Baked in a Bowl

Can anyone agree that winter weather is becoming a tad old and it’s only January? I woke up yesterday to 35 mph winds and about 2 ft of snow drifts—no school wasn’t cancelled, so off I went like a crazy college student in a Cougar sliding through stoplights—what a great way to start the day—it sure woke me up!

But one good thing about cold and blustery days is that it calls for warm-you-up meals! I think we all probably have some sort of meal that we grew up eating that strikes our appetite every so often. For me, it’s my mom’s homemade baked potato soup—this time I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand, so I figured it was a good opportunity to make my own twist on it. What was your favorite growing up food?

And having soup was the perfect opportunity to showcase one of the recipes I will be teaching in my cooking class “Bisquick Bonanza”. The description of the class reads:

“No longer think of Bisquick as just an everyday baking mix. With this class, you’ll learn to add some pizzazz to this pantry staple. Appetizers, desserts, and hearty main dishes are all bounding from a box.”

So here’s your first sneak peak at one of the recipes, and why not make this soup for an all-around great winter meal?

 

Semi-Homemade Baked Potato Soup

Serves: 8

Ingredients:

• 1-11 oz bag of Bear Creek Creamy Potato Soup mix and ingredients called for on package (pictured below)
• 8 oz pre-cooked cubed ham
• 1 c canned sweet peas
• 1/2 C yellow onion, sliced
• 2 c fresh baby spinach
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

• Start water called for on package to a boil. Meanwhile sauté onion in a sprayed pan until translucent. (5 mins)

• Once water reaches a rolling boil, dump in soup mix. Stir until well combined. Pour onion, peas, and ham in.

• In the last 5 minutes, add in the spinach and pepper.

Bisquick Bread Bowls

(I recommend using the Bisquick Heart Smart mix to up the nutritionals!)

Serves: 5

**You will need Pyrex or some other type of oven-safe bowl to make this recipe.**

Ingredients:

• 1 package regular active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
• 3 cups Bisquick Heart Smart® mix

Directions:

• In large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Stir in Bisquick mix until dough leaves side of bowl and forms a ball. Turn dough onto surface lightly dusted with Bisquick mix; gently roll in Bisquick mix to coat. Knead about 1 minute or until smooth. Cover and let rise 10 minutes.

• Heat oven to 375°F. Grease outsides of five 10-ounce (large) custard cups. Place cups upside down on large ungreased cookie sheet. Divide dough into 5 equal parts. Pat or roll each part into 7-inch circle. Shape circles over outsides of custard cups. (Do not curl dough under edges of cups.)

• Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. Tap custard cups to loosen bread bowls. Cool 3 minutes; carefully lift bread bowls off custard cups. (Custard cups and bread will be hot.) Cool bread bowls upright on wire rack.

What’s your favorite soup?