Tomato Soup

I'd forgotten that this recipe was in my repertoire. It's a Martha Stewart Tomato Soup recipe I copied down several years ago and have tweaked it somewhat. Before I made this soup I wondered why anyone would bother making their own tomato soup when there was a certain Campbell's variety that tasted just dandy. Well, this is much better and oh so easy, it's almost ridiculous! And once you blend it up, it has a wonderful creamy texture even though there is no milk or cream in it.

Tomato Soup

3 T butter
1/2 chopped onion
1 clove garlic
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 can chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Melt butter in saucepan and sautee onion and garlic till limp. Add tomatoes, broth, salt and pepper and simmer for 20 minutes or so. Place in blender and puree, return to pot then serve it up!



Of course, it's just splendid with a grilled cheese sandwich. The perfect Saturday night dinner!

2 Week Soup Challenge

I've decided I need to make more soup. I've never really made much soup other than the occasional chili or tortilla soup and I'm not really sure why. I read an article in the paper the other day that touted the benefits of eating more soup. It's still so cold and dreary and I feel like I'm in a cooking rut anyway, so I've decided to make the next two weeks very soupy and I'm pretty excited about it. I plan on using the crock pot as much as I can and I've already started scouring for recipes. I'm going to try to document all my soup successes and hope that will be a great motivator. So, stay tuned for all the excitement and if you have any recommendations, let me know!

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Birthday Gifts

My Mom's birthday was this past week. This year, the kids and I got creative and made her a couple things (along with her favorite birthday cake). Firstly, the tissue paper flowers. They're just flower shaped cut-outs layered together and stuck with pipe cleaners (which by the way, are now called 'chenille stems').

Next we made a little batch of salt scrub. I combined about 1/2 cup kosher salt with the same amount of petroleum jelly. Then I added about 1 tablespoon of jojoba oil and a few droplets of orange and vanilla essential oils. If you've never tried this kind of scrub, it's wonderful. You just massage some into your hands or feet or any other rough dry skin then rinse it off and your skin feels wonderful.

I think she really liked the gifts, she's the kind that appreciates gifts with meaning and/or ones that are made with love. Those are always the best kind!

Cranberry Oat Cookies

We were snowed in again for a couple days this week and the occasion called for some home made cookies. We had no chocolate chips in the house and I was in the mood to try something new anyway, so I searched and found this recipe. I still had a couple bags of frozen cranberries from the holidays so we tried these out.

Cranberry Oat Cookies

1 stick softened butter
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs

1/2 tsp of salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup oats
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups cranberries (about half a bag)


In a large bowl, cream together butter, vanilla and sugars. Add the eggs and beat until fluffy. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining dry ingredients then mix with the rest. Fold in the cranberries.

Bake at 350 degrees oven for 11-13 minutes or until lightly brown. Let cool on the pan for about 10 minutes then remove to cool completely.

The cranberries burst and bleed when baking, it makes for a messy cookie sheet! But they are so so good, I just love oatmeal cookies and the cranberries add a pop of tangy tartness. A nice change from the same old same old. Try them!

Popcorn Snack

I got this idea from Snack Girl. I love popcorn and I especially love sweet popcorn, like caramel corn, popcorn balls or that yummy sweet/salty kettlecorn. This is a delicious snack that is pretty healthy too, especially if you air pop the corn. This is my popcorn popper-

I love this thing! I see them all the time at garage sales and Goodwill and I have no idea why anyone would want to get rid of it. It's the easiest way to pop corn and you add nothing but the kernels. I do not care for those ready-made pouches you buy at the store. Those bags scare me, I remember reading about some toxic chemical that's in them. Plus, there is always some added gunk/salt/grease, even in the 'lite' variety. And I have never understood how to read the nutritional labels on them. Very confusing. Anyway, my popper is awesome and I hope they never stop making the little refill power cells or whatever they're called.

So, HERE is snack girl's recipe. And here's a quick summary: 1 T peanut butter, 1 T maple syrup warmed in the microwave then combined with a big bowl of popcorn. I pretty much followed her recipe except I raised the ratio of syrup to peanut butter just a bit and I do not microwave it for 30 seconds, that's way too long. 15, maybe 20 seconds tops. And I still haven't splurged on the real maple syrup, so mine has the fake stuff. It's not as hard to stir together as I expected, my method is similar to tossing a salad. Grab two large spoons, put the popcorn in a large bowl and have at it. I used crunchy peanut butter and I liked that added crunch. The kids love this stuff too. Try it!