Good for you Creamy Tomato Soup

This was SOOO good! I am not even much of a tomato soup fan, but this was delicious. The only problem was it didn't make enough for leftovers. It barely made enough to give each of my family members a small bowl full. So next time I will double or triple the recipe.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 (14 ounce) cans Italian style diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups chicken broth or stock
pinch of red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
3/4 cup evaporated skim milk, or 4 ounces 1/3 less fat cream cheese (I used the low-fat cream cheese)
chopped fresh basil or parsley for serving (oops, forgot this)

In a large pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and carrots and saute for five minutes. Stir in garlic and saute an additional minute. Add tomatoes, broth, red pepper flakes, vinegar, and honey. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender. For a creamy soup, transfer to blender and blend, or use an immersion blender directly in the pot. (Immersion blenders are a must have for soup lovers!) [I used my immersion blender, but I didn't blend until everything was perfectly smooth. There were little chunks of carrot still and I liked it like that). Soup can be made up to 2 days ahead of time to this point. Just before serving, add evaporated skim milk (or cream cheese of half and half) to pot. Warm through, but do not boil. Serve immediately with basil or parsley, and hopefully some warm focaccia.

Delicious Hamburgers

I got this recipe idea from a Rachael Ray recipe, but I have modified it and made it my own. This makes a really flavorful burger - I love it!!!

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds ground sirloin
2 cloves garlic, grated
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
A handful of fresh parsely, finely minced
Salt and pepper to taste.
4 slices muenster cheese
4 hamburger buns, lightly toasted

Directions:

Put ground beef in a bowl. Add the grated garlic, Worcestershire sauce, parsely, and salt and pepper. Use your hand to mix the ingredients together - don't over mix or you make the patties more tough. Form four patties that are thinner in the center and thicker at the edges for even cooking. Cook the patties in a frying pan for 8 minutes, turning once. In the last minute of cooking time, top the burgers with the slice of cheese.
Place the burgers on the buns and enjoy. Another delicious addition is to carmelize some sliced onions to place on top. SO GOOOOOOD!!!

Soft Pretzels

Try these yummy soft pretzels - so good!!! Hot out of the oven I also basted them with melted butter to make them extra soft and delicious. Also, when you are rolling the dough out into ropes before shaping, try to get it about as thin and your finger - they rise and get thick in the oven, so if you don't roll it thin enough it doesn't end up very pretzel-like.

Ingredients:

4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water
5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup coarse salt, for topping

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeats and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center and add the oild and yeast mixture. Mix and form dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat over to 450 degrees F, in a large bowl dissolve baking soad in hot water.
4. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape. Once all of the dough is shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt.
5. Bake in preheated over for 8 minutes, until browned.