Spiced Butternut Squash Soup

I looked at several butternut squash soup recipes but they seemed unnecessarily complicated. This recipe is a combination of my favorite spices and Mom's standard recipe. It turned out easy, delicious, and perfect for this cold autumn weather. I love soup because it's so forgiving about what you want to add/subtract. Have fun tweaking the recipe to fit your tastes. This recipe made just enough for the two of us (granted, I probably had three servings ;). Add more squash and broth to fit your family size. Hope you like it as much as I do.

Ingredients
2.5 lb. butternut squash
2 c. chicken broth
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic (more if desired)
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp powdered nutmeg
1 tsp powdered ginger
1 1/2 cup milk (or heavy cream for creamier soup, although less healthy)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut open squash and de-seed it. Put in baking pan and cover with foil. Cook for 1 hour or until tender
2. In large satuee pan, heat oil and cook onion and garlic until tender.
3. In blender, add cooked squash (without skin), garlic and onions, spices, and chicken broth. Blend until smooth.
4. Return to sautee pan and heat. Add milk (or cream). If too thick, add more chicken broth.
5. Serve with toasted bread or crackers. Enjoy!

Crock Pot Green Chili Burros

I timed myself and it took exactly 9 minutes from start to finish--and only because I had to cut fat off of my roast and chop the onion. Otherwise it would have taken 5 minutes to find the ingredients. Delicious and fast and easy. What more can a person want?

Ingredients
2 lb. rump roast
1 cup chopped onion
1 pkg. taco seasoning mix
1 Tbs. oregano
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 (10 oz) can green chilies, diced
1 (15.5 oz) can tomato sauce

Tortilla shells
Sour Cream

Directions
1) Layer all ingredients besides tortillas and sour cream, meat first, in crock pot.
2) Cook on low for 8-10 hours
3) Do not stir for the first 5 hours (at least)
4) Shred meat after 7 hours
5) Serve on flour or corn tortillas. Top with sour cream, if desired.

Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies

So, my new Relief Society will surely counter all efforts on my part to be healthy. The other Sunday, they provided homemade chocolate chip cookies with Oreo chunks in it. It was delicious and, surprisingly, not too rich (what does that say about my Chocolate tolerance? ;).

Check the recipe out at this website. You can also see pictures there (which helps me decide if it will really be worth the effort. I think you'll agree with me on this one).

Potato and Shrimp Soup

I got this recipe from my Relief Society the other day; haven't tried it yet, but it looks yummy.

Ingredients
7-8 large potatoes, peeled and diced
2 lb. bag of raw shrimp (pre-cooked gets too mushy)
1 med. onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 Tbs garlic, minced
2 Tbs butter
1 pint half and half
1 cup milk
3 cups chicken broth
Tony's seasoning salt

Directions
(1) Sprinkle shrimp with garlic and Tony's seasoning salt. Let sit in fridge for a few hours.
(2) In a large pot, combine potatoes, celery, onion, and chicken broth and cook on med-high heat until tender.
(3) Add half and half and milk and make a thickening with flour or cornstarch. Add to soup until broth is nice and thick.
(4) Add shrimp and cook until pink.

Raspberry Balsamic Chicken

Ingredients

3/4 cup seedless raspberry jam
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
4 chicken breatsts (about 5 oz each)
2 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped shallots (2-3 large)
1 1/2 tsp minced fresh thyme

Directions

(1) Heat jam and vinegar in skillet on medium-low heat until jam is dissolved. Remove from heat and add salt and pepper, allowing to cool a bit. Reserve 1/2 cup of sauce and put the rest in a resealable plastic bag. Add chicken to bag and marinate for 1.5 hours in fridge.

(2) Heat oil and cook shallots & thyme until shallots are tender (about 1 minute). Take chicken out of bag and dispose of remainding marinade. Cook chicken on both sides until browned. Add reserved sauce. Cover and simmer until completely done (about 10 minutes).

Roasted Tomato Soup

TOMATO SOUP

2 cans (14 oz) chopped tomatoes

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 stalk celery, diced (I didn't have any celery, so mine went without and was still awesome)

1 small carrot, diced

1 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup chicken broth

1 bay leaf

2 TBSP butter

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees

Strain the chopped canned tomatoes, reserving the juices, and spread onto a baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, to taste, drizzle with 1/4 cup olive oil and roast until caramelized, about 15 min. (I would line the bottom with aluminum foil or else it will be a bugger to clean off - trust me :)

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, heat remaining olive oil over medium-low heat. Add celery, carrot, onion and garlic, cook until softened, about 10 min. Add the roasted tomatoes, reserved tomato juices, chicken broth, bay leaf and butter. Simmer until veggies are very tender, about 15-20 min. Add basil and cream. Puree with a hand held immersion blender until smooth. (I don't have one of these, so I use my blender - works great and it makes it easy to pour into bowls!!)

Chocolate-Marbled Banana Bread

I found this recipe on http://www.cookinglight.com/ and fell in love. It's a great way to use up those browning bananas and it's easy and delicious. I tweaked a few things (like using eggs instead of egg substitute), but it still turned out amazing.

Ingredients

2 c. flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter (can cut down butter and add applesauce to make it healthier)
1 1/2 c. mashed bananas (about 3)
1/2 c. egg substitute (I used 2 eggs)
1/3 c. plain yogurt (I used lemon--all I had in the fridge)
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. In a small bowl, combine flour, soda, and salt. Whisk together.



2. In a large bowl, combine the sugar and butter. Beat with an electric mixer for one minute. Add banana, egg, and yogurt and beat until blended.



3. Add flour mixture and beat just until blended.



4. Place chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir. (I had to put it in for another 30 seconds.) Cool slightly and add 1 cup of batter to the chocolate, stirring until well combined.



5. Spoon chocolate batter and plain alternately into a regular-sized loaf pan that has been coated with cooking spray. Swirl batter together with a knife.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr. 15 min. or until wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool 10 min. in pan. Remove from pan and cool completely on cooling rack.