Cheeseburger Soup!

Sounds weird to some, maybe even gross, but this soup is the total opposite, it's delicious! I stumbled onto this recipe back in 2001, the only reason I actually know this is because I still have the same printout from way back when and the date is printed on the bottom! I can't believe I've been making this for 7 years already! It was a hit the first time I made it and it continues to score high points to this day. I recently made this by request, my nieces asked me to make it for them and I obliged with a little help from them! They helped me chop, stir, pour and eat! It kinda reminds me of a bake potato soup, just 10 times better! Give it a try if you're not on a diet . . .it's comfort food at it's best! The only thing missing is the pickle! :)



Cheeseburger Soup I - Allrecipes.com

* 1/2 pound ground beef
* 3/4 cup chopped onion
* 3/4 cup shredded carrots
* 3/4 cup chopped celery
* 1 teaspoon dried basil
* 1 teaspoon dried parsley
* 4 tablespoons butter
* 3 cups chicken broth
* 4 cups cubed potatoes
* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 cups cubed Cheddar cheese
* 1 1/2 cups milk
* 1/4 cup sour cream

1. In a large pot, melt 1 tablespoon butter or margarine over medium heat: cook and stir vegetables and beef , until beef is brown.

2. Stir in basil and parsley. Add broth and potatoes. Bring to a boil, then simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10-12 minutes.
3. Melt the remainder of butter and stir in flour. Add the milk, stirring until smooth.

4. Gradually add milk mixture to the soup, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Stir in cheese. When cheese is melted, add sour cream and heat through. Do not boil.

ENJOY!

Samoas never tasted so Goooooood!

In a feat of incredible willpower, I'd been saving a box of Girl Scout Samoas since February of this year! I'm pretty proud of myself and the fact I was able to keep them this long. Why keep them this long? Well, to answer my own question: To make my Limited Edition, Home Made Samoas & Dulce Leche Ice Cream! My mouth waters just saying it! I'll just blurt it out, it was freak'n FANTASTIC! More delicious than my sweet tooth or taste buds ever dreamed! My husband thought I was crazy, making ice cream after going to see a nutritionist a few days earlier. But I decided, that if I was going to take all the yummy goodness in the world out of my diet for the next couple of months, I was going to do it with a last hurrah! I found a couple of different vanilla ice cream recipes and came up with my own. This recipe is quite simple and easy to make, not to mention, a great activity for families and friends to work on and enjoy this summer. This recipe is scaled for a 1.5 liter ice cream maker.



Samoas Cookie & Dulce Leche Ice Cream
by: Angela Alen-Martinez 7/4/08

2 cups half & half

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ a package Girl Scout Samoas Cookies (about 8 cookies), chopped to your liking

1 cup dulce leche (caramel or fudge can be substituted)that has been mixed with a TBSP of milk and soften in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Stir half & half, cream, sugar, and vanilla in a large container with a spout. Take your ice cream maker's mixing bowl out of the freezer (place it the night before to insure that it will be nice and cold), place on it's base, pour the liquid ice cream mix into the frozen bowl and turn on your mixer for about 20 minutes (Note that not all makers are the same, please check your brand's specific instructions). While the ice cream is mixing, chop the cookies and set the aside till the freezing process is almost over. When you've reached about 20 minutes, add the chopped up cookie pieces and continue mixing for about 2-3 additional minutes. Your ice cream should then be about a "soft serve" consistency. Pour a nice amount of the dulce leche mix you just soften, in the bottom of a freezer safe container, layer some ice cream on it, and repeat layering as you wish. You can even swirl a little of the dulce leche into the ice cream, it depends on your personal preference. Next, will the hard part of waiting . . . depending on your container and freezer it can take anywhere from 4 to 8 hours to harden your ice cream. It may seem like hours, like pure torture, but it will be most definitely worth it!

Enjoy every last bit of it! Lord knows WE DID!

I've been tagged!

My buddy Jen from Too Shai Shai tagged me back in June and only now have I been able to follow through and post 13 random facts about me :)
Make sure to check out the picture at the end! In no particular order, here they are! Enjoy!

1)I recently got a retainer for my lower teeth, they seem to be shifting and I want to avoid having to get braces again since I already went through that for a year back when I was 14 years old!

2)I'm a cheese-aholic! Luckily my cholesterol is in check from all the cardio, weightlifting and fish oil supplements I take!

3)I finally used the ice cream maker we got for our wedding! I'm not going to
reveal the flavor I made just yet, that will be in a post very soon! Stay tuned!

4)For the last 6 months I've been substituting fresh spinach leaves for lettuce in all our salads. It's a lot tastier and healthier!

5)My husband and I have climbed the 287 steep and narrow circular stair steps to get to the top of Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral Tower to see the amazing views of the city!

6)As a child of the 1980's, I love all things 80's!

7)I'm currently wearing Essie's WICKED nail polish! It rocks!

8)I love anything with coconut . . . my sister does not!

9)I still have my Garbage Pail Kids Trading Cards from when I was little!

10)I was born at 5:13 in the morning! My sister sometimes like to call me at that exact time to wish me a "happy birthday". Needless to say, that usually does not put me in a happy birthday mood!

11)I'm only double jointed on my right hand.

12)I'm a goof ball and I'm proud of it! I think it will keep me young at heart forever!

13)I've been married for 589 days to my love!

I gotta admit, this was a little hard, I kept thinking of things to write, but then I kept changing my mind thinking that they were stupid random facts, LOL! That was the assignment after all! You see, I am GOOF BALL!

Thanks for the TAG Jen!

Talk about being a Goof Ball huh? This tiger was on our bed in out hotel room in Athens! LOL!

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

4th of July was technically yesterday, but it's a loooooong weekend, so we can celebrate America's Independence Day all weekend long!

I'm not going to make any apologies for the turtle speed or lack there of that I've been posting lately. I'm just going to state the facts: We've been busy as heck! The Florida Wedding season usually slows down in the summer since it's so sticky hot here, but thankfully, we've been busy sweating our behinds off. Thus the lack of posts! Not to mention, that sometimes I'm in such a rush that I forget to take pictures of our yummy meals and by the time I realize it, it's too late. For those of you that come to read my blog and have patiently been waiting for more posts, hang tight cause they're "Coming Baby!" as Austin Powers would say! Many, many thanks to all of you for visiting and leaving comments, I truly appreciate it!

Again, I hope you are all enjoying this fabuolous long weekend! The pictures in this post (taken with my pocket Canon, not the BIG professional one!) are from the two gatherings we attended yesterday.

These day time photos were taken at our friends Litsy and Chris' BBQ at their newly remodeled home!




Then the evening shots are the Fireworks display we saw off of Key Biscayne here in Miami. Our buddies Monica and Rodney invited us to see the fireworks with their families, it was a truly awesome fireworks display!
            



We had a great time at both gatherings, spending time with pals that we don't usually get to hang out with on the weekends since we're always shooting weddings. Lucky for us, our friends understand our passion and work with us and our crazy schedules! Thank you guys!

Happy Birthday America!