Ava's Favorite Soup

This is Ava's very favorite soup. It's the one meal (besides macaroni and cheese) that she requests by name. And it really couldn't be more simple.



2 cans Rotel

1 can corn, drained

1 can refried beans

1 can black beans, drained and rinses

1 can chicken or vegetable stock

2-3 Tbs. fresh cilantro

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded (optional)

Dump it all in a big soup pot and heat it up. Serve with sour cream and green onions on top. And to truly be Ava's favorite, you must serve it with blue corn tortilla chips.

One of the things on our summer list was to make ice cream from scratch. We can check that one off! We followed this recipe (which doesn't use an ice cream maker) and it was really yummy.

Favorite Things About Fall: Food

We're lucky enough to live in a part of the country where there are a lot of apple orchards. I knew fall had truly arrived when the crisp, cool breeze carried the faint sent of ripe apples. There is something so comforting about fall. The apple cider, knit scarves, hearty vegetables, snuggling under cozy blankets, sunny days and cool nights.

Even though we've actually had a major warm-up this week, I'm deep into my fall recipe file. I've already cooked a big batch of vegetable chili and had several bowls of butternut squash soup. And this week I created what I think is going to become a new fall favorite: creamy pumpkin ravioli.

We had ours with roasted Brussels sprouts. If you've never had them, do yourself a favorite and make a batch tonight. They are so good. Even my almost-4-year-old loves them. In fact, while I was cutting up Brussels sprouts for dinner she insisted on munching on a few raw.

Creamy Pumpkin Ravioli
1 pkg. pumpkin (or butternut squash, or plain cheese in a pinch) ravioli
1 pkg. (8 oz.) neufchatel cheese
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1 red pepper, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 cup canned pumpkin (make sure you get 100% pumpkin and not pumpkin pie filling)
Chopped walnuts (I didn't measure these, just added in what looked good)
Dash of pumpkin pie spice
Pinch of red pepper

Saute the onions and red pepper on medium until the onions start to get brown and caramelized.

Turn heat to low and add walnuts.

Once pan has had some time to cool, add the cheese, milk, and butter. Stir frequently until the cheese and butter has completely melted. Add pumpkin and spices, then cook until completely heated, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, cook the ravioli per package directions.

Devour immediately.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Brussels sprouts
Olive oil
Salt

This really couldn't be easier, but the result is so delicious. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut off the ends of the Brussels sprouts, pull of any leaves that look yellow or brown, then cut in half. Toss the sprouts in olive oil, then spread out on a pan and salt. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to evenly roast.

Recipe: Vegetable Chili

When it's cold outside, nothing hits the spot like a big bowl of chili. We're big chili eaters, even Ava who requests chili for dinner all the time. But I'm not a big meat lover, so I've been on the search for a chili recipe that uses less, leaner, or no meat.

Imagine my delight when a stop in at the local bookstore revealed their cafe was serving vegetarian chili. I ordered a bowl and loved everything about it on the first bite. It had a variety of beans, colorful vegetables, no meat!, but still retained that essential chilli flavor. I asked for the recipe, but sadly they wouldn't share so I decided to try to recreate my own.

I wasn't sure if this would turn out, so I only have one photo.

Be warned, this recipe makes a lot of chili so you may want to freeze some or invite over the neighbors.

2 TBS olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small can tomato paste
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can corn, drained
3 cups vegetable broth
1 28 oz. can stewed tomatoes
1/3 cup chili powder
4 tsps taco seasoning
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot, then add onion, peppers, and garlic. After about five minutes, add the vegetable broth, tomato paste, and beans. Stir well, then add the stewed tomatoes, corn, chili powder, taco seasoning, and crushed red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and let it simmer until it gets all chilli-y (about 45 minutes). Add water if it starts to look dry. Enjoy!

I think next time I might roast my peppers before I add them to the chili for a deeper flavor.

Easter Nests

The first time I remember eating one of these was on a visit to my Great Grandmother's house. I must have been about eight and I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. This is the first time I've made them myself, but if I had realized how easy it was I would have tried it a long time ago.

Just a few simple ingredients: Fiber One bran cereal (or similar branch-like shaped cereal), butter, marshmallows, non-stick spray and Cadbury Mini-Eggs.

Melt 3 TBS butter over low heat, then add 5 cups mini-marshmallows and stir until completely melted. You could also add some chocolate chips at this point if you the kids might be put off by the bran flavor.

Remove the pan from heat and slowly add 6 cups cereal. Stir until well coated. Spray your muffin pan with non-stick spray, then fill each cup with the mixture (it may help to spray your hands as well.

Next, use your fingers to push out the middle and create the nest shape (it's a little hard to see in this photo).

Then, just add a couple eggs to each one and you're done!

My taste-tester says these are delicious. We're taking them to her friends tomorrow, so we'll see what the others think.

Bad day, good dinner

After a windy, rainy, cold weened, today was beautiful, sunny and nearly 60 degrees. Unfortunately, I was cooped up at work with no windows and it was a really, really long day. One of those days when nothing is easy or seems to work out right. So, when we got home, Ava and I decided to try a new quick and easy recipe.

We tried this Gimme Some Oven recipe for gnocchi with asparagus and pesto. I'm not a big seafood fan, so we used organic chicken and apple sausage instead. It was so delicious. It took about 15 minutes to make and tastes like something that cooked all day.

 After dinner, we decided we deserved a little treat. (update: Ava calls these Orioles)

S'more Cupcakes

I love, love cupcakes. And my favorite way to make cupcakes is to doctor box mixes. These are S'more cupcakes, but they started life as boxed spice cake mix.

Here's the recipe:

• box spice cake mix (NOT carrot cake)
• crushed graham crakers
• chocolate frosting
• Hershey's chocolate bar
• Marshmallow Fluff
• Mini Marshmallows

Mix the cake batter following the directions on the box. Fill up cupcake pan 1/4 full, then add a spoonful of Marshmallow Fluff. Cover the Fluff with more cake batter. Bake according to the directions on the box. After the cupcakes have cooled, frost, then roll the edges in the crushed graham craker. Decorate with chunks of the chocolate bar and mini marshmallows. Enjoy!