Valentine Croutons

This is such a simple addition to make a Valentine Dinner special. You can use soup as one of your courses or the main meal! I have a homemade tomato soup you can make or pull out a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup. The main point is to make this meal special by adding heart shaped croutons. I have posted using these heart shaped croutons to your salad.

You know you don't have to only make these heart shaped croutons on Valentine's Day. You can add heart shaped croutons to send a sweet message to those you love anytime at your meal time.

I fried/toasted the heart shaped bread in butter.  Simply toasted each sides till lightly brown.

Home made Tomato Soup:
2 canned tomatoes (28 oz)
2 tsp honey
1 tsp salt
Dash of pepper
1 rounded Tbsp onion flakes

White Sauce: Heat in sauce pan.
4 Tbsp melted butter
4 Tbsp whole wheat flour
1 cup milk

Blend in Bosch blender the first 5 ingredients and cook for 10 minutes. Make the white sauce in small sauce pan and add to tomato soup and mix well with wire whisk. This recipe makes 4 small portions. I doubled it and had ample soup for dinner.

Click here for pics:  http://paulasbread.blogspot.com/2011/10/cream-of-tomato-soup.html

A must for your kitchen supplies

Have you ever wanted to make a recipe and read through the spices and been frustrated that you didn't have the fresh parsley or the cilantro?  Better yet, have you gone and bought fresh parsley for a recipe and then watch the parsley turn into a mass of green slime because you haven't had another recipe requiring fresh parsley or cilantro?

I found I just left out these ingredients in a recipe because I didn't have it on hand.  There is a reason these recipes have them as an ingredient as it does make the final outcome of the food taste better.

Perhaps many of you already knew this little secret but I have just discovered...

Gourmet Garden  which I am using for specific herbs.  They have a whole line of organic herbs but I opt to only use the ones that I tend to skip on the recipe due to the waste I have by not using all the herb....like cilantro and parsley.  This is a wonderful source to keep in your fridge to have organic herbs on hand in your fridge.  Especially nice during the winter when fresh produce is not readily available.

What I like about this company is their commitment to natural ingredients...

"Gourmet Garden leads the industry in natural flavor development and produces the world's most flavorsome and aromatic processed herbs and spices. We currently supply such brand names as Birdseye, Heinz and other leading brands.

We simply harvest, wash, chop and then apply our patented process to capture all the characteristics of just picked herbs and spices."

                  MADE WITHOUT:                                 NO:
                  Heat Processing                                       Added flavors
                  Allegens*                                                 Added colors
                 Genetically Modified Ingredients            High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)


So spice up your recipes with organic herbs in a tube!!

Blender Mayonnaise

Just in time for your Memorial cookout, you can make homemade mayonnaise to go with your homemade ketchup. I had an earlier post telling you how to make your own low sugar, wonderful tasting, homemade ketchup!

This blender mayo is so easy to make and has a great flavor. The key to making great mayo is the speed in pour the oil and the Bosch blender funnel allows the oil to flow at just the right speed to make this great tasting mayo.

Bosch Blender Mayonnaise!

Place in blender:

1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 Tablespoons vinegar
1 egg
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

Turn blender to speed 2 - slowly add the following through the hole in the blender cover:

3/4 cup oil.

The mayonnaise will thicken before your eyes! Stop the blender and scrape sides and blend again. This recipe makes very thick mayonnaise.

Note from Paula: If mayonnaise does not thicken, pour 1/2 cup of mix back into measuring cup. Add another egg to blender; turn on and slowly pour mix back in!






Have fun making some for your cookout this weekend. We usually do the whole hamburger meal but this momma is tired and we are having hotdogs. My kids are thrilled as this is a rare occurrence in our home. I think I will let them eat the hotdogs while I make myself veggie kabobs.

Natural Ketchup made Easy!

More ideas for a nutritious cookout! Don't know if you have read the ingredients for store bought ketchup but it is loaded with sugar plus other junk type ingredients. Now, you can make your own and cut the sugar. Have fun making this ketchup to add to your wonderful summer of grilled food.

We have made our ketchup and put it in a mason jar in the fridge.

Tangy Ketchup from "Delicious Meets Nutritious" Cookbook (click here to see more!)
I can manually adjust cookbook shipping costs. Feel free to call me, if you are interested in this cookbook. :)


Ingredients:
1 6oz. can tomato paste
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup Xagave (click here!)
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. chili powder
Pinch of cinnamon (optional)
3 tbsp. cider vinegar
3 tbsp. white wine vinegar

Steps:
Mix all ingredients in your Bosch blender and blend until smooth. Store in a plastic squeeze bottle.

Will store in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Tips and Notes:
For a sweeter ketchup, add extra Xagave. For a spicy version, cayenne pepper give it a bit more kick.

The best part of using Xagave is that it is about 1/2 the calories of the leading brand ketchup! Most ketchup are filled with high fructose corn syrup! Now you can enjoy ketchup without all the sugar.

Stay tune for more cookout ideas!