Cheeseburger Soup

Everybody in my family loves a hot, hearty soup to warm them up on a cold winter day. Whodathunk it would be 75 degrees on December 27th? No worries, with the A/C on it was nice and chilly inside and the soup went down just fine.

This has all the yummy flavors of a cheeseburger, with a few veggies thrown in for good measure.  I served it with some fresh baked rolls and everybody went back for seconds.  Next time I'll serve it with pickle spears on the side!

Cheeseburger Soup

Prep time: 10 min  Cook time: 30 min
Serves 8

1 lb ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup diced celery
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
4 Tbs butter, divided
3 cups chicken broth
4 cups diced peeled potatoes
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup flour
8 oz Velveeta cheese, cubed
1-1/2 cups milk
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup sour cream

In a 3-qt. saucepan, brown beef; drain and set aside. In the same saucepan, saute the onion, carrots, celery, basil and parsley in 1 tablespoon butter until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add the broth, potatoes, tomatoes and beef; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, melt remaining butter. Add flour; cook and stir for 3-5 minutes or until bubbly. Add to soup; bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the cheese, milk, salt and pepper; cook and stir until cheese melts. Remove from the heat; blend in sour cream.

432 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Gingerbread Caramel Bars

I really love how different seasons have their own special flavors, like pumpkin in the fall and peppermint and gingerbread for Christmas. It makes them more special when you wait all year for them! I love gingerbread anything and I collect gingerbread recipes all year, so when Christmas rolls around it's always a struggle to decide which one I'm going to make.

This recipe is very similar to a chocolate chip caramel bar I made a few weeks ago that was DIVINE, so I was pretty sure this was going to be awesome, too.  It was chewy, gooey, caramel-y, and had a delicious gingerbread flavor. Everybody who tried it loved it!  Next time I might pretty up the squares with a little swirl of decorative frosting, but it definitely doesn't require any extra sugar.  It is tooth-rotting sweet but oh so good!

Gingerbread Caramel Bars
Prep time: 15 min  Bake time: 30 min
Serves 25

1 (15.25 oz) box yellow cake mix
1 egg
3/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
(or just add more molasses to light brown sugar)
1/2 cup flour
1 1/4 tsp ginger
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
5.5 oz caramels (about 20 caramels)
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Combine cake mix, egg, molasses, butter, sugar, flour and spices and mix until smooth. Batter will be thick and sticky.

Line a 9x9 pan with parchment paper, extending the paper up the sides of the pan.
Add half of the gingerbread batter to the pan and spread evenly. Batter will be sticky, so it might help to drop spoonfuls into the pan, then spread.

Melt caramels in a microwaveable bowl until mostly smooth, with a few chunks left.  Add melted caramel to sweetened condensed milk and combine.  Pour caramel mixture over the gingerbread dough in the pan.

Drop spoonfuls of remaining dough over the caramel layer, spreading a bit to mostly cover the caramel layer.

Bake at 350 for 30-33 minutes.  Allow to cool in the pan, then cut into squares.

199 calories per serving.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!

Funfetti Gooey Butter Cookies

I love to bake cookies for the holidays--lots and lots and lots of cookies! I like to eat them, of course, but I also like to give them to my friends and coworkers and even the mailman and UPS guy. But this year I didn't plan on baking anything because I was going out of town for Christmas.  I gave my manicurist some candy that someone else had given me, hoping she would just assume I had made it myself (of course she had to ask!) and I felt so bad when I had to tell her I didn't.  And then I started watching Christmas movies where everyone was eating Christmas cookies and the cravings kicked in.  When I found out my old bosses would be joining us for our company Christmas party and I hadn't bought a gift for them, I knew a batch of cookies had to be made.

I wanted something simple yet festive (and I didn't want to have to go to the store for ingredients), plus my new boss loves Funfetti, so when I saw this recipe I thought it was perfect.  I didn't actually have a Funfetti cake mix in the pantry, but I did have a plain white cake mix and a big bottle of Christmas sprinkles, so I improvised and made my own Funfetti by adding about half a cup of sprinkles to the plain mix.  I didn't measure, I just kept dumping them in till it looked right.  They turned out super cute and festive and really yummy! The texture was perfect - thick and soft on the inside with a slight crispiness on the outside.  I will definitely be making these again, I'll just switch up the sprinkles for different occasions!

Funfetti Gooey Butter Cookies

Prep time: 15 min(+1hr chilling) Bake time: 10 min
Serves 50

8 oz cream cheese, softened
½ cup butter, softened
1 egg

1 (15.25 oz) box Funfetti cake mix
¼ cup sprinkles (if desired)
¼ cup powdered sugar

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter together until smooth.  Add in egg and continue mixing, scraping sides as necessary.  Add in the cake mix and beat until combined.  Stir in extra sprinkles, if desired.

Chill dough for about an hour.  Preheat oven to 350°.

Form dough into 1 inch balls and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet 2" apart and bake for about 10 minutes.

Allow to cool on baking sheet for 2-3 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

73 calories per cookie.  Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!