Soup of the Evening

The much anticipated fall season has brought the relief of cool breezes, 

gorgeous clear skies and open windows. 

Apparently this time of year has also brought a sore throat and pressure in the sinuses to the point of explosion.

Well, I don't know about you, but I woke up from my NyQuil induced coma this morning and thought
"I can't believe my head is still here!"

My voice is almost gone but I have just enough to croak/warble to the kids. I say something  like "Oh, please stop asking me questions that require an answer" and the kids look baffled and amused. 

It is pretty ridiculous and I would laugh at myself if it didn't hurt so bad!

Anyway, yesterday evening my tummy was rumbling but the thought of eating scratchy food made me wince. So I fell back on one of my favorite fall soups from our church cookbook:

Curried Pumpkin Soup

So smooth and creamy!

Here is the recipe:

4c chicken broth

1 (15 oz) can 100% pure pumpkin

2tsp. curry powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

Heat all ingredients in a large saucepan until thoroughly heated, stirring often. 

Top with a dollop of sour cream. 

Serves 6.

For dessert, I recommend Hall's Mentho-Lyptus cough drops. 

Enjoy!

Fudgy Buttons

These "candies" only take a couple minutes to whip together and kids really love them... 

not to mention I love them too :)

Like any great recipe, it all starts with melted butter...

...and cocoa!

Add powdered sugar...

...milk and peanut butter...

Form them into little patties and...Voila! You have fudgy buttons!

At this point my little girl LOVES to sprinkle sprinkles... but it adds crunch, which is not my favorite. 

It's your choice.

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon milk
1/4 cup peanut butter

Directions:
In a small saucepan, melt the butter; remove from heat. Add cocoa and mix well. Stir in sugar. Add milk and stir until smooth. Add peanut butter and mix well. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto wax paper; flatten tops and shape into 1-inch patties. Stick them in the fridge and chill for a few minutes. Yield: about 1-1/2 dozen.

Keeping it Real

As my 5 year old climbed up in the kitchen chair to help make pancakes he said 

"Hey mom! Could we make pancakes that look like this instead of burned?"

That kid sure has a way with words! I haven't laughed so hard in a while... 

and you can believe he got perfect pancakes this time :)

Tasty Tuesday

Remember this photo? Last week I used it to (kinda sorta) show you a beautiful strawberry salad. Now, as promised, I'm giving you the recipe for this delicious salmon sandwich from

Marcia Kiesel for Food & Wine Magazine.

 Grilled Glazed Salmon

Total: 20 min.

4 Servings

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/4 cup prepared horseradish, drained

2 tablespoons honey

Four 6 oz skinless salmon fillets

Vegetable oil, for rubbing

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Light a grill. In a small bowl, mix the mustard, horseradish and honey. Rub the salmon with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the salmon over moderate heat, skinned side down, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Turn and grill for 3 minutes longer, until the salmon is almost cooked through. Turn the salmon again and spread each fillet with 1 tablespoon of the horseradish glaze. Turn and grill until glazed, about 30 seconds. Serve remaining glaze on the side.

For the sandwich:

4 kaiser rolls- split, toasted and buttered

4 red lettuce leaves

8 thick bacon slices, cooked until crisp

1/2 Granny Smith apple, cut into 12 thin slices

Spread the remaining horseradish glaze from the grilled Glazed Salmon on the rolls. Place a lettuce leaf, 2 crispy bacon strips and 3 slices of Granny Smith apple on each roll and set a salmon fillet on top. 

Close the sandwich and serve.

Tasty Tuesday

Strawberry Salad

Great for summer and goes with anything: chicken, steak...

I might even try it with ice cream ;)

My friend brought over this salad in December and as soon as I tasted it I had to have the recipe- I've made it many times since then and I have discovered that everyone who tastes it asks for the recipe.

{I know this photo is not really about the salad- my apologies. Tune in next time for the Salmon Sandwich recipe!}

This is a very flexible salad- add more or less fruit or lettuce, depending on your taste. 

The original recipe used spinach but I love spring mix- use whatever you like! Make it your own!

My sister-in-law also adds candied Almonds which gives it a nice crunch.

1 box of fresh strawberries, sliced 
2 kiwis, sliced 
1 box of spring mix lettuce. 

Salad Dressing: mix together 1/3 cup sugar. 1/4 cup canola oil. 1/4 cup Raspberry or red wine vinegar. 

Just before serving, add dressing to the strawberry salad and toss it all together. 

P.S. If my strawberries are too tart, I slice them up ahead of time, sprinkle a little sugar on them and let them sit in the fridge for a couple hours. Not only does this make the strawberries sweeter, it adds a nice juice to the salad.

bon appetit! 

Say Cheese(cake)!

"Here is something to smile about: luscious, lemony, no bake cheesecake squares with less than 5g of fat"... well, that's what it used to be... before I changed it!  I found this recipe by Janet and Greta Podleski a couple years ago in a Taste of Home {Healthy Cooking} magazine and I fell in love with it the moment I read it! I followed the recipe precisely a couple times (which is kind of a big deal for me) and it turned out really yummy but my husband pointed out a few problems: the crust was seriously crumbly, and the cake itself was almost too light -like flavored whipped cream- delicious, but not very satisfying.
So, with the help of my chefly husband (and a little extra butter), I believe I made a good recipe even better! And I really didn't change that much... I promise.

This doesn't have to be low fat, you can use regular cream cheese and cool whip... hey, it doesn't even need to be lemon! I've changed the Jell-O and juice to lime which tastes awesome! Oh, and I also want to do strawberry and maybe raspberry... the possibilities are endless! Well, as long as they make that flavor of Jell-O... anyway, on with the recipe!

1. Dissolve Jell-O in boiling water. Refrigerate until slightly thickened, but not set (about 45 minutes).

*if you are making this at midnight and you really don't want to wait 45 minutes, you can put the bowl in the freezer, but don't fall asleep! I assure you, the Jell-O will be thickened AND SET in the blink of an eye.
And then it will be Jell-Oooocrap*

Meanwhile...

2. For the crust: combine graham crumbs, melted butter, and brown sugar. 

Press the crumb mixture into one 9x13 or six(ish) ramekins, depending on the size of your ramekins.

don't forget to use your sieve thingy when you squeeze the lemon!

for the filling: beat together cream cheese, white sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla.

Check your Jell-O! It should be slightly thick but not set. Once your Jell-O is finally thick enough, blend it into the filling mixture.

*you might be a wimp if: your arm gets worn out just folding in whipped topping*

pour the filling onto the crust and spread evenly to the edges of the pan. Refrigerate for approx. 4 hours or until set. 

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (3 oz) lemon Jell-O
1 cup boiling water
1- 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (the original calls for 1-1/2cups)
6 tbsp butter, melted (the original calls for 3 Tbsp)
1 tbsp brown sugar
8 oz light (not fat free) cream cheese brick, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups light whipped topping, thawed

Recipe:

1. Dissolve Jell-O in boiling water. Refrigerate until slightly thickened, but not set (about 45 minutes).

2. Meanwhile, prepare crust. In a medium bowl, combine graham crumbs, melted butter, and brown sugar. Stir well, using a fork. lightly grease a 9x13" baking dish with butter or baking spray. Press crumb mixture evenly over bottom of pan. Refrigerate while you make the filling.  

3. To prepare filling, beat together cream cheese, white sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla on high speed of an electric mixer until smooth. Add thickened  Jell-O and beat on medium high speed until well blended. 

4. OK! This is the part we changed the most. If you want the original, super-light dessert, simply fold all the whipped topping into the filling, pour filling onto prepared crust, spread evenly to edges of pan and chill for several hours.

OR if you want a slightly richer dessert with two distinct layers, fold 1/3 of the whipped topping into the filling until smooth and creamy. 

Pour approx. 2/3 of the filling mixture onto crust. 

Chill for an hour. 

Again, fold 1/3 whipped topping into remaining filling and pour onto thickened layer of cheesecake. Refrigerate for 3 hours or until set.

Garnish with remaining whipped topping and something pretty~ maybe a curl of lemon peel...
...or a random slice of strawberry?

Enjoy!

Bruschetta Chicken Salad

 Here is one of my favorite recipes of all time. It's the cure for the common cold supper!

Marinate 1 lb chicken in some balsamic dressing for an hour (I pounded these thoroughly before marinating).

Seed and chop 7or 8 Roma tomatoes.
Add a pinch of kosher or sea salt.
Let sit for about an hour.

In another bowl combine:
1/2-1/3 cup good balsamic vinegar
1/2-1/3 cup good olive oil
1 or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 bunches fresh basil, finely chopped
Let sit for about an hour
*note: it is very important that the basil be fresh. In fact, I have a basil plant specifically for this dish*

Grill the chicken, cool slightly, then slice it into strips or bite size chunks.

Just before serving, mix the vinegar/oil mixture again, combine with tomatoes. On each plate, arrange sliced chicken on a bed of spring greens and pour tomato mixture over the chicken. Serve with slices of 

lightly broiled baguette.

Or, 

for a cold appetizer, forget the chicken and pour the tomato stuff right onto the slices of baguette (if you don't have a fresh baguette you can substitute other crusty bread or even crackers and cheese). 

It's the cure for the common munchies!

Oh! And one more way to enjoy this is in a wrap: 

tortilla, lettuce, sliced chicken, tomato, mozzarella, Parmesan.

It's the cure for the common lunch!

ok, I'm done now:)