Homemade Tomato Soup Tutorial - Video

Here is a tutorial for homemade tomato soup from Mary's Nest. (Although she lives in the Texas Hill Country also, I do not know this Mary.) :-)

My sister and I have made cream of tomato soup from scratch and it is really good, but this is not what this Mary is specifically making although she tells how to make this soup into cream of tomato soup at the end. Let me say this, it can be hard to get the cream to mix in nicely without curdling. There is a trick to it. So, if you want to make that I suggest looking up some instructions on how to mix in the cream with the least risk of curdling. Or, you could use sour cream or softened cream cheese to make your cream of tomato soup. Because these two products are already soured, they are less likely to give you grief. (Also, if you cream does curdle the soup is still edible, it just doesn't look as nice.)

She also talks about adding basil at the end and making this into a tomato basil soup with parmesan on it. Another yummy option you can try if you like Mexican is to add some cumin and then sprinkle it with grated cheddar and chopped black olives. This would be delicious served along side quesadillas. 

Tomato soup is a good lunch or supper staple for cold weather, but it can be good any time. If you don't want to make it and serve it the same day you can make it ahead and store it in the fridge for a few days. I am not sure if it would freeze well, but it would be easy to reheat from the fridge. If you are making cream of tomato soup I recommend waiting till you reheat it to add the cream.

Enjoy!

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Pretty Edible - Cauliflower with Cheese

 

This is so easy to make. Simply cook your cauliflower whole. Make sure it will sit flat by checking it on the counter/bench. Trim the stem if necessary. Place in a pan big enough to hold it without crowding it in tightly. Add enough water to come up about half way. Add salt to taste.

After it is cooked, carefully remove it to a bowl where it will look pretty and immediately sprinkle generously with grated cheese. You may also sprinkle it with paprika or black pepper if desired. Serve hot. 

This is obviously a great side dish for a meal, but it could also be a meal for a few by itself with maybe some crackers or chips to accompany it.

Turkey Ham Special

This is an original recipe of my own as far as I know. I started making it years ago. You can make changes according to your preferences as it's very easy to make and switch up for variety or personal taste. You could use avocado or pickled beetroot in place of the tomato. You could also pop it into a bun or pita bread and eat it as a sandwich. 

This dish can be used for a quick lunch or for the meat dish of the main meal. If you use it for the main meal, you could slice the turkey ham a little thicker than you would for a lunch. Also feel free to change up the meat. It could also be made with sliced turkey or ham or roast beef or chicken breast. Just be sure it is fully cooked before hand. (Maybe a new use for leftovers?)

You will need:

Sliced turkey ham (or other meat)

Sliced tomatoes 

Sliced cheddar or cheese of your choice
Onion and garlic powder (optional).

Place a slice of turkey ham on a microwave-safe plate. Sprinkle lightly with the onion and garlic powder if you are using them. Place slices of tomato on top of this, and top with slices of cheese. Cook in microwave till the cheese is melted to your satisfaction. This is one serving. Repeat until you have a serving for each person being served.

If you don't use a microwave this could be done in a frying pan on the stovetop with just a little water and oil in the pan and a close fitting lid to hold in the steam. It will take a little longer than the microwave. 

If you are making this for a larger family you may want to try laying the turkey ham slices, etc. in a greased baking dish or pan, and baking it in a conventional oven. I have not tried this so, you will have to experiment. You probably should put the cheese on after the turkey ham and tomatoes are partially cooked.

Quick Meals – Hearty Pizza Quesadillas

 

Here is a simple and quick meal to make.  If you make your own tortillas and meat fillings you will need to have them cooked ahead of time.  If you store pre-cooked meat or tortillas in the freezer you need to have them thawed as well.

First heat the tortilla in a frying pan with a little oil or butter.  Spread some Italian/pizza sauce on the top.  (This is our homemade sauce, by the way.) :-)

To one half of the tortilla add some grated mozzarella, your favorite fully cooked pizza meat, and sliced black olive and mushrooms if desired.  Fold the tortilla over on the fillings and cook, turning once, till the cheese is melted and the other ingredients are hot.  That’s it!  Serve with a salad if desired.

Quick Meals – BLT Quesadillas

 

Here is a quick meal that does required a few precooked items.  You can use your own, previously cooked ingredients.  The amount of what you will need will vary depending on how many you are cooking for, the size of your tortillas and how much you like bacon. ;-) 

You will need:

Cooked flour tortillas  (We actually buy raw flour tortillas at Costco and I cook them at home because they have the fewest ingredients of all the store bought tortillas, they don’t bother my “attentive stomach”, and they taste and smell incredibly better this way.  See more info below)

You will need:

Cooked bacon – Plan ahead: Cook extra when you’re cooking bacon anyway, and reserve what you need to make this meal later (pre-cooked bacon can be frozen for later use).

You will need:

Fresh tomatoes
Lettuce
Cheese, sliced
Mustard and/or mayonnaise if desired
Garlic powder, optional

Fold the tortillas in half.  Spread the inside with mustard or mayo and sprinkle lightly with garlic powder, if using.  Add sliced cheese and bacon inside the tortilla.  Cook on a hot griddle or in a frying pan.  It should be fine to do this in a dry pan, but if the pan tends to stick at all wipe it with some oil first.

Cook, turning at least once, till the cheese is melted and all the layers are heated through.

Just before serving open one side and add the tomato slices and lettuce.

These would be great with guacamole on the side.

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Regarding the tortillas: The raw flour tortillas that we purchase from Costco come in a large quantity. (NOTE: We Do Not Recommend the corn tortillas.  We had a bad experience with those, but never with the flour ones so far)  To deal with this quantity, we take them out of the packages; separate the tortillas, putting a small square of waxed paper between each one; place them in freezer bags; date them and put them in the freezer.  The reason we go to all the trouble of inserting waxed paper between each tortilla is that we found they stuck together after they thawed if we didn’t do this.  With this method we’ve had little trouble with that and they keep well in the freezer for several months.

MMmm.  I think I need to make these again soon! :-)

Four Salads

Do you get hungry for salad in the spring?  I do!  I think our bodies want the fresh green lettuce and veggies as part the clearing out process after winter.  That’s my theory, anyway.  But, I know that the fresh fruits and veggies taste extra good in the spring time, especially when you have homegrown lettuce! :-)
Here are four salads that I especially like.  Three are very simple.  If you sometimes forget or struggle to eat fresh fruit, three of these salads might be some help to you.
Blueberry-Melon Salad
This is a summer salad and probably my favorite.  I love the colors and the fresh berries!

As you can see, it only has three ingredients – leafy green lettuce, blueberries and cantaloupe.  I usually serve it with a sweet-sour dressing, honey-lemon is the best.  (I will try to share some dressing recipes later.)
Festive Banana Melon Salad

This salad is quite pretty.  It isn’t much different from the one above.  It has bananas instead of blueberries, and a maraschino cherry is put on top to decorate it.  This, of course, is optional.  (It’s hard to find maraschino cherries here that don’t have high fructose corn syrup in them.)  I serve this with similar dressings as I do the blueberry one.
Another variation of this is to leave out the bananas and add plain cooked chicken breast.  This then becomes a “main dish” salad.

This was an interesting one, but it was actually quite good.  As you can see I sprinkled some toasted sesame over the top of the sweet-sour dressing.  This would be so refreshing on a late winter day, I think! :-)
Chef Salad

This is one to two servings.

This salad is the not-so-easy one.  But, it is almost an entire meal.  All you need to add is some carbohydrate of some sort – bread, chips, biscuits, etc.  How about croutons?
When I make this I layer it.  Lettuce on the bottom.  Next some mixed veggies – cucumbers, carrots, etc.  Then the “julienned” ham slices and the grated cheese.  On that I sprinkled some black pepper.  The tomatoes (cherry or wedges of a larger one) and quartered boiled eggs look decorative around the edges.  Black olives rings would make a nice addition to the top as well.  If you don’t eat ham, try turkey or roast beef deli meat.  It’s good served with a savory dressing – Ranch, bleu cheese, Russian, Italian, Thousand Island, etc.
By the way, with attention to the ingredients these can all be made gluten free.  :-)  Just use a safe dressing and adjust some things in the Chef Salad.

Random Meal – A lunch

Just for fun I thought I’d try to post an occasional meal “menu”. :o)

My lunch – Fried egg cooked with leftover chicken noodle stew (it was too thick to be soup ;-) ) made with whole grain pasta; baby carrots, and a slice of mozzarella with homemade orange marmalade on it.

My husband’s lunch – Cheese and home grown lettuce on whole grain bread, peanuts and raisins (or maybe it was dried cranberries), and a homemade granola bar.

What's for lunch at your house?