Crockpot Minestrone

I love this recipe, although it is more like a vegetable soup than a minestrone, in my opinion. Don't leave out the zucchini, they are the best part.

Also, thank you for putting up with a ton of food posts from me.

Crock Pot Minestrone Soup

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 cup carrots, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 oz) can white beans, drained, rinsed (cannellini or navy)
• 3 cups fat free chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarians)
• 1 oz chunk of good Parmesan cheese rind
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• salt and fresh pepper
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped
• 2 cups chopped fresh or frozen (defrosted) spinach
• 2 cups cooked small pasta like ditalini or elbows (al dente)
• extra Parmesan cheese to top (extra pts)

Rinse and drain beans. Puree beans with 1 cup of the broth in a blender.

In a crock pot, combine broth, tomatoes, pureed beans, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, herbs, Parmesan cheese rind, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Forty minutes before the soup is done cooking, add zucchini and spinach. Cover and cook 30 more minutes. Add cooked pasta, cook 10 minutes more. Remove bay leaves, rosemary sprig, Parmesan rind and season to taste with salt and black pepper.Ladle soup into bowls and top with extra Parmesan cheese.

S’more Brownies

Pat traded a batch of ooey gooey brownies for a gym pass…  I know, go figure.  Anyway, these are the brownies he came up with…  S’more Brownies.  If you are looking for a pan filled with a days worth of calories… this is your ticket.  They were so good!!!  He just baked a pan of brownies according to the directions of the box.  Then he topped them with marshmallows, chocolate chips and crumbled up graham crackers.  He then put the pan back in the oven under the broiler to melt and brown the marshmallows.  Oh.  My.  We had to hurry and take a picture before they were devoured!  I mean… look at the smile on Claire’s face as she eats her piece.  That says it all. 

Lemon Strawberry Sorbet

Last Sorbet Recipe! I promise! This one was good, but it tasted a lot like freezer strawberry jam. A little too similar.

We ranked our favorite sorbets tonight and surprisingly, this is how they ranked:

#1 - Lemon Sorbet

#2 - Raspberry Sorbet

#3 - This one (Strawberry Sorbet)

Here's the recipe:

Strawberry Sorbet

1 lemon, seeded and roughly chopped

2 cups sugar
2 pounds strawberries, hulled
Juice of 1 to 2 lemons

1. Place the chopped lemon and sugar in a food processor, and pulse until combined. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Puree the strawberries in a food processor, and add to the lemon mixture, along with the juice of 1 lemon. Taste and add more juice as desired. The lemon flavor should be intense but should not overpower the strawberries. Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn until frozen.

Guacamole Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Not my picture. This one
had tomatoes in the guacamole.
Mine did not.

I love guacamole and this 'recipe' sounded fantastic to me. So, while Makayla was eating bacon and pears, her 2 favorite foods, I made myself one of these. It did not disappoint. I had to make myself a second. I think this may be my new favorite food. I do love avocados and guacamole, (as evident in the fact that I even made this pie recipe) but if you don't like avocados then you won't like this. It was gooey, creamy perfection.

Here's the 'recipe'.

1. Heat a griddle to medium heat. Butter both sides of bread (yes, you knew this recipe had to have butter in it somewhere). Place bread on griddle until toasted, then flip over. Add cheese to warm side of bread. Continue cooking bread with cheese, until it's melted. Remove from griddle and spread guacamole on top of melted cheese. Put sides together and enjoy. Then make another one.

Southwest Chopped Chicken Salad

Here's another recipe to use your shredded precooked chicken.

I loved this because it was so fresh! The dressing was really good, too! I needed to make more, and so I substituted sour cream for the Greek yogurt.

(this is not my picture)

This one is, though.

Ingredients

for the salad:
• 2 cups shredded chicken
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 can black beans, rinsed
• 1 can sweet yellow corn (or 1 cup frozen corn, thawed)
• 2 roma tomatoes, diced
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 1 head ice berg lettuce, washed and chopped
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 2 ripe avocados, diced
• 1 cup crushed tortilla chips

Dressing

for the dressing:
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2/3 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 tbsp ranch seasoning
• 1 tbsp taco seasoning

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients together, excluding the tortilla chips.
2. In a small bowl stir all dressing ingredients together.
3. Pour dressing over salad, starting with about half of the dressing.
4. Toss to combine, then gradually add more dressing until it is dressed to your liking.
5. Top with tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Chocolate Sorbet

I'm currently on a huge sorbet kick! I love it! Especially Raspberry! Actually, maybe I'm just in love with my new ice cream maker. So far, we've made homemade ice cream and sorbet at least a dozen times! Recently, I tried coconut sorbet, which was good and thick and creamy, but nothing to write home about (or post on a blog). So, when I saw this chocolate sorbet, I had to try it!

Oh, and I wanted it to be soooo good. I mean, it's chocolate! How can it not be great? I even took lots of photos to document this dessert. But when I tried the finished product it left me wanting to eat something else and not something with chocolate in it.

It's made from a lot of semisweet chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder. Because it's sorbet it does NOT have any milk in it. So there it is. I should have known I wasn't going to be in love with it. Semisweet chocolate and no milk. It tastes just like it sounds. Don't get me wrong. It tastes very chocolatey. Just the wrong kind of chocolate.

Chocolate Sorbet

2 1/4 cups (555 ml) water

1 cup (200 g) sugar
3/4 cup (75 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
6 ounces (170 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large saucepan (yes, you must use a large one or it will bubble over. Trust me.), whisk together 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) of the water with the sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Let it boil, continuing to whisk, for 45 seconds.

Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until it’s melted, then stir in the vanilla extract and the remaining 3/4 cup (180 ml) water. Transfer the mixture to a blender and blend for 15 seconds.

Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. If the mixture has become too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out. 

*Recipe from one of my favorite cooking blogs, Smitten Kitchen.

Broccoli and Cheese Soup

My gouda! Jayson said that this was his favorite soup ever! In fact, he ranked it as the best dinner we've had in the last 2 weeks. The kids compared it to their favorite soup at Panera, and actually said it was better. But that's probably because my kids always say nice things about dinner.

I didn't take a picture until it was almost gone. Oops! Guess we'll have to make it again.

what's in it?

2 bunches of fresh broccoli [cut and chop the tops]
4 cups chicken broth

2 cup of shredded carrots

1 onion [chopped]
2 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

2 cups half and half 

6 TBSP all purpose flour
6 TBSP butter

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp dried basilsalt and pepper, to taste

1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese, plus plenty extra for topping [freshly grated]

2 cups of regular gouda cheese [freshly grated, rind removed]

get cooking!Add your broth to a pot on medium-high heat, add your 2/3 of your broccoli [about 2 cups of florets] as well as your carrots, onion, garlic, and bay leaf.  Simmer on medium, covered, for about 15-20 minutes or until the veggies are tender. 

Once the broth is done, start your roux.  In a large pot, melt 6 tablespoons of butter on medium heat, whisking constantly.  Once melted, slowly add 6 tablespoons of flour as you continue to whisk.  Remove from heat and slowly pour in the broth from your veggie mixture  and stir to incorporate.  Next pour in the veggies and slowly stir in 2 cups of half and half.  Return to the burner on very low heat, uncovered.   Spoon out the bay leaf and season with the herbs and spices, adding a little extra of whichever you like to taste.  Once the soup has warmed back up, stir in the grated cheeses and remove from heat immediately.