh mushrooms and in my opinion, if you don't, you should just stop here and go curl up in the fetal position in your living room. 

Cut up in small pieces and saute for a few minutes in the same pan you used for bacon, with just a little bacon grease.  Then add to the mixture above. 


4.  Mix all ingredients together and form into small patties, about 3" in diameter.  Coat each side with Panko bread crumbs. 

5.  Heat about 1-2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil in frying pan and fry each side of the cakes for a couple minutes.  Serve with favorite side...

World Famous Guacamole

OK, so it’s not “World Famous” yet, but I’ve had a lot of requests for my guacamole from friends who would go so far as to lick the guacamole bowl at the end of a party (you know who you are!).

The simpler the better for guacamole, it’s all about the natural avocado flavor so don’t overdo it. When I have it in the house, I chop up a few pieces of bacon to add to the guacamole and it’s very tasty, but don’t go out of your way to get bacon at the grocery store, the guacamole is still very delicious without it. This recipe feeds 3-4 people as a snack or appetizer.

Ingredients:
-  2 avocadoes, diced
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 t. cumin
- Salt and pepper
- ¼ cup diced red onion
- 2 slices cooked bacon, chopped

1. Carefully cut the avocado in half and then slice it in a criss-cross pattern inside the skin.

2. Spoon out the avocado pieces into a bowl, mix with cilantro, cumin, red onion, bacon, salt & pepper, and lime juice.

3. Mix together with a fork until creamy but still a little chunky. If it needs more flavor, try adding a little bit more pepper or cumin. Serve with tortilla chips and remember to lick the bowl! 

Welcome to Cheese Blondue!

Welcome to Cheese Blondue, your one-stop shop for some kick ass recipes created by this mother-daughter blonduo.

Your first question: Is this a blog only about cheese?
Answer: No! Cheese Blondue will cover a wide array of recipes (with and without cheese) but its not all about cheese...although if you don't like cheese you should probably seek professional help because there's something wrong with you.

Anyways...Cheese Blondue is the brainchild of blondes Julie (Mom) and Corinne (Daughter) who both enjoy cooking and recipe sharing with family, friends, and each other. Julie lives in Raleigh, NC and Corinne is in Columbus, OH so recipe sharing is a way for us to connect and share our interests from a distance. We love all types of food but Julie is experimenting with low-carb, low fat cooking so you may notice her recipes take into consideration these levels. Corinne enjoys healthy cooking too...but sometimes things are just better with bacon. We've got you covered on a wide spectrum of healthy and fattening tasty food!

At times, we will take recipes we find and alter them to our liking; either to add or omit ingredients based on our tastes, or to make them low carb or Weight Watchers-friendly.  Julie doesn't eat beef, nor does she cook it (also known as high maintenance).  Corinne doesn't like sour cream, cream cheese or eggs. Seriously, what is wrong with her?

Now, just because we are blondes, does not mean we are dingy!  In fact, we will astound you with our knowledge!  For instance, did you know that "T" means Tablespoon and "t" means teaspoon?  Oh, you did?  Well aren't you quite the brainiac!  Listen, no one likes a pompous showoff! 

We hope you enjoy reading our blog and maybe even trying some of our recipes! 

Enjoy,

Julie & Corinne