Sweet Sausage Soup

Soup, Glorious Soup...

What you'll need:

• 4-6 stalks of Kale, Picked Over, Cleaned, And Torn Into Bite Sized Pieces
• 10-12 whole Red Potatos, Sliced Thin
• 1 whole Onion, Chopped
• 1-1/2 pound Italian, sweet, or maple Sausage
• 1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes (more To Taste)
• 2 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 4 cups of Milk (recipe called for whole but I used 1%)
• 2 cups Half-and-half
• 2 Tbs of Sour Cream
• 1 Tbs of Dried Oregano
• Black Pepper To Taste
• 4-6 dashes of Hot sauce- I used Tapatillo. 

How to make it:

1. Pull the kale of the stalks and tear into bite sized pieces. 

-Wash and drain in salad spinner, if you have one, then set it aside.

2. Slice the red potatoes into thin slices. 

-Add the potatoes to a medium pot, add enough water the potatoes by approximately 1  inch of water and salt the water with approx. 1 tbs of sea salt. If tasted, the water should taste like the ocean. Cook potatoes until tender. Drain and set aside.

3. In a large pot, crumble and brown the sausage. Drain as much as the fat as you can (Tip: If you didn't use sweet or maple sausage, add some honey or agave to give the meat a sweet taste). 

-Stir in the red pepper flakes, oregano, chicken broth, milk, and half-and-half. Simmer for 30 minutes.

4. Give it a taste and adjust seasonings as needed. 

-Add the hot sauce, add the potatoes, sour cream, then stir in the kale. 

-Simmer an additional 10-15 minutes, then serve.

* I found this recipe and pictures on thepioneerwoman.com, then massaged and  adjusted the recipe to better fit my tastes.

Gyro!

Simple, Delicious, and Healthy!

I came across this recipe and couldn't believe how good they are! Although, if you like a good gyro, you know that nothing can replace going to a good greek restaurant and having them shave off the beef or lamb and adorning it with all the delicious toppings. BUT... if your like me and you get into craving ruts where you crave a particular food for every meal for weeks on end, you know that your wallet and your body will appreciate finding new ways to satisfy these cravings.


Add these ingredients to your weekly shopping list:
1 package of good, lean Deli Roast Beef
1 English Cucumber (I like that they have less seeds and less water to dilute the taste)
1 package of Cherry tomatoes (or really any kind of tomato diced)
1 Onion (diced, yellow or red, whatever you can stand on a normal basis)
1 package of Tabbouleh (optional, my store carries it any day so I say, "Why not?")
1 8oz  greek yogurt (or more, as much as you think you'll use)
1 bunch of Dill (I buy it as a fresh paste because I don't use enough of the fresh when I do buy it)
Feta cheese
Black Olives
Flat Bread or Pita (I just found whole wheat Pita, its pretty good!)


Other things you probably have in your pantry:
Olive Oil
A dash of worcestershire sauce
Paprika
Oregano
Garlic Salt
Pepper
Italian Seasoning or Greek seasoning if you have it


1. Ok, do this first (ps. it's best if it has some time to sit and let the flavors combine. Yes, your lunch tomorrow will be that much better, believe it)!
-Combine greek yogurt, 1/2 of the cucumber diced, 1 tbs of Dill fresh paste, salt and pepper to taste. 
-Cover your Tzatziki sauce and refrigerate until you're ready to assemble your gyros. 
2. Now we'll make the gyro.
- Warm a skillet to medium, add Olive Oil, and a little less then 1/4 of the diced onion. While the onions cook to translucent- take out and cut into long pieces 1 slice of Deli sliced Roast beef per pita round. I only eat 1/2 a pita stuffed with Gyro so I only use half a slice; My husband loves at least 1 full pita overstuffed with Gyro which is 1 full slice of Roast beef plus the rest of mine if I don't use it. 
- Once the onion is translucent add the Roast beef and season at least 1 Tsp of Oregano, dash of worcestershire sauce, paprika, garlic salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. I mostly just make sure there is a good even coating of the spices to the roast beef so i do this part by how it looks. 
- While the roast beef heats through cut up your tomatoes and put the pita in the toaster, microwave, or under the broiler to heat them up. Don't forget to open up the pocket first if your pitas have pockets.
3. Assemble the beast...
Open up the pita pocket and stuff with gyro-roast beef- meat, Tabbouleh, diced tomatoes, diced onions, feta cheese, black olives, left-over diced cucumber, and your Tzatziki (cucumber, yogurt) sauce. 


Now enjoy the fruits/meats/ and veggies of your labor. Yumm!