Bacon
Nothing welcomes the beginning of winter like a big bowl of soup!
Ingredients:
5 lbs Potatoes, peeled and chopped in 2-inch chunks
1 Small Onion, diced
4 Cloves Garlic, finely grated
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
2 Quarts Chicken Broth
2 (8-ounce) Packages Cream Cheese, to add at the end
For Garnish: Crumbled Bacon, Chopped Green onions, and Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Combine the potatoes, onion, garlic, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
Blend together with an immersion blender until creamy. Cut the cream cheese into smaller chunks and add to the soup. Cook for 30 minutes on high, stirring frequently to melt in the cheese. Blend again with the immersion blender to break up any remaining chunks of cream cheese.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with crumbled bacon, green onions and shredded cheddar cheese on top.
Serves: about 10
-Recipe comes from A Year Of Slow Cooking-
Tags: Bacon, Cheddar Cheese, Cheese, Dinner, Mashed Potatoes, Potato, Potato Soup, Soup
Bacon wrapped chicken breasts stuffed with blue cheese and arugula. What a divine combination. Blue cheese and bacon were made to be together and they are just so delicious in this dish. Even if you don’t like blue cheese (or think you don’t like blue cheese) you should really try this…it might change your mind.
Ingredients:
4 Chicken Breasts
4 Slices Thick Cut Bacon
1 Container Blue Cheese Crumbles
A Large Handful Arugula (or Baby Spinach)
Preheat oven to 425°F. Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray.
Cut open the chicken breasts to make a pocket for the stuffing. Be careful not to cut all the way through the chicken breasts.
Stuff with a large spoonful of blue cheese and some arugula.
Wrap tightly with one bac
on strip. You may need to carefully stretch your bacon strips before wrapping so they reach all the way around a couple times. Make it so the ends of the bacon are under the chicken breast so it doesn’t come apart. Place on the baking sheet.
Bake until bacon is crispy and chicken is cooked thoroughly, about 20 minutes.
Serves: 4
Tags: Bacon, Bacon Wrapped, Blue Cheese, Chicken, Chicken Breasts, Dinner, Gluten Free, Stuffed Chicken
This is certainly a recipe for mushroom lovers! It’s a wonderful blend of mushrooms, onions, barley and don’t forget the bacon. This recipe is adapted from a Rachael Ray recipe.
Ingredients:
1 Ounce Dried Shiitake Mushrooms
1 Quart Chicken Stock
3 Cups Water
3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 lb Thick Cut Peppered Bacon (about 4 slices), chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
3/4 lb White Button Mushrooms, quartered or sliced
1 Bay Leaf, fresh or dried 
2 Medium Onions, chopped
4 Cloves Garlic, finely grated
Salt and Pepper
1 Tablespoons Dried Sage
1 Sprig Rosemary, finely chopped (or 1 Tablespoon dried)
1 (15 oz) Can Diced Fire Roasted Tomatoes
1 Cup Pearl Barley
1 Bunch Salad Savoy or Kale, leaves stripped from stems
Freshly Grated Nutmeg, to taste 
To a medium pot, add the dried mushrooms, chicken stock and water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a gentle simmer. Let this simmer while you prepare the rest of the soup.
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium high heat. Add the bacon and cook until it begins to crisp up, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and bay leaf, cooking until the mushrooms start to brown, about 8-10 minutes. Add the onions and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, sage and rosemary and pour in the diced tomatoes.
Remove the dried mushrooms from the stock. They should be softened by now. Chop them and add them to the soup pot. Pour in all the stock except for the very last bit since any mushroom grit will be at the bottom of the pot.
Stir in the barley, salad savoy/kale and nutmeg. Bring to a bubble, cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook until the barley is soft, about 20 minutes.
Serves: 4-6
Tags: Bacon, Barley, Barley Soup, Dinner, Mushroom Barley Soup, Mushroom Soup, Mushrooms, Shiitake Mushrooms, Soup
Sausage wrapped in bacon…does it get better than this? You can eat these alone or on a bun. Yum!
Ingredients:
Italian Sausages
Bacon (1 piece per sausage)
Preheat oven to 200°F. Line a baking sheet with foil for easy clean up.
Wrap each sausage with a piece of bacon. Secure the bacon with 2 toothpicks.
Bake until the sausages reach 165°F, about 30-45 minutes. Remove toothpicks before serving.
Tags: Bacon, Bacon Wrapped Sausage, Dinner, Gluten Free, Italian Sausage, Paleo, Sausage
This salsa is amazing! I brought it to my Tuesday night Bible study instead of a salad last week. Everyone loved it and ate every last bite! This recipe came from a Sandra Lee magazine, but I did made a couple small changes.
Ingredients:
4 Avocados, chopped
3 Small Tomatoes, chopped
Juice of 1 Lemon
Handful of Cilantro, chopped
Salt & Pepper, to taste
2 Bacon Sliced, cooked and crumbled
Tortilla Chips, for serving
Gently stir together all ingredients, except for the tortilla chips. Cover and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes.
Serve with tortilla chips.
Tags: Avocado, Bacon, Cilantro, Gluten Free, Paleo, Salsa, Tomato
This is a delicious salad brought to you by Guy Fieri.
Ingredients:
For the dressing:
2 cups loosely packed basil leaves
¾ cup balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic, grated
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
For the salad:
3 slices bacon, roughly chopped
¼ Cup pine nuts
1 (10-12 ounce) package mixed baby salad greens
1 small cucumber, halved, diced 1/2-inch pieces
1 large tomato, diced in 1/2-inch pieces
12 kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in 1/2 vertically
¼ Cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
Freshly cracked black pepper
Prepare the dressing by combining the basil, vinegar, garlic and salt in a blender. Pulse until chopped and combined. Turn the blender on and stream in the olive oil. Refrigerate until ready to use.
For the salad: Heat a skillet over medium heat, cook the bacon until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Wipe the pan with a paper towel and return it to the stove over medium heat. Toast the pine nuts lightly.
Pour the salad greens into a large serving bowl. Toss with the cucumber, tomato and just enough dressing to lightly coat. Top with the bacon, pine nuts, olives, Gorgonzola and freshly ground pepper.
Serve with the remaining dressing if desired.
Serves: 6
Tags: Bacon, Basil, Gluten Free, Gorgonzola Cheese, Olives, Paleo, Salad, Side Dish
We had potato overload at our house recently, so I needed to use up a bunch of them. So, why not potato soup? I adapted this recipe from one I found on AllRecipes.com. I added twice the amount of potatoes since I had so many.
Ingredients:
6 Sliced Peppered Bacon, chopped
1 Celery Rib, thinly sliced
1 Medium Onion, chopped
2 Tablespoons Butter
3 Cups Chicken Broth
6 Medium Potatoes, cubed
1½ teaspoons sugar
Salt and lots of Black Pepper
½ teaspoon Dried Rosemary
½ teaspoon Dried Thyme
1/3 Cup All-Purpose Flour
2½ Cups Milk, divided
1 Cup Frozen Peas
4 Green Onions, Sliced
Heat a large soup pot to medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel lined plate and reserve.
Add the celery and onion to the soup pot with the bacon drippings. Cook until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in the broth, potatoes, sugar, salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
Whisk together the flour and 1/2 cup milk. Pour into the soup and bring to a boil. Add the remaining milk and frozen peas. Heat thoroughly.
Serve with bacon and green onions on top.
Serves: 6
This is inspired from a burger I had recently at a place called Blu Burger Grille. It was so good that I had to recreate it at home. The Gorgonzola cheese adds a very unique flavor to the burger. This recipe makes two burgers.
Ingredients:
2-4 Tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 lb ground beef
Salt & pepper
¼ cup Gorgonzola cheese
4 thick cut slices of bacon
2 onion buns
Heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, stirring often until caramelized. Add more olive oil if the pan is getting dry. You may need to turn the heat down slightly as the onions cook so they don’t burn.
Mix the ground beef with salt and lots of black pepper. Form into two patties. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side until cooked to your liking.
Toast the buns under the broiler.
Assemble the burgers by placing a patty on each bun bottom, top with the cheese, onions, bacon and bun top.
Tags: Bacon, Beef, Burger, Gorgonzola Cheese, Onion
I think I had about 10 ears of corn in the fridge, so I just had to do something with it. I used chicken from my Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot. This was very quick and easy to make. This only used 4 ears of corn, so look forward to more corn recipes very soon.
Ingredients:
4 slices bacon
4 cups fresh or frozen corn (about 4 ears of corn)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
¼ cup flour
2 cups chicken stock
½ cup milk
2 ½ cups shredded cooked chicken
¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
salt & pepper
In a large pot, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until crispy. Remove bacon to a paper towel lined plate and reserve.
Leave the bacon drippings in the pot and add the corn and bell pepper. Cook until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes.
Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken stock and milk and bring to a boil. Stir in the shredded chicken, crushed red pepper and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.
Serve with the crispy bacon on top.