veggie baked potato soup



MMMmmm baked potato soup is SO delicious!!

BUT...being a vegetarian, I rarely get to enjoy it and I MISS IT! This type of soup is almost ALWAYS made with chicken broth and bacon- that is unless you make it yourself. This is the first time I'm making a soup- it always seemed silly to me to make soup from scratch when you can just open a can of soup and heat it up in the microwave for 3 minutes and enjoy. It just seemed like an awful lot of work when a canned soup is just as satisfying. But there's always a first for everything...

I got this recipe from a friend who got it from Gina's Skinny Recipes Cookbook and we altered it just a bit to make it vegetarian. It's a nice, thick, hearty soup- great for the approaching cold weather!

Veggie Baked Potato Soup

• 2 russet potatoes, washed and dried
• 1 small head of cauliflower, stem removed cut into florets
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 1/2 cups 1% reduced-fat milk
• salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• 10 tbsp reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 6 tbsp chopped chives, divided

Pierce potatoes with a fork; microwave on high for 5 minutes turn over and microwave another 3 - 5 minutes, until tender. Or if you prefer to use your oven, bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes.

Meanwhile, steam cauliflower with water in a large covered pot until tender. Drain and return to pot.

  On medium heat, add vegetable broth, milk, potatoes and bring to a boil. Use an immersion blender (if you don't have one...a regular blender will work) to puree until smooth. Add sour cream, half the chives, salt and pepper and cook on low another 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat. Ladle 1 cup soup into each bowl. Top each serving with 2 tbsp cheese and remaining chives.

And I saved the best for last... this soup is also LOW CAL/FAT

Calories: 207.6 • Fat: 7.8 g • Carb: 22.5 g • Fiber: 2.4 g • Protein: 11.9 g
(these nutrition facts are based on original recipe that used bacon and chicken broth)


enjoy:-)

(like my mug..haha...I swear I'm not really a crazy cat lady!)

THE pound cake

I must warn you that this will be the best pound cake you will ever have AND it will be addicting AND it is no way, shape, or form low fat...beware.

I got this recipe from a mother at my old school in Chicago. She used to make it and bring in a slice for each teacher! MMmm

What you'll need

3 sticks of butter, softened

8 oz. cream cheese

3 cups of sugar

6 eggs

3 cups of flour

1 TB pure vanilla extract

What to do

1. whip butter and cream cheese together

2. add sugar and beat well on high until light and fluffy

3. starting with 2 eggs, then 1 cup of flour, alternate adding eggs and flour, mixing well in between each addition

4. add vanilla extract and mix well

5. grease and flour a bundt pan and carefully pour in batter

6. place in a cold oven

7. turn oven on to 325 degrees and bake cake for 1.5 hrs

*this is a moist, dense cake, so insert a toothpick in the middle to see if the cake is done. It should come out relatively clean. Let cool briefly then turn out of pan.



Grandmas Blueberry Muffins

Today I'm going to share with you all a delicious recipe...The Cocozella family Blueberry Muffins passed down to me from Grandma McPhee!

I've enjoyed my holiday weekend (despite the on/off rain) and I'm super excited for school to start tomorrow. What better way to start off the first day of school, then with a yummy, warm blueberry muffin. MMmmmm...

Grandma's Blueberry Muffins

*Makes 12 large muffins

What you need:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup crushed blueberries

2 cups whole blueberries sprinkled with 1 tbsp of flour

What to do:

With a for, cream together butter and sugar.

Add eggs and mix.

In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients.

Put milk and vanilla in a measuring cup.

Add (in alternating fashion) flour mixture and milk mixture to the butter, sugar, and egg mixture.

Add blueberries to batter.

Spoon into greased or lined muffin tins, filling each 1/2-3/4 full. (grease top of muffin pan too!)

Sprinkle granulated sugar on top of each muffin.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes

Let cool and savor!



The best part of baking is the sharing! I'll be bringing these into school tomorrow to share with my fellow teachers... happy first day of school <3