Thursday, October 19, 2017

Homemade Healthy Tomato Soup

It's finally getting cooler out here in Colorado! My husband and I attended a wedding this past weekend and the appetizer was a martini glass filled with tomato soup and a square of grilled cheese - it was amazing! I have been craving tomato soup ever since... but wanted to make it healthy! Here is my version of tomato soup without the guilt, so you can pair it with a guilty grilled cheese!

Healthy Tomato Soup

- 2 x 28 oz. cans of whole tomatoes
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 sweet potato, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 2 1/2 cup vegetable broth, low sodium
- 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
- 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1. Heat your olive oil over medium heat in a stock pot.
2. Add the sweet potato, onion and red bell pepper and sauté them for a few minutes as they soften.
3. Add your garlic, pepper and salt and stir about 1 minute until garlic is fragrant.
4. Stir in your tomatoes, vegetable broth and basil leaves. 
5. Allow soup to simmer for 20 minutes.
6. In batches, add your soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Repeat until all soup is blended.
7. Add blended soup back to your stock pot and simmer for a few minutes before serving.

 Softened Vegetables

 Added tomatoes, vege stock and basil

 Blending the soup

 Tomato Soup

Paired with a grilled cheese!

Enjoy!
Brittney

Thursday, October 5, 2017

Pumpkin Spice Chip Bread

Fall and everything pumpkin is in the air! I recently made a really delicious pumpkin spice bread with these pumpkin spice chips that I found at Target. The recipe I used said to make it with chocolate chips, so you can use those if you prefer, but I decided to use the pumpkin spice chips instead. We are going on Fall  Break to the east coast and I hope to experience a little bit more "Fall weather" and visit at least one pumpkin patch while we are away! My husband and I are also attending a wedding and I think I might include a review of how much I have enjoyed using Rent the Runway for formal events in my next post!

Pumpkin Spice Chip Bread

- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 2 large eggs
 - 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 2/3 cup pumpkin spice chips

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease your bread pan.
2. Place your dry ingredients into your KitchenAide Mixer: flour, baking soda, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.
3. In a small bowl, whisk your eggs, sugars, pumpkin puree, vegetable oil and orange juice together.
4. Slowly add your wet mixture to your dry mixture at a low speed until combined.
5. Add your pumpkin spice chips until combined and pour your mixture into your bread pan.
6. Bake for 50-60 minutes.

 Fresh Baked Pumpkin Spice Chip Bread!

Perfect served with butter when warm... yum!

Enjoy!
Brittney