Broccoli Cheese Soup

I dedicate this to my mother in-law Deb. She is an amazing cook and she consistently inspires me. While I was vacationing in Omaha for Christmas I ate some very great food. One of the things that Deb made was Broccoli Cheese Soup. She had been gifted this really neat blender that blended at such a high speed it actually cooked the contents. So she threw this little diddy together. I can't wait to go to the supermarket next week so I can get the ingredients to make this.

1 cup skim milk
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped fresh brocolli**
1 tsp diced onion
1 tsp corn starch
1/4 tsp chicken soup base

Place all ingredients into blender and process until smooth. Heat through and add additional steamed florets before serving.

**If you don't have one of these amazing cook as you blend contraptions do as I did and just steam the broccoli first then process it until smooth then add it to a sauce pan. Heat until steaming and cheese is melted and Enjoy!

Fluffy Apple Cake aka Apple Sharlotka

I came across this wonderful looking apple recipe and I just had to try it. Ever since Gary showed me how easy it is to peel, core and slice apples with my Pampered Chef Apple Peeler, Corer Slicer I try and find any excuse to use it. This was wonderfully fluffy. The top layer (ends up being on the bottom) is amazingly crisp and sweet. I can't wait for an excuse to make this again. Also I used a 9in regular non stick cake pan and it came out relatively easily. I was able to pop it out after letting it rest for 5 min after I removed it from the oven.
One problem we ran into is we put the leftover half slice in the cake dome and then forgot about it for about 4 or 5 days. This dome is designed to keep the moisture inside and we ended up getting some mold growth. So TIP don't forget about leftovers because I am sure if we hadn't forgotten it would have gotten eaten a lot sooner this is such a tasty dish.

Christmas Flashback: Almond Crescent Cookies

This cookie came from Cookie Fest 2011 that my friend Belle put on. Along with Belle, Alicia, Samantha and Jenny we made several treats. I am going to release them in a 3 post series. Stay tuned because they are yummy as well as gluten free!!!

1 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup ground almonds
1 egg yolk
1/4 tsp salt
2.25 cups gluten free flour

Cream butter and sugar. Add almonds and yolk. Then work in salt and flour. Chill dough over night. Roll dough with hands to form into crescents. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet and bake in pre heated 350F oven until lightly browned. 20 - 25 min. While still warm roll in powered sugar.

Christmas Flashback: Frosted Sugar Cookies

No one can say no to a little sugar cookie with a Nebraska Husker Shirt on. This cookie came from Cookie Fest 2011 that my friend Belle put on. Along with Belle, Alicia, Samantha and Jenny we made several treats. I am going to release them in a 3 post series. Stay tuned because they are yummy as well as gluten free!!!

Healthy Breakfast Fritatta

I was invited to my sisters house in Lancaster to discuss Wedding plans. I arrived at lunch time after almost 2 hours of driving. I was starving. I had a ton of Kale at home so I brought some along to share. I went to the WHFoods website and selected Kale as my target ingredient and out popped this little beauty. It was a perfect thing to make in my sisters limited appliance kitchen. She just moved in with her fiance and they have a seriously lacking kitchen. She has only the absolute essentials, ie. nesting bowls, single 2 cup measuring cup, 2 rubber spatulas, a small knife block, a 10" skillet (I got this for her for xmas) and a plastic cutting sheet. But she does have a great oven and she had gone to the store to get the ingredients I needed. So my mom chopped the onion my sister whipped up the eggs and I chopped the Kale. I have to say this came out great. The only thing I would change in the future editions would be instead of regular ground turkey I would use a turkey sausage. Just remove the casing first and treat that like ground turkey. Enjoy.

Valentine's Day Treats

Valentine's Day would not be complete without some fun treats to share with friends. I made some chewy chocolate chippers using the back of the Trader Joes Chocolate Chips bag. Then I made some buttercream frosting and tinted some purple and piped on lots of hearts. They went over great with my co-workers and Gary's co-workers said he hadn't ever had cookies that good. Yay!! Total V-Day Win!!
Chocolate Chip Cookies
2.25 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
0.5 cup granulated sugar
1 cup softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 package Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Directions: Preheat oven to 375F. Cream sugars, butter and vanilla. Add eggs beating until just mixed. Add dry ingredients 0.5 cup at a time. Mix in chips. Drop by tablespoon full onto parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake for 12-15 min. I made about 3 dozen cookies but that will vary depending on how big of a heaping tablespoon you used.

Valentines Day Dinner

This Valentines Day the husband and I did not go out to a restaurant, we did not get dressed up, and we did not order from a menu. We got home from work early and we headed into the kitchen and both created wonderful dishes to share with each other. I made french fries with some Burbank Russet potatoes and roasted asparagus. He made his own fish BBQ sauce and baked amazing salmon steaks. For dessert we had frozen bananas dipped in chocolate peanut butter sauce.

For the French Fries:
I washed, peeled and chopped up 4 small potatoes into fry shape. Then I soaked them in water for 15 min while the oven heated to 425F. Then I tossed them in a bag with a little olive oil and sea salt. Then I spread them out on the pizza stone and baked for 20 min. I took them out and tossed them and put them back in for 10 more min.
For the Asparagus:
Cut them to the length your comfortable with then toss them in a drizzle of olive oil and sea salt. Bake in pre-heated oven 425F for 20 min.
For the Salmon Sauce:
Combine mustard, ketchup, maple syurp, soy sauce, chili powder, cumin until you get something tasty.
For the Salmon:
Spread with sauce and bake in pre-heated oven 425F for 10-12 min depending on the thickness of the salmon.

Enjoy!