Turkey Gnocchi Soup

What is gnocchi and how do you pronounce it?  Doesn't matter...it is good! YUMO!

Gnocchi  N(Y)OK-ee - The word gnocchi may be derived from the Italian word nocchio, meaning a knot in wood, or from nocca, meaning knuckle.  It has been a traditional type of Italian pasta.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 3 medium carrots, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 cups water
• 3 teaspoons reduced-sodium chicken base
• 3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 package (16 ounces) potato gnocchi
• 2 cups cubed cooked turkey breast
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions
1. In a Dutch oven, heat butter over medium heat. Add carrots; cook and stir 8-10 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.

2. Stir in water, chicken base and Italian seasoning; bring to a boil. Add gnocchi. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 3-4 minutes or until gnocchi float. Stir in turkey, peas and pepper; heat through. Top servings with cheese.

Freeze option: Freeze cooled soup in freezer containers. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Heat through in a saucepan, stirring occasionally and adding water if necessary.

TUPPS TIDBITS:   needed more salt/pepper

Warm homemade soup. It was perfect on a cold rainy day! Enjoy.  

This recipe is a KEEPER at our house!👍

Mu Shu-Style Chicken

There is no need to order take-out when you can make this at home. It is simple and bursting with flavor and all cooked in the crockpot!  Remember to use Easy Cleanup Liners in your crockpot.  They line the crockpot before you add the ingredients. These liners are great for any crockpot recipe since it cuts down on the after-dinner dishes. 

1/2 cup hoisin sauce
2 Tbsp. water
4 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. reduced sodium soy sauce
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 14-16 oz. pkg. shredded cabbage with carrots (coleslaw mix)

1 cup coarsely shredded carrots
12 oz. skinless, boneless chicken thighs, thinly sliced
6 8-inch warm flour tortillas
Sliced green onions

Directions:

For the sauce, in a small bowl combine the first 6 ingredients (through garlic). In your  3 1/2- or 4-qt. slow cooker combine coleslaw mix and shredded carrots.  Place chicken on top of cabbage mix.  Drizzle with 1/4 cup of the sauce.  Cover & cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours. 

To serve it, use a slotted spoon, spoon chicken mixture down center of tortillas (discard cooking liquid).  Drizzle with remaining sauce.  Top with green onions.  This should make 6 servings. 1 wrap each.

Tupps Tidbits:   We renamed this to Mu "Sean" (with egg roll on the side)

There was unbelievable flavor with this one and all wrapped in a warm tortilla.  It was definitely a KEEPER recipe in our house! 👍

Pork Chops with Mustard Cream Sauce

It’s nice to have a quick and easy dinner idea in your back pocket. We thought this zippy sauce would add personality to otherwise straightforward pork chops.  

Before you can make awesome pork chops, you are going to need awesome pork. And no, cheap pork chops.  We’re talking about pork from a trusted, ideally local, well established place which care for their pigs well before they become pork. If the meat is from a reputable source, the pigs were probably better fed and better cared for, and this will reflect in the flavor of the finished dish.

  
4 (4-oz.) boneless pork chops
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
2/3 cup fat-free half and half
1 Tbsp. mustard
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

1. Sprinkle both sides of pork with salt and pepper.
2. Heat large nonstick skillet over medium-high and coat pan with cooking spray. 
3. Add pork and cook 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until lightly browned and done. 
4. Transfer pork to a serving plate and keep warm. 
5. Add broth to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in half and half, mustard, and lemon juice.  Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 6 minutes or until sauce is slightly thick. 
6.  Spoon sauce over pork; sprinkle with fresh parsley.

Tupps Tidbits: One of the easiest ways to choose lean cuts of pork is to look for "loin" or "chop" in the name.  Using fat-free half & half gives this dish a creamy, rich flavor that you can't get with fat-free milk .

Although our pork chops were awesome, this recipe as definitely NOT A KEEPER!👎

Light Queso Dip

EASY Skinny Cheese Dip recipe that has less fat and less calories than a typical queso dip recipe. Save for your Super Bowl night coming up soon!🏈

1 lb. lean ground turkey
1 small onion diced
1 pkt. taco seasoning
2 Tbsp. butter
2 1/2 Tbsp. flour
1 1/2 c. skim milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
4 oz. sharp cheddar shredded
4 oz. can diced jalapeños drained

Instructions

1. In a large non-stick skillet, saute the ground turkey and onion until there is no longer any pink in the meat. Stir in the taco seasoning.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and whisk in the flour. Continue whisking as you cook for 2 minutes.
3. Very slowly, add the milk as you continue to whisk vigorously. When all of the milk has been incorporated, stir in the salt and pepper. Fold in the sharp cheddar until it is all melted.
4. Stir in the ground meat and onion mixture along with the diced jalapeños.
5. Serve immediately with chips or keep warm throughout your party in a small crock pot.

Tupps Tidbits:  Make your own chips with corn tortillas and have a healthy snack.

This recipe is definitely a KEEPER!! 👍 

Easy Gingerbread Pancakes

WELCOME 2020 TWO! 

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.”—Albert Einstein 

I’m Deanna, food eater & writer of the blog. Hope you got your fill of cookies & holiday leftovers because it's time to return to the real world of everyday eating. Over the course of 2022, we are going to share with you 52 new recipes. We will make one NEW recipe a week, taste it & decide  if it is a Keeper” or “NOT” in our house. 👍👎

We started off 2022 with this awesome pancake recipe. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. It took some molasses & spices and turned an ordinary pancake mix into a special breakfast. They were so easy to make and we had all the ingredients on hand.

2 cups complete pancake mix
4 teaspoons molasses
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1-1/2 cups water
Maple syrup, optional

Directions
1. In a small bowl, combine the pancake mix, molasses, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Stir in water just until dry ingredients are moistened.
2. Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a greased hot griddle; turn when bubbles form on top. Cook until the second side is golden brown. Serve with syrup if desired.

Tupps Tidbits: We added some blackberries and bacon for the sides! 

This recipe is definitely a keeper in our house! 👍

Easy Toffee Shortbread

Melt in your mouth shortbread cookie recipe, filled with toffee bits and so much more!  The recipe is called Easy Toffee Shortbread for a reason.  This is also the best shortbread cookie recipe out there. It is a very basic recipe, no need to refrigerate the dough prior to baking.  You can be creative with all of the goodies you can add to the dough and the toppings!  So many options, so little time!

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt

    Options to add to shortbread:
    3/4 cup toffee bits
    3/4 cup chocolate or butterscotch chips
    1/4-1/2 cup peppermints/crushed candy canes
    1/2-1/3 cup craisins or pistachios

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325.  Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or cooking spray.  
2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, cornstarch and salt, set aside.
3. Make sure the butter is room temperature & soft.  Grab a medium bowl and cream the butter, vanilla and powered sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Hand mixer on low speed is best.  
4. Gradually blend in the flour mixture and it will come together as a dough.  As it thickens grab a spoon to finish off.
5. Stir in Heath toffee bits or whatever option you have decided to use, if any.
6. Scoop the dough into 1/2 to 2 inch rounds & flatten cookies slightly or rollout dough until 1/2 inch thick and use cookie cutters to make desired cookie shapes.
7. Place cookies about 1 1/2 inches apart & bake for about 20-25 minutes until the edges are just starting to brown.
8. Allow cookies to cool for 5 minutes before removing them on to wire rack to cool.

Tupps Tidbits:  Bake for only 20 minutes and they were done completely.  It made 2 dozen.

We used the Heath Toffee bits the first time we made these and they turned out perfect!

Can't wait to try peppermints or craisins and add then to the "annual" Christmas cookie tray!

Not saying, but saying, Tupps loved having them with his morning coffee.  

DEFINATLEY A KEEPER in our house!

Sweet 'n' tangy Salad Dressing

There are endless rows of bottled dressings at the grocery store. Depending on the kind, they are usually high in fat, sugar or both -- and they all have too much sodium. You may think it’s wise to opt for the lower-calorie offerings but light and low-fat dressings often have even more sugar to make up for the lack of flavor. To ensure you're getting real ingredients, homemade is the way to go, but watch those portions! Keep serving sizes to a tablespoon.

2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. white vinegar
1/4 cup condensed tomato soup, undiluted
2 Tbs. mayonnaise
2 Tbs. ketchup
2 Tbs. sugar (or Splenda)
2 Tbs. brown sugar (or  Splenda-brown sugar)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground mustard
1/4 tsp. paprika

Tupps Tidbits:  You can store most homemade dressings in the fridge for up to a week (not that a batch will last that long!).   You could heat up the remaining tomato soup with 3/4 cup milk for a simple no-fuss soup and salad lunch.

This zesty salad dressing was an easy fix and we would say the taste was a cross between Thousand Island & French dressing. We swapped out the sugar & brown sugar for Splenda sweetener. This recipe is a keeper in our house!