Favorite Furber Things [From the Kitchen}

Bacon Soda

Bacon. It just might be the one thing my family can agree on. One of their favorite meals I've made was sausage-stuffed chicken wrapped in bacon, and one of the few ways I can get my kids to eat their veggies is to cook it in bacon. I never would have imagined convincing them to eat kale, but bacon did the convincing for me. Bacon is definitely a Favorite Furber Thing [From the Kitchen].

More recently I made a leek & potato soup with bacon, which also went over quite well. Here's the recipe, as I remember it. I think. Mostly. I'm sure it's pretty close.

Potato Soup:
2 Leeks
1 clove of garlic diced
1/2 pkg of Bacon
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
5 Potatoes, chopped
2 cups Chicken stock
2 cups milk
salt to taste
pepper to taste
thyme to taste
Finely chopped chives for garnish

Cook bacon in soup pot and set aside. Then remove most of the bacon grease, but leave enough to cook your aromatics. Add celery, carrots, and herbs. Sautee until tender.

In another pot make a roux. Add chicken stock and milk. Most recipes suggest whipping cream or half & half, but I didn't want the calories. This liquid will be added to the veggies and used to cook potatoes. At the last, add the chopped bacon. Hope you enjoy!

Favorite Furber Things [From the Kitchen}

Juanita's.
Have you tried these chips?! My favorite thing about going to a Mexican restaurant is the chips and salsa. Juanita's chips taste exactly like you would expect at a Mexican restaurant. Plus, they are usually the cheapest chips, and as I've said before, I love a good deal.

Favorite Furber Things [From the Kitchen}

Today's Furber favorite thing from the kitchen is sweet potatoes. A couple years ago we learned that sweet potatoes are better for you than regular potatoes (they contain beta carotene, vitamin B6, vitamin C and a good source of dietary fiber) so we tried to incorporate them into our diet more often. We love sweet potato fries (Alexia makes a gluten-free version), baked sweet potatoes, and mashed sweet potatoes. Check out the recipe below for a little Southwestern twist.

Southwest Sweet Potato Mash:
1/2 Sweet Potatoes
1/2 Baked Potatoes
Diced Green Chiles
Honey

I like cooking because it's not an exact science so forgive the lack of recipe. Fix the potatoes like you normally would make mashed potatoes (sour cream, milk, whatever...). Then add green chiles and honey to taste. Super delicious. Everyone who has tried it has asked for the recipe.

Favorite Furber Things [From the Kitchen}

For the next week I'm going to share a few of the Furbers' favorite things from the kitchen. Tonight we begin with Sweet Baby Rays. I originally bought this BBQ sauce because it happened to be the cheapest, and we all know that I love a good deal. But, this great deal ended up making for some delicious grub. Even better, Sweet Baby Ray's is a gluten-free sauce (it lists "modified starch" in the ingredients, but I called the company because that's how much we love Sweet Baby Ray's). Plus, there are several flavors as you can see (below). If you've not tried it, go out and buy a bottle!

No, Baby Ray is not paying me for this post.

Coca-Cola Chicken

The other night we had one of our favorite meals, which includes beer coke can chicken. Now that Kylie has been diagnosed with Celiac disease, we are using only gluten free options.

Remove giblets from chicken and rub with your favorite poultry seasoning. Include the chicken cavity with rub. Pour some coke (gluten-free option) or beer into cooking device, place chicken onto cooking device (see below).

Poultry Device by Weber

Heat grill to between 350 and 450 degrees, and cook chicken for about 1 & 1/4 hours until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees. Super easy. Super delicious.