Potato Soup

Working on a lower fat version of potato soup, and combining a few recipes and making some swaps, here's what I came up with, and we thought it was pretty good.

2 cups diced potatoes, with some of the peel, boiled until tender
1/4 cup butter (I used the "blend" of butter and olive oil)
2 cups finely diced yellow onions
1/2 cup flour
4 cups vegetable stock
1 cup instant potato flakes
3 cups skim milk
1 cup low fat sour cream
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp tobasco
1 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt, pepper to taste

Saute the onions in the butter for about 10 minutes or longer until very tender. Mix in the flour, and cook for another few minutes, stirring until the four is absorbed.  Heat up the stock and stir in the potato flakes.  Add this mixture slowly to the onions.  Add milk, sour cream, cheeses and seasonings and cook until bubbly and thickened.  Add in the potatoes right before serving.

Enjoy!

Apricot Bread Mix in a Jar - Gift!

I made these apricot bread mixes for some associates at work.  They are easy, and a nice present, I think!

Muffaletta Salad

I made this Muffaletta Salad for our "pot luck" today at work.  It tasted really good, except I don't think I would use the food processor the next time.  My food processor just smushed everything up, even though I didn't run it very long.  I think just chopping the veggies -- maybe processing the first 7 ingredients for the dressing -- would be better.  I didn't use the Bibb lettuce cups, but otherwise, I followed the recipe.  Yummy.

The picture's not mine, it's from the web site.

Pumpkin Pie Crunch

Made this today for a family birthday party tonight.  I smells good; I hope it tastes as good.  The store was out of pumpkin, so I used pumpkin pie filling, and left out the sugar and pumpkin pie spice.  Hope it turns out OK.  It looks pretty in the pan.  I'm not a big fan of plain old pumpkin pie, but I like the flavor of pumpkin, so this should be good. Here's  link to the recipe.

Pasta House Pasta con Broccoli

I made this pasta dish tonight for dinner and we liked it.  I used real garlic (instead of garlic powder), sauteed with the fresh mushrooms (don't really like canned mushrooms.) I used milk instead of the half & half, but added 1/2 cup of low fat sour cream to make it a little more rich.  I also added about 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.  Very tasty.

Potato, Broccoli, Corn Chowder

I made some really tasty soup.  I boiled 5 potatoes, chopped in cubes.  I sauteed onions & garlic and made a white sauce (flour, vegetable stock, milk, salt & pepper), adding 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp. chili powder, 1 Tbsp. tomato paste, a sprinkle of hot sauce and some cayenne pepper.  After that thickens, add 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese, 1/2 c. parmesan cheese, the boiled potatoes, about 2 cups of chopped broccoli (I used frozen that I cooked in the potato water) and 1 cup of frozen corn.  Add more milk or vegetable stock if it's too thick.  We liked it!

Carrot Pesto Bake

I got a new cookbook from the bargain rack at Borders, The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook.  I make my first dish from the cookbook, and while it wasn't a big hit, I think it has potential.  Basically it was a lasagna, where the sauce is a white sauce with cheddar cheese, shredded carrots, and pesto.  The recipe didn't call for any salt -- which was a mistake. Also, I would have liked the carrots to be cooked before baking in the pasta -- so they were softer.  I think you could substitute other veggies or a mix of veggies in place of the carrots -- broccoli, peas, or spinach, maybe.  I think a little hot sauce would be good, too.  If I make this again, it will be a little modified.