Rip offs...can sometimes be a good thing!!

Ok, so I am sitting here beginning to write about one of my favorite things that's taken me awhile to get just right before I could share it with you all! PS, I started this at 8:21pm and now it is 12:02am the next day...clearly I cannot get my thoughts together today. SMH...anyway...

Ever hear of this restaurant called Olive Garden...? Haha, of course you have! I am obsessed with their Zuppa Toscana soup, as well as their salad, breadsticks etc...I have wanted (and tried many times) to recreate this fantastic soup in my home, but it's been surprisingly more difficult than expected. After many BAD batches, burned fingers and finally switching out a few ingredients to make this significantly healthier, I think this one is the golden ticket!

So, read below about MY version of Zuppa Toscana, which is much healthier but equally as delicious, as well as my recipe for homemade Italian dressing! Enjoy friends!

Ingredients:
- 2 small yellow onions
- 1 package turkey sausage (sweet, hot or plain)
- 1 large bunch of Kale
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 20 oz of chicken or vegetable stock
- 1 quart of water
- 3 Russet potatoes
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt

Turkey Sausage Seasoning (to make it taste more like the gross sausage. haha)
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp of dried dill (or thyme, or skip it if you don't have any of these..no worries!)

Ok, so here are the instructions...ready?!?

STEP 1: You need to de-case (not sure if that's a real phrase/word or not but oh well...) the turkey sausage. In my case, I got the sweet turkey sausage. They look and taste pretty close to the real dealio but I have added my turkey sausage seasoning above to add more of a kick if you want. To de-case (there's that word again) the sausage, just take the sausage and squeeze it. The meat will come out, probably both ends. And this is where I shall stop the description because this is sounding gross. :-/ Ha!

The kind of Turkey Sausage I get!

Split open the sausage casing and squeeze the contents into a large pot.

STEP 2: Add your chopped up garlic to the pot along with your 3 TBSP of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and start cooking your sausage over high heat and mash up with a potato masher or spatula to break it up. You want it in bite size chunks when it goes into the crock pot. Cook until just done, slightly pink still. 

Add caption

STEP 3: Chop up your yellow onions and add them into the sausage, garlic and EVOO mixture. Add the salt and pepper here as well. Continue to cook over medium/high heat until onions are starting to become tender and all the meat is cooked through. 

Sausage, onions, garlic and EVOO

STEP 4: Add your turkey sausage seasonings. This is an optional step since some people might want a milder flavor. I wanted a true sausage/rich flavoring in mine, so I added the above spices/seasonings to achieve that. You want to make sure not to overcook the turkey since it's so lean. It doesn't have the fat that regular sausage or beef has, which makes it healthier, but also can make it more finicky to cook with. Stir over med/high heat until well incorporated and add into your crockpot. Pull out your bunch of Kale and chop into strips/bite sized pieces. Set aside, you won't use this until towards the very end. 

KALE!!!!!

STEP 5: Rinse out your pot that you had your turkey, garlic, and onions in. There's no need to wash it since we are combining all of these steps anyway :-) Pour 20oz of chicken stock, 1 quart (4 cups for those of you who aren't math wizards haha) and cook until simmering on the stove. Pull out your 3 russet potatoes, wash and dry them and cut them length wise (hot dog way for us that need that visual from elementary school!) and then slice in half moon shapes. I wouldn't go thicker than 1/4 or an inch or so. But honestly, no one will be measuring. Then pop those puppies into the pot of chicken stock and water and cook for 2-3 minutes. 

You can use russet, red skin, or yukon gold potatoes. I like the russet since it's original to the recipe from OG

Half moon shapes baby!

Put them in the hot tub and let them relax for a few

STEP 6: Once the potatoes have relaxed in their hot tub for 2-3 minutes, pull out a strainer spoon and put the potatoes into the crockpot with your turkey sausage deliciousness. 

Strain and add to crockpot. Don't worry, they won't be too delicate to handle

STEP 7: Continue to let the broth cook and add in a cup of plain, greek yogurt. I believe the original OG recipe calls for almost 2 cups of heavy cream...yeah, that's not gonna work for me. So, I've found that plain greek yogurt adds an awesome flavor in place of sour cream, butter, milk and even heavy cream. Not in everything, but in lots of things. Pour that into the simmering pot of broth and wisk your little heart out until it's well incorporated. Don't let it sit too long or it will start to separate. 

I love the meijer plain greek yogurt

Yes, my pots and oven are old. Don't judge. And please don't just plop the yogurt down in there like I did.
You will get burned. And it will hurt. 

Wisk away!

STEP 8: Dang, step 8? Ugh, I promise in real life, it didn't take this long. But I guess when I'm having to write out all my thoughts, steps, processes, rabbit trails and such...it does take longer. :-) I did all of this in less than 30 min...just for those of you that are starting to freak out seeing "STEP 8". Anyway, I digress...Step 8 is pouring the combination of broth and yogurt into the crockpot. Once you pour it into the crock pot give it a stir, turn the heat onto high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-6 hours. 

I like to stir with a ladle at first

YUM!!! Resist the urge to eat this now, let it simmer and cook for awhile first!

STEP 9: Phew!!! Under 10 steps! YES!!!! The last step is to enjoy this amazeballs soup in your favorite white pottery barn bowl, or a sweet dollar store bowl like we do in our house! Haha. 

You guys...I mean, come on....amazing. 

I just died. It's so freaking good. Just try it. And it's WAY better for you! Add some crusty french bread, oh man.

Sooooo....there it is!! There is my finalized recipe for my all time fav soup from the OG. I served this to my family with a salad with iceberg lettuce, croutons and my homemade vinaigrette. Speaking of which, I didn't take pics along the way but my homemade vinaigrette is so good! And it pairs well with the soup too. It has some balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar, honey, garlic powder, dried basil, dijon mustard, olive oil, rosemary and salt and pepper. Not sure about measurements, will give those another time!! :-) 

Thanks for reading. Let me know how you like it! 

XOXO

AJ

Sassy Salted Caramel Corn...yep, it's bad for you...

Welp...October is here. In full swing folks. Yuck. I know I talked about it in my post last week about the cold/cough/allergy/hit-by-a-truck feeling, but oh my goodness has October reared it's ugly head. And please, don't get me wrong, I LOVE fall in the mitten, but the cold and rainy days and nights and minutes are already starting to get to me. :-) I know, I've got a long winter ahead of me.

Anyyywaayyyyy, I wanted to share one of my favorite "fall in the mitten" items to make, salted caramel corn. It's just so freaking good to not share. I've debated about giving out my recipe, but many are similar so I guess it's ok. And as long as y'all will promise to love it and treat it with respect, I'm happy to share. 

My lovely and dear sister, Erin, has taught me how to pop popcorn right on the stove. Please do not insult this delicious recipe by using bagged micro popcorn, gross. Just grab some unpopped popcorn kernels from the store (I got mine from whole foods because my seester told me too) and get to work with a big pot. I didn't do step by step instructions for this because it's that easy. 

1. Grab your pot

2. Turn on your burner

3. Put a tablespoon or so of coconut oil, butter or whatever wets your appetite into the pot

4. Cover the bottom in a SINGLE layer of the kernels

5. Cover and turn the heat to high. If you follow my instructions, you won't have any unpopped kernels. It's amazing. 

It should look like this!! Yummy

Then you have popcorn all ready for the deliciousness that is about to follow...

So, this recipe is a combination of many triumphs, failures and experiments in the kitchen. I am obsessed with caramel corn, but I also love salt...and the stuff I would get around town here just wasn't cutting it. So, I compiled my own. I even compared my recipe to some on Pinterest. Mine seems pretty easy, cheap and fun like many of them on Pinterest. 

Ingredients Needed:

- 1/4C Light Corn Syrup (yes Erin, I know...)

- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract (the real stuff people...the fake crap comes from raccoons bums...I know you don't believe me...look it up)

- 2 tsp Sea Salt 

- 1 C Brown Sugar

- 1/4 tsp Baking Soda

- Popped popcorn (10-12 cups)

- 1/2C or 1 stick SALTED butter

- 2 baking sheets lined with foil

- Cooking Spray

So, step 1/2 is...make sure your family likes caramel corn. I would hate to have you go through all this work only for your family to not like it. :-) Although, that could be good...more for you...?

** STEP 1 **

Step 1: Melt your half stick of butter into a large pot and while you're waiting, preheat your oven for 300 degrees F and line two baking sheets with foil. I'll explain later...

** STEP 2 ** 

Step 2: Add the brown sugar and corn syrup. Stir with a WOODEN spoon.

** STEP 3 **

Step 3: Cook that mixture until it's bubbling a bit. Then decrease the heat so the mixture is simmering and let it simmer there for 4 minutes. Do NOT stir during these 4 min. And please, FOR THE LOVE, do not sit there and try and sniff this delicious smelling concoction...because that my friends, is caramel. It will bubble. It will pop. And we don't have eye washing stations in our kitchens do we? 

** STEP 4 **

Step 4: Yay! Now you can stir it! Continue to cook the golden brown sugary goodness for another 5 minutes or so, stirring often so it doesn't stick to your pan. You'll know when it's done because of the dark golden brown color and amazing smell :-)

** STEP 5 **

Step 5: Now folks, turn off your heat. If you are using an electric stove, please completely remove your pot from the flat glass top or coil burner, or the bottom of your caramel WILL burn. Add the salt and stir. Don't be afraid of how much salt it looks like, this caramel is covering A LOT of popcorn...and the name is salted caramel corn...duh. Along with the salt, add the vanilla and baking soda and combine together. 

** STEP 6 **

Step 6: Now is the time!!! Add in your beautifully popped popcorn! I just like to pour mine straight in like this...

** STEP 7 **

Step 7: I know you're thinking, "Anna, that's crazy...do a little at a time!" Well, here's the dealio and down low about that...from personal experience, this creates a very sticky and horrible situation...especially for the caramel. :-) It cools off too much and then won't coat the rest. Sad day. So just start folding the caramel over the popcorn. It WILL be sticky, it WILL be thick and hard to stir...but I promise you those sweet and salty little popcorn babies will be worth it. 

** STEP 8 **

Step 8: Many think this is unnecessary but I disagree...I think this step is what makes this popcorn so awesome. You will now spread this heap of sugary popcorn equally between your two lined cookie sheets. Please remember to spray the sheets with the baking spray or you won't be a happy camper.

** STEP 9 **

Step 9: Yeah, sorry that pic is so blurry. I was trying to keep a husband, mother in law, 2 kids and a very eager dog away from this stuff...anyway, last step is to cook in increments of 5 min. This is the step that creates the smooth yet crunchy caramel coating evenly over all popped corn kernels. Just gently stir between timers. I like to do a total of about 15 min, so 3 rounds of 5 min timers...not too shabby. 

And then...it should look like this pic above...

Victory! So so so so sooooo good! It will get stuck in your teeth, you will get sticky hands, have the dog chasing you when you have some in a bowl...but it's worth it! 

I feel that I should give the silly disclaimer of not being responsible for those of you who just don't listen to my instructions and then burn your mouth, fingers or face...so here goes...

** I will not assume responsibility for silliness that causes burns, broken teeth or burned hands **

Ok ok, I'm only half kidding with that statement above. I hope you enjoy!! This is a great gift to throw in with a meal for a friend, family member or family with a new baby. Fairly easy to make, horrible for you to eat but yet so so good. Enjoy!!

AJ

Stop Coughing on meeee!!!!

Oh man! Ladies and gents, it's been awhile....over 6 months in fact! I have had so much going on, good and bad, and this little blog has definitely been on the back burner. But now that I've cleaned other things out of my life I needed my "creative outlet" back again...you know you're excited!! :)

So...in case you haven't realized because of the abnormally warm temps we've been having here in Western Michigan, it's fall people! Time to drag out the leaf garlands, pumpkins, corn stalks, gourds and fall-ish arrangements to spruce up our house!! It's also time to drag out the Nyquil, Claritin and tissues...because yes, fall is upon us....which means cold season is upon us.

Dangit! Just one year I would love to not have day after day after day of runny noses, sneezing, coughing and itchy/watery eyes. And for someone like me with allergies AND asthma...this is not a pleasant sight.

My, now 4 year old daughter Vaelyn, has been down and out with a nasty cold. Coughing, coughing and more freaking coughing. It's going around folks...so if you're reading this thinking "well, I for sure won't get this cold" umm...think again. My kid will probably be the one to accidentally cough on you and share her lovely cold with you. And when you DO catch it, you'll know how much my poor little pumpkin has been suffering. Sneezing a bit, but the cough and itchy throat is what's been bothering her the most. I debated about cough syrups back and forth and I just didn't feel right about putting such strong meds/chemicals in her little body...thought I would try a more natural approach first. I had made something similar about 5 years ago or so, and thought I would experiment with it again and see what happened.

This recipe below is for my homemade cough remedy/cough syrup/allergy relief tonic or whatever you need it to do. It's sweet, all organic and natural and most of all...it tastes good and is GOOD for you. So, without further ado, I will share this wonderful recipe with y'all and hope that it works wonders for you and your family as it has with me and my kids tonight. V hasn't coughed in quite awhile now, so here's hoping! Ok wait....I literally just heard her cough twice as I finished that sentence. Ha! Make me a liar Vaelyn...thanks. :-)

Here are the instructions and recipe for this awesome remedy...

You will need:
- Raw, organic honey
- Coconut Oil (cold pressed, organic)
- Juice from 3 lemons
- 2 jars that close well
- Dried cranberries/cherries (optional)

This is my coconut oil I get from Costco for under $16. AWESOME!

1. Measure 1/4 cup of coconut oil and put it in your pan on medium heat until melted. 

2. Once your coconut oil is melted, add 3/4 cup of organic LOCAL honey. The local honey is so important because that will help build up antibodies in your system against local trees, shrubs, pollens etc that we develop allergies to. Stir together until well blended. 

Local, organic honey to help build up immunity to local allergens

I know this looks gross, but it's how the magic happens

3. Once well incorporated in your pot over medium heat, add the juice of 3 fresh lemons to your honey/coconut oil mixture. Make sure to stir consistently so you incorporate the ingredients together while heating evenly. 

To get the most juice out of a fresh lemon, roll it on the counter like a rolling pin to help loosen up all the juices inside 

4. Continue to stir and blend your three ingredients together until it's steaming and slightly bubbly. Once you start seeing bubbles, immediately remove your pot from the heat and set aside to cool. 

If you do get some seeds from the juice as you can see I did, just strain them out. Or keep them in for some texture!

Perfect heating temperature, this is when you need to remove from heat

Slightly cooled and ready to put into jars

5. Your pot should now look like the above pictured pot while it's cooling. Let it cool for about 5 minutes before transferring it to a well sealed jar for storage. I recommend not keeping it in your fridge longer than 3 months after making it...but it works so well, it'l be gone well before 3 month time has passed! :-) I usually do two different jars of the remedy...one plain and to the other one I usually add a handful of dried cherries or cranberries for extra flavor for the kids. 

"Cherry" remedy

Plain flavored

6. Wait for it to cool, and always shake and check the temperature before serving...especially to children. I like to serve it slightly warm, especially for a sore throat from coughing. You can do a teaspoon or a tablespoon, and take as often as you'd like...because it's made from REAL ingredients. And the best part? It works. 

I like to take a few tablespoons of this when I feel a tickle in my throat, feel a cold coming on, when my allergies are crazy bad, after raking leaves in the cold or sledding in the winter time. It's great to mix into a cup of tea, spread on toast or mix into a steamy cup of hot cider. The reason this works so well for allergies is because coconut oil alone does some amazing things for allergy sufferers. Read about all the awesomeness of coconut oil on this post here. That paired with some local, organic honey? Forget about it. Perfect. :-) Just try it. And for those of you that are eating raw, go ahead and blend all 3 ingredients together in a blender and don't worry about heating it up. It'll be a different consistency but it will still work!! Enjoy! 

Muah!!! XOXO

Anna