Sun-Dried Tomato Soup

This recipe I discovered last week and I have to say it's the best homemade tomato soup I have made yet.  I loved the fact that it didn't have bread in it which a lot of tomato soup recipes have making it a carbo load.

Sun-Dried Tomato Soup
serves 4

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (I used the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes)
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, sliced
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped (use kitchen shears)
10 oz can mild Ro-Tel tomatoes, drained but juices reserved
20 oz chicken broth
2 thyme sprigs (or 1/4 teaspoon dried)
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoons concentrated sun-dried tomato paste (or canned tomato paste)
1/4 cup heavy cream

Saute onions and garlic in butter and olive oil, over med-high heat, for 4 minutes.  Add sun-dried tomatoes, drained tomatoes, tomato paste, and thyme; cook for several minutes stirring frequently.  Add reserved tomato juice and chicken broth.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat to simmer.  Simmer until vegetables are SUPER soft, about 20 minutes. 
 
Transfer small batches of soup to a blender and puree. Return to pot and warm over low heat. Stir in heavy cream and check seasoning.  Add more chicken stock if you like your soup thinner.

Link: http://oneperfectbite.blogspot.com/2011/01/sun-dried-tomato-soup.html

It's Jiffy alright

Making homemade pizza is a staple in our home.

Try this recipe out and I think you will for sure be surprised at how easy and good your own pizza can be!

First start off with a Jiffy pizza crust mix. Seeing that i'm a working cook I don't have time to wait for pizza dough to rise.  So jiffy is a great solution.

Make up the dough just as jiffy says. I admit I add a couple of teaspoons of sugar to the dough because I like a sweeter dough.

Then cook the crust for a bit... just as directions say.

As the pizza crust is cooking make up your homemade pizza sauce and prepare your toppings.

When the crust is just barely cooked dress it with your tomato sauce and necessary toppings. Like, mushrooms, peppers, onions, garlic, olives, etc.

Bake pizza and enjoy your homemade pizza!

TOMATO SAUCE FOR PIZZA

1 to 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 can tomato sauce (8 to 10 oz)
1/2. tsp salt
1 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. oregano
Add pepper
Bake pizza and enjoy a homemade slice!

Costa Vida Chicken/Pork

I've tried MANY MANY recipes to find the best mock Costa Vida or Cafe Rio kind of  pork.  I love the sweet and savory of the meat.  Well here it is folks my favorite kind of way to spice up chicken or pork to Cafe Rio or Costa Vida it.  This is a simple meal that you can set and forget by using the crockpot.  Just put the ingredients in before you head off to work and when you get home you'll smell the yumminess!



Costa Vida Chicken or Pork
4 chicken breasts or 1 pork loin
1 can green chilies
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cumin
sprinkle of pepper
sprinkle of garlic salt


Combine all ingredients in crock-pot and cook for 6-8 hours. When done shred and use on salads, tacos, burritos, ect.  This meat also freezes great so I will usually take the meat that I froze and defrost it and use it to make burritos sometime later in the month.