Roasted Cauliflower Soup

My brother always called (and still does) cauliflower, "ca'awful' flower", but I've always liked it....most of the time. This recipe is out of Family Circle magazine. I thought it was good and after eating it I thought it would be more amazing if you add ground red pepper and some parmesan cheese. ☺

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

1 large head Cauliflower, cut into florets

1 large Onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

15 oz Chicken Broth

1 cup Water

1 Bay leaf

1 tsp Thyme

1 cup Milk

Salt

Pepper

Red Pepper, ground (optional)

Parmesan Cheese (optional)

Toss cauliflower, onions, garlic, and olive oil together, spread on cooking sheet and roast at 400 for 30 minutes. Stirring halfway through.

In a saucepan, combine cauliflower mixture, broth, 1 cup water, bay leaf, and thyme and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Throw away bay leaf and puree soup with a processor (I used the immersion blender), return to pan, stir in milk, salt and pepper and cook until warm through.

Toss the garlic, onions, cauliflower and olive oil together

spread on cooking sheet and roast at 400 for 30 minutes

add the roasted cauliflower mixture to water, broth, bay leaf and thyme. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Throw out bay leaf and puree soup.

add milk, salt and pepper and heat through.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1-1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) chicken broth (or make your own)
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1 can (16 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 corn tortillas (6 inches), cut into 1/2-inch strips (I don't like corn tortillas so I used my favorite) ☺

Broil chicken 3-4 in. from the heat for 5-6 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. (Or cheat and use rotisserie chicken like I did)
In a Dutch oven coated with cooking spray (I used olive oil), cook onion and garlic until tender. Stir in the broth, tomatoes, beans, tomato sauce, tomato paste, chilies and seasonings. Shred chicken with two forks; add to soup. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place tortilla strips on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until crisp. Serve with soup. Yield: 8 servings (3 quarts).

Nutrition Facts: 1-1/2 cups equals 227 calories, 2 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 39 mg cholesterol, 818 mg sodium, 30 g carbohydrate, 8 g fiber, 23 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 2-1/2 very lean meat, 2 starch.

Cooking garlic and onion till tender

After everything has been added

Baking the tortillas

I garnished with sour cream and cilantro.

*Recipe from Taste of Home

Raspberry-Cream Cheese Muffins

Raspberry-Cream Cheese Muffins

2/3 cup (5 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries (I used mixed berries)
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (I used Almonds, nuts are optional)
 
Combine cream cheese and butter in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at high speed until well blended. Add sugar; beat until fluffy. Add vanilla, egg whites, and egg; beat well.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and buttermilk to cream cheese mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Gently fold in raspberries and walnuts.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes
Makes 24 muffins

Adapted from Cooking Light

Frontier Kitchen Giveaway!

I don't know if you've been over to check out Sarah over at Frontier Kitchen. She's having a giveaway and you can have the chance to win a cool cookbook. (it looks cool anyway)

I won the last giveaway and now I can cook/ bake in style. (Thanks Sarah!) ☺

This post was brought to you so that I have the chance to post another comment in hopes of winning the giveaway.....and since my idea of cooking lately has been whipping up quesadilla's and making salsa, I haven't been posting much. ☺
I do plan on making Raspberry -Cream Cheese muffins this week though, so there is hope for a post in the future.

Simple Stir-Fry

The other night I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner and not have to go grocery shopping. We were hitting the mother hubbards empty cupboard stage too. I did have one piece of chicken left though, rice and a bunch of frozen and fresh vegetables, so stir fry seemed to be the perfect meal. The nice thing about stir fry is that it's so versatile, you can just do broccoli and it will taste good or go all out and have a different varieties of veggies, rice or noodles, chicken or beef, etc....

So here is what I did.

Stir Fry

Chicken

Teriyaki Sauce (optional)

Soy Sauce

Garlic (powder or minced)

Onion Powder

Ginger, ground

Sesame seed oil (optional)

Pepper

Veggies (I used broccoli, carrots, peas, squash, I would put an onion in there too, but my last one was bad)

Rice

I marinated the chicken in the teriyaki, soy, sesame seed oil, garlic, and onion powder

started sauteing the veggies

cooked the chicken

once the chicken was cooked I tossed it with the cooked marinade into the veggies.

Serve over rice and have extra soy sauce on hand to sprinkle over the top if you like more flavor.

Chocolate Almond Bars

Another Betty Crocker classic. I was needing to sastify my chocolate craving this week.

Chocolate Almond Bars

Crust :

1 box chocolate cake mix
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

Topping :

4 eggs
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 cups salted roasted whole almonds, coarsely chopped
6 oz dark or bittersweet baking chocolate, chopped


1. Heat oven to 350°F (or 325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Place cake mix in medium bowl. Using pastry blender or fork, cut in 1/2 cup butter until crumbly. Press firmly in ungreased 13x9-inch pan. Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until set.

2. In large bowl, beat eggs, corn syrup and 1/4 cup melted butter with wire whisk until smooth. Stir in almonds and chocolate. Pour over crust.

3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes longer or until golden brown and set. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 1 hour or until chocolate is firm. For bars, cut into 8 rows by 6 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

cake mix and butter crumbled together

press into bottom of dish and bake

Pour mixture on top of cooked crust. (side note: my butter was apparently too hot, so when I poured the chocolate pieces into it, it melted. Oops)

Chicken Parmesan

 Chicken Parmesan

12 Chicken Tenders (I cut up 2 chicken breasts)

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 cup Bread Crumbs

1 Egg

1 cup Marinara Sauce

Basil, dried or fresh

1 c shredded cheese  (I used Cheddar and Mozarella)

Oil for cooking

Mix up your parmesan and breadcrumbs together in a shallow bowl. Mix up the one egg in a separate bowl. Dip the chicken into the egg, and then cover with the bread crumb mixture and cook in a pan for about 3 minutes on each side. After chicken is cooked, place in the bottom of a baking pan. Sprinkle with basil (or place basil leaves on top) Spoon the cup of marinara sauce over the chicken and sprinkle the cheese over the top.

Bake for 10 minutes at 375

Chicken cut into tenders

Bread crumb mixture

cooking the chicken in a pan for 3 minutes on each side

Place the cooked chicken on the bottom of baking dish

Sprinkle with basil, marinara, and cheese. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes.

(optional) Serve chicken over cooked pasta such as ziti or penne and marinara sauce