Winter's here...and soup's on!

Winter is finally here.  This week, we've seen the temperature drop to a low 14 degrees.  And this is during the day.  Brrrrrr!!!!  And last night, we even got some snow.  But I guess this should be the norm for this time of year.  That's okay.  I don't mind a couple of days of frigid temperature.  That's a couple of days, Mother Nature.  Not months please!  At least it gives me a chance to sport my Uggs, lol.

And...it's the perfect temperature to have SOUP!  I love soup!  Especially hearty, chunky soups.  Give me my sweats, my fuzzy slippers, a big hot pot of soup and a loaf of crispy, warm baguette and I'm ALL set. 

This coming Friday, I'll be going to a soup swap.  What's a soup swap?  Well, everyone brings 5 quarts of soup (frozen) and the soup recipe and get together and...you guessed it...swap soup.  So you bring your 5 quarts and you leave with 5 quarts of different soups.  And lots of written recipes.   It's fun and a great way to try different types of soups.  Much like a cookie swap, only a bit more healthier.  So for the swap, I made my Tuscan White Bean, Sausage and Kale Soup.  It's hearty!  It's filling!  And it's super yummie!  I should know, I just had 2 big bowls of it.  It's kinda like a Zuppa Toscana, but without the cream.  I use sweet Italian sausage, but you can use a spicy sausage or add red pepper flakes to the soup, if you like it spicy.  But because Lil T loves this soup as well, I opted to leave out the spice.  If you want to make it even healthier, you can substitute the Italian sausage for Italian turkey sausage.  This recipe makes a big pot of soup, enough to serve 8 - 10 people.  So if you're like us, you might have lots of leftovers.  But don't worry, this soup freezes very well and the leftovers are even tastier. 

So enough chit chat.  Head to the supermarket for the ingredients and LET'S MAKE SOME SOUP!

Tuscan White Bean, Sausage and Kale Soup                    

- 1 pound Italian sausage, removed from casing

-  1 tablespoon olive oil

-  2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

-  2 ribs celery, diced

-  1 medium onion, chopped

-  3 garlic cloves, finely minced

- 2 medium potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces

-  8 cups of fat-free chicken broth

-  1 cup water

-  1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes in juice

-  2 cans cannelini beans, drained and rinsed

-  1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

-  3 bay leaves

-  1 small bunch of kale, trimmed from stems and coarsely chopped

-  2 tablespoons of fresh, chopped parsley (optional)

-   salt and pepper to taste

  In a large soup pot, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Saute the sausage, breaking it up into small pieces until no longer pink, about 3 -4 minutes.

  Add the onion, garlic, celery, carrots, potatoes, thyme, and bay leaves.  Saute until soften, about 4 -5 minutes. 

  Add the chicken broth, water, diced tomatoes, and beans.  Bring to a boil.  Lower heat to simmer for 35 - 40 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.  The longer you let simmer, the more flavorful it will be. 

  Add kale and simmer for another 10 minutes.  Add chopped parsley, if using.  Remove from heat and serve.  Best served with a big hunk of warm, crispy baguette.

Banana Choco-Nut Muffins

It seems like we always have overripe bananas in our house.  I've tried freezing them for future use, but that never seems to work for me.  Somehow I tend to forget that they're in the freezer and months later will pull out a bag of frozen black bananas....ewwwwww.  So the best way to handle overripe bananas?  Bake 'em!

Here's my take on a banana muffin recipe.  No added oil, no added butter...just moist, yummy delicious-ness.  It's a very versatile recipe where you can switch up the add-ins.  Don't like nuts, try it with dried cranberries or blueberries.  But on this particular day, I was feeling a bit nutty so hence, the pecans.  To make it even healthier, I've added some ground flaxseed.  Don't worry, no one will know.  And let me warn you...it's best to make a double batch.  These freeze very well or can be kept in the refrigerator for a couple of days (if it lasts that long) and heated up in the microwave when ready to eat.  Believe me, Lil T devoured them.  That says alot.  Lil T never devours anything.  But then again, maybe that handful of chocolate chips in there helped a bit. 

Anyhoo, hope you enjoy them!  We sure did.



Banana Choco-Nut Muffins             Makes 12 mufffins

- 3 very ripe bananas

- 1 large egg

- 1/3 cup skim milk

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- 1/2 cup granulated sugar

- 1/2 cup brown sugar

- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

- 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 12 cup muffin pan or line pan with baking cups.

In a large bowl, mash bananas with a fork.  Whisk in egg, milk, vanilla extract, and sugars. 

In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking soda, and salt together.  Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet mixture.  Mix until combined, until the flour disappears.  Do not over mix.

Gently fold in chocolate chips and ground flaxseed.

Pour batter into prepared pan.  Sprinkle chopped pecans on top of batter.  Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes.

Butterscotch Apple Crisp

I love Fall!  And I think it's finally feeling like Fall.  I mean, it IS October. 

Fall has to be one of my favorite seasons.  Minus the allergies and leaf raking, that is.  I love the vibrant colors of fall foliage, the cooler weather, hot apple cider, and taking my little Beanie apple picking and pumpkin picking.  That, which of course leads to bushels and bushels of apples for us.  Okay, maybe not bushels.  But definitely enough to last us through the season. 

Speaking of apple picking, we went this past weekend.  So what better way to kick off the Fall season than with a delicous Butterscotch Apple Crisp.  This recipe was adapted from Pat and Gina Neely's Butterscotch Apple Crisp.    I've lightened up the recipe...somewhat.  Every calorie counts, right?

Hope you enjoy it!

Butterscotch Apple Crisp

Filling

-  5 applies, peeled, cored and diced  (I used Golden Delicious apples since they're Lil T's favorite)

-  1/2 cup butterscotch chips

-  1/4 cup light brown sugar

-  1/4 cup all-purpose flour

-  1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

-  1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

- 1 lemon, juiced

-  3 tablespoon unsalted butter, cubed

Topping

-  3/4 cup all-purpose flour

-  1/4 cup light brown sugar

-  1/2 cup rolled oats

-  pinch of salt

-  1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and diced

-  3/4 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly butter a 2 qt. baking dish.  (I used individual ramekins)  For the filling, toss together apples, butterscotch chips, sugar, flour, cinnamon, allspice, lemon juice, and butter in a medium bowl.  Fill the baking dish (or ramekins) with the apple filling.  For the topping, in a seperate bowl combine the flour, sugar, oats, salt.  Cut in butter, either using food processor or two forks.  Stir in pecans.  Sprinkle the topping over the apple filling.  Bake for about 40 - 45 mins (20 - 25 mins if using ramekins) until the apples are tender and the butterscotch is bubbling.  Let cool 5 minutes before serving.  Serve with a scoop (or 2) of vanilla ice cream or butter pecan ice cream.

Raspberry Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

What do you get when you add some fresh raspberries with some over-ripe bananas and a handful of chocolate chips?

A slightly tart, chocolatey-sweet, slice of deliciousness! 

The best way to use up those overly ripe bananas that have been sitting too long on the kitchen counter is to make banana bread.  And everything always tastes better with chocolate (at least in my book), right?  And since I also had some freshly picked raspberries, it just seemed like a good combo.  And indeed it was.  Even Lil T enjoyed it.  Hope you enjoy it too!

Raspberry Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

- 3 very ripe bananas

- 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen raspberries

- 1 large egg

-  1/3 cup skim milk

-  1/2 cup granulated sugar

-  1/2 cup brown sugar

-  1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

-  1 teaspoon baking soda

-  1 teaspoon salt

-  1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

In a large bowl, mash bananas with a fork.  Whisk in egg, milk, and sugars. 

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet mixture.  Mix until combined, until the flour disappears.  Do not over mix.

Gently fold in chocolate chips and raspberries.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 45 - 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes.  Remove bread from pan, invert onto a rack, and cool completely before slicing.

Note:  Can also be made into 12 muffins using a muffin tin.  Bake for 25 - 30 minutes.