Weekly Menu

Get out of that same ol’ recipe rut and try one of these delicious and easy recipes this week! This week I highly recommend making the Whiskey Pulled Pork Shepherd’s Pie with Cheddar Biscuit Crust and the Thick ‘n Creamy Loaded Potato Soup!

Happy Sunday TKW Family! WOW, can you believe that Halloween is next week? I honestly forgot about Halloween. I mean I go shopping a few times a week and see the decorations (hell, they’ve been out since July) but for some reason I thought it was weeks away. It wasn’t until I was on Facebook and I started see posts from parties or parades did I put two and two together. Old age I guess. When you were little, did you have a favorite Halloween costume? I mean we’re talking as soon as you got it from the store you wore it weeks before Halloween, maybe slept in it and then a few more weeks afterwards til your parents begged you to take it off? I did. It was Barbie and it was beautiful.

I begged my Mom to pretty, pretty please buy me this Barbie costume for our 4th grade Halloween parade (hey this was a big deal!) and then to go trick or treating in. Now this costume was, by today’s standards, pretty lame. It had a blue silk skirt, a red sash and white button down shirt, a tiara that had daggers on the end of it to make it stick into your skull and a plastic mask of her face. Now let me talk about this mask for a second. It was hard plastic that went over your face and the only thing that held it on were these white stretchy thin bands that always, ALWAYS got stuck in your hair and pulled out every friggen baby hair you had when you tried to get it off. The eye holes NEVER lined up and the mouth had a hole the size of a straw. This mask made me look like a homeless beauty queen that had been stuck in the gutter for years, makeup all smeared, bright red lips and blue eye-shadowed eye lids.

…and I loved it!

Since I was chubby the skirt was snug and that white shirt was a no go but I still wore that costume with pride. I wore it everyday, around the house, to the store and even to bed. That costume made me feel like a Princess. When I go to the stores now and I see little kids wearing their Spiderman costumes or Princess Jasmine ensembles I can’t help but smile and remember my plastic-faced Barbie costume.

Do you get many trick or treaters? We haven’t got any in our house since we moved in. I miss that to be honest. Hopefully in our next house we’ll not be so much out in the sticks and will have more of a community/neighborhood type environment. But I still buy candy. I mean I am human and I love chocolate. But truth be told I keep telling myself that it’s for “recipe creation” or “recipe development” but let’s be real here – you don’t need the 112 piece count of candy to create a dessert recipe.

<blink blink> haha

So last week wasn’t too bad. Lots of doctor’s appointments for Mr. Fantabulous. He’s still pretty sick and they still don’t know what’s wrong with him. The Infectious Disease doctor still thinks it’s the one thing but all of the tests have come back negative and the pulmonologist is testing him for other things. Something is still very, very wrong as he’s not himself and I’m scared. All I can do is keep being his advocate and pushing the doctors to find an answer. But if you wouldn’t mind saying a prayer or thinking good thoughts for him I would greatly appreciate it.

Friday we went to see the Fantabulous in laws which is always a treat. Since Friday is pizza night we hit up a local shop by them that I had introduced them to last summer. If you’re in the area, check out Crust Pizzeria. It’s one of only a few places that I recommend when it comes to pizza. I’m a HUGE, HUGE snob and they have a good thing going there! Last week was a slow week with new recipes as I was super, super busy with work and doing stuff around the house. I did, however, post a new Pressure Cooker soup recipe on Instagram with a video. It’s SO freaking good! I’ve finally got Mr. Fantabulous to the point where he loves soup and accepts that it’s not for just when you’re sick. This soup, took 3 minutes in the Pressure Cooker to make (once it came up the pressure) and then about 2-3 more minutes in the saute function to get it creamier. You totally don’t have to do that part if you don’t want. I just wanted a creamy, thick soup.

Seriously 3 Minute Creamy Gnocchi Spinach Soup in the Pressure Cooker! Dude… 3 MINUTES!!! . 2 carrots, cut into small pieces 1 shallot minced 5 cups chicken stock 1 package dried potato gnocchi (regular size) 4-5 cups Spinach (half of a large bag) 2 cups shredded cheddar 1 1/2 cups cream or half and half 1 teaspoon salt 1-1 1/2 teaspoon Pepper 1/4 teaspoon thyme 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg 2 teaspoon oil 1. Set the PC to sauté and sauté the shallots in oil til translucent. Add in the carrots, 3 cups of stock, salt, thyme, nutmeg, and 1 teaspoon Pepper and gnocchi. 2. Put the PC to high for 3 minutes and lock the lid. 3. Do a quick release, put the PC to sauté . 4. Add in the rest of the stock and cream. 5. Once it bubbles, add in the Spinach and cheese. I like my cream soup a tad thicker so I cooked for 2 more minutes. If you wanted it super thick just make a slurry of 3 tablespoon flour to 4 tablespoon milk and add in. 6. Taste for seasoning (I added more pepper). . #pressurecooker #soup #thekitchenwhisperer #spoonyeah #fwx #chef #cheflife #autumn #instantpot #gnocchi #creamsoup #pressurecooking #weeklymealprep #foodnetwork #pittsburgh #video #instaeats

A post shared by The Kitchen Whisperer (@thekitchenwhisperer) on Oct 19, 2017 at 3:12pm PDT

With that guys, I need get going. I just finished making bourbon soaked raisins for an apple pie and I need to start assembling it. Have one fantabulously amazing week!