Creamy Tomato Soup

This has become a favorite in our house. I like it, because you blend it up at the end, so the kids dont know they are getting lots of good veggies in there. The hot soup plus some fresh baked bread and a salad was a perfect meal on our first chilly night. I think it would be a perfect base for the Three Cheese Tomato Soup that the soup cart on UOs campus sold, which, in case you don't know, is the most amazing soup on earth. I am now working dilligently to duplicate it but may need to wait for Danieele to be back on dairy so I have a secon set of taste buds on the project. Could Easily be made without the dairy, just would not be creamy :) 1 1/2 cup chopped carrotts 1 1/2 cup chopped celery 1-2 white onions (I really like onion so I use 2) 2 tbsp Olive oil 2-4 cloves of garlic (again depending on how much arlic you like) Cook this in a large stock pot until onion is traslucent and other veggies are aldente. Next Add: 3 cans diced tomatos with juice 1 Jar tomato juice (could substitue tomato paste and 2 C water) 4 cups of water or broth (if using water add 4 Bouillion cubes) I prefer Chicken 3 oz cream cheese 3 cups heavy cream Bring to a boil then let simmer for 20 minutes. Next blend it up. Pour and enjoy!

Spinach Tomato Orzo Pasta

I made this last night to go with our chicken. It was delightful. I used Newman's Own Family Recipe Italian for the dressing (it has no artificial gunk). This afternoon, I decided to try it with Quinoa for my lunch and after adding a bit of the dressing (say 2 tbsp?) to the quinoa after it was cooked I had a delicious one-pot lunch. http://cookingwithruthie.com/2013/08/16/spinach-tomato-orzo-pasta/

Oven baked chicken fajitas

A couple of weeks ago I asked my dear husband to get on pinterest and see if he couldn't find some wholesome dinner ideas he would be interested in eating.  He came up with some good stuff.  One of which was oven baked chicken fajitas.  It was incredibly easy and so yummy.  I'm just going to put a link here and it can also be found on my healthy habits pinterest board.  The only think I would recommend is to maybe drain the diced tomatoes some or all of the way so your fajitas aren't swimming. 

http://www.alexaeatsclean.com/2013/11/recipe-oven-baked-chicken-fajitas.html?m=1

Revised Honey Whole Wheat Bread

OK, I've been making this bread at least once a week for a while now.  It's become our staple bread.  I've made enough changes to the original recipe that I feel like I should repost a more accurate one.  Also, Genny made me.

Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon yeast
2 cups warm water
1/3 cup honey
4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt. 

Combine first three ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer; let sit for about five minutes or until frothy and bubbly. 

Add 1 1/2 cups flour and salt. Mix until combined

Add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until soft dough forms.  The dough should just barely pull away from sides and will be sticky.

Knead on low in stand mixer with dough hook attachment for 4 minutes. 

Cover and let rise until double in size, about one hour.  Punch down and knead by hand for a couple of minutes to work out the big pockets and give the dough some elasticity.  Shape into loaf and drop into greased loaf pan.  Let rise till double again (about half an hour).  Bake at 350 for about 38 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool in loaf pan on cooling rack about 10 minutes.  Remove from loaf pan and let cool completely (2-3 hours) before slicing. 

In my quest to have homemade bread that isn't crumbly and falls apart after it's cooled I've learned some things mostly from trial and error.  Don't let it cool completely in the loaf pan.  This can lead to some soggy crust.  Letting it cool completely before cutting into it ensures that the steam won't escape and dry out your loaf.  I've also noticed that if I slice the whole loaf up at once it isn't as crumbly either.  This has kept nicely on the counter top for up to a week.  I think that's the longest it's ever taken us to go through a whole loaf.  It would keep longer in the fridge obviously. 

This one is super simple and my whole family loves it.  The chickens, who will eat anything, do not like it.  I find this strange.  I wonder if it's the honey.  Do you think maybe chickens don't like the taste of honey?  I don't know, it's weird.  Seriously, those birds will eat almost anything. 

Good luck baking and post a comment if you have a question, or it's not turning out right for you and we'll figure it out. 

This week I'm trying out a Dave's Killer bread copycat recipe, though I will wait till it's perfected to post it, cause who wants to post twice?