Breezie's Legendary Clam Chowder

This is some good soup! Great meatless meal, if you leave out the bacon, but it might just be too indulgent for Lent. The original recipe is from a church cookbook from the St. Francis Chapel & City Ministry in Providence, RI. My brother (Breezie) gave me a few hints on tweaking the recipe and I added a touch of my own as well. So this is how I made it. Next time, I'll probably leave out the bacon.

1/4 lb. bacon (4 or 5 slices), diced
6 ribs celery, cut thin
2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
2 TBL butter
1 qt chicken stock
black pepper to taste
1/2 tsp thyme
5 or 6 potatoes, diced (I didn't peel them before dicing, just washed them well)
3 cans (6.5 oz each) minced clams, drained, juice reserved
1 package Louis Kemp "crab," sliced
1 stick butter
6 TBL flour
1 qt milk
3 TBL cornstarch
1/4 cup ice water

Dice and blanch bacon in 2 cups boiling water for about 2 minutes.

Saute celery & onions in 2 TBL butter for 10 minutes over medium heat. Don't allow to brown.

In large soup pot, add bacon, celery & onions to chicken stock. Add clam juice, pepper and thyme. Bring to a heavy simmer. Add potatoes and simmer until the potatoes are cooked but still firm.

Melt the stick of butter and blend with flour. Add this roux to 1 qt. hot milk, off the heat. Stir and return to the burner, stirring until thickened to make a bechamel sauce. Add drained clams and the bechamel to the soup. Stir and simmer 10 minutes.

Make a slurry with the cornstarch and ice water and add to the soup. Bring to a boil and stir until soup thickens. Lower the heat and simmer until ready to serve.

Yield: 4 1/2 quarts of soup.

Thrifty Thursday: Fajitas

This is my husband's favorite "planned-leftover" meal. Next time you grill steak or chicken, make extra and save it for this easy weekday dinner.

Thrifty is planning leftovers AND using a single skillet to cook everything!

And if you're not a fajita fan, skip the vegetables, cook the meat with the sauce and then use some tortillas and cheese to make some delicious quesadillas.

FAJITAS
1 large sweet onion, sliced
2 bell peppers (any color you like), sliced
2 TBL olive oil
1 1/2 cups very thinly sliced leftover grilled steak or chicken
1 TBL black pepper
3 TBL soy sauce
1 TBL minced garlic
1/3 cup salsa

Saute the onion and peppers in a heavy skillet until they are still crispy, but beginning to soften. Remove to a plate. In the same skillet, add the remaining ingredients. Cook until everything is hot and the meat is coated with the sauce. Return vegetables to the skillet and cook 2 minutes more. Serve with warm tortillas.

Visit Thrifty Thursdays for more thrifty tips!

Menu Plan: June 7-27

Oh my goodness, has it been this long?

SUN 7: Grilled London broil, roasted potatoes with Old Bay seasoning, green beans

MON 8: Homemade pizza

TUES 9: Lemon & Garlic chicken drumsticks, broccoli, Stove Top stuffing

WED 10: Tacos. I saw a hint on Family Corner to use tomato juice in place of water when making tacos. Not having any tomato juice on hand, I used a can of tomato sauce and it worked great.

THURS 11: Spaghetti with sausage

FRI 12: Cub Scout picnic

SAT 13: The Big Kids both had parties to attend so we took Little Brother to Chili's

SUN 14: Steak on the grill, orzo with garlic and onions, mixed vegetables

MON 15: Balsamic chicken with onions, linguine aglio olio

TUES 16: takeout

WED 17: Chili

THURS 18: Spaghetti & meatballs

FRI 19: Went to a diner

SAT 20: Spaghetti at Mom & Dad's

SUN 21: Chicken parm at Mom & Pop's

MON 22: Chicken Swiss Melt, rice, mixed vegetables

TUES 23: Breezie's Legendary Clam Chowder, crusty bread, salad

WED 24: Fajitas/quesadillas with leftover steak

THURS 25: Ravioli with meatballs

FRI 26: Flounder

SAT 27: hot dogs, beans

Lemon and Garlic Chicken

Get this recipe at Cook and Count!

Cooking with Alicia & Annie: Light & Fluffy Waffles

These waffles are definitely light and fluffy. They were easy to make, too, and very tasty. We're having these again.

The recipe came from Alicia's Recipes.

2 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar
3 eggs, separated
1 3/4 c. milk
1/3 c. oil

Instructions
Mix dry ingredients. Combine egg yolks, milk and oil. Add to dry ingredients. Beat egg whites to stiff peaks; fold in. Cook on preheated iron.

On my waffle iron, they took 4 minutes. This recipe made 18 waffles.

This post is an entry in the Cooking with Alicia & Annie blog event.