Recipes of the Week- Tomato Soup and Sweet Potato Cookies

Here is the recipe that we got from our neighbor, Renera, who makes wonderful food. She got this out of cookbook, but made some changes which you will see at the end. Jeremy made this soup and canned it. (This is our garlic that Jeremy braided, cute huh?)

Tomato, Leek and Onion Soup
2 onions, diced
2 leeks, washed well, sliced thin
1 clove garlic
1/4 c. olive oil
2 Tb parsley, chopped
1 tsp thyme, crushed
1 bay leaf
2 cups tomatoes (peeled and diced) or canned
3 cups chicken broth
salt to taste
tamari soy sauce to taste
1-2 tsp honey
Chopped parsley for garnish
Chopped green onion tops for garnish

Saute onions, leek and garlic in olive oil until transparent, not brown. Combine sauteed veggies and parsley, thyme, bay leaf, tomatoes and broth in 2 quart saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until tomatoes (if fresh) are cooked and flavors are well combined. Remove bay leaf. Season with salt, tamari soy sauce and honey to taste. Garnish with chopped parsley and green onion tops.

Yield- 6 cups

Changes (from Renera):
Add loads of tomatoes, puree everything in the pot, add 1/4 cup dry powdered milk and mix well, do not allow to boil after adding milk, you can use regular soy sauce.

YUMMY!!! Serve with hot bread.

This is our burning bush in the back yard. I thought it looked like "Fall."

This time I am adding dessert to the menu. I got his recipe from Finding Joy in My Kitchen: http://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/.
The Great Pumpkin Cookies - Adapted from Mom (I made these with sweet potatoes)

2 1/4 C flour
1 C oats (quick or old fashioned)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 C butter, softened
1/4 C applesauce
3/4 C brown sugar
1/2 - 3/4 C sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 C pureed pumpkin (or sweet potato)
1 C dark chocolate chips (or raisins)

Decoration:
-Icing (or peanut butter... PB is fabulous)
-Candy corn, raisins, M&Ms, etc.

Combine together flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
Meanwhile, cream butter. Then add the applesauce and sugars, mixing well until light and fluffy.
Add in the egg, "pumpkin" and vanilla. Stir to combine.
Then, mix together the wet and dry ingredients.
The batter will be really moist -- but that's okay. These cookies are moist too.
Feel free to shape some cookies before adding in the chocolates :)
Then, decorate away, if desired, before baking. I used dark chocolate chips and raisins.
Stir in those dark chocolate morels to the remaining batter. Yum.
Drop by the tablespoon onto a greased cookie sheet, and spread into the shape of a pumpkin. Add a bit more dough for the stem.
Bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes until cookies are lightly browned.
Remove from the cookie sheet and allow pumpkin cookies to cool. Then, decorate with peanut butter/frosting and candy corn, etc., as you desire.

One month until Shrade is a year old!

I'm 11 months old now!

Our first visit to the Pumpkin Patch with Shrade.

Looks like a professional already!

Eating graham crackers- a big accomplishment or eating tissue boxes, hmm!

Noah is one year old! He is one month older than Shrade. Adrienne (Noah's mom) and I met in childbirth class.

Shrade's first crawl on October 6!

After bath!

Hiking with Grandma Linda and Grandpa Del.

Shrade's first swimming lesson

I can't believe Shrade is already 11 months. This year has flown by! It's been so fun watching Shrade grow and develop. I'm glad I get to stay home with him.

Shrade started a few new things this month:
*crawling
*taking 2-3 hour naps in the afternoon
*learning to eat some solid food
*making more consonant blend sounds
*sitting up in bed

Shrade still loves books and daily walks with mom and dad. Even though the weather is a bit cooler, we bundle him up and hit the trails and pick up cans! Shrade started swimming lessons and looks like a fish. Well, he better, since daddy is one himself with his diving skills. Shrade loves music and "dances" when I turn it on. He rocks back and forth on his hands and knees.

Shrade is now 30 inches long and weighs 23 lbs.

Recipe of the Week- Apple Granola

This is an easy one. Maybe a good one to do with the kids. I found this recipe on another great blog called "Finding Joy in My Kitchen." This lady has a new recipe everyday with healthy ingredients. I am so thrilled to find this blog. Here's the web address for you to check it out: http://joyinmykitchen.blogspot.com/.

Apple Granola

6 C oats (I use Old Fashioned, but quick work too)
1/4 C applesauce
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 C brown sugar

Combine applesauce (do not use chunky applesauce), cinnamon and brown sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until mixture boils. You may need to add 1/4 C water to thin the mixture.

Pour the mixture over the oats and stir to combine.

Place granola on a cookie sheet, and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring after 10 minutes.

Turn off the oven, and allow the granola to crisp up in the oven. Be careful to crack open the oven door so the granola does not burn.

Next week Shrade will be 11 months old and I will also post the tomato soup recipe my husband made the other night. It's time to get some dinner food on here too and you won't want to miss this one!

Happy cooking!

Recipe of the Week- Giant Breakfast Cookies

So my recipe for this week is Giant Breakfast Cookies. Like I said, I have been looking all over the internet for some new recipes. This one caught my attention because it had all of my favorite ingredients in it- oats, chocolate chips and cinnamon. I found this wonderful new website that is very family friendly. Check out Heavenly Homemakers and tell me what you think!  I just entered the Fall Giveaway Carnival and I won a book. So cool! So I made these cookies and I actually would call them Afternoon Cookies. Enjoy them with a cup of milk!

Giant Breakfast Cookies

1 cup butter, melted
¾ cup honey
2 eggs
1 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1 t. vanilla
½ cup buttermilk
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups whole rolled oats
1 cup raisins or chocolate chips
Mix butter, honey, eggs, salt, cinnamon, soda, vanilla and buttermilk. Stir in flour and oats. Fold in raisins or chocolate chips. Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Allow cookies to cool 3-4 minutes on cookie sheet before removing cookies to cool on a wire rack.

The corn was from our visit to the pumpkin patch.

Recipe of the Week- Rhubarb Pudding

Hi, I have decided to add a new feature to my blog. I am crazy about recipes and I scour the internet for what to make for my family. I also ask anyone for recipes, so most of these recipes are not mine, but I will give credit where it is due. My quest is to post at least one recipe a week of something that I have made.

My first endeavor was to make a dessert for MOPS this week. So I chose Rhubarb Pudding. I actually got this recipe from a clerk at Summit Trading Company. We met Marcel as our cashier and developed this acquaintance relationship and Jeremy always talked about what he was growing in the garden. One day she gave us this recipe and I tried it out for a 4th of July potluck one year. I do have this advantage that my husband cans things from our garden. So I actually used the strawberry rhubarb sauce that he made for this recipe.

Rhubarb Pudding
3 cups rhubarb cut up
1 cup sugar
(I used Jeremy's canned sauce)
cinnamon
1 Tb butter

2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder

Put rhubarb in casserole dish (9X13) and cover with one cup sugar. Dot with 1 Tb butter and sprinkle good with cinnamon. Beat eggs, sugar, water, flour and baking powder and pour over rhubarb. Bake at 375 for 45 min.


I am looking forward to sharing more recipes with you. I have found some fabulous websites with yummy food.