Creamy
Tomato
Soup
Cheesy Pita Dippers
With
Creamy tomato soup with cheesy pita dippers. That is it, that
is all she wrote. Need I really say more? If there was ever a
time I wanted to leave it at that, the time is now!
Before we start can we just take a quick moment of silence
(aka pity party) for me, the mom at the grocery store whose
kids are repeatedly yelling the word “Crotch.” I don’t know
how, I don’t know why, but one day that word rolled off my
lips while telling my son to zip his pants and the rest is
history. NOT…A…DAY has gone by since then that they haven’t
used it in every way, shape, and form they could and at the
grocery store is the worst! Can you imagine, me, a young
looking mom, standing next to the smug, know-it-all old couple
while my kids say “I’m working in the crotch.” What does that
even mean!?!?!? Please, pray for me people. Pray that my kids
will find it in their hearts to stop saying “crotch” in the
grocery store because if it happens again I might just jump
into a bulk bin and never come out!
Moving on, this soup is the perfect blend of creamy and tomato
with a hint of cheddar. Not only that, it is very dip-able,
hence the pita dippers! The dippers can be put together in
just a minute and thrown in the oven to complete the soup in a
way that your kids will love. This soup is lunchbox friendly,
freezer friendly, and versatile as I have even made it with
extra veggies. This recipe is a large batch recipe, so I
created it specifically for the moms looking to save some time
by making a large batch and freezing some for later. The
recipe filled my 8 quart stock pot, so the large batch is
large! I freeze this soup in half pint ball jars to use
specifically for my son’s lunchbox thermos and it is always a
big hit. If you are only looking for a regular sized batch,
just cut the recipe in half (included below).
Cheesy Pita Dippers
Ingredients:
Store bought pitas (Food for Life Prophet Pockets
Recommended, if you can’t find them check the
ingredients in your pitas! They should not contain any
weird ingredients, especially partially hydrogenated
oils, preservatives, or bleached flours!)
Extra virgin olive oil
Pink Himalayan or Kosher salt
Freshly grated cheddar/parmesan cheese or cheese of your
choice
Directions: Cut pitas in triangles and brush with olive oil.
Lightly salt pitas, top with cheese, and bake at 350 degrees
for about 10 minutes until slightly browned and crisp.
Regular Batch Measurements
1 stick butter (1/4 pound)
1 garlic clove
1/2 cup flour
4 cups milk (whole or 2% recommended)
4 ounces cheddar cheese
6 cups (48 ounces) strained tomato (I buy strained
tomatoes in a glass jar as I am not fond of canned
tomato products. You can use any jarred/canned tomatoes
as close to measurement as possible that are smooth and
do not contain added salt)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 +1/4 tsp pink Himalayan or Kosher salt
black pepper to taste
*Just for reference, this is the tomato product that I use.
Look in your local organic section or specialty store and they
should carry it. If you can’t find it, again any smooth and
unsalted tomato product will work. Amazon also carries the
product but it is more expensive online even in the bulk
quantity.
Mediterranean Orzo and White
Bean Salad
Truth be told, I learned something about myself today. I don’t
know how to spell the word Mediterranean. I tried many times.
Is it two d’s? Two t’s? Heck I have no clue, I still don’t
think I could spell it right if I wanted to! I’m not even
convinced Google knows how to spell it.
Thank you autocorrect! Regardless, that doesn’t take away from how much I
love this pasta salad! *Insert blogger sales pitch about how
amazing this pasta salad is* The orzo, the feta, the veggies,
the beans, the salty sweetness, I mean really it is just a
party in a bowl all around. I searched high and low for
whole wheat orzo because I wrongly assumed it was a thing. Why
wouldn’t every grocery store carry it? We are living in 2014,
you know… the future, where people have woken up to the fact
that the bleaching and enriching process is poo-poo!
Thankfully, my search ended at Wegman’s where I ran into a box
of whole wheat orzo and the rest is history.
I have been making pasta salads all summer because they are
quick, easy, and able to pack protein and veggies. I love
putting pasta salads over spinach or greens and eating it for
lunch (no dressing required). My lunch is usually just shoving
some food in my face because I’m too busy feeding hungry boys
to even think about what I am eating. Even though I’m home
with them I can relate to the people at day jobs who feel too
busy to eat and a lunch like this is a great solution. You
don’t have to fiddle around with those stupid plastic dressing
containers, or a bunch of baggies. Throw some spinach and
pasta salad in a container and you have a meal in a bowl. One
bowl, one spoon/fork and there you have it!
The dressing for this salad is a mix of a few bold flavors,
which is what makes is so good! Whole grain mustard, tomato
paste, and red wine vinegar come together to create the
perfect companion for olives and feta. My husband’s
grandparents hooked us up with some yellow tomatoes and they
were super sweet and complimented the saltiness of this salad
perfectly. If you can’t find a sweeter tomato, I would suggest
adding a few extra sun dried tomatoes, or even a handful of
dried cranberries to give the salad a nice balance.
I struggled with what to call this flavor bomb, but I think
Mediterranean White Bean and Orzo Salad about sums it up,
right? Sheesh I really need to start getting more creative but
it seemed better then “The Best EVER Pasta Salad Recipe!”
agreed?
Perfectly
Sweetened
Brewed Coffee
Cold
Coffee… one of my most loved things in the world!
I have been
searching for the best iced coffee for a long time and by long
time I mean a few years. I’ve had a Keurig, I have a
Nespresso, I’ve tried numerous different roasts and blends but
one thing I just couldn’t master was getting an iced coffee
that was just like what I would get at Starbucks. Yes, I’m one
of those people. The people who shamelessly admit to going to
Starbuck’s frequently. The people who have a card, and an app,
and know the drive-thru person. The people who know what month
their seasonal drinks come back. Ok, now this is just getting
embarrassing but I think you get the point… I love caffeine in
iced coffee form preferably from Starbuck’s but without the
huge price tag!
I admit, I felt kind of stupid when I realized I don’t need
any pricey gadgets to get my perfect iced coffee. I don’t need
pods that cost $1 each, or a fancy machine. All I need is a
bag of course ground coffee, water, and a cheesecloth *insert
sad face here for every penny I have spent on coffee* Yes, it
is true… all I really needed in my quest to find the perfect
iced coffee was course ground coffee, water, and a
cheesecloth.
Right now, I need to publicly thank Ali Ebright from Gimme
Some Oven for her Cold Brewed Coffee post. Thank You Ali for
enlightening me on how to cold brew coffee. I never knew this
was a thing until I saw this post on Pinterest. I don’t want
to say it changed my life because… well.. real life changing
events are marriages and births but this ranks somewhere
slightly below those events. My husband also greatly thanks
you for all the money I am now saving! If you want step-bystep pictures of exactly how to do this go check out Ali’s
post because it’s pretty awesome.
What really makes cold brewed coffee extra special is the fact
that it is strong. Yes, that is the missing link when you try
to brew coffee and then ice it. Unless you are doubling the
amount of grounds you use, you probably don’t have a strong
enough coffee. Pair that with trying to ice it, then the ice
melting and you have the makings of a horrible cup of iced
coffee. We have all been there, believe me I have too. My
expectations are high only to be disappointed by a watered
down mess. It is just NEVER…GOOD…ENOUGH when you know there is
a deliciously strong and slightly sweetened (with a natural
sweetener) cup of iced coffee out there somewhere. Here it is
though, guess-work gone! I’ve posted a Caramel Vanilla Bean
coffee syrup in the past, and I have taken the same concept
and tailored it to this cold brewed coffee recipe to create
the perfect iced coffee. The best part? Make this at the
beginning of the week and enjoy it for a few days before you
have to make more. This is really what I would consider a
coffee concentrate, and you can enjoy many cups from just one
brew! It is as simple as putting grounds and water in a
container over night, then straining it in the morning. Once
your coffee is strained you can make your simple syrup (which
takes less than 5 minutes), pour it in the coffee and viola!
Just like Starbucks!
I used coffee that I bought at Starbucks, the Kati-Kati blend.
They only run this blend in the summer but with fall
approaching their Anniversary Blend will be coming out and
that is fabulous as well. Since you need course ground coffee
to do this, the easiest thing to do is buy a bag of whole
beans in one of their stores and they will ask you if you want
it ground. All you have to say is course ground and they will
know exactly what you are talking about. Alternatively grocery
stores usually have grinders in their coffee isle so you can
buy whatever blend you like and grind it there. The problem
with a finer ground coffee is that it is really hard to strain
out, and you are more likely to end up with grounds floating
in your cup. I know not everyone has cheesecloths laying
around but Target carries them in their kitchen section for
about $2.83 or so. One package will last you a few brews.
Ok, so now that I’ve officially embarrassed myself with all of
my coffee talk and Starbucks knowledge here is the recipe. The
recommended amount of sugar will give you a sweetness that
still lets the taste of the coffee shine through.If you don’t
like sweetened coffee, omit the simple syrup. If you like an
iced coffee that is just barely sweetened I would cut the
sugar amount in half. Although this isn’t super sweetened, it
falls somewhere in the middle.
Cajun
Pasta
Shrimp
and
Broccoli
My husband went away for an over-night trip with friends and
dropped one of my boys off at his Meme’s house on the way.
Boy, did my house seem eerily quite! I don’t know if any other
moms can relate but don’t things seem so weird even if just
one child is gone? Sheesh it was like I was on a vacation from
my life or something! So naturally, I decided it would be a
great time to cook a spectacular meal seeing I was dealing
with a 1 year old who could obviously care less, and a 7 year
old who was convinced I was trying to hide copious amounts of
broccoli in his food (it was parsley!!) Off to Wegman’s I went
to purchase the biggest, most beautiful wild caught shrimp I
could find. I came home and slathered those babies with a
creamy sauce, cheese, and generous amounts of Cajun seasoning
and boy did I ever feel bad that the rest of my family was
gone when I sat down to eat this meal!
I mentioned that naturally the baby would care less about this
pasta. How wrong did he prove me when he was begging and
begging for more! Not only did he beg for more, he continued
to climb into his high chair over and over until I fed him
more pasta. Then when he was done with that he grabbed his
brother’s plate off the table and proceeded to park his little
tushy on the floor and have a little feast by himself! How
could I really be mad at that cute little face covered in
sauce though?
Plus, he was eating broccoli so that made Mama
happy!
For the noodles in this dish I used whole wheat lasagna sheets
and cut them in half (they were really narrow to begin with).
I have been looking for whole wheat lasagna sheets for the
longest time and was finally able to find some! Funny how a
product that is so widely used is so hard to find in whole
wheat. Regardless, you can use any pasta you’d like for this
dish because the pasta doesn’t really make the dish. I did
enjoy a different type of noodle in this but if you want to
switch it up a whole wheat rigatoni or penne would work
fantastic! I used 8 ounces of pasta total.
Here are the Steps I Took to Cook this
Meal:
1. Cook the Pasta: I used 8 ounces of lasagna noodles, you
can use any kind of pasta you’d like!
2. Season and Roast Broccoli: Sprinkle broccoli generously
with Cajun seasoning and roast in the oven for about 25
minutes while you are cooking your other ingredients.
3. Boil the shrimp: Self explanatory! After you boil the
shrimp peel them if needed.
4. Make the sauce.
5. Layer in skillet.
6. Bake.
7. Be Amazed at How Delicious it Was! Ok this is bordering
on being a gimmicky catch phrase food bloggers use, but
seriously it is really good!
The quicker way to do this would be to boil the pasta, and
within the last few minutes throw in the shrimp and broccoli.
I prefer oven roasted broccoli so that is why I didn’t do
that, but if you are looking to save time this would be the
way to do it!