Fantastic Food

INGREDIENTS:   3 Tbs. Olive Oil 1 cup minced yellow or white onion 1/2 c. chopped zucchini 1/2 c. frozen or fresh cut green beans 1/4 c. minced celery (about 1/2 stalk) 4 tsp. minced garlic (about 4 cloves) 4 c. vegetable broth (can use chicken) 2 15oz. cans red kidney beans (drained & rinsed) 2 15oz. cans small white beans (drained & rinsed) 1 15oz. can diced tomatoes 1/2 c. julienned or shredded carrot 2 Tbs. minced fresh parsley 1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano 1 1/2 tsp. salt (or more to taste) 1/2 tsp. black pepper (or to taste) 1/2 tsp. dried basil 1/4 tsp. dried thyme 2 bay leaves 3 c. hot water 1 to 1 1/2 c. cubed butternut squash** 4 c. baby spinach 1/2 cup small seashell pasta* (or other small pasta) DIRECTIONS: 1) Prep all veggies. 2)Heat olive oil over medium heat in large stock pot.  Saute onion, zucchini, green beans, celery, and garlic in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent. ...

M&M Chocolate Chip Blondies ingredients: 1 cup all purpose flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/8 tsp baking soda 1/4 tsp salt 1 stick butter, melted 1 cup packed dark brown sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon of vanilla 1/3 cup semi sweet chocolate chips 1/3 cup M&M's (optional) directions: 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 8X8 pan with cooking spray. I used a glass Pyrex dish. 2. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl-flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Set aside. 3. In a medium bowl, stir together the melted butter and brown sugar. Stir until smooth. 4. Add in the egg and stir. Next, stir in the vanilla. Stir until smooth. 5. Add the flour mixture and stir until the ingredients are combined. Stir in the chocolate chips and M&M's. 6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the blondies for 23-25 minutes, until the blondies are set. A toothpick will come out clean when they are done. Let the blondies cool on a rack. When cool, cut and...

FRENCH ONION SOUP 4 Tbs. butter 5-6 yellow onions (4-5 if the onions are really big) 1/2 tsp. sugar 1 Tbs. flour 1 tsp. dried thyme (or 2 tsp. fresh) 6 1/2 cups beef broth 1 small baguette olive oil salt & pepper 8 oz. swiss cheese (sliced or grated), or gruyere if you want stronger flavor 1. Slice onions into half moons.  Melt butter in a large stock pot or a very large skillet over LOW heat.  Add onions and sugar to skillet and try to stir onions enough to coat with butter (pan will be very full of onions, but they will shrink down more than half so don't panic).  Keep heat on low, and don't cover with a lid.  Stir onions every 20 minutes or so.  It will take 2 to 3 hours for the onions to cook down and carmelize.  It is critical to leave the heat low and to take your time.  Don't rush this! **(If you want to make your own baguettes, now is the time! I used this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/homemade-french-baguettes.h...

Recipe by Our Best Bites 1 Tbs. olive oil 1 medium onion, diced (about 1 cup) 2 (15oz) cans white beans (great northern or white or cannellini) 1 pound boneless chicken breasts, cubed (about 3-4 normal sized chicken breasts) 3-4 garlic cloves, minced 1 (3.5oz) can green chilies 1/2 tsp. cumin 1/2 tsp. dried oregano 1/2 tsp. coriander 1/2 tsp. salt pepper to taste 1 (32 oz.) box chicken broth 1 lime juiced 1/2 cup chopped cilantro Toppings: sour cream, chopped cilantro, shredded Mexican cheeses, avocado, tortilla chips, lime wedges, tomatoes. 1.  Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Add the chopped onion and cook for about 2 minutes, until translucent. 2.  While the onions are cooking, drain the beans and rinse with cold water; set aside.  Sprinkle the chopped chicken with a little salt and pepper and add to pot.  Add the garlic.  Cook for 4-5 minutes or until there's no more visible pink on the chicken. 3.  Add green...

I say "Chili" because it's not really that chili-ish except for a couple of ingredients.  It's more of a soup that has some chili powder in it.  I kind of mixed two "chili" recipes together to get this, and as it was cooking I thought, no one is going to like this.  It looked weird, but I think that's because I was thinking of it as a chili, and whoever heard of a chili with carrots and celery in them? Or even chicken?  Not me--that's not how I do chili; beef, sausage, beans and lots of chili powder and spice is how I do chili.  Despite the misgivings, this soup turned out to be a real winner.  I was very pleasantly surprised by it's awesomeness, so much so that I made it for a family in need two days later and made sure to make enough for us to eat too.  The kids absolutely loved it.  Naomi took it to school for lunch one day and when I asked her if it was okay for lunch or if it was too cold (they don't get microwaves in their classrooms--a...

Dawn Wells - on peeling a potato This is something I am going to try. It looks good.

a.k.a. "Mary's Syrup" because my dear friend Mary put us onto this recipe.  I have since adapted and changed a few things from what she originally sent me, mainly to stretch my beloved butter sticks a little farther, haha...  It's excellent with anything on which you would pour normal maple syrup.   1 stick of butter 1 1/4 c. sugar (granulated or brown sugar) 3/4 c. buttermilk 1 tsp. vanilla 1 tsp. baking soda Directions: Put butter, sugar, and buttermilk in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and add vanilla and baking soda.  Mix well and serve over waffles, pancakes, german pancakes, french toast, etc. As Naomi put it, "I think I'm going to throw up because this syrup is just so yummy and I'm eating so much of it!"  It's GOOD. Alternate method to get a caramel syrup: put butter and sugar together in saucepan and stir over medium high heat until mixture starts to turn brown (or if you're using brown sugar, the mixture g...