Friday, July 22, 2011

Potato Corn Chowder (w/ Bacon!)-- my vacation prep recipes {part 1}

{For those of you keeping up with my travel intinerary, you'll notice this post is a couple days behind because of a lack of internet connection to post it.}

So here I am, relaxing on vacation in our little cabin in the woods… and I actually have some time to blog, and really enjoy it too! :) We brought church kids to camp (woo hoo, Lake Ann!) and are enjoying the cabins provided for the youth leaders who would like to stay. We’re having a blast and Titus has been well-behaved, sleeping well, and SO happy! We went to the children’s museum this morning, and to a secluded beach tonight. It’s been very hot, but we’ve been staying cool and our cabin has been staying surprisingly cool as well! I slept great last night!


Anyways, even though our vacation is turning out to be super fun, memorable, and relaxing for us, the weekend leading up to our vacation was SO busy and stressful for me. Tim was shooting a wedding all weekend, and Sundays are always busy when you’re married to a pastor. I was busy not only packing for this trip plus the flight Titus and I will be taking on Thursday to visit my family, but I’m frantically filling Blue Ladybug orders, and finishing up some special gifts for my future sister-in-law’s bridal shower that will take place while I’m in PA. (You’ll be seeing pics of them soon, but first I have to give them to her! Haha) Of course, vacation prep is stressful for everyone! I’ve been trying to balance using up the food we have in the house, while not using a lot of dishes so I’m not creating more work for myself! It is always tempting to run to get fast food- saves time and cleanup. I probably would have resorted to that this weekend while Tim was gone (I hate cooking when he’s gone!), BUT I didn’t have a vehicle. SO I worked hard to create meals for Titus and I that were quick, delicious and didn’t dirty a lot of dishes! I was pretty impressed with the two meals that I came up with. Here’s the first one (no pictures except for the one I snatched from the Betty Crocker website). Be sure to check back tomorrow for the next one: a yummy angel hair pasta with garlic parmesan cream sauce.  

Okay, so the first recipe is a modified version of a Potato and Double Corn Chowder from my Betty Crocker Cook Book. It’s meant to cook in the crockpot, but I never have done it that way! I used real potatoes instead of frozen hash browns and I cook it on the stove!

Potato Corn Chowder (with Bacon!)
4 baking potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
2 Tbls EVOO or butter
1 can whole kernel corn (or half a bag or frozen corn, whatever you have)
1 can creamed corn
1 can evaporated milk
½ tsp Worchester sauce
6 slices bacon- cooked and crumbled
Salt and Pepper

It only involves the time it takes to cut up potatoes, throw the ingredients together and let flavors meld, while the potatoes cook! I don’t have pictures for this one, but here’s the basic idea. Throw the potatoes and onion, into a large pot or skillet with a couple tablespoons of butter or EVOO. Season with salt and pepper. Let that saute for about 10-15 minutes so that potatoes can begin cooking. Next add the corn (kernel and creamed), the evaporated milk, and Worchester sauce. Let simmer until the potatoes are soft and soup has thickened (about 20-30min). Make sure to stir frequently- I’ve had this soup scorch way too many times! Add bacon and serve hot with cheese sprinkled on top!

Let me know what you think of this recipe and if you try it! :) And by all means, if you want to try the crockpot version, do it! And let me know how it goes!


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