Cream of Tomato Soup w/ Grilled Cheese

I am the person who used to not like grilled cheese or tomato soup. But now it is one of my favorite meals! I found this tomato soup recipe a while back in a cook book for one of my old nanny families, but I do not remember the name of it. It is a great one though! It is a little bit of work, but oh so worth it! I hope you enjoy it as much as my husband and I did. :)

Also, Like to call it adult tomato soup and grilled cheese. The soup has a bit of a kick to it, and if you make the grilled cheese Like I did tonight with cheddar cheese and pepper jack cheese, it is a bit spicy. But it was a very good combination.

Ingredients:
2 - 28oz cans whole tomatoes, drain & reserve the juice
1 1/2 TBS dark brown sugar
4TBS unsalted butter
4 lrg shallots, minced
1TBS tomato paste
pinch ground allspice
2TBS all-purpose flour
1 3/4 c chicken broth
1/2 c heavy cream
2TBS cooking sherry
Salt & Cayenne pepper

Directions:
1) Heat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Slice tomatoes in half and line in a single layer on foil. sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake until all liquid has evaporated, about 30 minutes. Cool.
2) Heat butter in a large pan over medium heat, till foaming. Add shallots, tomato paste and all spice. Reduce heat, cover & cook 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add flour & cook, stirring constantly, until completely combined. Whisk in chicken broth. Stir in reserved Tomato juice & roasted tomatoes. Cover increase heat to medium and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, simmer for 10 min.
3) Strain tomatoes out of juice and place into a medium bowl, along with 1 cup of juice. Let cool. Place into a blender and puree until smooth. Combine with remaining liquid in pan. Add cream & warm over low heat until hot. Turn off heat. stir in sherry and season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste.

Hodges Family Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Probably the best Sauce for spaghetti out there! But I may be a little biased :).
My grandma & grandpa Hodges have come up with this recipe and it is one that everyone loves once they have it! Just enough spice to satisfy those people who love HOT but not too spicy that if you don't like spice you would not like it. It is wonderful!

I didn't have spaghetti noodles, so I used noodles that I had. But the sauce is a spaghetti sauce. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 lb hamburger
1 heaping tsp anise seed
1 heaping tsp fennel seed
1/2 heaping tsp oregano
1 heaping tsp red pepper flake
1 tsp sweet basil
1/2 tsp parsley
1 TBS sugar
1/2 heaping tsp dry onion
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 14/15oz can tomato sauce
1/2- 3/4 can water

Directions:
Pile all spices & Sugar onto a cutting board. Using a rolling pin, roll over the spices to break open seeds. Place hamburger in skillet and top with spices; brown hamburger, drain grease. Add tomato sauce and water. Heat until hot. Serve over spaghetti and with garlic bread.

Easy Crescent Taco Bake or Taco Pie

I love Pillsbury crescents! they are so delicious. I was curious one day as to what else you could do with them so I looked at their website, which is where I found the fiesta Taco cups and this recipe. This one is delicious! I think it tastes like a big chalupa!

Ingredients:
1 can pillsbury crescents
1 lb ground beef
3/4c salsa (or more)
diced tomato
2TBS taco seasoning
1c shredded cheddar
Shredded lettuce
Sour Cream

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375. Unroll dough; separate into 8 triangles. Place in an ungreased pie plate. Press together and up sides to form crust. Cook beef over med.-high heat. Drain grease. Stir in salsa and taco seasoning; simmer 5 minutes. Spoon into crust, sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a deep golden brown. Top with lettuce, tomato & sour cream.

Cheesy Meat Loaf

I copied this recipe from a cook book where I work. It was a low carb cook book, but I am blanking on the official name of it. It is a little interesting, but still yummy. You may need some ketchup for it though.

Ingredients:
1 slightly beaten egg
3/4c bread crumbs (1 slice)
3/4c shredded provolone or mozzarella
3TBS beer, milk, or water
1/4tsp ground nutmeg
1/4tsp black pepper
1 lb lean ground beef
sliced provolone or mozzarella

Directions:
In a large bowl mix together all ingredients except beef. Combine beef into mixture. Form/press into loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes or until meat is done at 350. Transfer loaf to platter (optional, can leave in loaf pan, just drain grease) and place cheese slices on top. Let Stand 5 minutes.

*side is a twice baked potato pre-made. Bought at the Grocery store.*

Fiesta Chicken Taco Cups

I have been into crescents lately. They are just so buttery and delicious. So I started wondering what else I could do with them other than just the plain ole crescent rolls. I went to Pillsbury's website and found a couple that I like. This recipe comes from that. It is yummy!! Definitely a keeper.

Ingredients:

1 pkg chicken tenders, boiled and shredded

1 1/4c taco sauce

1/2-1/3 c frozen corn

1 (8oz) can Pillsbury crescent rolls

1 TBS yellow cornmeal (or more)

1/2c or more of Mexi blend cheese

*Sour cream, Salsa or sliced black olives if desired

Directions:

Spray 8 medium muffin cups with cooking spray. In Sauce pan, heat taco sauce, chicken and corn until thoroughly heated, on medium heat. *Unroll dough, seperate into 4 rectangles, pressing along perforations to seal. Cut in half to make 8 squares. Sprinkle both sides with corn meal. Press into Muffin cups. Turn edges under, pressing to extend 1/4 inch above the edge of the cup.* Place about 2 TBS of chicken mix into cups. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 375 for 12-17 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before serving.

*I did this part while I was boiling the chicken.*

BBQ Beef Sandwiches

Today I had a brilliant idea! BBQ beef sandwiches. I know it may not seem brilliant to many, but I have never made this meal my self, so I was very excited. I created my own "recipe" for this, which is really more that I put a couple of ingredients together. So here it goes. Oh and this is a crock-pot meal! Wonderful!!

Ingredients:
Roast (I used a 7-bone roast, but any roast that is your favorite will work)
Stubb's BBQ Sauce (Bought at Target)
Bun's  :)

Directions:
Get your crock-pot out and plug it in! :) Pour enough bbq sauce to create a thin layer on the bottom of the pot. Meanwhile brown the roast in a skillet on the stove. Then transfer Roast into the crock-pot. Pour about a little over half of the bottle of bbq sauce over the roast; cover. Turn on high for 1 hour, then turn to low for 7 hours or until tender to the point of falling apart. Then remove bone(s) and big pieces of fat. Shred the meat and mix with the sauce and Juice. then serve on a bun. Enjoy!

Taco Salad Dressing

So I have fallen behind on updating my food blog. But it was worth it! I haven't made a lot of new thing's lately, so I haven't had that many new recipes to post, but I have this one that I found a couple weeks ago when I was in the mood for a taco salad. I knew how to put it together, but I was wanting to find a yummy dressing to go with the salad, and I did! Try it and tell me what you think. It also is very yummy as a chip dip! *Recipe courtesy of Allrecipes.com*

Taco Salad Dressing
Ingredients:
1 mashed avacado
4oz sour cream
2TBS Italian salad dressing
1TBS lemon juice
1TBS minced onion
1/4tsp chili powder
Salt & Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients. Add more or less sour cream for consistency. Add as much as you would like to your own personal salad.

Salad Ingredients:
1 bag Roman Hearts
1/2 can shoe peg corn
1/2 can black bean's
2 tomatoes, chopped
Tortilla chips
1 lb browned hamburger, with taco seasoning (any taco seasoning packet you like) ((add to personal salad, so if you have left over lettuce mix it will keep better.))