Easy Homemade Clam Chowder

Easy Clam Chowder

4-5 cups diced potatoes*

1 small onion, diced

1/4 lb. bacon

pepper to taste

4 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

2 cups half-and-half

3 cans minced clams

Fry bacon in a pot. When bacon is done, remove bacon from the pan and add the diced onions to the bacon grease. Cook until softened, about one or two minutes. Stir in pepper and add potatoes. Toss to mix, then cover potatoes with chicken broth and water. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are cooked through and soft. In the meantime, cut up the cooked bacon. Add juice from the clams to the soup (but don't add the clams themselves yet ~ adding them too soon makes them rubbery) and half-and-half. Heat through, being careful not to boil. Add clams and cut bacon, mix in, and cook for another minute.

Serve with chives, sour cream, and malt vinegar.

* Potatoes note: Red potatoes give the soup a more chunky texture, while Russets make it more creamy and thick. Some of us prefer the thick/creamy and some prefer the chunky texture, so I compromise and use both. Either or both works! Add extra potatoes for a thicker soup.

This is an easy and pretty quick meal, excellent for nights when I need to cook something fast.  It takes about 25 minutes, but most of that is simmering time.

It's great for lunch, too! Reheated in the morning and poured into a Thermos to keep it hot. Perfect lunch for cool days!

Especially good with a nice salad and fruit on the side.

Like this spring greens salad with balsamic dressing, with strawberries and blackberries, Van's multigrain crackers, a piece of chocolate, and a few bits of beef jerky (special request from Bean). Delicious and hearty lunch for school!

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Preschool Piggy

I finally caved in to the cuteness factor and bought the CuteZCute sandwich cutter from BentoUSA/AllThingsForSale. Hello, adorable! And super easy to use, too.

To break it in, I made Beaker a little piggy lunch today.

See? SO CUTE! Cute little piggy face sandwich with ham and cheese.

He also has clementine segments and mango chunks, snap peas and baby carrots with ranch, and a few chocolate covered blueberries.

For the Dude, a sliced beef and provolone sandwich on a jalapeno cheddar bagel, with jalapeno chips and a couple of small kiwis. The little heart container holds dark chocolate cranberries. The sandwich is every bit as delicious as it looks. And so colorful, with a mix of fresh spring greens to add some cooling flavor and crunch to balance out the spicy jalapenos.

Princess and Bean both wanted leftover beef stew from last night's dinner.

On the side I packed them each some oyster crackers, peeled clementines, baby carrots and snap peas with ranch, and a few chocolate cranberries.

The pretty fruit and veggie flower for Princess was made using silicone baking cups and a variety of fruits and veggies. The 'petals' of the flower are carrots and clementine segments, while the flower center is a golden cherry tomato. 'Grass' snap peas sprout up on either side, while the 'leaves' - green mini silicone cups with oyster crackers and chocolate cranberries - hold the bottom.

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Stew on a Cold Day

Ah, January. Bitter cold, everything frozen, and even the sun can't get you warm. Not my favorite month.

But it is perfect weather for stews and soups! And roasts with root veggies, simmering away in the crock pot all day. Delicious!

Leftovers for the girls for lunch again. Roast for dinner one night means stew for lunch the next day!

Delicious beef stew, packed hot into a Thermos for a home cooked hot lunch. To prep the Thermos and keep the contents hot for longer, fill the empty Thermos with hot water and let it sit for a few minutes while heating up or cooking the food which is going inside. Dump the hot water just before adding the food. This heats up the core of the Thermos, helping it to hold the contents at a higher temperature for longer.

To go with their stew, I packed each of them a small assortment of snacks and sides into sandwich containers from the Dollar Spot at Target. and an organic chocolate milk to drink.

Their sides are fresh blueberries and sugar snap peas, oyster crackers, and a dessert of chocolate drizzled caramel corn and pretzels.

For Beaker, a bento breakfast. Waffle bits with warmed syrup for dipping, blueberries, and a fish shaped hard boiled egg.

And for the Dude, leftover Chinese takeout. Fried rice and chow mein, General Tso and orange chicken, an egg roll, fortune cookie, and soy sauce packet. I forgot that he wouldn't have access to a microwave that day. Oops. But at least it was still edible cold...

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