Vegetable Beef Soup in Bread Bowls

Though the weather was amazing for March (75-85) it quickly turned cold again and has been back in the 40s and 50s.  I decided to make some soup for dinner last night because it was cold and gray outside!  The bread bowls were made using Rhodes frozen bread dough, the recipe is on the package.  The soup was one of the make-ahead freezer meals.  I threw all the ingredients in a plastic bag and threw it in the freezer a while ago with the label telling me what I needed to add (water and broth) before putting it in the crockpot.  It's so much easier to make dinner in the morning when people aren't tired and hungry and having melt downs!  The recipe below reflects making two bags of soup.  Easy and delicious.

The website below gives the other recipes I made ahead.. . note my kids weren't thrilled with the terriyaki chicken.  It doesn't look appetizing though it's not bad.  The goulash had too strong of a tomato paste taste so my family didn't like it.  I'd greatly reduce how much I add next time.
http://melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/09/freezer-cooking-slow-cooker-meals.html

Savory Vegetable Beef Soup (2 Bags)
Chop 1 Onion and chop 2 Cloves of Garlic- Brown in Pan with the pound and a half of Ground Beef- once cool divide mixture between bags
2 whole carrots chopped per bag
2 celery stalks chopped per bag
3 Red Potatoes chopped per bag
1 can v8 split between bags
1 28oz can diced tomatoes SPLIT between bags
1 cup frozen green beans in each bag
1/2 TBS Worcestershire per bag
1/2 cup Beef Broth per bag
1 TBS Parsley per bag
1 tsp Basil per bag
1/2 tsp Thyme per bag
1/2 tsp salt per bag
1/2 tsp pepper per bag
1 TBS Sugar per bag



Directions
Place in Crockpot with 1.5 cups of water and 15 oz Beef Broth. Cook on LOW 8 Hours.
Hollow out bread and spoon soup inside.

Zucchini Bread

This recipe is slightly different than the Paula Dean one I normally use.  It is from the Lake City CRC cookbook and submitted by Pam Joseph.  This is also for the youth for tomorrow's breakfast.  Instead of two big loaves I made five little ones.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. Flour
1/4 c. Powdered Milk
2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 Tbs. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
1 c. White Sugar
1 c. Brown Sugar
3 eggs
1 c. oil
3 tsp. vanilla
2 c. shredded zucchini
1 c. chopped walnuts

Combine flour, milk, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Cream sugar and eggs and beat in oil and vanilla.
Stir in zucchini.
Add dry ingredients and fold in nuts.
Bake in two well greased loaf pans (or five little ones) and bake at 350 for 1 hour (or 40 minutes for small ones).

Berry Oatmeal Muffins

I used to have a membership at Curves however since having three children and a husband whose schedule is crazy, I don't anymore.  While there though I did enjoy their magazine and especially some of their recipes.  This Berry Oatmeal Muffin recipe took a whole lot of dishes to make but they are very tasty!  These are for the Thursday morning breakfast with the teens.

Berry Oatmeal Muffins on the way to the Youth Building

Ingredients
Topping:
1 1/2 Tbs. Oats
1 1/2 Tbs. Brown Sugar

Blueberries;
1 C. Blueberries (Fresh or Frozen)
1 Tbs. Flour



Muffin:
1 C Oats
1 C Brown Sugar
1 1/2 C. Flour
1 Tbs. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1 C. Raspberry Yogurt
4 Tbs. Melted Butter
1 egg
1 tsp. Vanilla

Preheat oven to 400.  Line muffin tin with paper cups.
Mix topping in small bowl and set aside.
Gently mix blueberries and flour in small bowl.
Combine oats, sugar, flour, baking powder and cinnamon in large bowl.
In medium bowl combine yogurt, butter, egg, vanilla.
Gently stir yogurt mixture into flour mixture until dry ingredients are moist but lumpy.
Gently fold in berries.
Fill muffin tins to almost the top.  Sprinkle topping onto muffins.
Bake 18-20 minutes. Serve warm.

Pretzel Bites

 For book club I made this little snack.  They were pretty good and not too complicated just a bit time consuming.   I'd recommend eating them warm!

 

PRETZEL BITES

Texas size Rhodes Frozen roll dough

*as many as you like – each roll makes four bites

coarse salt, parmesan, garlic, cinnamon & sugar

Vanilla glaze (optional)

 

Directions:

Take a thawed roll.  Cut it in four equal sections.  Place dough bites on greased sheets. I placed five across and five down on large baking sheets.  Cover with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, and let dough rise until double in size. (about 35-45 minutes) Bring a large pot of water to a gentle boil.  When dough has risen, plop about 10 pieces into the boiling water, tossing gently for about 45 seconds. Remove with slotted spoon, and place bites on paper towels to drain slightly.  Move bites to greased baking sheets, and bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes or until done and golden brown. 

Brush bites with melted butter, sprinkle with Kosher or Sea Salt, garlic and toss in Parmesan cheese.  You can also make Cinnamon and Sugar bites. Make a mixture of Cinnamon and sugar:  About 1 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon, and mix together well. After you butter the pretzel bites, toss in cinnamon and sugar mixture.

You can serve the Parmesan Pretzel bites with a cheddar dip, and the Cinnamon and Sugar Pretzel bites with Vanilla glaze.  So yummy . . . so simple!

VANILLA GLAZE

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract.

Combine sugar, milk, butter and vanilla and mix well. 

CHEDDAR DIP

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon all purpose flour

1 cup milk

1 1/2  to 2 cups of grated Cheddar Cheese.

Melt the butter in a med. size saucepan over medium heat.  Add the flour and stir until blended, and

butter has turned lightly golden brown.  Slowly whisk in the milk and cook until thickened slightly.  Remove from heat and stir in the Cheddar Cheese until smooth and all of the cheese has melted.  Season with salt and pepper.  Shake a few red pepper flakes into sauce for added zing!

Mini Lasagna Cups

This recipe was great!  They were a perfect size for the girls and Fig ate six!  I enjoyed the different flavor of the turkey since I normally use beef!  The recipe was also quick and easy to make. 

Ingredients
12 oz ground turkey
salt and pepper (to taste)
1 jar store bought pasta sauce (I used Muir Glen Organic)
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tsp dried oregano, divided
1 1/2 c part skim ricotta cheese
1 tsp dried basil
24 small square wonton wrappers
1 1/2 c part skim mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375
Brown the turkey in a skillet with a pinch of salt and pepper (more or less to suit your taste). When the turkey is cooked through, add garlic and stir constantly for 30 seconds.
Add jar of tomato sauce plus 2 tsp of oregano and heat thoroughly. Then, you can remove from heat.

In a separate bowl combine ricotta, basil and remaining oregano. Mix well.

Spray a muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray and line with wonton wrappers. Be sure to gently press them into the bottom of each cup.
Using half of the ricotta mixture divide it among the 12 cups, then layer with half of the turkey mixture and sprinkle with half of the mozzarella cheese.
Place a second wonton wrapper on top of the mozzarella layer and repeat the process by layering the mixtures a second time and topping with mozzarella.

Bake 10-12 minutes.
Allow the cups to cool and remove from pan. This step is important. If you don't allow them to cool they are more likely to fall apart.

Note:
I didn't use the ricotta mixture since I didn't have any!  I just layered the turkey/sauce mix and the cheese on top of the first wonton and then did another layer.

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

Fig and I are trying to eat healthier.  We're trying to cut back on the red meat and add more veggis to our meals.  I found this recipe on Pinterest and we loved it. Super easy to throw together and delicious over the rice!  Yummy. 

Ingredients

1 can black beans

1 jar of salsa

2 cups frozen kernel corn

1 can Rotel

1 can petite diced tomatoes

4 chicken breasts

brown rice

taco seasoning

cilantro 

salt

Directions

Put the chicken with taco seasoning in the crock pot. Add the black beans, salsa, corn, Rotel, tomatoes and salt and cook for 6 hours on low. Add in cilantro (about 1/4 cup) and cook one more hour on low. Serve over brown rice. 

6 WW points per serving