tomato basil soup

As my readers well know, I tend to work 50+ hours a week, and then dealing with the traffic. I have nights when I don't get home until 6:30-7:00 o'clock at night. So dinners on my "late nights" tend to be carry out...and I don't know about the rest of you, but it gets old fast!

So for the passed few months I've gotten back on the meal planning routine and on the weekends I make something a head of time for our Monday night dinner. This weekend I decided that Monday's dinner would be TOMATO BASIL SOUP with stuffed sausage bread (also baked the night before)can you say yum?!?!

Not only is this a healthier filling meal, but it only take 5 a total of 5 minutes to reheat when you arrive home after a long day in the office.

I hope you all enjoy it as much as we

Recipe Source: Ina Garten

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 onions chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 (28-ounce) canned plum tomatoes with juices
4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1 quart chicken stock or water
1 cup of cream (I use fat-free and it works well)

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Spread the tomatoes in 1 layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.

In an 8-quart stockpot over medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the butter, until the onions start to brown.

Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock.

Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet.

Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes.

Once above is complete blend using hand blender, return to stock pot and then add cream and let it come to quick simmer.

Taste for seasonings and serve hot.

Mocha Fudge Brownies with Dark Chocolate Drizzle

IF you ask me, this recipe has all the important food groups...mocha, coffee, fudge, and dark chocolate. What more could a girl ask for? Ok, maybe it doesn't cover all the major food groups, but it's now become my new all time favorite brownie recipe. I made two batches for a get together and they gone in a matter of a few hours. Everyone was raving on how great they were, they are a must try recipe. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Happy baking!

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
2 squares unsweetened chocolate
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons coffee
Chocolate syrup, for drizzling

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large bowl cream together butter, sugar and eggs.

In another bowl combine flour and baking powder.

Melt chocolate in microwave.

Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Stir to combine.

Add chocolate, milk and coffee and mix well.

Pour into a buttered 8'baking pan and drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Zucchini Bread

Since we had so many zucchini this year, I had t o find new ways to use them, before they went to waste. Of course having a child that is the "I wouldn't eat that because it's green" stage, I had to find new ways to get certain veggies into his diet. Adding shredded zucchini into the bread makes it easy for me to achieve that goal.

The cool thing about this bread is that the spices in it, make it taste more like a coffee cake bread then an actual zucchini bread. The bread comes out with a nice smooth, moist texture. Something else that I love about this bread is the fact that it freezes well, so you can eat one now and then freeze the second bread for another day. I hope you, and your family all enjoy this as much as we have.

Recipe inspired by Paula's Home Cooking

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

3 1/4 cups of whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon of allspice
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 teaspoon lemon juice


WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg,all spice baking soda, cinnamon and sugar.

In a separate bowl, combine apple sauce, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice.

Mix wet ingredients into dry.

Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray.

Bake for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean.

Healthy Zucchini Muffins

This month's JADE from http://www.themesspot.com decided that the What's Baking challenge would be Celebrate Summer. This month I decided that I would use up the abundance of Zucchini I have, and try to make something that was tasty and healthy.

Jonathan is in the phases where we wouldn't eat any green veggies. So, as his mother it's my job to find a way to get him to eat them. And I ask you, what better way than to bake them into his favorite things.

This recipe is so good that even myself who hated Zucchini love this recipe. With the applesauce and spices you really can tell that they have anything healthy in them. I hope you enjoy them as much and my 3 year old who eat 2 in one sitting!

Happy Baking!

RECIPE SOURCE: KidsHealth.org

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

2 cups of shredded zucchini
2 cups of whole grain pancake mix
1 Tsp of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of allspice
1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce
2 Tsp of lemon juice

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO DO:

Wash,peel, and shred zucchini

Wrap grated zucchini in a couple of paper towels and squeeze to remove water.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Line a 12 cup muffin tin

In a large bowl, and mix pancake mix,along with all the dry spices

In another bowl whisk together eggs, applesauce, and lemon juice

Fold egg mixture into shredded zucchini and dry ingredients.

Fill each muffin cup with 2/3 full with batter.

Bake for 15 minutes (until golden brown)

Cool on baking rack for 5-10 minutes.

Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Muffins (Cooking Light)

I think I've said this before, but in my house Breakfast is the most important meals of the day. Both my husband and son love breakfast. Which leads to me always trying to change things up for them. This week my husband want me to make muffins for work. Lucky enough had a few recipes bookmarked in the May Cooking Light Magazine that I wanted to try, and today was the day to do it.

The recipe was super easy to make. I did change a few things up from the original recipe that allow me to cut out a few extra calories from fat and the still came out tasteful, without being sweet, nor bland. The only thing that you want to do is be careful not to over mix it, because they will become more dense when they should be fluffy.

Adapted Recipe from the Cooking Light Magazine (May edition)

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

1 3/4 Cups of AP flour
1/2 Cup packed brown sugar
1/4 Cup unsweetened cocoa
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1 Teaspoon of baking soda
1 Cup of warm water
1/4 Cup of unsweetened applesauce
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 Large eggs lightly beaten
1/2 Cup of chocolate chips

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:

Preheat oven to 400

In a medium bowl combine flour, brown sugar, unsweetened cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda.

Whisk the dry ingredients above, and create a well in the middle of mixture.

In a second bowl, combine 1 cup of water, applesauce, red wine vinegar, vanilla extract, and eggs. Add in chocolate chips.

Combine the dry and wet ingredients and stir just until moist.

Line muffin tin with liners and spray with cooking spray.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

Bake at 400 for 15-17 minutes until toothpick comes out clean

Cool for 5 minutes in pan on wire rack.

Calories 175, Fat 5.6g Protein 4.1, CARBS: 22g

Tyler Florance's Shredded Beef Burritos in the Crock-pot

This recipe is actually a stove top recipe, but honestly, who has 3 hours to babysit a top on the stove top? Not me that's for sure. I really wanted to try this recipe, however during the work week, this is not the type of meal that I could just make whenever I arrive home from work. So I thought why not make this in the crock pot. I have to say, that this has to be one of the best crock pot recipes that I'm made in a long time!

I was so pleased with the way that it came out. The beef came out so moist and jammed packed with flavor. I was so please with the way it came out in the crock-pot that I'm not even going to try to make in on the stove top, why mess with perfection.

Recipe source...http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/mexican-pot-roast-tacos-recipe/index.html (this is the stove-pot version)

WHAT YOU'LL NEED

2 pounds beef shoulder
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, sliced (I like red onions)
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon smoked cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 avocado cut into chunks
1 med tomato cut into chunks
1/2 habanero pepper minced
6 wraps
lite sour cream

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

Season all sides of the beef with a fair amount of salt and pepper.

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, garlic, onions, canned tomatoes, beef cayenne pepper, and cumin to crock-pot.

Let cook on LOW for 7-8 hours. Beef should be fork tender and falling apart.

Remove beef from pot and using 2 forks shred beef into bite size.

TO ASSEMBLE YOUR BURRITO:

Take one wrap, and take a teaspoon of sour cream and spread on wrap.

Add shredded beef, and top with chopped tomatoes, habanero pepper, and avocado.

Wrap burrito and eat!

Tyler Florance's Ultimate Crab Cakes (Baked)

I'm just going to get to the point...I love Tyler Florance, and I know that If he was my husband my ASS would be ten times bigger than it already is. I have never made a Tyler Florance recipe that I did not love. Each time I make something I tell myself..."it can't get any better than this" and each time I prove myself wrong.

I know that I have said that his Prime Rib recipe is my favorite, but this crab cake has changed me. For now this is my new all time favorite recipe. I highly recommend trying it at least once, you wouldn't be disappointed!

Recipe source: Tyler Florance Ultimate (cooking channel)

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

Extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely minced
1/2 green pepper
1 celery stock
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 pounds jumbo lump crab meat
1 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs
2 tablespoons fat free mayonnaise, (more if needed)
1 large egg white
1/2 lime, juiced
1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro leaves, (I used less because I don't care for it)
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of butter melted

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO:

In a medium frying pan, add just enough olive oil to cover the bottom of pan and heat.

Add the onion, peppers, celery, and garlic and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until the onion gets kind of caramelized.

Dump that into a bowl and fold in the crab meat, bread crumbs, mayonnaise, egg white, lime juice, and cilantro, mixing just until well blended.

Season with salt and pepper. Shape the mixture into 6 fat crab cakes. Put them on a plate, cover, and stick them in the refrigerator to chill. (about and hour)

Heat oven to about 400 degrees.

Take crab cakes out of frig and brush the tops with melted butter.

Bake for about 20 minutes flipping crab cakes once.

After fully cooked turn oven onto broil and allow crab cakes tops to crisp, this will take 3-4 minutes.

Serve one a bed or salad, or with fresh lemon wedges