Cream of Tomato Soup w/ Katie's Grilled Cheese

It's been getting cold around here lately...and yes we live in Florida! A few cold fronts have came over us the last few days and it has been very refreshing but it also puts us in a soup mood. Here's an easy classic that tastes great!

Ingredients 

2 tbsp Butter
1 28oz can of Italian Peeled Plum shaped Tomatoes
1 Onion, finely diced
2 cups of Chicken Broth
1/2 cup of Water
1 tsp Sugar
1/2 cup of Heavy Cream
1 tsp Minced Garlic
1 Bay Leaf
Fresh Chives
Salt
Pepper






Directions

1. In a soup pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, pinch of salt, and sweat the onions for 12 minutes. Be sure to stir occasionally so they do not burn.
2. Add garlic and let cook for 1 minute. Next, add the can of tomatoes (juice included!), using a potato masher to break up the pieces of whole tomato. 
3. Add chicken broth, water, sugar, and bay leaf. Bring mixture to a simmer and heat for 30 minutes.
4. Using a blender, puree small amounts of soup at a time until it is very smooth. Store in a second bowl. 
5. Strain the blended broth back into the soup pot, and turn to medium low heat. 
6. When soup starts to simmer, add heavy cream and allow to heat through, about 3-5 minutes. 
7. Pour into soup bowls and top with fresh chives.

200 calories per bowl

...and no Tomato Soup would be complete without...Katie's Grilled Cheese Sandwich!

Charlie's Chicken Grill

Happy New Year! I know I'm a little late but better late then never :) Like many folks out there, around this time of year, I'm trying to watch what I'm eating. I'm not on any specfic plan or lose weight quick diet...just keeping track of how much I eat and working from there. So some recipes maybe better for you and some might not be...it's a mixed bag, just the way I like it. From this point forward I will also try to include the calorie count for most of my meals, and tonight's was a real treat: Charlie's Chicken Grill! (Calorie Total:  750)

Ingredients

1 Chicken Breast, marinated 
1/2 Onion, sliced large
3 Mini Peppers, sliced in halves
1/2 package of Whole Baby Bella Mushrooms
4-5 Red Skinned Potatoes, quartered
Oil Olive
Salt 
Pepper
Italian Dressing
Poultry Seasoning
Everglade's Seasoning
Chili Powder
Cayenne





Directions

1. Fire up the grill!
2. Marinate Chicken Breast in Italian Dressing 3-5 hours, then remove from dressing and dry. Season with Salt, Pepper, and Poultry Seasoning.
3. Slice Onion and Pepper and skewer them, also skewer the whole Mushrooms. Brush with Olive Oil, and season with Salt, Pepper, and Everglades Seasoning.
4. Quarter cut potatoes, and in a microwave safe dish add Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper, Chili Powder, and Cayenne. Put in microwave and cook for 10 minutes. Stir potatoes and continue cooking for 2-5 minutes or until the taters are softened.
5. Place Chicken on the bottom rack of the grill and the veggies on top rack. Allow to grill for 8 minutes.
6. Flip the Chicken and rotate the vegetables, continue cooking for 4 minutes.
7. Move the vegetables down to the lower rack and continue cooking for 3 more minutes.
8. Remove everything from the grill, allow 3-5 minutes of rest and then plate everything and dig in!

We topped our chicken with some lemon juice, and malt vinegar for our potatoes, Yum!

Iced Blueberries and Sweet Cream

Happy Holidays all, hope everyone is having a great time! This will be my last post of 2013, plus it's post #50!! Thanks to everyone who has checked out my blog this year and looking forward to some great recipes in 2014.

One of my Xmas presents this year was the official Game of Thrones cookbook, A Feast of Fire and Ice, this book has tons of recipes inspired by the book and TV show. What's cool is it has medieval and modern versions of the recipes. So far I've tried a few side dishes but tonight I took on one of the desserts of Winterfell: Iced Blueberries and Sweet Cream!

I checked on the book's website and this recipe is exclusive to book owners :( but I'll tell you what you need to make it and you might be able to figure it out, or just buy the book, it has some really good recipes in it!

Ingredients

1 package of blueberries (not already frozen)
1 cup of milk
2 egg whites, slightly beaten
2 tbsp honey
pinch of salt
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp cream











Pretty much you boil this, freeze that, chill another thing and in a few hours you have a very tasty dessert.  Visit the following link and purchase the cookbook for for more clear direction.

A Feast of Ice and Fire

Happy New Year everyone!

Sloppy Joe Stuffed Shells

Been very busy getting ready for the holidays, but it was time to try and share a new recipe! Combining two of kid's favorite meals into one: Sloppy Joe Stuffed Shells. Before you click away be aware that this isn't your normal manwich...the meat mixture can be adjusted to your liking.

Ingredients

1 pound of ground beef (or turkey...for those going healthy)
1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 tbsp oil
2 tsp minced garlic
1 28 oz can of tomato sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt
Pepper
Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1 box of Jumbo Shell Pasta






Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Bowl water in a large pot, add a pinch of salt, and cook for 8 minutes. Drain hot water, and rinse the shells with cold water.
3. In a large pan, add oil and heat to medium. Add onions and green peppers and saute for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook for a minute. Next, add meat and cook until meat is brown.
4. Drain fat from the pan, add sauce, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.
5. Stuff each shell with the meat mixture, and place in a glass baking pan. Pour remaining sauce over shells. 
6. Cover with Mozzarella cheese and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Grilled Cornish Hen

I've done roasted game hen in the past, now it was time for grilled!

Ingredients (Seasonings)

1 Cornish Hen
1/2 tbsp salt
1/2 tbsp pepper
1/2 tbsp everglades seasoning
1/2 tbsp chili pepper
1/4 tbsp cayenne












Directions 

1. Preheat grill for 20 minutes, should be around 400-450. Be sure to rub some oil on the top grates. Place an old cooking sheet/pan on the main rack (this will catch the dripping fat).
2. Cut out the back bone of the hen, then proceed to break the breast bone to flatten it out. Season the hen generiously.
3. Place the hen, skin side down, on the top grate directly over your cooking pan. Close the grill, and allow to cook for 10-15 minutes (or until the skin has some color).
4. Flip the Cornish Hen over (be sure to flatten it down, helps it cook) and proceed to grill for 10-15 minutes (best to check the meat under the leg if you see red/pinkish meat then your good). 
5. Let the bird rest for 5 minutes and then dig in! Be sure to have a sharp knife handy to chop through this delicious hen!

Cornish Hen is probably one of my favorite meals, what's cool is you can make more than one and save the other for a later meal (or unless you are really hungry). If you grill more than one I've found adding 3-5 more minutes to each cooking step has them come out great! If you do check and the meat is still pink just throw it back on the grill for 5 more minutes and you'll be good.

Cornish Hens are really greasy so it's very hard to dry them out (don't let your heat get too hot), also have a full stock of napkins for when your ready to chow down!

There's one rule to Cornish Hens...

Chicken Caprese

Chicken, Tomatoes, and Cheese...OH MY!!!! This dish is delicious and very easy to make.

Ingredients

3 Chicken Breasts, butterfly cut
1 package of Cherry Tomatoes, split
6 slices of Mozzarella Cheese
2 tbsp of Olive Oil
2 tbsp of Minced Garlic
2 tbsp of Basil 
Salt
Pepper
Balsamic Vinegar









Directions

1. In a large pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil over medium high heat, set chicken in the pan and cover for 5 minutes.
2. In another pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil over medium high heat, add in garlic and cook for 1 minute.
3. Add in cherry tomatoes and saute for 5 minutes, remove from heat and add basil to the tomatoes.
4. Flip over chicken and continue cooking covered for 5 minutes or until done. Add 2 slices of cheese on top of each piece of chicken, cover with tomato/basil mixture and continue cooking for 2 minutes.
5. Turn off the heat, add a sprinkle of oil and Balsamic Vinegar to taste.

Beef and Barley Soup

Took some time off for the holidays! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and got to spend time with their families. Down here in Florida it has not been a cool Fall (if you could really call it Fall, more like Summer part 2), but lately it has started to be cooler so I figured I could make a nice soup to go along the 60-70 degree days.

Ingredients 

1 1/2 pound chuck roast
1 bay leaf
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
3 celery ribs, diced
4 cups of water
4 beef bullion cubes
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 (14 oz) can of petite diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of barley, cooked
2 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper






Directions

1. Season roast with salt and pepper. Place meat in a slow cooker set on high, add a 1/2 cup of water, 1 bay leaf, and cook for 2 1/2-3 hours (or until the meat is tender).
2. Remove meat and turn off the slow cooker, chop the meat into small pieces (pulling the meat works too). Reserve the broth in the slow cooker but remove the bay leaf.
3. In a soup pot, add olive oil and turn up to medium-high heat, add in onions and cook for 3 minutes (be sure to add a pinch of salt). Next, add in the carrots and celery and continue cooking until onions are soft (total about 5-6 minutes).
4. Add water, bullion cubes, sugar, ground pepper, diced tomatoes, beef, and barley to the pot and turn up to high heat.
5. Before the soup begins to boil, add the reserved liquid from the slow cooker, once boiling begins turn the heat down to simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes (be sure to check if vegetables are soft).
6. While cooking, be sure to skim some of the fat that comes to the top, due to using the dripping from the cooker there will be a good bit of it. If you leave it or mix it in the soup will have a greasiness to it that might turn off some tasters. 
7. Be sure to taste for seasoning, keep it simple with salt and pepper, the soup should have a bit of sweetness to it due to the sugar.

We made tonight a soup and salad night so this went great with a Caesar Salad. As you can see with our table cloth the holidays are here so be safe out there with all those crazy sale shoppers :)