SimplyBe

Skinner Cauliflower Cheese Soup

What you need:

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 Onion, peeled and diced
3 small Clove garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 Cup all purpose flour
1 Head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 Baking potato, peeled chopped
2 carrots peeled and diced fine
3 - 4 cans (14 oz. each) low fat, low sodium chicken stock, I used broth**
1 Cup low fat milk
1 Cup cheddar cheese (shredded)
1/4 Cup Mozzarella
2 Tablespoons Parmesan
2 Tablespoons chives or scallions, chopped
1/2 Teaspoon curry powder (optional but good)
Garlic powder, Salt & pepper to taste

What to do:

Add the butter, onion and garlic to a large pot on medium low heat for approximately 15 minutes or until the onions are translucent but not browned. Whisk in flour and chicken (broth or stock). Add the potato and cauliflower, bring to a boil, cover and cook for approximately 20 minutes or until the potatoes and the cauliflower are fork tender. I turned mine down so the veggies were not too mushy. It still boiled slightly on med low covered. About 5 min before done, add the carrot slices.

Working in batches, add the soup to a blender or food processor and puree. You can also use an immersion blender which is how I did mine. If neither of these work you could also use a masher of sorts. Be careful not to overfill or the hot liquid will leak out of the blender. ( when mashing or using an immersion blender you can leave it right in the pot). You can puree all the soup or leave it as chunky as you like. Place the soup back in the stock pot and turn the heat to medium. Add the chives, milk and cheese and season with the curry powder, garlic powder,salt and pepper. Serve hot and garnish with additional cheese and croutons, if desired. Makes approximately 8 servings.

Adapted from the hungry couple blog

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Cream Cheese Banana Bread

what you need:

3/4 C butter, soft

1 8oz pkg cream cheese soft
2 C sugar
2 Large eggs
3 c. flour, I used half regular flour and half whole wheat white flour ( couldnt taste the difference)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 C mashed bananas ( 4 med bananas)
1/2 C mixed, milk and dark chocolate chips (optional or 1C pecans)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Makes 2 loafs

what to do:

Beat butter and cream cheese on med speed with a stand mixer until creamy. Add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients in a separate bowl, gradually add mixture to the butter mixture. Beat at a low speed until blended. Stir in bananas, chocolate chips (pecans), and vanilla. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until a knife or tooth pick inserted comes out clean and sides pull away from pan. Put aluminum foil on top last 15 min to prevent browning if needed. Cool bread in pans on wire racks for 10 min or so then carefully remove and let cool on wire racks for 30 min before slicing.

Adapted from sugar and spice blog, and Southern Comfort magazine

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Its Been A Long Time

Im sorry for the large gap in time since my last post! I had foot surgery at the end of November and really have been slacking on my blog posts as well as my cooking/baking. My wonderful mother was here for almost two months and did all the cooking. It was amazing, she really spoiled me, my husband, and my dad with all she did. Will try to make sure I am updating more and more as I cook and bake all the new things I have planned. Below is a collection of some of the things Ive been doing during my absence.