Creamy Tomato Soup

I was browsing one of my favorite new sites, A Virtuous Woman, when I came across this delicious recipe.  I had a can of crushed tomatoes that I needed to use.  I made a few adaptations, but I didn't alter much.  Here it is:




5 TBS butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

4 TBS flour

4 cups milk

1/2 bay leaf

1 1/2 tsp sugar (I omitted)

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda (adding baking soda keeps the milk from curdling)


3 cups tomatoes, chopped (I used a large can of crushed tomatoes, but next time I will also add diced tomatoes)

1 tsp of Garlic salt

1/4 cup parmesan cheese




Melt butter in a soup pot.  Add the onion and cook over med. heat until onion is soft, not brown.  Sprinkle flour over butter mixture and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Slowly add the milk, bay leaf, sugar, and salt and continue to cook until slightly thickened.  Stir the baking soda into the tomatoes.  Add the tomatoes to the milk and bring to a simmer.  Taste and correct seasonings.

Slurp down on a nice rainy cold spring day! This soup is delicious with open faced grilled cheese!

Let it snow . . .

Yesterday was one of those really special memory days.  We woke up to a blanket of the awesome white stuff.  Grae's mouth dropped open and his eyes were wide.  He was in awe. 

Later in the morning, while still in our PJs, Grae and I made chocolate chip cookies as a very dear friend shoveled our walkway because he knew that Shane was sleeping after night work. 

After Grae's nap we bundled up for our first adventure outside.  It was definitely reminiscent of "A Christmas Story" as Grae whined as I put on all of his puffy snow gear (thanks to good hand-me downs from a sorority sister in Chicago!)  We headed outside with Shane to try his super slick boogie board on our awesome sledding hill.  Grae went down the hill with Daddy, but one experience was enough.  He sat in the snow while Mommy and Daddy went down the hill several times and our friends Ry Ry and Rach tried it too.

I made Everything but the Kitchen Sink Chili.  Find the recipe at the bottom of this post.  We ate cheesy biscuits and chili with chocolate chip cookies for dessert. 

We watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and then spent an evening with special friends.  What a great day!  Dear Diary . . . .

 

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Chili

Raid your pantry for tomato-type products and canned beans.

Ingredients:

2lbs ground beef (we used organic beef from our friend Bobby's dairy cows)

3 cans assorted beans (I used kidney, pinto, and black)

2 cans tomatoes (I used a can of diced and a can of stewed)

 3 TBS chili powder

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp garlic salt

2 tsp minced garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Brown ground beef.  Add tomatoes and beans.  Add spices to taste.  Bring to a boil then simmer for 1/2 hour to marry flavors.  Gorge yourself with biscuits and top with cheese and sour cream!  Yummy!