Cheeseburger Paradise....

Years ago, I had an amazing Beer Cheese Soup in a tiny little sandwich shop near Wilmington, NC.  It was absolutely the greatest thing I had ever had... up until now.  I know what you are thinking: Who makes or eats soup in the summer? Well, the Minnichs do… because we love soup!  Dave is much more partial to soups that are tomato based in nature, but me?  I just love soup! If I had my own cooking show, it would be called “I can make that into a SOUP!”.

So there I was, trying to get evil thoughts from my head, and the best way to take my mind off anything is to cook…. or bake.  Yes, I know I am trying to ‘eat clean’ this summer and lose some poundage but it’s summer.  (That concept can also be applied to ‘fall, winter, and spring’, but I digress). I wanted something that I could make a head and heat up easily enough after zumba.  So I decided on Cheeseburger Soup. 

But then magic happen! I opened my refrigerator and saw the growler of beer waiting for Dave and I…. lightbulb!

Why NOT make it Cheeseburger BEER soup?  Combining two of my favorite things: cheese and beer!

Cheeseburger Beer Soup

1/2 lb ground beef
1 tbs Dales steak seasoning
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 shredded carrots
3/4 diced celery
4 cups diced potatoes
4 tbsp butter
4 cups chicken broth (2 cans)
1/4 cup AP flour
1 1/2 cups Velveeta, cubed
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
2 tbsp mustard (hot or regular your choice)
1 can beer (your choice)
1 1/2 cup milk (I used FF)


1.  Brown beef with Dale’s seasoning in a soup maker/ dutch oven. Drain and set beef aside. Personally I like it a DARKER brown and some what burned!
2.  In same pan, cook the onion, carrots, celery and basil in tablespoon of butter until tender.
3.  Add broth, potatoes, and beef now. Bring to boil and allow potatoes to get fork tender.  10 minutes
4.  In a separate skillet, melt remaining butter and  add flour to make a roux- this is about 5 minutes max constantly stiring as it bubbles.  You want to cook the raw flavor out of the flour.
5.  Add roux to soup; bring to boil and cook for about 3 minutes and then reduce heat to low. 
6.  Stir cheese, beer, milk, mustard with salt and pepper to the soup.  Stir until cheese melts.

Well, this one was a winner.  Dave thoroughly enjoyed this one and it was like a slice of heaven.  I used just an ordinary Miller Lite, but I might step that up a notch as I am a craft beer lovin’ lady. And another thing about next time,  I will add bacon because everything’s better with bacon!

Squashing the dislike of Squash

Dave does not like squash and I do.  To be honest, there are a LOT of vegetables that Dave does not like that I do so it's a constant battle to figure out what he'll eat and what I will have to eat alone. However, this is a recipe that Dave will 'somewhat' eat, I think, primarily because there is cornbread involved.  Now, I make NO bones about it, I love Jiffy cornbread mix- it's simply too cheap and easy not to love- so this is a variation on a Paula Deene* corn casserole recipe that I love- minus the stick of damn butter! There is simply NO reason to add the stick of butter!

Dave likes the corn casserole so I thought maybe adding the squash would help him with his issues with the lovely summer veggie- uh, not really.  But this is a GREAT way to use squash.  You can mix in zucchini and a little jalepeno if you'd like it a bit more spicy. Also, maybe use a jalepeno pepper jack cheese instead of cheddar.  Hmm.... variations on recipes is a thing of mine!



Squashed Cornbread Casserole

2 1/2  cups boiled squash, buttered and salted to taste

It's good I tell ya, GOOOD!

1/2 cup diced onion
1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
1 cup sour cream (I use fat free)
2 cups cheddar cheese (I like sharp)

1.  Cut Squash into bite size pieces and boil with the onion until tender. Drain water off and add butter and garlic salt- along any other spice/seasoning you might like.
2.  Mix cornbread mix, squash/onion, sour cream, and 1 cup of cheese together.
3.  Pour into a  13x9 buttered casserole. 
4.  Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes; remove from over and top with remaining cheese; return to over to melt cheese - 5 minutes.
5.  Let is stand at least another 5 minutes before serving!


Under full disclosure, Dave does not love this, but to me, it's great!  But then again,  I love the squash!  So not quite "Dave tested and Dave approved",  but it's a 'not bad' recipe!

(* note: I still 'like' Paula Deene, not 'love',  however, my issue with her stems from the fact, she hid her diabetes while plying us with butter while she got a major drug endorsement)