I made this lasagna soup courtesy of Baked Bree a few weeks ago. Didn't get a single picture, apologies for that. It was delicious! I took a few shortcuts based on what I had in the pantry, so please go to Baked Bree's site and get the original version as well.
Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian sausage
3 cups chopped onion
garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 (28-ounce) can tomatoes
6 cups chicken stock (I made mine with chicken boullion cubes)
1/2 pound cooked fusilli noodles
dried basil
salt and pepper
Cheese topping:
Parmesan & mozzarella cheese to taste
Instructions
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat. Add the sausage and brown for 5 minutes.
Add the onions and cook until soft.
Add the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes.
Add the tomato paste.
Let the tomato paste cook for a few minutes.
Add the tomatoes, chicken stock (or water and boullion cubes).
Bring the soup to a boil, and then turn down to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes. At the end, season with salt and pepper and add the basil.
When you are ready to serve your soup, add a good handful of pasta to the bottom of the bowl.
Add the soup to the bowl. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Meal Plan Monday 1-2-12
It has been a long time since I did one of these! I had a very busy fall. On top of being a mom to a 2-year old and wife to a great guy, I work full time (45 minute commute) and was taking 2 classes towards my master's. Wow. Makes me tired just typing all of that out.
I have been enjoying my break from classes this holiday season, and we have had plenty of holiday parties to attend to make up for it! We also got to watch my son's eyes light up as he met Santa, played with friends and family, and opened presents.
My New Year's resolutions this year are pretty typical. Get finances under control. Lose 20 pounds. Make time to appreciate friends and family. It's nothing different than the rest of the year but New Year's gives me a chance to bring these goals to the forefront again.
On that front, finances and weight loss go hand-in-hand with meal planning, so I am back at it again! My plan is to eat around 1500 calories a day. My husband is again on his diet where he lost 80 pounds last year. He fell off the wagon a bit lately and gained some of it back again, so he started fresh two weeks ago. This time around, he is down 16 pounds in the past two weeks.
My menu plan is going to accomodate me making my husband his meat and veggies, and then I will make a large pot or skillet of something that I can take as leftovers the next few days. I like to try new recipes to make it fun. So here we go!
Sunday - Lasagna Soup, pork chops & asparagus
Monday - Cheeseburgers, sauteed mushrooms, green beans
Tuesday - leftovers
Wednesday - ??
Thursday - ??
Friday - ??
To be continued...
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Snowman Cheeseball
I made this awesome snowman cheeseball (actually two of them) for Christmas this year! I adapted the recipe I found via Pinterest on Babble.
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
3 – 8 oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature
4 cups Italian blend shredded cheese
3 teaspoons almond basil pesto, recipe follows (or a couple tbsp of pesto - that's what I did)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Almond Basil Pesto
A handful of fresh basil
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 clove garlic
2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
Decoration
nose – carrot
eyes and buttons – raisins
crown – rosemary, or you could do a hat with stacked crackers
arms – asparagus, green onions or pretzels
on crown – cranberries
scarf – green onion (I used 2 pieces attached in the back with toothpicks and held on with a cocktail toothpick in the front), carrot or radish shaving
mouth – red pepper or currants
optional – add a corn pipe, a chunk of baby corn on the end of a toothpick
Method
1. Make pesto first in the food processor by adding basil, almonds, garlic, salt and pepper to processor. Pulse until chopped. Turn processor on and stream in olive oil until pesto is movable.
2. Add cream cheese and pesto to a large bowl. Use a hand mixer to blend the pesto through the cream cheese. Add shredded cheese and use hands to incorporate. Divide the cheese into 1/3 for the head and 2/3 for the body. Make into a ball in your hands. Roll in grated Parmesan and place on platter. Refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours.
2. Decorate snowman with carrot, asparagus, raisins, cranberries, green onion, red pepper, and rosemary.
I also did a Mexican version with mexi blend cheese and chipotle salsa instead of pesto (you could use smoked chipotle peppers but I couldn't find any).
I received a lot of compliments on these!
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
3 – 8 oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature
4 cups Italian blend shredded cheese
3 teaspoons almond basil pesto, recipe follows (or a couple tbsp of pesto - that's what I did)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Almond Basil Pesto
A handful of fresh basil
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 clove garlic
2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
Decoration
nose – carrot
eyes and buttons – raisins
crown – rosemary, or you could do a hat with stacked crackers
arms – asparagus, green onions or pretzels
on crown – cranberries
scarf – green onion (I used 2 pieces attached in the back with toothpicks and held on with a cocktail toothpick in the front), carrot or radish shaving
mouth – red pepper or currants
optional – add a corn pipe, a chunk of baby corn on the end of a toothpick
Method
1. Make pesto first in the food processor by adding basil, almonds, garlic, salt and pepper to processor. Pulse until chopped. Turn processor on and stream in olive oil until pesto is movable.
2. Add cream cheese and pesto to a large bowl. Use a hand mixer to blend the pesto through the cream cheese. Add shredded cheese and use hands to incorporate. Divide the cheese into 1/3 for the head and 2/3 for the body. Make into a ball in your hands. Roll in grated Parmesan and place on platter. Refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours.
2. Decorate snowman with carrot, asparagus, raisins, cranberries, green onion, red pepper, and rosemary.
I also did a Mexican version with mexi blend cheese and chipotle salsa instead of pesto (you could use smoked chipotle peppers but I couldn't find any).
I received a lot of compliments on these!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cake
I made this delicious fall treat last week for a food day. Calvin loved it, he keeps asking for more cake! It was a very quick mix, and quite delicious.
From pinch of yum:
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk (you can sub milk+vinegar, or plain yogurt+milk)
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups chopped apples (I used Wealthy heirloom)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbs. butter
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325.
Mix ingredients in order given (except the last 3 ingredients).
Pour batter into a 9×13 greased pan.
Combine last 3 ingredients to make a topping and sprinkle it evenly over the batter.
Bake for 45 minutes. It’s delicious when served warm!
From pinch of yum:
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/3 cup oil
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk (you can sub milk+vinegar, or plain yogurt+milk)
1 tsp. soda
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups chopped apples (I used Wealthy heirloom)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbs. butter
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325.
Mix ingredients in order given (except the last 3 ingredients).
Pour batter into a 9×13 greased pan.
Combine last 3 ingredients to make a topping and sprinkle it evenly over the batter.
Bake for 45 minutes. It’s delicious when served warm!
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Creamy Mac and Cheese
I've made this recipe a couple times now - I LOVE recipes with a low number of ingredients. LOVE. And here is one from Heavenly Homemakers.
It was pretty creamy, I think next time I want to add water or something to break it up a bit. But it was easy and we all liked it. And I don't have to worry about getting weird ingredients or spending a long time making a roux. So here it is:
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pasta
3 cups whole milk
1/2 t. sea salt
1 cup shredded cheese (I use white cheddar)
Mix pasta, milk and salt in a large sauce pan. Cook over medium-high heat STIRRING ALMOST CONSTANTLY until the pasta is tender (10-15 minutes). Remove from heat. Add cheese and stir until melted. Serve immediately.
It was pretty creamy, I think next time I want to add water or something to break it up a bit. But it was easy and we all liked it. And I don't have to worry about getting weird ingredients or spending a long time making a roux. So here it is:
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pasta
3 cups whole milk
1/2 t. sea salt
1 cup shredded cheese (I use white cheddar)
Mix pasta, milk and salt in a large sauce pan. Cook over medium-high heat STIRRING ALMOST CONSTANTLY until the pasta is tender (10-15 minutes). Remove from heat. Add cheese and stir until melted. Serve immediately.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Apple Strudel Muffins
Delicious! I found these on Allrecipes.com and they were wonderful. I made a double batch - mini muffins for work ("they're like vitamins!") and big muffins for home. Awesome.
Here's the recipe:
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped apples
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan.
2.In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3.In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and eggs until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Stir in apples, and gradually blend in the flour mixture. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan.
4.In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan.
5.Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a wire rack.
Here's the recipe:
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped apples
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 12 cup muffin pan.
2.In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3.In a large bowl, beat together butter, sugar and eggs until smooth. Mix in vanilla. Stir in apples, and gradually blend in the flour mixture. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin pan.
4.In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over tops of mixture in muffin pan.
5.Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Allow to sit 5 minutes before removing muffins from pan. Cool on a wire rack.
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