Easy Shrimp and Corn Chowder

 Missy Tippens

Hey, everyone! I know it's still hot in a lot of places like here in Georgia. However, last week, the humidity and temp were lower, and I felt as if I'd gotten an ever so slight hint of fall.

I also made chowder! 

Ingredients:

about 4 red/new potatoes, cubed (skins on)

1 pound of shrimp (peeled and deveined)

3 TBS flour

3 TBS butter

Seafood broth or Veggie broth (about 5 cups)

1 bag frozen corn (10-12 ounces) or fresh corn (cut off the cob)

2 cloves of fresh, chopped garlic (or used the jarred garlic like I usually do!)

Optional: chopped green onions (white part and a little of the green part)

Plain cream cheese (about 3 TBS)

Cook the garlic and green onions in the butter until softened. Add the flour to make a roux. Season with a little salt and pepper. Cook a couple of minutes, stirring it (to cook out the raw flour taste). Then whisk in the broth. Once the flour is mixed in, add in the cream cheese and whisk until smooth. (This was something new to me, and it made it really good!)

Now add the potatoes. Cover to bring back to a boil. Then remove cover and reduce heat. Simmer until potatoes are tender. Then at the end, add the shrimp and corn and simmer until shrimp are pink and opaque.

This turned out really good! My husband liked it better when we had it leftover with sliced links of smoked turkey sausage added. It made it a little heartier. However, I liked the lightness of it, even though it's creamy.

Now, the best part is to show off our new baby! My son and daughter-in-law got a puppy! I'm in love already.

In her toy basket. :)

Welcome to our world, Whitney! 💕

Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes and a Surprise Addition

Our church has a ministry to cancer patients and every year, right around Valentine's Day, we host a banquet for those patients who are well enough to attend, along with their caregivers. It's a night of encouragement, fun, and, of course, food. This year, the colors are black and gold, so I wanted to create a special dessert that showcased those colors. This is what I came up with. 

Chocolate Salted Caramel cupcakes. This was a test subject I made ahead of time, hence the polka dots. For the banquet, they'll have plain black wrappers. I'll tell you more about these in a minute.

So, you may or may not remember that we lost our sweet Golden Retriever Dixie back in October, leaving us with just our little Maddie. But Friday, this little guy wandered up to our house, hungry and thirsty. 

Met Marvel. He looks bigger here than he really is. He only weighs ten pounds and the vet tells us he's about two years old, so he's done growing. 

We have no idea where he came from. He had no collar, no microchip. Then again, out here in the country,  people rarely choose their pets. Instead, pets usually choose their owners. Uncaring people have dogs and cats they don't want, so they often take them for a ride and dump them somewhere, which is what we suspect was the case with this little guy. So, it looks like he's here to stay.

Maddie isn't all that thrilled, however, she is coming around. She just wants everyone to know that she's still top dog. 

Now back to the cupcakes. Since I knew I was going to use the salted caramel, I wanted a nice rich chocolate cake and this one was perfect. Lots of chocolate flavor.

Then I topped it with my usually buttercream icing, which is 4 cups sifted confectioners sugar, 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, 1 tsp vanilla and 1-2 tablespoons milk to thin as needed.

Now for the salted caramel. 

I found  this recipe at Sally's Baking Addiction and you can get it here. It's not difficult to make, though it does take time, more than the ten minutes stated in the recipe. But the result was a beautiful and delicious salted caramel which was then drizzled over the cupcakes.

Simple and delicious with a pretty presentation. Exactly what I wanted.

The banquet isn't huge, but it's an event meant to take the attendees minds off of cancer and treatments, have some fun and mingle with others. It also serves to inspire hope and share the good news of Jesus Christ. And those two things are something the world could use a lot more of.

Three time Carol Award finalist Mindy Obenhaus is passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. She lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, one sassy pup, countless cattle, deer and the occasional coyote, mountain lion or snake. When she's not writing, she enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, cooking and watching copious amounts of the Hallmark Channel. Learn more a mindyobenhaus.com.

 

Lighter Spaghetti Pie

by Jan Drexler

I tell you folks, especially you Southerners who were reeling under your recent snow event, it's February.

Yes, February. That means snow, not flowers. Short days, cloudy days, and cold air.

But it also means comfort food to the max!

My most recent comfort-food craving sent me to one of my Taste of Home publications. I buy these every once in awhile. I enjoy browsing through them to find new recipe ideas.

Learn about Taste of Home magazine here

On a recent browse-through (not in the magazine pictured) I found a recipe for spaghetti pie - something I had never made before - but it sounded delicious! I adjusted the recipe to match the items I had on hand, and the result was delicious!

Lighter Spaghetti Pie

ingredients:

4 oz uncooked angel hair pasta
2 large egg whites, slightly beaten
1 Tablespoon butter (softened or melted)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained (you can substitute ground turkey)
1/4 cup chopped onion
8 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 cup lowfat cottage cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

Preheat your oven to 350°.

Cook the angel hair pasta according to directions and drain. In a medium bowl, mix the butter and egg whites. Add the cooked pasta and stir until the pasta is coated (using two forks instead of a spoon works well.) Add the 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese and mix in well.

Distribute the pasta in the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate.

Meanwhile, brown the ground beef, adding the onions when the beef is about halfway done. When the meat is cooked, drain it, then put it back in the pan.

Add the tomato sauce and herbs, mixing well.

Spread the cottage cheese in the bottom of your spaghetti crust.

Then add the meat and tomato mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350°, then sprinkle the mozzarella cheese on top. Bake for another 5 minutes or so, or until the cheese is melted.

What makes this recipe "lighter?" If you notice, the recipe had very little fat in it - only 1 Tablespoon butter (if you drain your beef well or use ground turkey white meat.) Using egg whites instead of a whole egg and low fat cottage cheese all help keep the fat content down. Angel hair pasta instead of regular spaghetti helps lighten up this recipe, too.

This dish met my comfort-food cravings! Easy and delicious!


While I cook, I often watch the sunset in the western sky.

It's worth every second! And Jack enjoys the deck in the evening, too. He watches the deer walk by and the neighbors as they drive home.

Does he look a little bit lonely to you? Maggie-Cat doesn't play with him as much as he'd like her to.

Maybe he needs a playmate closer to his own age (and energy level?)

Border collie puppy at 5 weeks - we are waiting to give
him his name after we meet him. :)

Shhh! Don't tell Jack, but his new furry brother will be coming home in a couple weeks!

Jan Drexler lives in the Black Hills of South Dakota with her husband and growing family. When she isn't writing, she loves hiking in the Hills or satisfying her cross stitch addiction.

You can find Jan on Facebook, Jan Drexler, author, or her website, Jan Drexler.com

For the Love of Animals

Here at the Yankee-Belle Cafe we're all about food. However, we also love our pets. And let me tell you, my dogs, Dixie and Maddie, love food, too.

They're always happy to help with any cleanup efforts.

And they're convinced that being cute should equate to an automatic yes.

Sorry, Maddie. Dogs can't have chocolate.

Of course, there are times when these two are just plain weird.

Aside from our pets, there's also the wildlife that can lurk right outside the window. I spotted this guy watching me through my office window just the other day. He wasn't alone, though. Can you spot the second creature in this photo?

And then there are the deer. We love watching them, seeing their babies grow. Can you spot another of my other favorite friends in here?

Witnessing two of my favorites in action at once is almost too good to be true. The hummingbird migration is just starting to get underway, so our numbers are picking up. Soon I'll be filling all three feeders multiple times a day. And, of course, I'll be sharing some cool pictures/videos.

So tell me about your pets or what lurks outside of your window. 

Three time Carol Award finalist Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she's not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more a mindyobenhaus.com.

It Was a Busy Week!

Last weekend was...busy. To put it mildly. And things still haven't let up.

Wynter always enjoyed her treats!

But it's all good!

Let's see...it began with negotiating a deal to buy our place in the Hills...

And then Wynter...

And then WINTER!

But I still found time to try a new (delicious) recipe!

After months of looking, we have finally found our place in the Hills. We spent last weekend going back and forth in negotiations...and we came to an agreement! We'll be moving sometime this summer, if everything falls into place. I hope to have pictures to share soon, but until then I'll leave you with this tantalizing view.

Yes, we'll be able to see Mt. Rushmore from our new place! (Not this close, of course...)

And then Wynter.

She was such a good dog, even though she really didn't like strangers! She started her life in Kentucky, moved to Kansas with us, and then to South Dakota.

And she loved hiking in the Hills...until her arthritis got too severe.

A good dog. But at 14 years old, she was tired and sore, and the dementia was beginning to bother her. Her anxiety was heartbreaking in her last few days, so we made the hardest and most loving decision a pet owner ever has to make.

We'll miss her. Thatcher is still grieving, and so are we.

But the next day, WINTER came back! Not the fuzzy one - the snowy one!

With this spring storm, we experienced the difference between snowfall and snow accumulation!

Of course, it was a blizzard (lots of wind and blowing snow,) so we can only estimate. But based on measurements in the areas around our house, I think we got about 24 inches of snowfall, and about 12 inches of accumulation.

Part of my estimate comes from pictures like the one of our grill. On the deck, the grill got cold faster than the ground, so more snow piled up. We had a couple days of 70° weather before the storm, so a lot of the snow fall melted rather than accumulated. But that's at least 20 inches of snow on the grill!

And with a blizzard, you get drifts! This one outside the front window was about 24 to 30 inches high.

This was a two-and-a-half-day storm. We didn't go anywhere. The interstate was closed from Rapid City to the Minnesota state line - that's 350 miles - and there was "no travel advised" warnings everywhere else. Everything was closed - schools, stores, the post office... This was a serious storm.

But we did what South Dakotans do. No frenzied rush to the grocery store. No panicked drivers clogging up the streets.

We settled in and enjoyed the time to read and catch up on the indoor chores. :-)

By Friday, the sun was out. Yesterday the temperatures reached 50°. The April storm is over!

During the storm, I tried a new recipe. We need to clean out our freezer and pantry with our pending move, and I found a great dish that used what I had on hand.

Easy Beef and Broccoli

ingredients:

2 pounds beef (chuck roast, steak, flank steak, or whatever you have) cut into thin strips

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons sesame oil (if you don't have sesame oil, increase the olive oil)

1 medium onion, diced

1 cup beef broth

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1/2 cup soy sauce (I used low-sodium)

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 Tablespoon cornstarch

1 package (10 - 12 ounce size) frozen broccoli florets

Serve with rice (I used Jasmine rice)

Do all of your slicing and dicing first. The meat should be cut against the grain in thin slices, and the onion should be chopped. I use my cereal bowls for prep bowls, just like on the TV cooking shows, but put your meat in a larger bowl - you'll see why in the next paragraph.

Then, in another bowl, combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and beef broth with a whisk. Pour the mixture over the meat (this is why you need the larger bowl!) and set aside. Let it marinate for five to ten minutes.

(This is a good time to start cooking your rice.)

By the way, you can cook this in your Instant Pot, or on the stove.

Put the oils in your pot and heat for a minute or so. Add the onions and saute until they are translucent, then add the meat and marinade.

On the stove, let the meat mixture cook for about an hour, simmering until the meat is tender.

In the Instant Pot, cook at high pressure for 10 minutes, then quick release the pressure.

Carefully remove about 1/3 cup of the juices and add the cornstarch. Mix with a whisk until combined, then add it back to the meat mixture. Stir occasionally (low heat on your stove, the "keep warm" setting on your IP) as it thickens.

Meanwhile, cook the broccoli according to the package directions, then add it to the meat mixture.

Serve the Beef and Broccoli over rice.

It was delicious!

I hope your week wasn't as crazy as mine, but I'm expecting this week to be worse. We need to put our house on the market before the end of the month, so we're cleaning, painting, and staging the house to make it look its best. New carpeting will be installed in a couple weeks, and then let the buyers come! I hope they enjoy this house as much as we have!

Jan Drexler spent her childhood dreaming of living in the Wild West and is now thrilled to call the Black Hills of South Dakota her home. When she isn’t writing she spends much of her time satisfying her cross-stitch addiction or hiking and enjoying the Black Hills with her husband of more than thirty-six years. Her writing partner is her corgi, Thatcher, who makes life…interesting.

Roasted Green Beans

I've mentioned them on more than one occasion. I make them at least once a week. And yet I have never actually blogged about them. So today, roasted green beans are finally getting their place in the sun--er, on the blog.

Okay, so there's really no right or wrong here. No specific amounts. But you do want to begin with the stars of the show--green beans.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Snap or cut off the ends of the beans. If they're really long, you can snap or cut them in half. Then rinse well, drain well and spread them on paper towel to remove as much of the excess water as possible. 

While they're drying, cut some bacon into bite-size pieces.

How much bacon you add depends on the amount of beans you have. If I'm fixing just enough for the family, I usually only add one slice of thick-cut bacon which, I suppose, would equate to two slices of regular bacon. Of course, if don't want meat with your veggies, you can skip this step.

Transfer beans to a large sheet pan that's been lined with foil. This will make cleanup SO much easier.

Dot beans with the bacon.

Drizzle with coconut or olive oil. Since this bakes at such a high heat, I prefer coconut oil. If it's solid, I simply put in the microwave on defrost for a minute so I'm able to drizzle it. As for how much oil, not too much, but not too little. You want to coat the beans, but you don't want them swimming.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat.

Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes, or until you begin to see some color on the beans.

These could have actually gone a couple more minutes, but I was in a hurry.

My boys never liked green beans before I started making them this way. And while I wouldn't go so far as to say they love them, they do actually put them on their plate and eat them now. 

So it's September. School is back in session and fall decorations are cropping up all over. Things at the ranch are pretty mellow right now.

That is, until cattle or deer wander into the dogs' line of vision. Then all bets are off.

We still like to do our evening rides around the ranch and I captured these two reveling in the sunset the other night.

Sigh. Such a serene image. Horses are so beautiful.

So what does September bring to your neck of the woods? And have you ever had roasted green beans? Would you?

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Three-time Carol Award finalist, Mindy Obenhaus lives on a ranch in Texas with her husband, the youngest of her five children and two dogs. She's passionate about touching readers with Biblical truths in an entertaining, and sometimes adventurous, manner. When she’s not writing, she enjoys cooking and spending time with her grandchildren. Learn more at www.MindyObenhaus.com