Tomato Soup

This is an easy tomato soup recipe that has chunks of vegetables in it. Ryan doesn't typically like tomato soup out of a can, but he loves this one. It's also very economical.

Tomato Soup

Ingredients:
2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes 1 Tbsp Vegetable oil 1 Cup Onion, chopped 2 Garlic cloves, minced 1/2 Cup Carrot, chopped 1/4 Cup Celery, chopped 3 1/2 Cups Chicken broth 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp Salt 1/2 tsp Dried thyme 1/2 tsp Black pepper, ground 4 drops Hot pepper sauce
Preparation: Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Sauté onion and garlic until onion is tender. Add carrot and celery; cook 7 to 9 minutes until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in tomatoes, broth, Worcestershire sauce, salt, thyme, pepper and hot pepper sauce. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Serves 8

Ipsento's "Jane Austen" Sandwich

After church this morning, a crew went to Ipsento in Bucktown to grab a coffee and sandwich.  Blake and I split the "Jane Austen" sandwich just to tide us over and it was so good!

Ingredients:

• croissant 
• cream cheese
• granny smith apples
• honey

They warmed up the granny smith apples and cream cheese before placing them in the croissant with the honey - so yummy!

Deer Valley Turkey Chili

Dave and I made this the other weekend, and it was delicious! Not the same as eating it at Deer Valley after skiing the slopes, but still a good meal on a cold day :)

Ingredients:

2 cups dried black beans (or can use canned beans)

10 cups water

1 tsp. pepper

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 medium Anaheim chilies, seeded, chopped

2/3 cup chopped red onion

2/3 cup chopped celery

2/3 cup chopped red bell pepper

1 large leek (white part only)

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons dried oregano, crumbled

1/4 cup corn flour (we used regular flour and it was fine)

1 tsp. cayenne

2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons ground coriander

1 tsp. salt

1/8 cup sugar

4 1/2 cup chicken stock

2 1/4 cup frozen corn, thawed

4 cups diced cooked turkey or chicken

toppings: grated cheddar cheese, red onion, sour cream, fresh cilantro

Prep work:

Soak black beans in large pot overnight. The next day you will drain and cook them. (We didn't do this, and it was still yummy :)

Seed and chop the chilies, chop the onion, celery, red pepper and leek.

Mince the garlic and get the rest of the ingredients ready to cook.

How to make:

Add 10 cups water and pepper to the drained beans. Bring them to a boil, simmer 1 1/2 hours. Drain.

Melt butter in pot; add chilies, onion, celery, bell peppers, leek, garlic and oregano. Cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Reduce to low heat.

Add the flour and spices, cook 5 minutes.

Add the sugar and 4 cups stock and bring to simmer.

Puree 1 1/4 cup of the corn with the remaining 1/2 cup of stock. Add this to chili.

Mix black beans, turkey and remaining cup of corn. Simmer all for 25 minutes.

Garnish with grated cheddar cheese, red onion, sour cream and fresh cilantro.

Enjoy!