Fire Roasted Tomato Basil Bisque Recipe

Fire Roasted Tomato Basil Bisque Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 – 28 oz can tomato sauce
• 2 – 14 oz cans fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 large bunch fresh basil, torn
• 1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup milk
• 3 tablespoon sugar
• salt and pepper
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
• olive oil

Method
1. Preheat large soup pot. Drizzle with olive oil. Add onions. Saute over medium heat until translucent. Add garlic and saute for just a minute more. Add tomato sauce, fire-roasted tomatoes, vegetables stock, sugar to pot. Salt and pepper soup to taste.
2. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 15 – 20 minutes. Combine 1/4 cup cornstarch and 1/2 cup water in a small bowl. Mix to combine. Add to soup and bring to a simmer. Soup will thicken. Add milk and basil. Heat through, but don’t boil again. Turn heat off and serve.

Bean & Barley Chili, for the cold weather

Nothing like a bowl of warm chili for the cold weather, we are about to get, predicting a chance of 1 to 3 inches of snow possible down here in the deep south.

 

Ingredients

• 2 cups dried pinto beans
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 2 large onions, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 6 cups water
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 dried mild New Mexico Chile's, stemmed and seeded ( I sub 2 tbsp of chili powder)
• 1 cup vegetable broth, or reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 28-ounce can plum tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 1/2 cup pearl barley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Soak beans in cold water in a large pot for at least 8 hours or overnight. (Alternatively, cook beans in boiling water for 2 minutes. Cover and set aside for 1 hour.) Drain and rinse beans.
2. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions, carrots and celery; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 10 minutes. Add garlic, cumin and oregano; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute.
3. Add water, bay leaf and beans; bring to a simmer. Skim foam from surface. Cover and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 1 1/4 hours.
4. Meanwhile, lightly toast Chile's in a heavy dry skillet over medium-low heat. Transfer to a plate and let cool; tear into several pieces.
5. Bring broth to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add Chile's; cover and let soften, turning several times, for 30 minutes. Transfer Chile's and broth to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth.
6. When the beans have simmered for 1 1/4 hours, add Chile puree, tomatoes, barley and salt. Simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, until beans and barley are tender and chili has thickened, about 45 minutes more.
7. Remove bay leaf. Season chili with vinegar, sugar, pepper and salt. Serve with Avocado Salsa, if desired.

I am a dessert kind of a girl! peanut butter pie

Peanut butter pie

1 chocolate pie crust
1 pkg. French Vanilla sugar-free pudding
1 3/4 cups skim milk
2 tablespoons peanut butter

Combine milk and pudding mix. Stir in peanut butter and it will be thicker. Place in pie crust. Add low fat whipped topping. Refrigerate for two hours.

195 Calories; 11g Fat (50.2% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 19g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 1mg Cholesterol; 312mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Non-Fat Milk; 2 Fat.

My hubby got me a steamer

Fed ex brought me a steamer thursday nite, my hubby surprised me, now I know why I married that man. I steamed some green beans for lunch yesterday and they were so good, just added some season salt. Yummy

Diabetics Rejoice! I bring you banana pudding

I found this on the southern living website http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001989997
being a southern girl, I did a happy dance.

Ingredients

• 1/3  cup  all-purpose flour
• Dash of salt
• 2 1/2  cups  1% low-fat milk
• 1  (14-oz.) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
• 2  egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 2  teaspoons  vanilla extract
• 3  cups  sliced ripe bananas
• 48  reduced-fat vanilla wafers
• 4  egg whites
• 1/4  cup  sugar (I use splenda blend)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Combine flour and salt in a medium saucepan. Gradually stir in 1% milk, sweetened condensed milk, and yolks, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 8 to 10 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
2. Layer 3 banana slices, 3 1/2 Tbsp. pudding, and 3 vanilla wafers in each of 8 (1-cup) ramekins or ovenproof glass dishes. Top each with 6 banana slices, 3 1/2 Tbsp. pudding, and 3 vanilla wafers.
3. Beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until foamy. Add sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time, beating until stiff peaks form and sugar dissolves (2 to 4 minutes). Spread about 1/2 cup meringue over each pudding.
4. Bake at 325° for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Let cool 30 minutes.
Note: An 8-inch square baking dish may be substituted for glass dishes. Arrange 1 cup bananas on bottom of dish. Top with one-third pudding mixture and 16 vanilla wafers. Repeat layers twice, ending with pudding. Arrange remaining 16 wafers around inside edge of dish, gently pressing wafers into pudding. Spread meringue over pudding, sealing edges; bake 20 to 25 minutes; cool as directed.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 359 Fat: 3.6g (sat 1g,mono 0.7g,poly 0.3g) Protein: 11g Carbohydrate: 70.7g Fiber: 1.3g Cholesterol: 58mg Iron: 1.1mg  Sodium: 234mg Calcium: 242mg