Potato Corn Chowdah!

It's been ridiculously hot here in SoCal for the past few weeks, so when it finally cooled down a couple weekends ago (you know, to about 70 degrees instead of 90+...) it was soup time!

Even though the weather was back up in the 90's the next day, this soup was still great as leftovers. And it's low-ish in fat, so there ya go.

Now bring on the Fall weather so I can make it again! And also so I can wear sweaters without dying!

Potato Corn Chowder

4 Strips Thick Cut Bacon, cut into 1/8 in. pieces
3/4 C. Diced Onion*
3/4 C. Diced Carrot*
3/4 C. Diced Celery*
6-8 Potatoes, peeled and diced small
4 Ears of Fresh White Corn, cut off the cob** (or a bag of frozen white corn if you can't get fresh)
1 32 oz. Box All Natural Chicken Stock
1 tsp. Salt (more to taste)
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
Pepper to Taste
2 C. Fat Free Half and Half
1/4 C. Corn Starch and 1/4 C. water mixed
Shredded Cheddar-Jack Cheese for topping


*Trader Joe's sells tubs of  Mirepoix (aka already diced onions, carrots, and celery) in their refrigerated produce section... it's a real time saver! Go get some for all your soup needs! ;)
** I use my trusty Kernel Cutter from Pampered Chef... it's fabulous!!

In a large pot or Dutch oven, cook the bacon until crisp.

Remove the cooked bacon, but leave at least 2 Tbsp of the drippings. Add the onions, carrots and celery to the drippings, and cook until tender.

Add diced potatoes, corn, salt, Old Bay, pepper, and chicken stock. Cook until the potatoes are soft.

Add the Fat Free Half and Half.

Bring to a boil, then add the cornstarch and water mixture, and bring it back to a boil to thicken the chowder. (You can make more of this mixture if you want it even thicker.)

Top with shredded cheddar and the cooked bacon.

Makes 4-6 servings, depending on the size of your bowl...

Oh, you know, just winning a cupcake bake-off...

Holy mackerel people... has it really been almost three months since my last post! Seriously, where did the time (and our whole summer) go?!

Well, since I'm so behind and all, let's backtrack to one thing that happened right before summer even started...

I won first place in a cupcake baking contest!!

I know, crazy, huh?! Who would have thought that this girl, who really doesn't bake, could pull something like that off? Especially when the other two bakers I was baking against made a creme brule flavor and a "Summer's Passion" citrus tea-strawberry lemonade flavor? (I didn't get to try the creme brule, but the Summer's Passion was delicious!)

It all started out as a bunch of my Facebook friends convincing me to submit a cupcake recipe to Little Cake Cupcake Kitchen's (our local cupcake shop) recipe contest, since they know how much I love this place, and they know I like to cook (which is nothing like liking to bake, which I don't as much, but I did it for them). Little Cakes is fabulous, and just to prove it, they went onto Food Network's Cupcake Wars and WON THE WHOLE DARN THING!!

So this cupcakery decided to host their own version of Cupcake Wars, where they asked anyone who wanted to enter to send in their recipe. If your recipe was chosen, you got to move onto phase two.

For phase two, they chose the top 25 best sounding cupcake recipes from all the submissions, and those who's recipes were chosen had to bring in a sample of their cupcakes for a taste test. I had actually submitted 2 recipes (the second was an Italian Lemonade) and they wanted to try both... so I actually had to bake, which is not something I do very often. I can do it, I just don't... basically because I'm lazy.

So out of the 25 samples they "had" to to taste test, my little submission was one of the top three, which meant I went on to phase three: An actual LIVE bake-off!

So I gathered up all my stuff, and my trusty baking sidekick Courtney (aka my cousin... we were allowed to have one person to help us bake.) and we went to the Vista Strawberry Festival, where Little Cakes had a kitchen area all set up for us to bake our cupcakes in front of a bunch of people, outside, in the middle of a street.

Other than the convection ovens not cooking quite the same as regular ovens, and the wind that liked to swoop in and blow our cupcake liners all over the place, it wasn't so bad. Much better than I thought actually.

And so we baked. Then we walked around and ate really delicious, really bad-for-you street fair food, until the final baker (I baked second) was finished, and they deliberated for a bit, and then it was time for the results.
I was totally expecting to come in second or third, just because my cupcake was so simple, so I was completely shocked when they announced the other two as the second and third placers. Totally. Shocked. I still don't know how it happened.

So my cupcake is now the new flavor at Little Cakes, and I also got a $100 gift card to the shop, as well as a Little Cakes t-shirt for Courtney and one for  myself.

And you get the recipe, since they didn't say I couldn't share it. And if they don't want me to share it, I suppose I'll have to remove this post, which would totally suck, since it took me like an hour to write it in between my kids fighting over a pillow.

Rosemary Olive Oil Cupcakes

3 cups Flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
½ tsp. Baking Soda
¼ tsp. Salt
1 cup Olive Oil
½ cups Butter
4 Eggs
2 cups Sugar
1 cup Milk
½ cup Sour Cream
2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 ½ Tbsp. very finely chopped Fresh Rosemary


Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

16 oz. Cream Cheese
1 cup Powdered Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
Pinch of Salt
1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream, plus ¼ cup powdered sugar, whipped into peaks

Preheat oven to 350.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium mixing bowl and set aside.

Beat the butter, sugar, eggs, milk, sour cream, vanilla and rosemary until well combined. Slowly add the flour mixture until it is all well incorporated, and beat on medium speed for another couple of minutes or so.

Line a muffin tin with cupcake papers, and fill them about ¾ of the way full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cupcake comes out clean. Let cool completely.

For the frosting, whip the cream cheese with the powdered sugar, vanilla and salt. Slowly add the whipped cream until combined.

Frost the cupcakes as desired.

"Hamburger Helper".... Unboxed!

My husband LOVES Hamburger Helper. He asks for it all the time.

Nas-Tay! It totally grosses me out... and I don't want to serve that to my kids.

So, I made up my own version.

And it's easy.... and fast!

You could probably change up the seasonings to give it different flavors , but tonight we went with "Cheesy Taco".

Homemade "Hamburger Helper"

1 Lb. Ground Beef or Turkey
2 Tbsp (or one envelope) Taco Seasoning (you can make your own of this too, but I just use the kind with no MSG 'cause I'm lazy.)
1 Tbsp Onion Soup Mix
2 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp. 21 Seasoning Salute (Salt Free Seasoning From Trader Joe's... you can sub another salt free seasoning if you want, or just add a little extra pepper.)
1/2 tsp. pepper
Seasoning Salt to taste (I just used a little sprinkle, so I have no clue how much to tell you...)
1 1/2 cups Fat Free Half and Half, or Milk
4 oz Light Cream Cheese
1 cup Shredded Cheese (I used Cheddar-Jack) + 1/4 cup more for the top
1/4 Grated Parmesan Cheese
12 oz. Wide Egg Noodles

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add you noodles.

Cook the meat in a large-ish skillet with all of the seasonings until the meat is browned and cooked through. Add the half and half/milk, cream cheese, Cheddar-Jack cheese and Parmesan cheese.  Let it cook until cheeses are all melted. When your noodles are done, drain them and add them to your meat/cheese sauce, and stir until all the noodles are coated. You can add an extra splash of milk if you think it needs to be creamier. Top with 1/4 cup of cheese, and cover, until the cheese is melted.

The End.... You're Welcome.

Homemade Mac and Cheese

Who doesn't love Mac and Cheese?! Seriously, it's so good.

When I was pregnant with my son, I actually craved the Kraft boxed kind, with it's funky orange powder sauce mix...

When my hormones are somewhat normal, I go for the homemade kind.

This is a recipe I came up with right after my hubs and I got married. It's so simple, an yet it's probably the recipe people ask me for the most.

It's very versatile. You can use regular Cheddar-Jack mix, Pepper Jack for a little kick, or you can go all out and use cheese from the fancy cheese section... it's ALL good!

Sometimes, when I'm lazy (OK... that's pretty much all the time...) I just get one of those rotisserie chickens from Costco and add the meat to this, as well as some frozen veggies (I add them to the pasta while it's boiling) and then dinner is done, and I don't have to worry about preparing anything else.

Laziness or genius... you decide!

Homemade Mac and Cheese

16 oz macaroni (shells or elbow) cooked

1- 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

4 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided (You can sub and cheese you like here...)

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2  8 oz pkg cream cheese, softened

4 Tbsp butter melted

1/2 - 3/4 cup milk or fat free half and half (To make it easier to stir and keep the moisture in)

Dash of salt and fresh ground pepper

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs or crushed potato chips


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat the butter and the cream cheese together in a microwave, and stir until pretty much combined.

In a large mixing bowl combine cooked macaroni, ricotta, garlic and onion powders, 2 1/2 cups of the shredded cheese, Parmesan cheese, cream cheese and butter mixture, milk., salt and pepper (you can add he chicken here too, if your going for a casserole type of dish). Pour into a 9x13 baking pan or casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese and bread crumbs. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10-15 minutes, or until topping is browned and crispy. Serve with your favorite veggies and enjoy!

Chocolate Orange Baked French Toast

Chocolate and Orange. Orange and chocolate.

Some people LOVE this combination.

I have never been one of those people... until now.

I had it in my mind that I would make a baked french toast for breakfast this morning, but it wasn't until I started throwing it all together (because that's how I cook... nothing it truly measured out...) that the chocolate-orange idea came to me.

This tasted so much like if you take those big orange flavored chocolate balls (You know, the ones wrapped in orange foil, most popular at Christmas. I think you even have to smack them on a counter top something to break them apart... I believe they're called Chocolate Oranges. Original, I know!) melt them, and pour them on French toast.

This was so easy, and it made so much, that it would be perfect for a brunch potluck. You could even bake them in a muffin tin for individual servings...

Or you could just have it as dessert the night you make it. Just top it with vanilla ice cream and call it bread pudding.

Chocolate Orange Baked French Toast

1 16 oz. Loaf of Crusty Bread
8 Eggs
2 cups Milk
3/4 cup Sour Cream
1 small Orange, zested and juiced (you'll need 1/4 cup of juice)
2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla
1/3 cup Brown Sugar, packed
3/4 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1/4 cup Sugar + 2 tsp. Cinnamon, mixed

Preheat the oven to 375, and grease a 9x13 baking dish.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sour cream, orange zest, 1/4 cup orange juice, cinnamon, vanilla, and brown sugar.

Cut the loaf of bread into 2 inch cubes.

Add the bread into the egg mixture and stir until combined, and he bread soaks up the mixture. You may need to add a splash of milk (or more orange juice even) to make sure it's well moistened.

Stir in the chocolate chips and pour into the greased baking dish.

Top evenly with the cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Cover and bake for 50-60 minutes.

Super Easy And Oh So Yummy Granola Bars

I may be alone here in saying that I can't stand those Quaker Chewy Granola Bars.

Seriously.

They're like my least favorite snack food. Possibly ever.

I know. I'm weird like that.

I've seen a lot of home made versions of granola bars, but they all seem to call for tons of oil, and I've been trying to find something a little healthier, or at least without so much added fat, without sacrificing the yummy, part chewy, part crunchy  texture, and of course the flavor.

So, of course, I made up my own.

This recipe makes a lot of granola bars... at least 24 good sized bars, which could actually be cut in half and still be super satisfying.

You can also control the "add ins" yourself, subbing Sunflower Seed Butter for the Peanut Butter if your kids have allergies, Brown Rice Syrup for the honey, different kinds of dried fruit, white chocolate... the list could go on forever!

Homemade Granola Bars
6 cups Rolled Oats
1 cup Raw Sliced Almonds (I toasted mine in a skillet with a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg)
1 cup (packed) Sweetened Coconut
1 cup Peanut Butter, melted
1 1/2 cups Honey
1/4 cup Maple Syrup
1 cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup Milk Chocolate Chips
1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil (for the cookie sheet)

Preheat the oven to 325.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, almonds and coconut. Add the peanut butter, honey, and maple syrup, and stir. (I use my hands to stir. They just really get everything combined better than a plain ol' spoon does.)

Now add in the chocolate chips, and stir some more.

It's good like this, in it's raw state, but I like the crunchy nuttiness cooking the bars adds.

Use the veggie oil to grease a cookie sheet with sides or sheet pan. I like to use my Large Bar Pan from Pampered Chef since it just makes everything bake so nice and evenly, but a metal one would work fine too.

Evenly spread the granola bar mixture in he pan, and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until it's lightly golden brown on top.

While it's still hot, use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife to cut the granola into bars. Like I said this makes at least 24 bars, but it could easily make 48.

And PS... they're REALLY good when they're warm, since the chocolate gets all gooey and delicious. Mmm....

Microwave "Light" Chicken Fajitas

I've decided that I need to start eating healthier again... after realizing that I've gained about 30 lbs this past year!! So I'm starting to use SparkPeople.com again, which means taking advantage of their recipe calculator!

This is a super fast meal, great for weeknights. I use The Pampered Chef's Deep Covered Baker for mine, but any microwaveable 3 or more Qt. covered stone-type of baking dish would work. I usually get this to the table in about 20 minutes or less! (Sorry I don't have a better picture of this... it's really good though!)

A one taco serving (which is really big/filling!) has 294 calories, about 10 g, fat, 26 carbs, almost 11 g fiber, 4 sugars, and 30 g. protein.

Quick Light Chicken Fajitas
Fajitas
1 Lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Tenders
1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Green Bell Pepper
1/2 large red onion
1/2 tsp. Garlic Salt
2 tsp. Ground Cumin
2 tsp. Coriander
1 tsp. Chili Powder
1 tsp. Taco seasoning
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
Toppings:
3/4 c. Light Sour Cream
3/4 c. Light Mexican Blend Cheese
3/4 c. Garlic Chipotle Salsa (or whatever you like...)
1 c. Canned Pinto Beans, heated up
1 Pkg (6 total) La Tortilla Factory Sonoma Carb Cutting Tortillas

In your baking dish, line your chicken breast tenders so they cover the bottom. Slice your peppers and onion into strips, and put on top of the chicken. Top with all the seasonings, and stir to coat the veggies. Cover and microwave for 12 minutes (,If using frozen chicken, just add 3 minutes to the cooking time.) or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees in the meatiest parts. Use kitchen shears to cut the chicken in the pan and mix it well. Put the fajita mixture into the tortillas and top as desired.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Peanut Butter Brownie Bars

Are you in the mood for :
A) Chocolate Chip Cookies
B) Something Peanut Butter-y
C)Fudgy Brownies
D) All of the Above!!

If you Answered D, then you're in luck! I've seen a recipe similar to this referred to either as Santa's Suicide or Slutty Brownies (on where else... Pinterest! BTW This other blogger's pictures on the Pinterest post are waaayyyy better than mine. They probably have an amazing camera. I use my phone... Whatevs.)
Basically this thing is a layer of chocolate chip cookies on the bottom, a layer of fudgy brownies on top, and a layer of gooey peanut butter in between.
*drool*

Chocolate Chip Cookie-Peanut Butter-Brownie Bars

2 Sticks (1 Cup) Butter, softened
1 cup Sugar
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
2 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
2 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Salt + a sprinkle of Coarse Sea Salt if desired (I like getting a little chunk of salt in my cookies.)
1 1/2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
3/4 cup Natural Peanut Butter
1 box of Brownie Mix, and ingredients to prepare them (Make sure it's for the 9x13 size pan. Some boxes are smaller...)

Preheat your oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 baking pan and set aside.

Mix the brownie mix according to directions. Set that aside too.

With an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla.

In a mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.

With your mixer on a lower speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture (I do it a large spoonful at a time, so flour doesn't go everywhere) until it's all combined. Now stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour the cookie dough into your greased pan, and spread it evenly.

Now melt the peanut butter for about 30 seconds in the microwave. Stir and heat a few seconds more, or until it becomes nice and liquidy.

Now pour that over he cookie dough, and spread it out, but not all the way to the very edge of the pan.

Now pour the brownie batter over the peanut butter and spread it to the edges (careful not to mix the PB and brownie batter). Then I like to give the whole pan a bit of a shake to even it all out.

 Now bake it covered with foil for 30 minutes, then uncover it and bake for another 15-20 minutes.

 The brownie batter will be jiggly in the middle still but will set up into fudgy goodness while it cools.


Now for the hard part... you have to wait for it to cool before you cut into it. Bu after it cools... Oh Boy!! Sooo goood!!!

Gettin' Our Stuffed Cabbage On!

Hey! Look at me! I'm blogging!

Is it possible to get Bloggers Block? I think that's what I've had for the past month or so (maybe even longer! When was my last post again?), even though I cook dinner every night, and try, or make up, new recipes. Hmmm... Sorry about that.

Well, here you go... an actual blog entry! Woo hoo! *pats self on back*

Tonight I got in touch with my long buried Pennsylvanian Dutch/German roots.

I made cabbage rolls. And they were good.

And they took FOREVER!!

Note to self: When trying a new recipe, make sure you look at the total time it takes other to make it by looking up similar recipes on the interwebs... This one took about 40 minutes to prep, and 2 hours to cook... so make sure you start about 3 hours before you want to eat. So starting the whole process at around 5pm isn't the best idea if you want to eat at a normal time... Just sayin'.

So here they are folks:

Cabbage Rolls/Stuffed Cabbage

1 head of cabbage, core carefully removed, whole leaves gently peeled off
Enough water to fill up a LARGE pot
Lots of salt in the water... a least 2 TBSP, probably a little more.

Filling
1 Lb. Ground Beef
1 Lb . Ground Pork (or Pork Sausage)
3/4 cup Uncooked White Rice
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 a large onion, finely diced
A good handful of baby carrots (about 3/4 cup), finely diced
1 TBSP. Worcestershire Sauce
1 TBSP Cider Vinegar
1-2 tsp. Salt
1+ tsp. 21 Seasoning Salute (Amazing salt-free seasoning from Trader Joe's)
1/4 cup Ketchup
1 tsp. Dijon Mustard
4- cloves Garlic, pressed/minced
2 tsp. Dried Parsley

Sauce
1 can Tomato Soup
1 8oz can Tomato Sauce
1 can Petite Diced Tomatoes
1tsp. 21 Seasoning Salute
1 tsp. Seasoning Salt
1/2 cup Water
1 TBSP EACH: Worcestershire, Cider Vinegar, White Vinegar
1 clove Garlic, pressed/minced

Preheat oven to 350.
Get your salted water in your large pot good and boiling. Drop your cabbage leaves, about 6 at a time, in and sir with long tongs for about 3 minutes, until they become a little more tender/easier to work with.

Removed them with the tongs into a colander, to drain and cool so you can work with them. Try to keep them as in tact as possible, being careful not to rip them.

After the cabbage is all par-boiled, put all of the filling ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Mix with your hands until it's all well combined.

Now take one leaf at a time, and fill with a good amount (about 1/2-3/4 cup) of the filling, folding the sides in first, then rolling them up, like a burrito, and placing them seam side down in a 9x13 baking dish (my favorite is the Rectangular Baker from Pampered Chef), continue until you use all your filling up. (I had a few leftover cabbage leaves. And I also ha to use a smaller baking dish to fit the last 6 or so roll in, as my bigger pan was full.)

 

 

 

 

Now combine all the sauce ingredients, and stir well. Pour it evenly over all the cabbage rolls.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 2 hours. I served mine with zucchini and fresh French bread and butter, but mashed potatoes would be great with this too.

Oh, and I think traditionally, they are served with a dollop of sour cream, but I forgot to do that... I'm sure it's be fantastic though. I have enough leftovers that I'll try it that way tomorrow. Seriously, this recipe made enough for us to have dinner twice and probably still have leftovers... it probably serves 10!

Keepin' It Simple (Caprese Pasta)

Tonight's dinner was about as simple as simple can be. It only took about as much time as it takes for water to boil and pasta to cook, and it was good!

After being a bum most of the day, I realized at about 5:45pm that I hadn't done any of the dishes from the day before... it happens. Frequently even. So when I started cooking at 6:25 I figured we'd be eating at 7:30. But nope, this recipe was prepped, cooked and eaten well before 7:30 rolled around.

It's food like this that *almost* makes me think I could handle being a vegetarian... but then I think about bacon. Which would be good in this. What isn't bacon good in?!

I love keeping it simple. Sometimes, that's just the best!

Caprese Pasta
1 Pkg. Angel Hair Pasta
6 Tbsp. Butter
4-5 Cloves Garlic, pressed
5 Roma Tomatoes, diced
10-12 Large Fresh Basil Leaves (Stacked on top of each other, rolled like a cigar, and thinly sliced cross-wise)
A couple handfuls of Parmesan Cheese
Fresh Mozzarella (I used the mini balls)
Salt and Pepper, and a drizzle of Olive Oil

Cook the pasta... While it's cooking, dice/chop, the tomatoes and basil, and melt butter in a skillet and add the garlic to cook it (but watch it, as garlic browns very quick).

Drain the pasta (never rinse it!) and put it back in it pot. Add the salt and pepper, tomatoes, and basil. Then pour the butter garlic mixture over it, and add your Parmesan cheese. Drizzle with olive oil, mix,  and add the mozzarella last, so it stays in it's cute little ball shapes without melting too much...

And that's it. See... simple.

A Really Soup-erb Knockoff! (Zuppa Tuscana)

Who DOESN'T love the Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden?! It's seriously one of my favorite soups. Ever.

While stalking people I know on browsing Pinterest, I came across this recipe for that glorious soup, and decided to try it, and make it my own by using slightly different ingredients.

It's so similar to Olive Garden's version, but I'm sure it's slightly better for you, as I used Fat Free half and half... not that it's healthy by any means. But it's hearty, and really, it's the heart that counts. Amiright?

Knockoff Zuppa Toscana
5-6 Italian Sausage links, casings removed (I used mild so my kids would eat it, but hot is great too.)
4 slices Thick Cut Bacon, cut into thin slices (so they'll be like bacon bits when they cook.)
1 small Onion, finely diced
4-5 cloves of Garlic, minced or pressed with a garlic press.
4-5 small/medium Russet Potatoes, washed very well, with the skins still on.
1 32 oz. box Chicken Broth
2 cups Fat Free Half and Half
3 cup Kale, washed very well, main stems/veins removed and leaves torn into bite sized pieces.
1/2 tsp. Fresh Parsley, chopped
About 1 Tbsp. butter
Salt and Pepper
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Red Pepper Flake (Optional)

In a large pot, cook the bacon and sausage until sausage is crumbled well and browned and bacon is crispy.

Add the onion and garlic.

Thinly slice the potatoes. If you have a mandoline that would be great. I used the Simple Slicer from The Pampered Chef, and it was so much quicker than trying to hand slice 5 potatoes thinly and evenly.

Add the potatoes to the pot, along with salt and pepper.

Add the box of Chicken Broth, and the FF Half and Half, and stir until it's all combined.

After it's come to a good rolling boil, let it cook until the potatoes are tender. You'll probably want to add a little more salt now too, since potatoes will absorb a lot of salt while cooking, taking it from the rest of the soup.

When the potatoes are all cooked through, and the broth looks has thickened a little, it's time to add the Fresh Parsley and Kale.

Now is when I add the little bit of butter, and about 2 Tbsp Parmesan. Cook until the kale is just slightly soft.

Top with more Parmesan and sprinkle of red pepper flake, and serve with fresh french bread.

This could easily serve 6, probably 8, depending on the hunger level of your crowd. I have no idea if it freezes... if you try it let me know if that works.

Happy Eating!