Sausage, Kale and Sweet Potato Soup

This trip I learned...

I really would have enjoyed that Jetta I dreamed of driving at age 16.  My silver little coupe was quite fun the last few days.

Always remember to let your loved ones know you arrived at the car rental facility.  When you can't find your phone, you don't have far to look in the car.

Making a meal before you leave is a great way to come home.

Sunday before I left I made a big pot of soup knowing full well that Mr. J would be eating all sorts of things I would rather not think about instead of my delicious soup. 

The best kinds of soup are the ones that use up random things in the fridge that need to be used up.  We had sweet potatoes, chicken sausages, and collard greens.  Sounds like a delicious soup combination to me.

I managed to make it all in one pot too.  First the sausage gets cooked. Remove and slice in to coin pieces. Then, the greens get sauteed with a bit of olive oil, minced garlic, and chopped onions.

Put the sausage back into the pot and add chicken broth.  At this point you could put in some chopped sweet potatoes.  Boil the broth for about 15 minutes till the sweet potatoes are cooked.  I didn't really want to wait so I used one of the Ziplock Steamer bags.  Microwave for 3 minutes till the sweet potatoes are just soft.  Add to the soup.

Sausage, Kale and Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients:

3 links chicken sausage

1 cup chopped sweet potatoes

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

16oz mixed collard greens

64 oz chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large stock pot put 1 tbsp olive oil.   Sear 3 sausage links in pan flipping as necessary so all sides cooked. Remove and slice in to coin pieces, set aside. 

Add the greens to pan to saute with a bit of olive oil, minced garlic, and chopped onions.  Move around a bit as the greens cook down.  Cook for about 20 minutes at this point they will be wilted but still a bit bitter.  They will continue to cook.

Put the sausage back into the pot and add chicken broth bring to a simmer.  Add chopped sweet potatoes.  Continue simmering the soup for about 15 minutes till the sweet potatoes are cooked.  (See note above for shortened sweet potato method).

Serve warm with a touch of Parmesan cheese.

Look how much prettier the photos are in natural light.  If only I could work from noon to six each day.  Life is so much brighter during the day.

 Mr. J eventually ended up having some too and liked it quite a bit even with all that green-y goodness.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

It is a rare occasion when I have bananas that turn brown.  I buy bananas every week.  Sometimes multiple times a week. I like them when they are just starting to turn yellow.  When there are bunches of green bananas in the store I get excited, if they are already yellow I try to pick the most unripe bunch and only get a few.  Those are the weeks when I go back for more later in the week.  

Adding to the problem is that although I like barely yellow bananas, Mr. J likes the bananas that are starting to get spots.  For me, that means overripe but that is how he likes them.  The other week the bananas had gone past their prime.  I bought more intending to use the remaining three for baking.  Mr. J decided they were perfect for eating.  He had one before got wind that if he stopped eating the other two he would get a dessert.  Guess what? He stopped eating the bananas.  I was still one short so I added a 1/4 cup applesauce to make up for the missing banana. 

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adapted from Cooking Down East

Ingredients
1/4 c butter
1 tsp salt
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 C flour
1 tsp soda

2 bananas, beaten creamy

1/4/ C applesauce
1/2 C mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Cream butter, add salt and sugar, gradually.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  

Sift flour, measure and sift together with soda.  

Mash bananas with a fork, beaten until light.  Stir in applesauce with bananas.   Add alternatively with dry ingredients to egg mixture.  Fold in chocolate chips.  

Spoon in muffin tin. Bake 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Turns out the applesauce was a perfect replacement for the missing banana.  The muffins came out just as moist and the banana flavor was still dominant.  I brought these to game night and they were quickly gobbled up.

I have been thinking lately about what would be my most favorite muffin and I am struggling. These were pretty darn good.  I also am a big fan of the double chocolate muffin.  Who can go wrong with double chocolate...especially in the morning?  I also like the cornbread muffin.  I am not sure you can call this a muffin though.  Cornbread is kind of a category all on it's own.

What is your favorite muffin? 

Do you eat them morning, noon, and night?

Weekend Edition: Super Bowl Sunday

I find all of the excitement over the Super Bowl a bit crazy. I don't remember it being this out of control in the past. I will say though if I were home I would be watching it.  Of all of the teams, I would have to say that the Patriots would be who I would be cheering on.

This weekend went by way too fast.  I got so many errands done on Saturday I felt like Superwoman.  I will never understand why returnables are such a nuisance. I am all for recycling but they take up so much space in our closet. Then when I cannot stand it any longer and take them back I get a whopping $.65.  Really?  I wish there was a larger payback. Or I wish that I could leave them at the end of the drive way once a week and have someone else take care of it.  

Here is what I was up to this week.

5 Ingredient Nutella Cookies

These really didn't come out as I had planned but they were still tasty.

Le Cordon Bleu, Paris

Still dreaming of Paris due to this post.

Rice and Beans

We managed to make the rice and beans last all week. First with chicken, then with flank steak, and finally with shrimp in quesadillas.

Other Uses for Coconut Oil

Just learned Trader Joe's is selling their own coconut oil.  Must go visit soon.

Top 5 Super Bowl Snacks

 I had two out of five on Saturday. Not bad.

Coming up next week...

Now I am off to Chicago. Go Patriots!