Torellini and Sausage Soup

This recipe is thanks to Jeanene. It will definitely become a regular meal because it is SO yummy and seems healthy. We even had this meal in the candlelight for a romantic date.

Tortellini and Sausage Soup

1 lb. sweet Italian sausage 1 cup carrots, thinly sliced

1 cup chopped onion 2 cups tomatoes, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 tsp. dried basil

1/2 cup water 1 tsp. oregano

5 cups beef or chicken broth 1 – 8 oz. can tomato sauce

1/2 cup apple/white grape juice 1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini

8 oz. fresh meat or cheese tortellini (I use cheese)

Grated Parmesan cheese

Brown sausage, remove from pan and drain. Set aside. Saute onions and garlic until tender. Add water, broth, wine, carrots, tomatoes, basil, oregano, tomato sauce and sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes. Skim off any fat and stir in zucchini and tortellini. Simmer for an additional 20 minutes or until tortellini and zucchini are tender. Garnish with Parmesan cheese.

Sinful White Chocolate Hot Chocolate

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups skim milk
  
• 12 ounces white chocolate chips
  
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Place white chocolate in a medium heat-proof bowl; set aside. Place milk and cream in a medium saucepan set over medium heat until bubbles begin to form around edges of pan (about 4 minutes). Do not boil.

Remove mixture from the flame. Immediately pour over white chocolate. When chocolate begins to melt, gently stir to combine.

Whisk in vanilla. Continue whisking until light foam forms.

WARNING: It is very rich, so if you choose to, just put in half to 3/4 of a bag of white chocolate chips.


HOLY YUMMINESS.

The Mistake that Worked

I tried to make German Cheese Blintzes this morning for breakfast, and they just wouldn't work for me. So, I did what I normally do when I don't want to waste ingredients... I added more ingredients and tried something different. This ended up being a baked oatmeal dish, and it turned out great! Jonas said, "This mistake turned out to be one of our favorite breakfasts!" Time will tell if that is really true.

1 container cottage cheese (I used fat free)

3 eggs

6 T flour (I used wheat)

1 T sugar

1 pinch salt

2 pinches baking soda

3 drops of vinegar

2 cups of oatmeal (regular, not quick)

Mix together, spray 9X13 pan, spread out, bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Sprinkle brown sugar on top. Yum.

Lemonade Biscuits/Cookies

This is easy and yummy.

4 cups Bisquik (I used my homemade version)

1/2 cup powdered lemonade

1 cup milk (or so, moistened to your liking)

Mix. Dump by spoonfuls on baking sheet, or you could make muffins out of them too.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

I am totally in to salads. . .

Lately I have been really in to salads. I think it is because I love to load them up with basically every good thing I can think of- it is delicious, and I have the benefit of knowing I am still eating healthy! For example - today, I had a salad with:

romaine lettuce and baby spinach

roasted cashews

shredded carrots

mango

roast chicken

raspberries

blackberries

peas

cucumber

tomato

grapes

extra sharp cheddar cheese

Wow- delicious! So savory, no dressing was needed.

Apricot Chicken

1 cup apricot jam

8 ounces Russian salad dressing

1 package onion soup mix

Stir together and pour over 6 chicken breasts in a pan.

Bake at 350 for an hour.

Yum. Serve rice or on top of your salad. This is delish and easy!

Cake mix made yummy!

For Micah's birthday, he wanted a vanilla white chocolate cake. So I had to get creative with some add-ins and this turned out super yummy.

1 cake mix (vanilla)

1 box vanilla pudding

1/2 cup applesauce

1 cup sour cream

4 eggs

1 cup melted white chocolate chips

Mix this all together and bake at 350 for about 50-60 minutes, depending on your pan shape and size. I used a deeper casserole dish, per Micah's request, and it took 55 minutes to cook all the way through. I let it cool, then turned it over and frosted it with the below frosting recipe...

1/2 stick butter or margarine

8 ounces cream cheese (I used low fat and it worked fine for frosting)

2 T brown sugar

1 T vanilla

1 cup white chocolate chips (I do wish I had grated the white chocolate instead, but it still was super good!)

YUM! My husband, who rarely even partakes of cake, had seconds! Seconds! This is a big deal.

Protein packed pancakes

And yum.

2 eggs

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup oats

splash of vanilla

(Clearly, I quadruple the recipe...)

Blend (in blender) and put about 1/8 to 1/4 cup on your greased pan as you normally make pancakes. These are delicious, light, and healthy! Yay!

Easy, delicious spinach quiche

Hmm... another spinach recipe. This is really good, and you could probably substitute a different vegetable if you wanted... Zucchini comes to mind!

1 10 ounce bag of frozen spinach

1/2 an onion chopped up

5 eggs

12 ounces of muenster or favorite cheese

Salt and pepper

Mix together with a fork. Dump in greased 9 inch pie pan. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes.

We served this with broccoli/apple/raisin/yogurt slaw and triple berry muffins.

I had several members of the family say this was the best quiche they ever had and please add this to the rotation of meals. Yippee!

Spinach Bisque

Or, more aptly named, cheesy soup with some healthiness thrown in!

Ingredients

1 (10 ounce) package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup butter melted

1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 cups low fat milk

1 cup water

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 (16 ounce) package of cheese (we used a combo of swiss, muenster, and parmesan)

Use your slow-cooker! Yay! Put the spinach into the bottom. Add the chopped onion. In a bowl, whisk the butter and flour and then slowly add the milk and water. Stir in the nutmeg and salt. Pour the milky mixture into the slow cooker. Add the cubed or shredded cheese. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours. Blend in blender (or use an immersion blender). Serve and enjoy!

Bob LOVES this soup, he has added it to his love of cream of tomato soup, and that says it all!

Website

Check out this website, she has some yummy/do-doable recipes AND menu plans each month...

http://jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com/

Piggy Stew

I saw this on a friend's blog so I decided to make it for dinner last night.

What you need:
custard cups or ramekins
biscuit dough
stew
peas

*I used beef stew, but I imagine you could use whatever you wanted...soup, chili, chowder...whatever.

What to do:
Divide stew into dishes. Place 1 biscuit in each dish, use extra biscuits to make ears, nose, feet...use peas for the eyes, get creative! I used an apple corer to make the snouts. (My feet didn't turn out exactly how I wanted, I think next time I'll make smaller ones.)

Anyway, put them in the oven and bake according to the biscuit directions. Then feed your little piggies :)

Miniature cookies

Don't let the first picture fool you- in reality these cookies are about the size of my thumbnail, or a little larger! Bite sized goodness!

2 1/4 Cup all-purpose flour

2 Cup butter (softened)

3/4 Cup granulated sugar

3/4 Cup brown sugar (packed)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs (large)

1 Tablespoon milk

1 12 oz. package of miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In mixing bowl/ mixer, mix together butter, sugar, and brown sugar and milk on medium speed until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Slowly add the remaining mixture, making sure to mix well to avoid clumping. Lastly, add all chocolate chips.

Spoon the mixture into a large (gallon-size) ziplock bag. Cut a small hole out of onecorner of the bag (about the size that a 6-year-old's index finger will just perfectly fit through all the way up . . . don't ask).

Squirt the cookies in small sizes all over the cookie sheet (as you see here to the right), being careful not to put them too close together.

Bake for 7-8 minutes at 375, or until the cookies are just golden brown. I found times vary slightly depending on the type of cookie sheet used. Bake shorter if you want really chewy cookies, longer if you like them crunchy.

Makes about 200 perfect, bite-size chocolate chip cookies!

Strawberry Harvest Omelet

Tried to branch out and we did omelets this morning, with the following ingredients:

strawberries

apple

butternut squash

spinach

tomatoes

parmesan cheese

ham

crumbled cheddar

top with grated cheese, salsa, ketchup, or nothing, and enjoy! All the kids loved it- and so did we. They were gone very quickly- almost didn't get a picture because they were gone so fast!

chocolate mousse - healthified and yummy!

Tofu Chocolate Mousse

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips or dark chocolate bars, broken into pieces


• 12 oz silken tofu* at room temperature, drained


• 1/2 cup warmed skim milk or soy, rice or almond milk


• 1 tsp / 5 ml best-quality vanilla

*NOTE: You must use silken tofu for this recipe.

Preparation

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or in the microwave. Make sure to let the chocolate melt slowly. Stir until chocolate is uniformly smooth.

In a food processor, combine tofu, melted chocolate, warmed milk and vanilla. Process until smooth. Place tofu mixture in fine-mesh strainer or sieve, pushing through with the back of a wooden spoon, into a medium decorative serving bowl. Serve from the bowl or ladle into individual serving bowls. Chill and serve.

**Make this recipe with white chocolate chips for a different spin on decadence.

Lemon White Chocolate Cake

We have a lot of cake leftover, but that is only because people stuffed themselves with donuts, crackers, and pizza all day. This cake is really good. I would suggest not layering it, but using a 9X13 pan, spreading the lemon curd (found in the jam section of your grocery store), and then spreading the frosting on top. It just seems like it would be easier than layering, which is not my speciality...

This recipe is from the cake doctor (check out the website since there are lots of yummy ideas!)

Preparation time: 10 Minutes
Baking time: 28 to 32 Minutes
Assembly time: 12 Minutes

When I offered my husband, John, a piece of this lemon cake after dinner one night, he said with a grin, This is incredible, but too bad you can’t use it in the chocolate book. Well, of course I can. Here it is-lemon, white chocolate (the unexpected secret ingredient), and all. This is just the delicious sort of cake to serve on birthdays and special occasions like christenings and showers. Lemon curd is sandwiched between white chocolate layers and all is covered with a lemon—flavored white chocolate frosting.

Cake

• Solid vegetable shortening for greasing the pans
• Flour for dusting the pans
• 6 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix
• 2/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• Lemony White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (see below)
• 1/2 cup store-bought lemon curd (half of a 10-ounce jar)

Lemony White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

• 6 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 package (8 ounces)cream cheese, at room temperature
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously grease two 9-inch round cake pans with solid vegetable shortening, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pans aside.
2. Melt the white chocolate in a small glass bowl in the microwave oven on high power for 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the oven and stir with a small rubber spatula until it is smooth.
3. Place the cake mix, water, oil, whole eggs, egg whites, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the slightly cooled white chocolate. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping down the sides again if needed. The batter should look well combined. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pans in the oven side by side.
4. Bake the cakes until they are golden brown and spring back when lightly pressed with your finger, 28 to 32 minutes. Remove the pans from the oven and place them on wire racks to cool for 10 minutes. Run a dinner knife around the edge of each layer and invert each onto a rack, then invert again onto another rack so that the cakes are right side up. Allow to cool completely, 30 minutes more.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the Lemony White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe follows).
6. Place one cake layer, right side up, on a serving platter. Spread the top with the lemon curd. Place the second layer, right side up, on top of the first layer and frost the top and sides of the cake with frosting.
7. *** OR NOT LAYER...

Place this cake, uncovered or in a cake saver, in the refrigerator until the frosting sets, 20 minutes. Then store it, in a cake saver or under a glass dome, at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Or freeze it, wrapped in aluminum foil or in a cake saver, for up to 6 months. Thaw the cake overnight in the refrigerator before serving.

Lemony White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

1. Place the white chocolate in a small glass bowl in the microwave oven on high power for 1 minute. Remove the bowl from the oven and stir with a wooden spoon or a rubber spatula until it is smooth. Set the chocolate aside to cool.
2. Place the cream cheese and butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until well combined, 30 seconds. Stop the machine. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, and melted white chocolate, and blend on low speed until just combined, 30 seconds. Add the confectioners' sugar and blend on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 30 seconds. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat until the frosting is fluffy, 1 minute or more.
3. Use to frost the top and sides of the cake of your choice.

Chocolate cookie deluxe!

Make the recipe from the back of your chocolate chip bag.

Add a mini marshmallow to each cookie in the middle before baking.

Melt chocolate in a double boiler (or a metal bowl on top of small pot of water).

Dip cookies in chocolate half way.

Cool in fridge.

Eat!

French bread

This has been my family's favorite the past two weeks, even more so than the sabotage bread I usually make.

2 1/2 cups warm water

2 T sugar

2 T yeast

Let poof.

Add 3 cups flour, 1 T salt, 2 T oil and mix.

Add 3 more cups flour and mix.

Let it sit for 10 minutes.

Mix. (Or knead.) Let sit for 10 minutes.

Mix. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Mix. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Mix. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Put on floured surface and shape into 2 long french loaves.

Let rise for 35-40 minutes.

Cover with beaten egg and make 3 slashes in each loaf.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Try to let it cool before you cut it...

Devour.

Chicken and Rice Comfort soup

From Make it Fast, Cook it Slow

2 cups blended veggies (frozen or whatever is in your fridge)

1 cup cooked, diced chicken

8 cups chicken broth

1 cup raw brown rice

1 tsp seasoning of your choice

salt

pepper

Put this all together in your crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 3-4. YUM!

Yummy and good for you smoothies

BERRY YUMMY SMOOTHIE

1/2 cup yogurt (low fat vanilla)

1 cup frozen berries

1 cup skim milk

2 tsp peanut butter

Blend. Enjoy. Makes 2 servings.

(The recipe calls for whey powder and ice cubes, but I think it is great as - is. I'm not into the protein powder stuff.)

And, at the insistence of BLYTHE, I added 1 cup spinach. It was totally un-noticeable, and that is one extra serving of veggies. The kids and I love this.

Green Alien Slime Smoothie

1.5 cups vanilla yogurt

2 peeled oranges

2 cored and sliced apples

dash of lemon juice

handful or 2 of spinach

Blend, enjoy. My kids loved this with their swirly straws and with the special name. It is all about presentation and names over here.

Eggplant parmesan

Bob bought an eggplant last week, and finally I summoned the courage to do something with it. Tonight I made eggplant parmesan. It was a hit! The kids all ate it (Jonas had tenths, really!) Here's the recipe. I've modified it from the online allrecipes and made it easier to throw together. Bob suggests adding ham or pepperoni to it, but if you want a meat-free meal, follow the... following:

1 eggplant, sliced and diced

4 beaten eggs

1/2 loaf crumbled bread with added italian seasoning (or used storebought italian breadcrumbs)

Mix together

Layer 1/3 spaghetti sauce on bottom of 9X13 pan

Layer 1/2 the eggplant mixture

Sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan cheese on

The 2/3 of the spaghetti sauce

The rest of the eggplant mixture

More cheese

Bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Ta-Da! You've just made a delicious meal!

Other add-in options: squash, mushrooms, more cheeses, oh the list could go on...

Shepherd's Pie

In the crockpot! Talk about making an easy recipe even easier!

Wash and dice up 3 -4 baking potatoes and put in sprayed crockpot.

Add 1 can of green beans, 1 can of corn

Add 1 pound cooked ground beef (or turkey) with onions

Add any extra veggies you want

Add 1 can cream of tomato soup and 1 can tomato sauce

Stir

Add grated cheddar cheese on top

Cook on high for 3-4 hours, or low for 6ish hours.

Yum!

And for any leftovers, if you like soup as I do...

Shepherd's Pie Soup!

Put leftovers in soup pot, add 1 can diced tomatoes and 1 small can tomato sauce, heat up and enjoy!