[Pote05]

Potatoe Soup with Shrimp Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Great Soup had this weekend!





1/2 stick butter
1 small onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced about the same size as the onion
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
8 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 cups milk, whole, reduced fat (2 percent) or low fat (1 percent)
2 chicken bouillon cubes, dissolved in 1/2 cup hot milk
1 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups salted water
1 pound medium shrimp
Crumbled bacon bits, for garnish
Grated sharp Cheddar, for garnish
Dill sprigs, optional garnish

In a 4-quart saucepan, melt the butter and saute the onion and carrots until both are slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the potatoes, milk, and dissolved bouillon cubes. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are very soft and some of them have begun to dissolve into mush. Add the half-and-half, salt, and pepper.
In a small saucepan, bring 2 cups lightly salted water to a boil. Add the shrimp all at once and stir well. Watch the shrimp closely; as soon as they all turn pink, about 2 to 3 minutes, turn off the heat and drain. The shrimp should be slightly undercooked. When they are cool, peel them, and chop roughly into big chunks. Add the shrimp to the soup and stir well. Serve soup sprinkled with bacon bits and grated cheese. Garnish with dill sprigs, if desired.

Cook's Note: If you don't have access to shrimp, use corn.


Mac 'N Cheese with Bacon and Cheese

Kosher salt
1 pound elbow macaroni
4 cups milk
2 or 3 sprigs thyme
4 cloves garlic, smashed and divided
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 1/2 cups shredded sharp white Cheddar
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into thin strips
1 large onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, smashed
Leaves from 1/4 bunch fresh thyme

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the macaroni and cook for 8 to 9 minutes, until al dente. Drain.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a small saucepan heat the milk with the thyme sprigs and 2 garlic cloves. Melt the butter in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute, stirring constantly, to keep lumps from forming. Strain the solids out of the milk and whisk it into the butter and flour mixture. Continue to whisk vigorously, and cook until the mixture is nice and smooth. Stir in the 4 cups of the cheese and continue to cook and stir to melt the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked macaroni and the parsley and fold that all in to coat the macaroni with the cheese mixture. Scrape into a 3-quart baking dish and sprinkle with the remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

While that bakes, heat a saute pan. Add the bacon, render the fat and cook until crispy. Add onion, garlic and thyme leaves and cook for about 5 minutes to soften the onion. Season with salt and pepper.

To serve, scatter the bacon mixture over the mac and cheese. Use a big spoon to scoop out servings, making sure you get some of the smoking bacon mixture on each spoonful.






WOW, had this at a friends Super Bowl Party. It is some awesome stuff!

BBQ Spaghetti

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 can Diced Tomatoes I like the spicy kind
1/2 red onion
2 tablespoon garlic
3 1/2 cups BBQ sauce, recipe follows
1 pound pork, beef, or chicken, cooked and chopped into bite-size pieces
1 pound spaghetti

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute the peppers and onion, until softened for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic. Add the premade BBQ sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and add the chopped meat.
Meanwhile, fill a large pot with water and bring to boil. Season liberally with salt and add spaghetti. Cook for 7 minutes, until al dente (firm but not hard) and drain. Toss spaghetti with sauce.

[Emm]

How does your blood sugar cope with those meals? They all look a little too high in carb for my liking (that wouldn't always stop me mind you!)

[Schlep]

If I was to eat one dish of any of those I would consider myself on a binge. Not low carb.

[Handybear]

Any of those recipes would kill my good numbers. Are you sure you are diabetic?

[susique333]

Oh those look wonderful but alas, I cant eat either potatoes nor pasta as my blood sugars will spike 300-400.

[Harold]

My wife made some what she calls hamburger soup this last week and my bg levels have never been so good running in the 80's and 90's. She has made it before, but his time she did not have any veg-all and improvised. The only difference I noticed was no carrots.

[susique333]

Originally Posted by Harold

My wife made some what she calls hamburger soup this last week and my bg levels have never been so good running in the 80's and 90's. She has made it before, but his time she did not have any veg-all and improvised. The only difference I noticed was no carrots.

Harold, would your wife be a dear and jot down the recipe? My elderly neighbor 20 years ago would make us a batch from time to time but alas I never got the recipe!

[Harold]

Hamburger 1.5 to 2lb (extra lean or ground chuck)
1/4 large onion
1 can of corn, juice included
1 can of green beens, juice included
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 small can peas, juice included
5 beef bouillon cubes
4 cups of water
3 baker sized potatoes peeled and cubed
hamburger and onions browned and drained before adding the rest
simmered for 4 to 5 hours
salt and pepper to taste

This is the same, but you can add veg-all and or kidney beans to it for variety. or for spicy add rotelle(sp) tomatoes.

[Pote05]

Originally Posted by Handybear

Any of those recipes would kill my good numbers. Are you sure you are diabetic?

Yes I'm pretty sure! Got the doctors & Endo bills to prove it.
I don't eat this way every day or even every month. Just once in a while a small serving of some good home cooked comfort food is a good thing to enjoy. Plus at our house When I cook I cook foods that my family & friends can enjoy, they don't have the big "D" I do, and thier pallet shouldn't have to suffer. These are 3 different Recipes We have tried over the last few months I thought I would let other folks read. Sorry I posted them.

[mzteacher]

dear pote,
don't be sorry you posted the recipies...i am sure others like me are scared to death of carbs!!!! that being said...the mac and cheese one could use the elbows froms dreamfields as can the bbq one use dreamfields and a low carb bbq sauce....it seems though i try so hard and even then end up with numbers that are higher than i would like....i think the trick is to find recipies we like and find ways to make them healthier for us....so i am glad you shared....with a recent join date you have jumped in with both feet posting and i admire that...i am a bit more cautious......by the way...loved your music on your my space page!....keep up with the sharing...you can't please all the people all the time.....but to those of us that want to try some thing different in a recipie we can "tweak" it to make it work for us!
susan