Killer Tomato Soup

I love love love grilled cheese sandwiches, so naturaly I gobbled up the recipe idea that Melinda posted a while ago. I decided to go all out and make my own tomato soup to go with the sandwiches. After finding and tweaking this recipe, it rocked! Jordan raved about it. I don't think I'll be buying Campbell's any time soon. This was way too easy and yummy.



Killer Tomato Soup

2 (28 oz) cans crushed tomatoes
1 (14 oz) can chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
6 tbs butter (I use unsalted)
15 fresh basil leaves, minced
pepper to taste

In medium sized pot, bring tomatoes and broth to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 mins. Add basil and pepper. Reduce heat to low; stir in cream and butter (slice it so it melts more evenly). Cook until butter is melted.

We enjoyed this recipe with Chef Doughty's Pizza Style Grilled Cheese Sandwich on sourdough bread.

Cranberry Chicken

Once in awhile I try a recipe that I am not sure if it will be good or not. And every once in awhile it is! Well, here is one of them...Trust me, it is better than it sounds!

Blend:
1 (8 oz.) bottle creamy French dressing
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 can whole cranberry sauce

Pour ingred. into 9x13 pan. Place chicken breasts in dish and cover with sauce. Bake, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees.

I like to serve it over brown rice. Steamed broccoli is a great side!

Hearty Minestrone Soup

This is a recipe that I really like. It is healthy, hearty, and a great one for food storage. I am making it tonight...give it a try and let me know how you like it!
Love you all!
Jen

Hearty Minestrone Soup

3 cans beef broth
1 can red kidney beans, undrained
1 can cannellini beans, undrained
1 can (or bottle) of crushed tomatoes
1 pkg. frozen, chopped spinach (thawed)
1 pkg. your favorite frozen mixed veggies (thawed)
1 med. onion, chopped
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni (or sm. wheat pasta)

*Combine all ingredients except pasta. Bring to boil over Med. High heat then stir in noodles.
Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 min. or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally.
Makes 12 cups.
Really good with some cornbread and honey or fresh homemade bread. :)

Grilled Cheese Sandwich - Pizza Style

I just got back from girls camp where we had a gourmet chef preparing the food. Chef Doughty is the bomb, and is really inventive. She really wanted all the (picky) girls to like the food, so the meals we ate were often a twist on a classic favorite. Freakin' GOOD STUFF. For lunch one day, we had grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Boring? No. The soup was a thick, hearty, homemade tomato basil wonder, and the pizza style sandwich was simple but so good! I figured that I at least had the skills to make the sandwich, so guess what my family ate the day after I got home? Uh huh, and guess what else? They loved it! So here it is for you. Sorry no pictures.

Pizza Style Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Bread of your choice
mayonnaise
Italian seasoning
mozzarella cheese
pepperoni

On one slice of bread, spread mayo and sprinkle on Italian seasoning. On the other slice, be generous with the cheese and pepperoni. Bring the two halves together, and butter up the outsides (or spray your griddle with oil), and grill up your sandwich. Use the back of your turner to press it like a panini while it cooks. Serve with your favorite tomato soup.

Sound easy? It is. Sound good? IT IS.

Hope you enjoy it!

PS: Chef Doughty has a radio show in addition to her blog. In fact, she had the show long before the blog. She is a really good teacher, and really seems to love passing on her knowledge to help others find their Chef Within. I was so impressed with how she interacted with the young women of our stake. She didn't just give them jobs, she taught them skills. It was awesome. I wish I could have spent more time in the kitchen. Here's the link to her show's homepage: Food for Thought. There are a ton of recipes there.

PSS: At camp we also had these amazing french toast variations one morning using french bread topped with coconut, classic cinnamon, chopped pecans, and more topped with homemade cinnamon ginger maple syrup. I just noticed that she had the recipes on her sites. Oh man...sooooo good!

Black Eyed Salsa

I made this for a church function last night. It turned out so good. Good enough to eat like a salad, but excellent with chips. Tostitos Hint of Lime chips are the bomb with it.

Black Eyed Salsa

3 cans Black Eyed Peas, rinsed and drained
1 can shoepeg corn, drained (white sweet corn)
tomato, chopped (2 or 3)
green onions, chopped (like 3)
avocado (I used two huge ones)
fresh garlic, peeled and sliced
lime
kosher salt

Firmly rub the sliced side of your fresh garlic on the sides of a large mixing bowl, coating it with garlicy goodness. In same bowl, combine black eyed peas, shoepeg corn, tomato, green onions, and *avocado chunks. Season with fresh squeezed lime juice and kosher salt.

* This makes a ton, so I split the batch, and added the avocado, lime and salt to the half we used that night. I reserved the rest in the fridge, and added those three ingredients when we were ready to eat it. Next time I think I'll add some cilantro. YUM.

BJ’s Butter-Pecan or Toasted Almond Ice Cream

2 TBs. butter
½ - ¾ cup coarsely chopped pecans or sliced almonds
1 ¾ cups packed brown sugar
¾ cup water
4 eggs
2 tsps. vanilla
1 quart whipping cream
Milk to fill line

In a small skillet, melt butter. Add pecans or almonds. Stir over low heat until browned but not burned; set aside. In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar and water. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to a boil. Simmer gently 2 minutes, stirring occasionally; set aside. In mixing bowl, beat eggs until thick and lemon colored, about 3 minutes. Continue beating while pouring hot brown sugar syrup in a thin stream over beating eggs. Continue beating until cool and thick. Stir in vanilla, whipping cream and pecans or almonds. Pour into ice cream canister. Fill a little above the fill line with the milk. Stir. Freeze. Makes 1 gallon.

Mama Q's Homemade Ice Cream

BJ’s Favorite Ice Cream Basic Recipes
(Makes one gallon.)

4 beaten eggs
2 cups sugar

1/2 tsp. salt
1 quart whipping cream

about 5 cups milk (varies with each variety)

Flavoring, fruit choice from variation list below

2 - 7 lb. bags of ice

Uncooked Method: Whisk eggs in canister until lemon colored. Add sugar, salt, and cream. Whisk. Add variation ingredients (see below). Add milk to fill line. Stir. Freeze as directed.

Cooked Method: Combine sugar, salt & cream in saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Gradually stir 1 cup hot mix into beaten eggs. Add eggs to remaining hot mix, stirring constantly. Cook 1 minute. Remove from heat. Put in canister. Stir in other desired ingredients. Add milk to fill line. Stir. Cover. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight. Freeze as directed.

To Freeze: Assemble freezer and start. Fill maker 1/3 with ice. Add 1 cup rock salt. Repeat to fill. (May have to add ice and salt before it stops.) When it stops, leave can in ice, remove dasher, cover with plastic wrap and lid. Drain some water off. Pile as much ice on top as you can. Put 1 cup salt over top. Cover with a plastic bag and folded beach towel. Sit maker in a large plastic container to catch further melt. Wrap whole maker with a wool or levi blanket. Best if made at least 4 hours ahead and allowed to harden. I have had it wait 6 hours and it has been great. Enjoy!!!

BJ’s Variations to the Favorite Basic Ice Cream Recipe

Vanilla – 4 TBs. Clear Vanilla (Brown works too, ice cream just isn’t as white)
Chocolate – 4 tsp. Brown Vanilla, 3 – 4 oz. pkgs. Of Ghirardelli Chocolate (60 Cocao Bittersweet) – Melted in Microwave 2-3 mins. on Power Level 5. Best using the cooked method and added at the end, just before putting into the canister.
Fruit – Juice of 1 lemon & 1- 16 ounce bag of frozen fruit, thawed and mashed. (The multi berry packages are great with additional strawberries added.) Or fresh mashed peaches etc..
Root beer – 1 tsp. Vanilla & 2 TBs. Root beer Extract
Orange Creamsicle – Juice of 3 Oranges & 1 Lemon, and 1 tsp. Orange Extract. Red and yellow food coloring to make orange.
Candy Bar – 1 tsp. Vanilla & Crushed Candy Bars of choice added 10 minutes into freezing. (Cut sugar to 1 cup.)
Oreo Cookie – 1 tsp. Vanilla & 24 Slightly Crushed Oreos added 10 minutes into freezing. (Cut sugar to 1 cup.)
Peppermint – ½ tsp. of Peppermint Flavoring & ½ cup crushed candy cane or chopped junior mints. (Cut sugar to 1 cup.)
Cherry – ½ cup coarsely chopped maraschino cherries, 1 tsp. almond and vanilla. (May also add ½ cup coconut and nuts.)
Pineapple – 1 large can unsweetened pineapple, drained, ½ cup juice, 1 TB. Vanilla & ½ cup nuts
Hawaiian – Juice of 1 lemon and 1 orange, 1 mashed banana and 1 mango, 1 small can pineapple, ½ cup coconut, & chopped macadamia nuts if desired.

easy, yummy crepes

My friend Katie got me hooked on crepes in high school. I also had one almost every day when I went to Europe. That's where I fell in love with Nutella. I actually got this recipe from my English teacher during my last semester at BYU-Idaho. He made them for the whole class on the last day of school. He was nice enough to also share the recipe. I was surprised at how easy  and inexpensive it was to make them. I bought a carton of eggs for .88 cents and flour for a $1.18. I already had milk, fruit, Nutella, and whipping cream. Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as Jordan and I have.

Crepes

2 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1 cup milk

pinch of salt

Blend ingredients with a hand mixer. Batter should be smooth and runny. Butter a medium/hot pan. Pour 1/4 cup batter into pan and quickly rotate it to spread batter thinly over pan. Flip when underside is golden brown. Cook second side for about 30 seconds. Top with fresh fruit, Nutella, yogurt, jam, whipping cream, or powdered sugar. I like to try different combinations of fruit and roll it like an empanada. You could also top it with fresh mushrooms, sliced ham, and scrambled eggs for a heartier meal. Be creative!

Makes about 10-12 crepes

Lindsey's Crisp

8 - 10 apples
4 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup rolled oats
8 tablespoons cold butter (1 stick)

Peel, core and slice the apples; toss in a bowl with lemon juice. In another bowl combine flour, brown sugar, spices and oatmeal. Slice butter into 8 pieces, then cut it into the flour with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is crumbly. Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Spread apples in the bottom of the baking dish, then cover with the crumble mixture. Bake at 375° for 45 - 50 minutes, or until apples are tender and topping is browned. I love it served warm with vanilla ice cream or for breakfast with milk. Enjoy! Lindsey Jo Gunderson

Mom's Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

I think I make this at least every other week. My family is nuts for spaghetti. Not just any spaghetti though. Sauce from a jar is...well, gross. Why eat it? Sauce "a la Mom" is delightful and delicious. And bonus: it's also easy! It just takes a little planning to make sure it's done in time. A slow simmer brings out all the flavors, and the time it takes is worth it.

Mom's Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb hamburger
1 medium onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 (6.5 oz) cans sliced mushrooms, drained
2 (15 oz) cans tomato sauce (or 1 (6 oz) tomato paste & 1 cup water)
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. oregano
salt
pepper

In a large skillet, brown hamburger with onion and garlic. Add mushrooms, tomato sauce, bay leaf, and oregano. Salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Toss in your Al dente pasta, and you're good to go.

For you carbohydrate conscious people (diabetics) out there, I figure a cup of pasta with sauce is about 30-35 grams.

The most dangerous cake recipe
5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tablespoons flour 3 tablespoons milk
4 tablespoons sugar 3 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons cocoa 1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional) a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large hot chocolate mug

Add dry ingredients to mug. Mix well. Add the beaten egg. Mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil. Mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract. Mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook on high for 3 minutes. The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!
Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.
EAT! (this could serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?
Because now you are only 5 minutes away from
chocolate cake at any time of the day or night!

Southwest Turkey Avocado Wraps

Feeling sick of the same ol' sandwich for lunch, I decided to mix things up a bit. I spied some tortillas and leftover veggie dip in the fridge, and created my new shameless addiction.
Southwest Turkey Avocado Wraps

Tortilla
Healthy Smear of Lighthouse Southwest Ranch Veggie Dip
Turkey
Cheese (I used ColbyJack)
Crisp Romaine Lettuce
Sprouts
A few slices of Red Pepper
Avocado (using nearly a half of an avocado for one wrap is not excessive...it's delicious.)