Roasted sweet corn and tomato soup

Fall is the time for soup. Or.. Well anytime is the time for soup in my world. I love soup!

This recipe for corn and tomato soup is quite different than other soups I’ve made. I have never blended up corn before. I had my doubts… But it turned out really tasty!

Step 1 was to roast the corn, tomatoes and garlic. I just used frozen corn since it was no longer in season. But I used lovely tomatoes from our garden.

Step 2 was to cook up the onion in some oil in a pot. Then the peppers, broth, paprika and chili powder are added. Note- the recipe called for chipotle chili powder, so I used chipotle, but it made it very spicy! I will use regular chili powder next time!

The next step is to add the roasted corn and tomatoes to the pot. Then it is simmered for about 20 minutes.

My helper was busy stirring.

Finally, the soup is blended. I chose to use an immersion blender.

Other than this soup being too spicy for my daughter to eat, it was very tasty!

Caprese spaghetti squash

Are you sick of squash yet? Clearly I’m not. This recipe from Pink Troll Kitchen is a yummy dinner option.

To make it, I first cut the spaghetti squash in half and scooped out the seeds. I let it bake for about an hour on a cookie sheet with olive oil.

While the squash was cooking, I prepared the other ingredients. The basil, spinach, minced garlic and tomatoes are put aside in a bowl.

I used larger tomatoes, which were from our garden.

When the squash was done, I scooped out the flesh into the bowl. I mixed it all up with some olive oil, salt and pepper.

Next comes the cheese. Now, in typical me fashion, I didn’t go and buy this one ingredient, and just used the cheddar I had at home. Which kind of defeats the point of it being caprese. I seriously need to learn to follow directions. Haha.

The mixture is then put into a baking dish and sprinkled with the remaining cheese over top.

The dish spent about 35 minutes in the oven. This is what it looked like when it came out.

Now, although I used the wrong cheese, this was still a pretty tasty dish! My 2 year old gobbled it up (minus the tomatoes). That makes me one happy mama!

Sea salt and thyme chocolate chip cookies

For the past few years, I have really been enjoying the salty sweet combo. To me, it’s the perfect combination.
These cookies fit perfectly into that category. Plus, they have the added flavor of the thyme.

To make them, I mixed together the flour, baking soda, salt and thyme. I didn’t measure the thyme but just added until I felt it looked like enough.

Next, I combined the butter and sugar in my mixer. Then I added the vanilla and eggs. Finally, the flour mixture is added in three batches.

The last ingredient is the chocolate. I used chocolate chips instead of chunks.

Once the chocolate is folded in, the dough is ready to be scooped out onto the pan.

Before the cookies go into the oven, they are sprinkled with coarse sea salt.

11 minutes in the oven and you have some tasty cookies!

Hoisin Asian meatballs

This is another post from a recipe from damn delicious. If you have spent any time on that blog, you know why I’m frequently trying her dishes!

I made these meatballs for a weeknight dinner. We had steamed coconut buns and stir fried veggies to go with them.

To make the meatballs, you put the ground beef into a bowl with the sesame oil, panko, ginger, egg and garlic. I didn’t have green onions and didn’t think that warranted a trip to the grocery store (don’t make this same error- get the green onions!).

After the meat is all mixed up, the meatballs are formed. Mine were a bit bigger than the recipes.

While the meatballs cook in the oven, the sauce is made. All that is required is to combine the hoisin, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic and ginger. I doubled the recipe and used some for my veggies too.

When the meatballs come out of the oven, they are served and topped with the sauce. The recipe also says to garnish with green onion. See above.

Although it doesn’t look that pretty, this was an incredibly tasty meal!

Baked spaghetti squash with tomatoes and Parmesan

If you’re looking for in season produce, squash is great during fall.
In the past, I’ve always had spaghetti squash as a side dish. For this recipe, the spaghetti squash is the main. The first step is to cut the squash in half and clean it out. It is baked in the oven for 45 mins.

While the squash cooked, I prepared the rest of the ingredients.

Once the squash was done, I scraped the flesh into a bowl and set it aside.

The next part is to cook up the onion and garlic in a pan. Once they are soft, the tomatoes are added in.

When the tomatoes are soft, the spaghetti squash is mixed in.

After the squash is warmed through, the dish is taken off heat and the Parmesan and basil is added. And voila! The meal is ready to be served.

I loved this dish! And Matt did too. I was hoping Chloe would too, since she likes noodles. But apparently she wasn’t fooled. Darn!

I was worried this wouldn’t be sufficient as a meal. But I was wrong. I was full but wanted to eat more because it was delicious. I will be making this again very soon!

Zucchini pizza

I’ve seen this zucchini crust pizza floating around on Pinterest a lot. I had also heard lots of good reviews but just never got around to making it.

Well, I finally decided to try it. It’s really quite simple to make.
I grated my zucchini and mixed it with two eggs.

I then stirred the flour and salt in and spread out the mixture on a pizza stone.

The recipe said to bake the crust for 8 minutes, which I did. The crust didn’t look done at that point but I decided to follow the recipe. At this point, I should have left the crust in the oven until it looked more cooked. My pizza was soggy in the end.

I chose to use whatever I had in my fridge for toppings, instead of going to the store to get what was in the recipe.

The pizza spent 20 minutes in the oven but still wasn’t quite done, so I left it in for a few more minutes. It still was soggy in the middle. Thus the note before about cooking the crust longer!

Although the crust was soggy in the middle, it was still tasty. My 2 year old even ate a piece and a half. I will definitely be making this again!

Parmesan roasted cauliflower

When I meal plan, I often forget about a side dish. I get inspired by something on Pinterest and plan it and then forget the side.
This week, I was on the ball. I remembered (every day!!) to plan something to go along with the main.

This roasted cauliflower dish looked east and healthy so I decided to give it a try.
I chopped the cauliflower up into pieces.

I then added the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and garlic and mixed it all together.

Next I put it onto a baking sheet and baked in the oven.

When the cauliflower was done, I took it out and sprinkled it with the Parmesan. I don’t think I out quite enough Parmesan on though.

This dish was a healthy and easy side to prepare. Matt and I enjoyed it, but Chloe did not. But that’s ok. I will be making this again in the future!

What cauliflower dishes do you like?

Garlic butter shrimp and quinoa

I’ve made this recipe a few times but never blogged about it. It’s time now to share this delicious meal. The recipe is from pinch of yum.

The recipe starts out with sautéing the onion, then adding the garlic, quinoa and chili powder.

The broth is added and the quinoa is cooked for about 20 minutes.

While the quinoa is cooking, the shrimp is cooked in butter with chili powder. Right before the shrimp is done cooking, garlic is added to the pan. (Note: I had some raw shrimp and some cooked shrimp, so I cooked my raw first and added the cooked halfway through)

The sh

The shrimp is put off to the side and the butter sauce is made in the same pan. The remaining butter is melted and the garlic is added. And the sauce is done!

Once the quinoa was done, I added the shrimp and all of the butter sauce and mixed it all up. I didn’t bother with the parsley as I didn’t have any. Once served into bowls, I added some lemon juice. My 2 year old loves this dish. And although it’s made with butter, it’s actually fairly healthy.

Sweet and spicy cucumbers

Both my daughter and I love cucumbers and pickles. So when I stumbled upon this recipe for sweet and spicy cucumbers, I knew I was going to have to try them!

They are quite easy to make and are a great healthy snack.
You start out by peeling, halving and slicing the cucumbers. I halved the recipe as I only had 1 and 3/4 cucumbers.

The slices are placed in a colander over a bowl. They are then sprinkled with salt, stirred and put in the fridge for an hour.

While the cucumbers sit in the fridge, the sauce is made. The vinegar, water, sugar and red pepper flakes are boiled and then simmered until reduced.

Once the sauce is done, it is removed from the heat and the red onions are added.

After an hour, the cucumbers are taken out and patted dry. The sauce is added and stirred in.

Then, the cucumbers are done!
These were a tasty snack! My daughter also loved them!

Brownies

Mmmmm brownies! Recently, I was in a baking mood. Seeing this recipe convinced me I wanted to make brownies!

The first step was to melt the butter in a pan. Then add it to the cocoa powder and combine.

Then the rest of the ingredients are added and it is mixed until just combined.

The batter is poured into a greased and floured dish and baked in the oven. So easy!

The ideal time to make the icing is while the brownies bake. The ingredients are put into a bowl and mixed. I added a little extra water to get the consistency I was looking for.

After the brownies have cooled, they are iced. I put mine into the fridge after they were iced, but not before I tried one! Of course I forgot to take a picture because I was too excited about trying a brownie!