{creamy loaded baked potato soup}

Its been nice and chilly outside giving me the perfect opportunity to use my crock pot to make all sorts of stews and soups. This week I attempted a loaded potato soup and I must say that it came out pretty delicious. I was all out of cheddar cheese so there is none in the soup but I felt it tasted just as good as if it had it in there. Leaving it out also made it a good bit healthier! If you have cheese I'd say leave it out of the soup but maybe add a little on top with the sour cream and bacon crumbles. Serve this up with a delicious sandwich or salad and you have a meal to warm you on these cold winter nights.

Recipe after the jump

{new years quiche}

{pictured above: our 2010 piratey card}
Happy new year! 2010 was a wonderful year filled with climbing, moving across states, concerts, traveling, baking + cooking and adventure. I realize I slacked off the last few months with posts and am making it a goal this year to post regularly. I have several recipes queued up including some lovely celebratory beverages but I wanted to start this morning off with my very first quiche! I've been wanting to make a quiche for some time now and finally, over our holiday vacation, decided to do it. Its a hybrid of a few recipes since I couldn't find anything with the ingredients I wanted to include and I have to say it came out quite perfectly.

The recipe below can be modified to include pretty much any filling. If you don't want as much prep work, leave out the bacon. Without the bacon the whole time should be about an hour including prep + cooking. If you include the bacon, add another 15 - 30 minutes. I loved making this quiche because it was really simple to put together and the results were amazing. You can easily serve this quiche to 8 people or make it on the weekend and reheat piece by piece for some delicious weekday breakfasts. Enjoy!

Pictures + recipe after the jump

{cheesy, onion, bacon biscuits}

recipe source: The Pioneer Woman
Wow. I remember loving the cheddar biscuits that I got as a kid at Red Lobster but they don't even compare to how delicious these are! Cheese, check. Bacon, check. Onions, check. Gooeyness, check. Flavor, check. Breakfast, check. Rolled into a biscuit form, amazing. The Pioneer Woman has outdone herself with this recipe. I can't think of a thing that would have made it better. The batch lasted us almost a week and is perfect served warm. One was plenty for breakfast for me but John preferred two.

Recipe and pics after the jump.

{butternut squash, chicken and parmesan pasties}

recipe source: The Kitchn
I am currently on a butternut squash kick which works out nicely since it has been in season. Sadly its on its way out, but I have definitely gotten my fill of it this past month beginning with these: butternut squash, chicken and parmesan pasty (pronounced: past-ee). I found the original recipe over at The Kitchn and have altered it slightly by adding in some chicken.

Pasties originated in the UK as a food for miners since it was a simple hand held pie usually filled with beef, potatoes, onion and turnips. According to Wikipedia, the miners could easily hold the folded pastry with their dirty hands and eat most of it, discarding the last little bits. The thrown away bits were said to please the knockers, mischievious spirits who were believed to play practical jokes on the miners by stealing their tools. Traditionally, the ingredients are placed inside the pastry dough uncooked and are then steamed inside as it cooks. This recipe is not exactly true to the original as most ingredients are cooked prior to placing inside the pastry.

More after the jump

{red pepper, red onion, goat cheese + bacon pizza}

recipe source: Love and Olive Oil
Not only was this pizza gorgeous to look at but it tasted just as good. The crust is brushed with a mixture of olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes. Its then topped with spinach, red onions, mushrooms, goat cheese, roasted red peppers and bacon. Lots of crunchy bacon bits. John loved this and said it balanced out all the veggies perfectly. This is by far one of the best pizza's we've ever had. It was incredibly simple to put together and has been added to our favorites.

More pics after the jump