Broccoli Soup and Homemade Bread Bowls

We had this at Laura's house - she is an awesome cook so how do we add her to this blog???

BROCCOLI SOUP

2-3 stalks of broccoli (I used frozen)
4 T butter
1/2 onion finely chopped
6 T flour
1 pint half and half (I substituted skim milk and it was just as good)
1 can chicken broth
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp pepper
1-2 tsp salt

Cut broccoil into bite-sized pieces. Steam in a pan or in the microwave. Do not overcook. Melt 4 T butter in a saucepan and saute onion. Add flour to make thick paste. Add in half and half and chicken broth. To alter thickness of soup, use flour to make it thicker and milk to make it thinner. Add broccoli, 1 cup cheese, salt, and pepper. Remove from heat. Garnish each bowl with cheese.

I served these in homemade bread bowls. Delish!

HOMEMADE BREAD (or "sabotage" bread as Bob calls it) This is from a sister in my ward, she makes the best bread! By far this is better than the recipe I have used the past few years, and WAY easier. This is all I make now.

2 cups really warm water
1/2 cup sugar
1 T yeast
1 T salt
2 eggs
6 cups flour, divided (I have used 1/2 white and 1/2 wheat with success!)
4 T vegetable oil

Mix water, sugar, salt, and yeast and let set until bubbly. Add eggs and 3 cups of flour. Add oil, then 3 more cups of flour. Dough will be sticky. Cover and let rise until doubled. Divide dough into loaf pans (about 2) or you can make rolls or pinwheel bread/pull apart bread too. (She melts margarine into her pans, I just use a spray). Let rise to top of pan. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes. ENJOY!

To make bread bowls, I made slightly larger rolls, cooled them, sliced the top off, and scooped out the innards for extra dipping.

Thanks for the tip Kiersten, the kids enjoy soup this way!

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

A friend of mine made this and brought it to a lunch bunch activity. I usually shy away from things like this for fear of too much spiciness or too much onion or too much...you get the idea. This smelled pretty good so I decided to give it a try and then I couldn't stop. My friend was nice enough to let me take some home. This is very tasty.

1/2 large sweet onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 tbsp minced garlic (a little less than a tbsp from the garlic in a jar)

1 lb roma tomatoes, chopped

15 oz can black beans, drained

15 oz can black eyed peas, drained

15 oz can corn, drained

16 oz bottle Zesty Italian Dressing

1/2 tsp coriander (opt)

chopped green onions to tase (opt)

chopped jalepeno to taste (opt)

Mix and refrigerate 4 hours. Serve with corn chips or lime chips. (I put in about 2 green onions and no coriander or jalepeno.)