Sunday, September 28, 2008

My Loaded Baked Potato Soup

My little 15 month old great nephew inspired me to come up with a recipe. If I may say so myself, this turned out pretty darned good!!!!

My Loaded Baked Potato Soup:

  • Several baking potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 1 cup of milk (part cream if desired)
  • 2 T. butter
  • 2 T. flour
  • 2 handsful of cheddar or mont-jack cheese
  • ¾ cup of sour cream
  • Salt and pepper and paprika to taste
  • roasted garlic, to taste
  • Dijon mustard to taste
  • Crumbled (vegetarian Morningstar) bacon
  • Finely chopped green onions
  • Home-made or really good quality croutons
  • Grated Romano cheese

---In a large soup pan, simmer the potatoes in lightly salted water (to cover), with loose lid for about 15 minutes, til tender. Remove from heat and mash with a potato masher in water; put into separate bowl. Rinse out the soup pot, then heat butter till melted, and whisk in flour; slowly add in milk until thickened constantly using wire whisk. Bring to slight boil to thicken, then lower heat back to medium and add in potatoes, cheese, sour cream, Dijon, and roasted garlic—add seasonings to taste. Add in chopped green onions. Serve, top with crumbled bacon, croutons, and grated Romano cheese. Serve with fresh warm good quality bread (we like roasted garlic bread, either via the bread maker or the bakery). Mmmm, enjoy



Friday, September 26, 2008

Grilled Cheese in a Pan

Ok, I know this isn't a great food shot, but this is super simple and super good. This is a great dish to serve with a bowl of soup! (and the girls go crazy over this). I said we're vegetarians, but we aren't perfect eaters--this is just one of those quick and easy comfort food dishes:

  • one container of Pillsbury Garlic Crescent Rolls
  • one container of onion and chive cream cheese
  • shredded cheese of choice
  • butter or olive oil
  • toasted sesame seeds
take half the crescent rolls and press together in the bottom of n 8x8 square baking dish. Spread on desired amount of cream cheese. Top with desired amount of shredded cheese. Press the remainder of the crescent rolls on top. Drizzle some olive oil (or melted butter) on the top of the rolls and sprinkle with some toasted sesame seeds. Bake 350 degrees for about 25 to 30 minutes.

as a note: I've done this with plain (not garlic) crescent rolls, and spread on some Nutella (hazelnut spread) and or good quality chocolate shavings (or just chocolate chips:)-drizzled the top with some butter and a little bit of sugar---and HOLY MOLY is it good:)

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Portrait of An Artist as a Young Women

created at age 2



created at age 3

created at age 4


created at age 4 1/2

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Italian Quesadillas

I can't take credit for this--though I did add in black olives. Here's a link to Giada's recipe---mmmmmmm (I LOVE fontina cheese!)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/italian-quesadillas-recipe/index.html

Cauliflower Soup

This one's easy, and it's always a winner!

  • two cups of water (or one can of chicken or vegetable broth)
  • one head of cauliflower, chopped
  • two cups of milk
  • 2 T. butter
  • 2 T. flour
  • 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
  • black pepper
Steam cauliflower til tender. Remove from pan and let cool a bit (to avoid steam burn)--then puree' in food processor or with hand blender. In larger soup size sauce pan, melt butter and whisk in flour til bubbly. Slowly whisk in the milk, and bring to start of a boil, continuing to whisk--til thickened. Add in pureed cauliflower and shredded cheese. Season to taste with salt, pepper, etc. I like to top it with some croutons, and a small amount of crushed red pepper flakes for some heat. I serve this with Italian quesadillas.

My Mom's Italian Red Sauce


My mama's tangy, thick, yet sweet and savory Italian Sauce! (sorry, I don't have permission to publish this, but, I'm guessing she won't have me arrested:) It took her years to perfect the perfect blend of seasonings and flavors, and HOLY COW is this good! (note: moved from previous post as this deserves a posting of its own! And I'm just getting better-organized with this blogging stuff:)


Mama's Italian Red Sauce
  • 4--3 oz cans of tomato paste
  • 2--15 oz cans tomato sauce
  • one small onion chopped
  • season to taste:
    • fresh basil
    • roasted garlic
    • 1/4 cup brown sugar
    • cracked black pepper
    • oregano or Italian seasoning
    • pinch of salt
  • 4 cups of water in slow cooker
  • 5 cups of water on stovetop

Italian "Meatball" Bombers

As vegetarians, it's not always easy to find something quick, easy and delicious. I came up with these "Meatball" bombers when I discovered how very good Nate's Zesty Italian Meatless Meatballs are!!!
(Notice I did the font colors in the colors of the Italian Flag:)
Here's my recipe:
--toasted onion buns
--zesty Italian red sauce (I had my mom's homemade sauce left over in the freezer)
--Nate's Zesty Italian "Meatballs"
--a thin slice of mozzarella or provolone cheese.
--put it all together and you have the makings of a delicious sandwich!

Monday, September 8, 2008

Butterfly Class



We had butterfly class today at our local nature center located just a couple of miles from our house. Unfortunately it was raining so we could not do our usual walk in the woods and to the pond to look for occurrences in nature. But the girls had a lot of fun. Something very interesting happened as we were leaving class, the girls stopped to see a couple of turtles (whom they touched and played with at our last turtle class)--and Boxy the Box turtle (in her glass case) walked right up to the front of the case and was interacting with the girls--cocking her head back and forth--and just looking at them as they were at her--and Boxy yawned too:)

Anyway, back to butterflies:

We enjoyed playing and acting out Eric Cole's
THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR (for some reason, I don't have that book, I'll have to add it to my wish list:)

The Butterfly's Life cycle:

1. An Adult Butterfly lays an egg.
2. The egg hatches into a caterpillar or larva.
3. The caterpillar forms the chrysalis or pupa.
4. The chrysalis matures into a butterfly.



Thursday, September 4, 2008

Pinto Bean Sloppy Joes


Top these with a thin slice of provolone or smoked gouda, along with some ketchup on a toasted onion bun, and you have the makings of a delicious meatless sloppy joe!

  • olive oil
  • 1 med. onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 bell pepper, finely diced
  • 4-5 kosher dill pickles, finely diced
  • 1 pound (about two cups) of pinto or black beans (rinsed and drained if using a can)
  • 1/4 cup of wheat germ
  • 1 cup of thick tomato sauce or pureed tomatoes
  • 1 T. soy sauce
  • Dijon Mustard to taste
  • Worscestire Sauce to taste
  • 1 tsp. of honey or brown rice syrup
  • 1 tsp. of chili powder
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp dried basil
Sautee' onions and peppers. Add remaining ingredients to a gentle simmer. Mash with a potato masher. Simmer over medium heat, loosely covered for 5-7 minutes.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Meatless "Meat" Loaf

My "Meat" Loaf Recipe:

  • 1/4 cup of walnuts, toasted and ground or crushed
  • 4-5 kosher dill pickles, chopped small
  • 3/4 cup onions, chopped
  • 3-4 cups of cooked beans mashed (e.g. kidney, pinto, or black)
  • 8 oz shredded cheddar (or cheese of choice)
  • 1 1/4 cup of ground oats
  • 3 T. soy sauce
  • 3 T. worschestire sauce
  • 2 T. ketchup
  • 1 T. Dijon mustard
  • 2 T. fresh chopped parsley
  • seasonings of choice
  • option: one egg to bind, not necessary as the oats and beans hold it together
mix every thing and press into a loaf pan.

bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes
then at 375 degrees for 10 minutes
brush on additional ketchup and cheese and bake 5-10 minutes.

serve with mashed potatoes, corn, etc-and you have a great dinner (even for meat eaters:)

All Cozied up by the Camp Fire!