Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Ingredients:

2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 shallots, chopped (or 1/2 red onion)
Salt and pepper to season
1 (12oz) jar roasted red peppers, drained and rinsed
5 sun dried tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Shredded pepper jack cheese

Instructions:

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the potatoes, celery, and shallots, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring frequently, until the potatoes begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

Add the red peppers, tomatoes, chicken broth, and 1 cup water. Cover and bring to a simmer, the uncover and cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Use an immersion blender or use a blender and purée the soup and sour cream until smooth.

Serve with cilantro and shredded cheese.

7up Biscuits

***I'm not claiming these are the best biscuits in the world, but so fast and easy to whip up if you need some bread to serve with soup or something...pending you keep 7up on hand...***

Preheat oven to 450.

In a glass baking dish, place 1 cube of melted butter.

In mixing bowl combine:

2 cups Bisquick
1/2 cup sour cream

When mixed, pour in 1/2 cup 7up

This will make a very soft dough. Use some dry Bisquick on a cutting board to roll out dough and cut into desired shape.

Place in melted butter in baking dish, bake 10-12 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

Rustic Rosemary Loaf

***My favorite Pinterest find yet! This tastes like something you'd get at Macaroni Grill or Johnny Carino's!***

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water
1 TBSP sugar
2 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
2 TBSP fresh rosemary, chopped
1/4 tsp Italian seasoning ( or a pinch of each: garlic powder, dried oregano, dried basil)
1/4 tsp pepper
2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup bread flour + more for kneading
1 egg whisked + 1 TBSP water
Extra chopped rosemary for sprinkling

*Disclaimer- I didn't have white whole wheat flour, or bread flour...so I just used regular flour, and it still turned out amazing.

Directions:

1. Place sugar and yeast in a mixing bowl. Add warm water. Let sit 10 minutes to proof.

2. Stir in the salt, seasonings, and olive oil. Add in flour to form a ball. Knead on a floured surface for five minutes. (I ended up adding about another 1/2 cup of flour to the original dough to help prevent the sticking because it was so soft).

3. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover. Let raised until doubled in size...about one hour.

4. Punch down dough. Form into a round loaf and place on a cornmeal dusted pizza stone. Cover and let raise 45 minutes.

5. Brush top of loaf with egg wash and sprinkle additional rosemary on top.

6. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until crust is browned and a hollow sound is made when tapping the loaf.

Breakfast Casserole

Finally! A Pinterest success!

Ingredients:

I pkg refrigerated crescent rolls
1 lb ground sausage
4 eggs
3/4 cup milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
Dash of ground mustard
Splash of Worchestershire sauce

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a casserole dish, (9x13) press crescent roll dough together to seal seams.

In a pan on the stove, cook sausage. Drain.

Put crumbled sausage over dough. Sprinkle the cheese over sausage.

In another bowl, mix remaining ingredients until well blended. Pour over sausage and cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes or until set. Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Nutella Buttercream Icing

While making Tyler's birthday cake, I needed a filling of some sort.  Since I was covering the cake with fondant, it could not be refrigerated.  So, I needed to come up with a filling that didn't need refrigeration.  Thus, Nutella Buttercream Icing was born.

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
2 T milk
1/2 cup Nutella, give or take (I didn't measure)

Cream butter and shortening together.  Add vanilla.  Gradually add powdered sugar one cup at a time, scraping sides often.  When all sugar has been mixed, icing will appear dry.  Add milk and Nutella, and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy.  Scrape sides as necessary.  Keep icing covered with damp cloth until ready to use.

I used this buttercream as filling for the cake, but it was so yummy that I wished I had covered the whole cake in it!

Lemon Zucchini Loaf

Adapted from the original recipe at:
http://nancycreative.com/2012/03/25/lemon-zucchini-loaf-with-lemon-glaze/

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
Juice of 1 lemon (or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice)
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup grated zucchini (you don’t need to peel the zucchini before grating it)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×5″ loaf pan; set aside.

In large bowl, blend flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.  In medium bowl, beat 2 eggs well, then add canola oil and sugar, and blend well. Then add the buttermilk, lemon juice, and lemon zest and blend everything well. Fold in zucchini and stir until evenly distributed in mixture. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients in the large bowl and blend everything together, but don’t overmix.

Pour batter into prepared 9×5″ loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (if your oven tends to run hot, check the loaf after 40 minutes; also, if you make this in an 8×4″ loaf pan, your baking time may be a little longer…about 5 to 10 minutes more). You can also make mini loaves in about 35 minutes.  Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack and cool completely. While loaf is cooling, make the glaze…

Lemon Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
Juice of 1 lemon (or 2 Tablespoons lemon juice)

In small bowl, mix powdered sugar and lemon juice until well blended. Spoon glaze over cooled loaf. Let glaze set, then serve.

Notes:  This is not super sweet.  If you like your zucchini bread really sweet, try adding a little extra sugar or use applesauce in place of the oil.  Definitely make the glaze!

Salsa

24 cups peeled chopped tomatoes 3 cups chopped onions 2-5 jalapeños 1 cup chopped green pepper 1 cup sugar 1/3 cup salt 1 cup vinegar Put tomatoes in colander to drain off excess juice. Cook onion, peppers, salt, vinegar until done. Add drained tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes are done and favors are blended. (usually 3-4 hrs). Put in pint jars and process for 15 min.