Category Archives: Food & Recipes

1/52 Recipes: Creamy Sausage Parmesan Soup

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At the end of the year I decided that one of my 2025 goals would be to try a new recipe every week. In addition to helping me get out of a cooking rut, I thought it would also give me something to blog about. Well, last weekend I made my first new recipe of the year. If you’re on Facebook, you have probably seen a recipe for Creamy Sausage Parmesan Soup on your feed. I have had it saved for a while and finally made a pot of it on Sunday. The recipe makes a HUGE pot, and the leftovers taste just as good (if not better) than the day it is made. Here’s the recipe with my adjustments:

Creamy Sausage Parmesan Soup
 
Ingredients:
1 lb Italian sausage, casings removed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
1 box Green Giant frozen creamed spinach
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup half & half
1 cup small pasta (ditalini or elbow)
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Salt and pepper, to taste
 
Cook the Sausage in sausage in a large pan over medium heat. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion and minced garlic. Cook until the onion is translucent, about 3–4 minutes. Stir in the drained tomatoes and the frozen creamed spinach. Allow spinach to cook and then add chicken broth, dried basil & dried oregano. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add the cooked, drained sausage to the soup. Add the pasta to the boiling broth mixture and cook until it is al dente, approximately 8–10 minutes.
Reduce the heat to medium-low. Stir in the half & half and shredded Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

52 Recipes in 25

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As we enter the inevitable hellscape of 2025, I am trying to think of things that I can do to keep my mind occupied. Last night I had this idea for the blog to try a new recipe every week — 52 in 25 — and post about it. I’ve been in a cooking rut, so this would hopefully inspired me to crack open my cookbooks and also go through all of my Pinterest boards. I’m pretty excited about it!

Here are some contenders:

One-Pot Chicken and Rice with Caramelized Lemon (NY Times Cooking)

Green Salad with Sour Cream & Onion Dressing (NY Times Cooking)

Nantucket Cranberry Tart ( A Family Feast)

Cannellini Beans Piccata (Umami Girl)

Pepperoncini Chicken (Tipsy Housewife)

Malagasy Coconut Lentils (Food & Wine)

Tiramisu Overnight Oats (Eating Well)

… I’m sure I’ll have no problem finding a new recipe to try every week!

 

Grocery Price Tracker

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Over the last few days I’ve had more than a few conversations with people who voted for him and many cited the price of groceries as a reason for compromising everything else they believe in. I’ve seen the grocery haul posts online — you know the ones “How are these 4 things $150?” Give me a break. We know they’re not. 

I do all the shopping in our house. I know what things cost. I also know that I live in an expensive area of the country (New York), so I can spot a lie a mile away. I also know that the proposed economic policies are unlikely to bring down grocery costs in a meaningful way. I believe the opposite — over the next 12 months they will either rise or stay relatively flat.

But hey — I could be wrong! Unlike many people, I do not have a problem admitting when I am wrong. I am wrong all the time. I also enjoy proving people wrong, LOL. (Yes, I am petty like that). I love data. And I pretty much have a spreadsheet for everything. So I’ve decided to create one that I will update weekly and track the prices of items that I actually purchase on a regular basis. I am tracking the same exact items week to week, using the same stores/gas station to try to be as true as possible.

  1. Unleaded gas
  2. Eggs
  3. Milk
  4. Bread
  5. Coffee

Now, I recognize that prices may fluctuate during the week, especially with gas. And I may not be able to update prices on the same day every week. However, this is just my little pet project so I’m going to give myself a little grace and not worry about absolute perfection. The sheet will be publicly viewable here and I think I am going to add a feature to my sidebar tracking the changes. Let’s see what happens.

Caviar on a Friday

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All I know is that you can chop up all the onions and the whatevers you want and put it on top of caviar, but you still can’t disguise the fact that you’re eating fish eggs. Ugh!

— Carrie Fisher

UntitledThis quote really made me laugh! You might remember that for my husband’s 50th birthday a few weeks ago I gave him a variety of caviar. He loves the stuff. I can’t say I’m crazy about it. Yesterday he finally decided to try a bit and he pointed out that even though I say I don’t like it, I have never had good caviar, and I’ve never had the full experience with blinis and crème fraiche. 

I realized that he was right and he made both of us a little caviar snack before the kids got home from school.
 
This is Hackleback caviar. Hackleback Caviar (Scaphirhynchus Platorynchus), also known as Sturgeon Caviar, comes from the Shovelnose Sturgeon. This wild freshwater caviar is found in the Missouri, Ohio and Mississippi River systems in the U.S. The taste profile is said to be nutty and buttery.
 
Well, I decided to just pop the whole thing in my mouth without thinking about it too much and you know, buttery is absolutely the right description. It was so weird, but it really did seems like I was just eating a delicious mouthful of butter. The caviar was nowhere near as fishy as the other stuff I’ve tried. Of course, it makes sense — this is definitely “the real deal.”
 
Would I have it again? Hmm… probably not. It’s something I’m glad I tried, but I will let Drew enjoy the rest of his caviar himself.

A secret about the buttermilk grilled chicken…

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I had a few people ask me about how I prepare the buttermilk grilled chicken and I’m here to tell you… there’s really no recipe! I kind of make it different every time. Obviously, the key marinade ingredient is buttermilk, but aside from that it varies. I usually toss in some dried dill, and always lots of pepper and of course a little salt (which, of course you can omit). Sometimes I give a few shakes of herbs de provence. And sometimes I’ll drizzle in some pickle juice. 

This week I happened to have just enough homemade ranch (made with the buttermilk) that I didn’t want to toss it, so I just added more buttermilk and poured it over chicken breasts before I let them sit in the fridge for a few hours before tossing them on the grill. It’s all very scientific, right?

It just adds a really nice flavor to chicken breasts, thighs, or drumsticks and is great to make on a Sunday so you have leftovers for easy lunches during the week. Easy peasy! 

Boba tea

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One of the cool things about having kids is when they introduce you to fun treats. Like boba tea. Laura had a hair appointment this afternoon and then we had about an hour to kill before Mass, so we got a really good parking spot in front of the church and then walked down to the new tea shop in town. Now, of course, Laura has already had boba from the new tea shop but I have not so I was really excited to try it.

Boba tea

She got honeydew and I got matcha. Rhinebeck, tourist town that it is, can be a little pricey but I thought the cost for these drinks was totally fair. Less than $10.00 for the two of them. They were loaded with tapioca boba and really delicious.

Boba tea

I loved this treat! We enjoyed it outside on a bench while watching the traffic go by. The weather was perfect and we were just off of E. Market St. so it wasn’t too crowded. I look forward to trying more flavors in the future!

Favorite Old Magazines

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Favorite old cooking magazines At work, our Friends Group is in the midst of organizing our annual book sale, and although we are pretty specific in what types of donations we accept, people don’t always pay attention. We don’t sell magazines, for example, but we still get magazine donations. When that happens, we just put them out for free. Well it was my lucky day because someone had donated a small stack of “Quick Cooking” magazines from the early 2000s! When I saw them on the freebie table in Town Hall I scooped them right up.

I just love old Taste of Home magazines (actually, it is the only magazine I currently subscribe to), and when they published Quick Cooking, it was one that I made sure to pick up in the grocery store. There are so many good recipes in these magazines. I love that they are pretty simple to make and don’t usually require “boutique” ingredients. Don’t get me wrong — I love experimenting in the kitchen — but most days I just want to be able to put something tasty and filling on the dinner table! I am saving this stack to enjoy while relaxing this weekend!

What on the menu this week?

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  • Monday: Honey mustard pork chops, loaded mashed potatoes, green salad
  • Tuesday: Chicken with spinach & mushrooms, rice medley, salad
  • Wednesday: Burgers, oven fries, zucchini
  • Thursday: Chicken parmesan, steamed broccoli
  • Friday: Chicken quesadillas, black bean soup, fruit salad
  • Saturday: Pizza & salad maybe?
  • Sunday: Pot roast (bumped from last week), mashed potatoes, green beans

This Week’s Eats

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I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to a much more structured week! It was a little chaotic here last week with the kids on vacation and having to drive them here and there. So things should be back to normal with our typical schedule, which makes meal planning much easier! Here’s what I’ve got down for this week (subject to change, of course!)

Sunday: Easter dinner out

Monday: Turkey taco salads

Tuesday: Grilled chicken, asparagus, salad

Wednesday: Turkey meatballs, red lentil rotini, salad

Thursday: Grilled sirloins, baked potatoes, broccoli

Friday: Out with a friend. Maybe pizza for everyone else?

Saturday: Burgers, cole slaw