Chicken And Rice Soup

• 1 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 med. Onion, chopped
• 2 Garlic cloves, minced
• 2 med. Carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2 in. thick slices
• 2 Celery Ribs, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/2 in thick slices
• 4 Fresh Thyme Sprigs
• 1 Bay leaf
• 2 qts. Chicken Stock or Broth
• 1 c. of Water
• 1/2 c. White Rice
• 1 1/2 c. Shredded Cooked Chicken Breasts
• Salt and Pepper

Place a soup pot over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, thyme and bay leaf. Cook and stir for about 6 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not browned. Pour in the chicken broth and water- bring liquid to a boil. Add in the rice and chicken; season with salt and pepper. Cook on medium-low heat until the rice is tender (about 30 minutes). Serve hot.

Skinny Turkey Ranch Club Wraps

I found this recipe on Pinterest but I revamped it and made it even "skinnier" and in my opinion, even tastier. Try it and let me know. My kids loved eating the "green tortilla."

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• Garden Spinach and Herb Wrap
• Deli Smoked Turkey Breast
• Ranch Yogurt Dressing ( I looked all over the grocery store for this stuff without success so I mixed together a little plain Greek yogurt and a little bit of ranch dressing. So yummy!)
• Turkey Bacon (baked in the oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes)
• Baby Spinach leaves
• Colby Jack Cheese
• Tomato

Spread Ranch Yogurt dressing on the center of your wrap. Add turkey, bacon, tomato, cheese, and spinach. Roll up and cut in half. Enjoy!

Nutella Cheescake (Guest Post)

Today is a guest post by my little sister Aimee. She's going to school to be a Home Ec Teacher. This is good; the girl can COOK! She has always been one to create miracles in the kitchen with random ingredients if she doesn't have what the recipe asks for. Take it away Aimee!

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Hey everyone! Thanks Abbey for asking me to be a guest on your blog!

The other night I was home alone watching The Food Network Channel (one of my faves) when I had the urge to make something chocolatey. Now I don’t usually have this type of craving because I’m not the biggest fan of chocolate, so I figured I should act quickly.  And it was fantastic! I found a Nutella cheesecake recipe on Pinterest that was easy so I decided to make it with my own twist on it. My kitchen doesn’t always have the necessary ingredients to make yummy food, so I really had to improvise with a lot of things. 

Filling

• 8 oz. Softened Cream Cheese 
• 2/3 c. Nutella
• 8 oz. Whipped Cream

Mix the cream cheese and Nutella together with a mixer. Once they are combined, fold in the whipped cream until there are no streaks. Then pour onto crust and top with more whipped cream if desired.

Crust

12 Oreo Cookies, crushed

3 T Butter

(mixed and pressed into a cheesecake pan)

Or

Graham Crackers

Or

I used an oatmeal crust that I threw together. It was a combination of oatmeal, brown sugar and butter that I baked in the oven. 

 Spread filling onto pie crust and top with more whipped cream!

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Its me again. She's good huh?! I vote that it would be a great dessert for your Valentine. 

 If you have a recipe that I or the rest of the world needs to know about, share the wealth and be a guest poster! Email me at morethanjustacasserole@gmail.com to let me know!

Peanut Butter Oreo Cupcake Brownies

Warning: these are very rich and very yummy. I saw a picture of cupcakes similar to these so I decided to try to recreate them for our little Super Bowl party last night. My experiment worked and they are glorious.

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• Package of Oreos
• Creamy Peanut Butter
• Brownie Mix
•  Cupcake liners

 In a cupcake tin with liners in it, place an Oreo in the bottom of each paper liner. Spread a layer of peanut butter on top of the Oreo. Sandwich the peanut butter with another Oreo.

In a medium sized bowl, prepare brownie mix according to the directions.

Pour brownie mix over Oreos in liners careful to cover the entire Oreo stack.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

Grilled Mozzarella Sandwiches

I'm a hard core grilled cheese fan. The love of them started when I was pregnant with my first baby. Grilled cheese was the only food that sounded good and the only thing my stomach tolerated the first 4 months of my pregnancy. Since then I've become a grilled cheese connoisseur. This recipe is basically a fancied up version of my favorite sammy. It reminds me a little of another one of my faves; the Monte Cristo. It got 2 thumbs up from everyone at our table, baby included. Enjoy!

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• 1 lb. Mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 8 Slices Texas Toast Bread
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1/2 c. Heavy cream
• 1 t. Fresh Thyme, leaves
• 1 t. Coarse Salt
• A grating of Nutmeg
• 1/4 c. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 T. Unsalted Butter

Place the sliced mozzarella on 4 slices of the bread. Cover with the remaining slices of bread to form the sandwiches. Trim the crusts off to make perfect squares.

In a wide shallow bowl, whisk the eggs.  Add the cream, thyme, salt, and numeg. Whisk until well blended.

In a 10-12 inch nonstick saute pan, heat 2 T. of olive oil over medium-high heat until smoking. Add 1 T of the butter and cook until the sizzling subsides. Dip 2 of the sandwiches into the egg mixture, turning to coat, place in the pan and cook until golden brown on the first side (about 2 minutes). Flip over and brown the other side. Transfer the sandwiches to individual plates and repeat the process with the remaining 2 T of olive oil, 1 T. butter and 2 sandwiches. Cut in half and serve immediately.

Zuppa Toscana

This is hands down the best soup I've ever had. So so good. My husband made the comment that it was so warming. Perfect for a cold night evidently.  Although it takes a minute to make (mostly prep work), it really isn't very difficult. Give it a try; thank me later. P.S. this is amazing roll dipping soup.

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• 4 Slices Bacon, diced
• 1 lb. Ground Hot Italian Sausage (we used regular Italian sausage due to little mouths having to eat this. I highly recommend regular.)
• 1/2 large Yellow Onion, diced
• 4 Cloves Garlic, minced
• 4 c. (32 oz) Chicken stock
• 3 c. Russet Potatoes, cubed
• 3/4 t. Sea Salt
• 1/4 t. Pepper
• 2 c. Kale, in bite sized pieces
• 1 c. Heavy Whipping Cream
• Parmesan Cheese, grated

In a large pot, cook the bacon until crispy. Drain the grease. Add the sausage, breaking it apart as it cooks. Once sausage is browned and crumbled, drain off grease leaving a tablespoon to saute the onion.

Push the sausage and bacon to the edge of the pot and add the onion to the center; saute until translucent; add garlic; saute until fragrant.

Stir in the stock and potatoes, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Add kale and heavy whipping cream. Bring to ta simmer. Top with Parmesan cheese when serving.