Tomato Soup

As promised, I tried to make tomato soup like I had last weekend.  I don't think I made it exactly like he did, but it was very tasty!

First, I browned 1/2lb of Bob Evans Hot Sausage.  Last weekend, my sister's boyfriend used Chorizo, but my neighborhood Kroger did not have any this morning, so hot sausage it was.  I browned it a bit past done because I wanted it to be crispy.  When it was done, I took it out of the pan and let it sit on paper towels to drain some of the grease.

I added olive oil to my pot and sweat 1 onion, 2 stalks celery, a handful of baby carrots (I will never use big carrots because I use baby carrots for so many other things, I can't find a reason to buy big ones), a poblano pepper, and 2 cloves garlic.  I think last weekend, my sister's BF used a jalepeno or maybe chipotle in adobo, but I like the flavor of poblanos and I didn't really care if it was a little less spicy.  Once the veggies were soft, I added 1 big can of peeled, whole tomatoes and 1 pint of veggie stock.  I brought it to a boil then lowered the temperature and simmered it for about 20 minutes.

While this was simmering, I prepared grilled cheese for broiling.  I used sourdough bread (no ciabbatta at Kroger) with cheddar and muenster cheese - delicious!

When the soup was done simmering, I chopped a handful of cilantro, added it to the pot, and then blended it all with my immersion blender.  I turned the heat off and melted in about 4oz goat cheese - wow, this makes it so creamy and really cuts the chance of it being too spicy.  I stirred in the sausage bits and everyone loved it!

Flatbread Pizza with Ricotta, Peas, and Roasted Red Peppers

Another day where it's 11:00 and I have no idea what we're having for lunch.  I really need to plan better.  Here's what I found:

1 whole wheat flatbread pizza, spread about 1/4 - 1/2 cup ricotta cheese all over.  This is not an easy task!  Ricotta doesn't like to spread.  Sprinkled frozen peas and diced roasted red peppers.  I have always thought of roasted red peppers as kind of a garnish, but if you read the label, they're full of vitamin A, C, and iron!  Then I topped with mozzarella cheese and baked at 350 until everything was done. 

The kids ate this really well, and I thought it was pretty good too.  Peas and roasted red peppers really go well together.  I'll have to think of more ways to combo them.

Balsamic BLT

When my husband got home from work tonight, I told him that we were having "fancy" BLT's because I didn't have the right stuff for regular BLT's.  Ironic that it's easier to make something "fancy" than it is to make it regular.

I baked my bacon in the oven at 400 until it was done.  This usually takes about 20 minutes or so.  It's a lot easier than frying it in a pan.  I use my Pampered Chef large bar pan and it works really well.  While the bacon was cooking, I sliced my tomato and got my bread ready.  I didn't have any leaf lettuce or iceberg, so I had to use a spring mix salad for the "L".  This is why it is a fancy BLT.  I mixed mayo and balsamic along with salt and pepper.  This is one of my favorite salad dressings anyway, but I thought if I used a mayo based salad dressing, it would take the place of the mayo on the sandwich.  I tossed my salad in the dressing and I was ready!

I toasted the bread, then topped with bacon, salad and tomatoes.  They were really good!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes

Per IHOP, today is National Pancake Day!!!  So, we had breakfast for lunch today.  I really like pumpkin pancakes from restaurants, but I'm having trouble coming up with my own recipe.  These were good, but just not the same as IHOP's!  Here are the ingredients:

1c oatmeal
2c boiling water
3/4tsp salt
1tsp pumpkin pie spice
1T baking powder
2tsp sugar
1/2c pumpkin
1tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3T oil
3/4c flour

Add the boiling water to the oatmeal and let cool.  Once it has cooled, mix in the rest of the ingredients and fry up!

Penne with Sausage, Artichokes, & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

This recipe mostly came from my Giada's Family Dinners cookbook.  I just have to say that I have loved every single thing I have ever made from any of Giada's cookbooks - so, if it's from her book, it has to be good!

First I browned and broke up a 2ft section of Winner's smoked sausage in olive oil.  I have no idea where else you can get sausage like this.  It's in the casing and purchased from the butcher.  Now that I live in the city, I haven't actually ever been to a "butcher market", so maybe they have sausage like this there.  After the sausage was browned, I took it out and added 1/2c sliced sun-dried tomatoes and 2 cloves garlic, minced.  I let them cook for a few minutes, then added 1 can drained artichoke hearts.  After they cooked together for a minute, I added 1/2c white wine, 1c chicken broth, a few pinches of crushed red pepper, and about 1/2tsp dried basil.  This started to boil and I let it simmer while I boiled 1/2 box of whole wheat penne. 

Just before the penne was done, I added the sausage back in, then added the penne.  I sprinkled about 1/2c parmesan cheese and mixed it all in.  The whole house smelled sooo good and it tasted just as good - well done, again, Giada!!!!!

Here is a link to Giada's recipe from Food Network.  This is just a bit different from the cookbook.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/fusilli-with-sausage-artichokes-and-sun-dried-tomatoes-recipe/index.html

Grilled Cheese

We celebrated my husband's and my birthdays today at my sister's house.  There are now too many people in the family to go out to dinner, so my sisters and I are hosting each other's birthday parties.  My sister said her boyfriend deserved all of the credit for the meal today - she only did the shopping.  The menu was grilled cheese and tomato soup and chili.  Ordinary you may think, but ordinary it was not!  I am going to make the chili and tomato soup at some point in the near future so I will not post those yet, but the grilled cheese was so innovative that I have to post!

For the bread, he used Ciabatta.  He sliced it openand buttered both sides.  Then he put the bread, buttered side down, on a baking sheet and topped with pepper jack, American, and cheddar cheese.  He put the baking sheets under the broiler until the cheese was melted and the buttered side got crispy.  Then, he put the sandwiches together with the outsides of the bread becoming the middle of the bread - how creative!  They were do delicious.  The outside was crispy and buttery and the inside was ooey gooey cheesy.  He also made bacon cheddar grilled cheese.  I saved these for the boys, but they were also a hit, of course!

Shrimp and Zucchinni in a White Wine Cream Sauce

I feel like it's not fair that I'm writing about food when I'm so starving!  I don't remember fasting on Ash Wednesday being this hard when I was younger - hmmmmm, less self'control now?  Anyway, Lent has officially begun, so much more seafood!  I thawed a bag of peeled and deveined jumbo sized shrimp, then took the tails off.  I know for presentation purposes and maybe other reasons, you're supposed to keep the tails on.  I find it really annoying picking the tails off after they've been cooked, and I have to take the tails off when I dish up all of the kids plates, so I just think it's easier to do it before cooking them!  I dried the shrimp off and salted and peppered them.  I had been heating up a skillet with olive oil and 2 cloves sliced garlic.  I wanted the garlic to flavor the oil, so it was on pretty low.  I raised the temp and added the shrimp.  When the shrimp were almost cooked through, I took them out and added 2 diced zucchinni (1 yellow, 1 green).  I salted and peppered the zucchinni.  While the zucchinni was cooking, I boiled 1/2lb of rotini.  When the zucchinni was done, I took it out and added it to the shrimp.  I deglazed the pan with about 3/4c white wine and let it reduce.  Once it was reduced I added 1c heavy cream and added the shrimp and veggies back in.  When the rotini was done, I added it to the rest and when it was all warm, we dined!  There were no leftovers, so I couldn't take a picture! 

Country Fried Chicken

Since last night was Mardi Gras, I decided something fried was definitely in order!  I actually only used 3 chicken breasts and fed 6 people (2 were kids, but still) - none of us went hungry!  I pounded the breasts to about 1/4in thick and cut each in half, so I had 6 pieces.  I coated them in flour then egg, then the secret ingredient!  The 3rd breading is saltine crackers.  I used my food processor to crush 2 sleeves of saltines and added pepper and Lawrey's.  The saltines really are the best breading.  I then pan fried them in just enough canola oil to coat the bottom of the pan.  I fried the breasts in 2 batches and then I poured out most of the oil through a strainer.  I wanted to save the little fried bits for the gravy.  I put the breasts in the oven to keep warm while I made the gravy.  I added about 2tbs of flour to the remaining oil and wisked it for about a minute.  I added 1 cup of chicken broth and wisked some more.  Then I added 1c whole milk, some pepper and a bullion cube.  I brought this to a boil and once it was thick, we were ready for dinner.  I made mashed potatoes and broccoli to serve with the chicken.  I topped the chicken with some gravy as well as the mashed potatoes - ahhh, a good Mardi Gras!

Chili Cheese Potato Skins

I reheated my daughter's leftover baked potato from Montgomery Inn on Friday.  As she was eating it, I was thinking about a way that I could make potato skins as a whole vegetarian meal and thought - add chili!  So, early this morning I scrubbed 5 red skinned potatoes, wrapped them in foil, and baked them at 350 for 1 hour.  While the potatoes were baking, I made the chili.  I sauteed 1 chopped onion.  I added 1 clove chopped garlic and sauteed for another minute.  Then I added 1 can chili beans and 1 can rinsed and drained black beans.  I mixed in about 3/4tsp cumin and chili powder and about 1/2tsp oregano.   I added a can of diced tomatoes and let it simmer until it was nice and thick.  When the potatoes were done, I turned the burner off on the chili and let it stand about 1 hour before I assembled the skins.  This helped it get even thicker.  After the potatoes had cooled, I cut them in half and scooped out about 1/2 of the potato.  I wanted some potato in there for the nutrients, but also so my skins didn't fall apart!  I topped with a couple spoonfuls of chili and a mound of cheddar cheese.  I baked them for about 15 minutes on 350 until the cheese was melted and everything was warm.

Black Bean and Quinoa Salad

Back in December, I flew with my 2 daughters to Nashville for a visit with my college roommate and her family.  The man I sat next to on the plane was reading Food and Wine magazine and I couldn't help but read over his shoulder!  I saw a recipe for Black Bean and Quinoa salad and almost asked him if I could tear that page out.  I wasn't able to read the whole recipe and was kind of sad about it.  Lo and behold, my mom just started subscribing to the magazine and the issue that I was looking at was the first one she received!  So, I was able to read the recipe.

I first learned of quinoa when I was making my own baby food.  The cookbook not only had recipes, but described what nutrients were in the ingredients it called for.  There was a recipe for a Zucchinni and Quinoa pilaf.  Quinoa is a seed that tastes like a grain, but is a "perfect protein." 

To make the salad, I brought about 1c water to a boil and added about 3/4c quinoa.  I turned the temp to low and let it simmer for 20 minutes.  It only needed fluffed with a fork when I finished.  I mixed this with 1 can rinsed and drained black beans and 1 diced red bell pepper. 

For the dressing, I mixed a few shakes of red wine vinegar, lemon juice (no actual lemons on hand), salt, pepper, coriander (no cilantro on hand either), cumin, and 1 clove minced garlic.  I wisked in olive oil until it was creamy.  I poured this over the salad and stirred it all together.  I thought it was need to cool, so I made it early so it can "marinate" for a little bit before lunch, but I tasted this warm and it was delicious!

Update:  When I ate it for lunch, I decided that this would be better warm than as a "salad."  I think the next time I make it, I will saute the peppers to soften them. 

Banana Bread

We had some "rotten" bananas, so I decided to make Banana bread - one of my favorites.  The ingredients are:

1 stick butter
1c sugar
2 eggs
1tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
2c flour
1tsp vanilla
3-4 ripe bananas, smashed with a fork

Cream the butter and sugar, add eggs.  Add the rest of the dry ingredients and mix.  To experiment (and because I ran out of all purpose), I used 1c all purpose flour and 1c whole wheat flour and I couldn't tell the difference!  If you are a fan of tasting batter, this batter tastes excellent after mixing all of the dry ingredients and after adding the vanilla - I do this in 2 separate steps.  Once the vanilla is added, mix in the bananas.  The batter no longer tastes good!  Pour into a greased and floured bread pan and bake at 325 for 55-60 minutes. 

Black Bean and Corn Pita

We closed on our house today, so it was a quick lunch and leftovers for dinner.  For lunch today, I opened the whole wheat pitas and put a couple spoonfuls of black beans, corn, and a handful of cheese.  I microwaved for 30 seconds and they cheese was melted and they were nice and gooey!  I cut them up and the kids loved them!

Minestrone

We had minestrone for lunch today.  I'm not a huge fan of vegetable soup, and I've never made minestrone before, so I didn't have high hopes.  I started by sauteeing an onion, 2 stalks celery, and a handful of baby carrots, all chopped.  Once they were soft, I added 3 cloves garlic.  Then I added 1/2 bag spinach, 2 chopped potatoes and 1 chopped zucchini.  I sauteed these for about 5 minutes then added 1 can diced tomatoes, rosemary, 1 qt (minus 1/2c) vegetable stock and a bean mixture (I pureed about 3/4 cannelini beans with 1/2c vegetable stock and 2T parmesan cheese).  I simmered this for about 15 minutes then added 1 can canellini beans and the remainder of the can from the pureed mixture.  This cooked for about 5 minutes and we ate!

Roman Style Chicken with Spaghetti

I have 2 of Giada's cookbooks and have made lots of recipes from them, but this one is a favorite.  I have made it a couple times using the cookbook, now I kind of just make an "inspired" version.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/roman-style-chicken-recipe/index.html

Here's what I did.  I sauteed 1 red pepper and 1 yellow pepper- sliced.  I added 2 cloves chopped garlic and shredded chicken from the rotisserie chicken.  I added 1/2c white wine, 1/2c chicken stock, and 1 can fire roated diced tomatoes.  I also added thyme and rosemary.  I let this simmer together while I boiled my water and made spaghetti.  When the spaghetti was almost done, I added 2T capers.  I mixed in the spaghetti and we ate!  Delicious!

Chicken Florentine Fritatta

I bought a rotisserie chicken and used it for 2 meals.  For brunch on Sunday, I wanted to make a fritatta.  So, I shredded about 1 cup of the chicken.  I melted 2T butter and added the chicken, 1 clove garlic, and 1/2 bag of spinach.  In a bowl, I combined about 1c milk, 6 eggs, and abut 1/4c parmesan cheese.  I wisked it all together and added it to the skillet with the chicken.  I put it in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes.  My daughter wasn't the biggest fan, but I thought it was pretty good.  I've even been eating the leftovers for breakfast. 

Macaroni and Cheese

My grandma bought me "The Basics and More" cookbook for my bridal shower a few years ago.  I have gotten many great recipes from it, but the best is probably the macaroni and cheese - although I changed it a little bit!  Here are the ingredients:

1lb macaroni
1 stick butter
1/2c flour
salt & pepper
1qt milk (whole milk really makes it richer, but skim is also good!)
1 1/2lbs Velveeta

Boil the macaroni according to the package directions.  Melt the butter then add the flour to make a roux.  I add the salt and pepper here.  Cook the flour for just a minute then add the milk.  I usually add about 1 c of the milk and wisk it with the flour.  If you add it all at once, it's hard to get the roux to mix in without being lumpy.  Heat the sauce until it's almost boiling - you dont' want it to actually boil, though.  When there are bubbles forming on the outside, it's probably hot enough.  Add the Velveeta and stir until it melts.  Mix in the macaroni and bake at 325 for 45 minutes.  You can also put this in the crockpot and just put on low.  For lunch sometimes, I mix in peas, carrots, and corn.

Lentil Shepherd's Pie

For lunch today, I made Lentil Shepherd's Pie.  I boiled the lentils earlier in the morning for 40 minutes and drained them.  I just let them sit on the stove once they were done.  To start the lentil mixture, I sauteed and onion and 1 clove minced garlic.  Then I added the lentils, a can of diced tomatoes (with their juice), and a little less than half a can of tomato paste.  I simmered this for a couple minutes, then I put it in the bottom of a casserole dish.  I topped it with frozen peas and carrots.  Then I used the leftover tater tots (I know, genius!) from last night.  I added some cheddar and baked it for 15 minutes at 350.  I'm not sure how close this actually is to Shepherd's Pie, but it is inspired by it!

Garlic Dijon Aioli

I decided to my deep fryer the other night.  It's been packed away for a while, but now that I have a bigger kitchen, I have room for it!  I thought after a healthy meal of salmon, beans, and spinach, I would follow up with fried food!  So, I made chicken fingers, broccoli, and cauliflower.  They were pretty basic, but I did double bread all of them.  A lot of people on the food network have been frying stuff lately, and they all seem to think double-breading is the answer, so I tried it and yes, it works very well.  The breading stayed on and tasted delicious!

I decided to create a dip, though, you know, to make it healthier!  So, I minced as finely as I could, 3 cloves garlic.  Then I added a splash of lemon juice and equal parts dijon mustard and mayo - about 1/4c or so of each.  I've made something like this before and the kind of dijon you use, actually makes a big difference.  I used Grey Poupon and it is the "Hearty Brown Mustard."  I mixed it all together and we dipped.  At first taste, it was really good, but the more I dipped, the more I decided there was too much mustard.  So, when I put the leftovers in the container, I added more mayo.  I had the leftovers for lunch and the dip was much better with the extra mayo.

Salmon with Cannellini Beans and Spinach

We actually had a real meal last night!  My family was very excited.  I buy a marinated salmon from Sam's club that is so good, I find no reason to try to make anything on my own.  I think the brand is Morey's.  There are 6 fillets in the pack, which used to work out perfect for us, but now that my son is starting to eat more and more, he may need his own fillet!  I decided to "invent" something for our side that combined some of my favorites.  I started by cooking 1/2lb bacon sliced.  While I was doing this, a new neighbor decided to stop by and stay forever!  My smoke alarm actually went off and she still wouldn't leave!!!!  Anyway, the bacon turned out fine.  I took it out of the skillet, so it would stay crispy.  I also drained out the grease.  I'm all for using the bacon fat for some things, but not this dish.  I added some olive oil and 2 cloves garlic, chopped.  If I had had a shallot or a red onion, I would have sauteed those, but of course, I did not.  So, after I sauteed the garlic for about a minute I added 1 can drained and rinsed cannellini beans and 1c chicken broth and some fresh ground pepper.  I scraped up the bits on the bottom of the pan and let this simmer for about 5 minutes, just to let the beans soften a little and the chicken broth reduce.  Then I added 1 box of drained, frozen spinach.  I broke it apart and mixed it all together.  I added a splash of whole milk (again, I would have used heavy cream if I had any, but whole milk was the closest!) and some grated parmesan cheese.  Right before serving, I mixed in the bacon.  My husband thought it was delicious (he'll eat ANYTHING that has bacon)!!

Lentil Stew

This is actually the lunch lady's sister. I recently took a lentil stew recipe and added a few twists to make it my own. It was a big hit with my boyfriend (who I think is hard to impress!) so I wanted to share it with everyone. I'm a big fan of www.allrecipes.com to get ideas for creations so when I decided I wanted to make a lentil soup/stew I went there to first learn how to cook lentils. I found a really great recipe called Argentine Lentil stew and it struck my interest because it contained barbeque sauce, which I thought sounded quite tasty. My stew ended up a bit more soupy, but it was still delicious. I cooked a cup of lentils in about a quart of water (I didn't measure, probably why it was a little runnier) and then I added carrots, one onion, a poblano pepper, a couple chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, a can of chick peas and one apple. For my barbeque sauce, I filled a 1/4 cup almost full of barbeque sauce and then I added some of the adobo sauce from the chipotle peppers. Then I added pepper, cumin, cayenne pepper, oregano and a lot of salt! I used two types of salt (they can found at giant eagle), smoked salt and pink himalayan salt. I don't really know if it made a difference but I'd like to think it did. After letting it simmer for a while I noticed it wasn't really that thick so I added about a half cup or so of applesauce and a cornstarch and water mixture. That helped with the texture. Even as a soup, this was really tasty! And it's super easy to make your own!

Baked Spaghetti with Ricotta

Last night was a busy night.  I had a chiropractor appointment at 5:30 and teach (well, aide) religion class at 6:00.  I knew I was going to be late to both, even though we ate dinner at 4:45!  I boiled a 1/2 box of whole wheat spaghetti.  I drained it and saved 1c of the pasta water.  I mixed the pasta water and 1c ricotta cheese in with the noodles.  Then I topped it with a jar of marinara and some shredded mozzarella.  I baked it at 400 for about 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and the sauce is heated through.  Serve with a salad and you're done!  I didn't have time to add ground beef, so the ricotta served as my protein in this meal.  I don't think it's my family's favorite spaghetti, but it was pretty good.

Chicken Pesto Tortellini

This might just be the easiest thing I have ever made, but it was a big hit.  We moved this past weekend, so I wanted to have some quick and easy foods on hand.  For dinner on Sunday, I boiled a package of Butoni Chicken and Rosemary Tortellini.  When there were just a couple minutes left, I added 1c frozen peas.  I drained the tortellini and saved about a cup of the pasta water.  I put them back in my pan and added most of a can of pesto and some of the pasta water - DONE!  So easy and soooo delicious!  My 10-month old ate this like it was her last meal.  It was very funny to watch.

Rice Pilaf with Lentils

I got this idea from the mother of one of my babsitting kids.  This was very easy to make.  I boiled my lentils for about 20 minutes then I made a box of Rice Pilaf and added the lentils in right at the beginning.  This totaled about 40 minutes cooking time for the lentils, so I knew they would be soft.  When there was about 7 minutes left to cook, I turned the heat back up and added some frozen broccoli.  Once it came back to boiling, I turned it back down to a simmer and finished cooking just like the box said.  The next time I make this, I'm going to make my own Rice Pilaf, but for "testing" I just used a box mix.