Food at the Hartmann house

Here is the menu for our house this week...most of the time I make a list but don't always cook it in the order I write it. What we eat depends on momma's mood :)

Roast/cooked carrots (my new favorite)
Enchiladas (with the leftover meat...we didn't get to this last week)
Potato bar (we like it with the usual stuff but have added chili,chopped spinach,avacado..yum)
Homemade tomato soup, grilled ham & cheese
Chicken lemon pasta (grilled chicken,lemon butter sauce, saute veggies, usually with noodles)
BBQ'd steaks with fresh salsa
Chicken and Broccoli (we had this tonight and I tried something new. Since Brooklyn has a fit when it's all mixed together and the sauce is (gasp...) on the chicken, I decided to separate it. I had cooked chicken from a rotisserie chicken from Costco that I had previously split up and had in the freezer, then cooked the broccoli and rice and made the sauce (with extra milk to thin it down) and layered it like a hastack with fresh tomatoes on top. It tasted just the same and was easier to feed Brooklyn.

mom also wanted me to post my recipe for Sausage Bean Soup...I ran across the original recipe a little while ago but have adapted it to include things I have and to use beans in our food storage. Jerry bought me a pressure cooker for Christmas and it makes the beans way easy. I'll give you my recipe then give you some of the original ideas. These are real approximate measurements. I usually just dump and taste and add as I please :)

Sausage Bean Soup

1 lb cooked sausage, drained

1/2 large onion, minced

2 carrots chopped

2 celery chopped

1-2 cloves garlic (I use the minced jar garlic)

1/2 bunch cilantro chopped(divided into 2 parts)I use close to a whole bunch,but we like cilantro

1tsp each..basil, oregano, chile powder, cumin

1 can chicken broth + 1 can water

1 large can green chile enchilada sauce

4-6 cups cooked beans...how much do you like beans? (I have a dry 16 bean soup mix that I use. )

cook the sausage and drain. Set aside. Saute onion,carrots,celery,garlic in a couple tablespoons of butter or oil. season with salt and pepper. Add sausage and other spices and saute together a few minutes. Add broth, water, and enchilada sauce and simmer. you may need to add more water or broth, but I like to make it a little bit thicker. Last, add your cooked beans and 1/2 the cilantro. I let it simmer a few hours to help it all meld together.

Top with a dab of sour cream, other chopped fresh cilantro, and shredded white cheese. Avacado is good also.

It's very green, but good...considering it has lots of beans :)

Sometimes I add a couple tablespoons of sour cream to soups at the end to make it a little more rich and creamy...a secret I use a lot. This is surprisingly good soup!

The original recipe called for a pork roast that you cube and brown instead of the sausage. They also use canned white beans and leave out the enchilada sauce. We have lots of sausage in the freezer and it's cheaper than a roast. Dried beans that I cook are also cheaper, I need to practice using them, and they have less sodium than the canned. The sauce makes it thicker and adds lots of flavor and a little more spice. You can make it even spicier with some tobasco or something.

Happy Cooking!