Recipe to Reality: Three Cheese Chicken Sausage and Orzo

I'm so glad that Candee has had some time to post and so sorry that I have been neglecting the blogosphere world! Between trying to close on a house and Hurricane Sandy, things have been less than normal here. I've still been cooking, but have all my pictures saved on a card until now when I can finally post :)

I have been really into cooking fast meals lately since our day-to-day life has been a little hectic!

I had a coupon for Johnsonville Fully Cooked Dinner Sausages, and went through some recipes on their website to see if anything struck my fancy.

I found a recipe for Three Cheese Italian Sausage with Orzo and Vegetables and went from there.

Here's What You'll Need!

• 1 small onion, chipped
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 2 tbs. olive oil
• 3/4 of a cup of orzo (pasta)
• 2 cups of chicken broth
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1 package of Johnsonville Fully Cooked Chicken Sausage

Put it All Together! 

1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic to the pan and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.

2. Slice sausage into pieces about 1/2 of an inch thick.

3. Add orzo to the pan with the onion and garlic, for about 4 minutes or until the orzo turns slightly brown.

4. Then add the chicken broth, chicken sausage and Italian seasoning. Mix ingredients until combined and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until most of the liquid has evaporated.

5. Stir and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.  

This was a quick and easy weeknight dinner that was packed full of flavor! Enjoy it! 

Recipe to Reality: Chocolate Chip Muffins for Sandy

Happy Saturday sweethearts! Today I'm here to share some delicious chocolate chip muffins from mybakingaddiction.com that I made this morning!

If you have been watching the news lately, you will know that the storm of the century is on it's way.....and some of it's most powerful winds and rains will be hitting in our area. I decided to make these muffins as a peace offering for Sandy, hehe.  I don't think that these will disappoint-they are light, sweet, chocolatey, and the perfect golden color.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick of butter, melted and COOLED (preferably unsalted, but I used salted and there wasn't an overpowering salty taste)
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and either line or grease a 12-muffin pan.
2) Whisk together the flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt.
3) Whisk the butter, eggs, milk, and vanilla extract. 
4) Create a well, or hole in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into it. Stir just to combine.
5) Fold in your chocolate chips.
6) Transfer the batter into the muffin liners, and bake for 17-20 minutes. 
7) Take your muffins out of the oven and let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving. 

Notice how "cooled" is in all caps in the ingredients list above-at first, I didn't let the melted butter cool off enough before mixing it with the eggs, milk, and vanilla, and ended up with a lumpy, curdled mess. ): Even the second time I put the wet ingredients together, I ended up with some lumps in the mixture, and I let my butter cool off for at least 7 minutes! 2 of those in the fridge! So, I have no idea what that was all about. However, the muffins ended up coming out great after 18 minutes baking in the oven. All bumps in the road aside, the muffins were easy and definitely a recipe I'd create again!

Stay Sweet and safe,


                                                                Candee

Recipe to Reality: Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

Happy Friday Sweethearts! Today I'm going to share a recipe I found through BethanysLife on YouTube, Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate! This was inspired by Starbucks' annual line of fall drinks, salted caramel mochas, hot chocolates, etc. Ever since my aunt recommended the drink to me last winter, it has been my favorite thing to get at Starbucks(when I'm there....which is about every three months or so). I love the mingling flavors of salty and sweet, and since those two flavors are the foundation of many of our posts on Savory and Sweethearts, I thought this Recipe to Reality would be more than appropriate.

First, start off by making your hot chocolate. You can get fancy and break out your saucepan and make it yourself, or just use a mix like I did. On a side note, I'll take this opportunity to share my fool-proof hot chocolate combination:
1. Hot Chocolate mix-two tablespoons should do the trick, or follow the directions on your packet
2. Add milk, and some vanilla coffee creamer- I think this brings out the chocolate flavor a little more, similar to how you put vanilla extract in chocolate cookies.

Okay, back to the recipe! Add your whipped cream....it takes practice to get it looking "professional", but jut try holding the can at an angle on its side and bringing it around the mug. Next, drizzle your carmel sauce artistically, and sprinkle with some granulated sugar.
Now you've reached the most important part-your sea salt. All I have to say is-tread lightly. A little goes a long way since sea salt packs quite a punch. Make sure that you are strategically placing the topping in various places on the whipped cream, in an effort to avoid getting an overwhelming amount of salt
in one sip.

And you're done! This takes almost no time to make, and once you've made it twice you won't even need to refer to the recipe! Although I admit it tastes very little like the Starbucks version, it is still an amazing fall/winter drink that I highly recommend you try!

Stay sweet, and happy fall!

Recipe to Reality: Crockpot Pot Roast

My crockpot and I have been getting to know each other this autumn.

One of my very best work friends gave me her old crockpot two years ago and I'm finally utilizing it!

I wish it had a timer feature, but because it doesn't, I try to pick recipes that need to cook for many, many hours while I'm at work.

This was my very first pot roast and I'd say it was very successful. The roast cooked on low for 10 hours and was extremely tender. I only wish I seasoned the meat before adding it to the pot!

I adapted this recipe from Betty Crocker.

Serves 6
Time: 10+ hours
Here's What You'll Need!

• 2 tsp. olive oil
• A 2-2 1/2 pound beef bottom round roast
• 6 medium potatoes cut into chunks
• 2 1/2 cups of baby carrots
• 2 cups sliced white mushrooms
• 1 stalk of celery, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 tsp. ground thyme
• A 14 oz. can diced tomatoes, not drained (I used the garlic and oregano ones)
• 1 can condensed beef consomme 
• 1 cup V-8 juice

Put it All Together!

1) Heat oil in a medium-sized skillet. Season meat with salt and pepper and brown the meat on all sides (about 10 minutes).

2) Add the potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, celery, and onion to the 4-5 quart crockpot. Season with the salt, pepper, and thyme. Place beef on top of the veggies, and add the liquids- tomatoes, beef consomme, and V-8 juice. 

3) Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.  

4) If you want when you serve the beef, whisk a little flour into the leftover juices to make a gravy. I made some rice to serve as a bed for my roast.

The best part of this meal was the way the apartment smelled when I came home from work! A great way to save some time on a weeknight meal!

Stay Savory,