Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

I love finding new soup recipes to try. It's winter, and so, it's pretty chilly outside. Because of this, I have been in a soup making mood. I have been trying to make a new soup once a week. A great thing about having soup is that it goes great with sandwiches like paninis. My amazing boyfriend got me a panini grill for Christmas, and it's amazing. I have been using it daily. Soup is also easy to make for large families, which I have. 

I purchased some tortellini from the store and decided that I wanted to incorporate into a creamy tomato soup. I found a ton of great recipes. 

This creamy tomato tortellini soup is amazing. I could eat the whole bowl, but I restrained my self. It's really delicious. My family loved it especially with grilled cheese that I made with my panini grill (yummy). I'm drooling just thinking about it.  

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

adapted from The Recipe Critic

Ingredients: 

• 1 package (9 ounces) refrigerated cheese tortellini (also the tortellini found in the pasta isle works)
• 2 cans (10-3/4 ounces each) condensed tomato soup
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 2 cups half-and-half cream
• (or 3 cups milk & 1 cup heavy cream)
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese (I used the Italian blend cheese, use what ever is on hand)
• Additional shredded parmesan cheese for topping, optional
• Oyster Crackers, optional

Directions: 

1. Cook the tortellini according to package directions. In a large pot, add the tomato soup, broth, milk, cream, tomatoes, onion powder, garlic powder, dried basil, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and reduce soup to a simmer.
2. Drain tortellini and add to the soup. Add parmesan cheese. Serve and sprinkle with additional cheese on top and/or crackers if desired.
3. Enjoy! 

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Oh, and I hope everyone had a safe and joyous holiday season. 

Peace, love, bake on.

                            Andrea 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies {my favorite cookie EVER}

Hello world! I hope everyone had a very joyous Christmas and a happy New Year. During the Christmas season I made Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. To me the holiday equals baking season. I made several batches of these delicious Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. A few times I added both chocolate chips and crushed Andes Mints. I love them. I love going to Olive Garden and getting them when they give you your receipt after paying the check. These cookies came out soft and chewy every time. They are my go oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. 

These cookies are hands down my favorite cookie. I could eat a whole batch by myself. So let that be your warning, they are addicting. Bake and eat at your own risk. Don't let my poor photography shy you away from such a life changing, yummy cookie. 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from Radiant Dust 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or some other chip)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats, and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 11-12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 
4. Eat up and enjoy. (My favorite is to eat them while they are still slightly warm. I also love to dip them in almond milk.)

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. Until next time.

Peace, love, bake on.

                                    Andrea  

Christmas Cupcakes.

It has been a very busy Christmas season. I meant to put up a new post several days ago, but time got away from me. 

Let me first say, Merry Christmas! I hope you and your family have a very blessed Christmas. 

Now, its the day before Christmas, aka Christmas Eve, and you are thinking to yourself, "What can I make for dessert that's festive, creative, and easy to make?" Well, I believe I have the answer for you. Cupcakes. 

Make any cupcake you like and any frosting you like. After piping the frosting on, decorate like this (below). 

You may be wondering what "this" is. All I did was melt some almond bark, put in a sandwich baggie with a small corner tip cut off, and then wrote words with it.  It's really that simple. 

Everyone who saw these cupcakes were amazed. They couldn't figure out how I did it. I basked in the glory of stumping some people. Not only, these cupcakes are festive, and it looks as though I put immense work into them but in all reality, it was pretty simple. 

To make these you will need:

• Frosted cupcakes
• Chocolate to melt (almond bark, chocolate chip, Wilton melties)
• Sandwich baggie, with a small tip cut off in one corner.
• Wax paper

Directions:

1. Melt chocolate in a bowl in the microwave. Place a sheet of wax paper on cookie sheet (That's what I do so that it can easily be moved).
2. After chocolate has melted, spoon some chocolate in the sandwich baggie. 
3. Now carefully, with the baggie like you were piping frosting, write words on the wax paper. 
4. Allow to cool (you may put it in the freezer or the fridge so that it will harden quicker or to store)
5. Carefully remove from wax paper, and place gently on top of frosted cupcake.
6. Enjoy and be amazed. 
   
   
   
   

           

Have a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to comment or email me. 

Peace, love, bake on.

               Andrea 

Thanksgiving Oreo Turkeys

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It's so festive, and little pressure is placed upon the holiday. I could go on my soap box and talk about how Black Friday is no longer on Black Friday, but has instead intruded on a holiday where we reflect on the blessings that have been bestowed upon us and are thankful for what we have and the people that surround us. But I won't go take that step onto my soap box, I will, however,  talk about about turkeys.

Thanksgiving has long centered around the family table that is topped with a roasted turkey, a side of stuffing, and a slice of pumpkin pie. That's the way it is, and that's the way I like it. Because of this magnificent fact it is so easy to be festive on Thanksgiving. I can put pumpkin in anything, and everyone's cool with that. I can make food to look like turkeys, and that makes everyone more festive. And that is exactly what I did. 

I try to do this every year. Last year, I made cupcakes, and I made them into a big turkey shape.

One of my brothers and one of my sisters wanted a pic with the cupcake turkey. 

This year I decided to use OREOS as my medium for creating my turkey. 

These Oreo turkeys are fairly easy to make. I put each Oreo on a sucker stick (which can be found at Walmart or other craft stores). I used candy corn as the feathers, and M&Ms as the eyes. For the beak, I used frosting that I dyed orange.

Thanksgiving OREO Turkeys:

Ingredients:

Oreos

Sucker sticks

White almond bark or white chocolate

Chocolate chips (semi sweet or you can use almond bark)

Frosting

Frosting dyes (red and orange)

M & Ms

Candy corn

Directions: 

1. Melt some white almond bark in the microwave in a microwave safe bowl (about 2 squares).
2. Gently twist each of the Oreos apart, so that the cream stays on part of the cookie and the other is clean. 
3. Put melted melted chocolate in a baggie with a small tip clipped at one end. Squeeze a small amount of chocolate onto the cream side of the Oreo. 
4. Next, place a sucker stick on the small amount of the chocolate that is on the cream side of the Oreo. Add the top back onto the Oreo. Repeat until all of Oreos have been done. 
5. Next, melt the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl in the microwave. 
6. Dip the pointy end of the candy corn in to the chocolate. Then put in between the two cookie halves of the Oreo. I put 4-5 pieces of candy corn on each Oreo.
7. After all of the Oreos have candy corn on them, place in the freezer or fridge so that the chocolate can harden up (In the freezer for about 15-20 minutes).
8. For the eyes, you will need more white chocolate or just remelt the leftovers the  from previous steps. Using the same bag as before, pipe two small circle dollops on the Oreo (This makes the white of the eye). Then place an M&M on each of the dollops. Repeat for rest of Oreos.
9. Next, dye half of the frosting orange, place in a sandwich baggie with tip cut off. Pipe the beaks on the Oreos. (I basically did a squiggle; I started the squiggle bigger at one end and then taper off; refer to picture).
10. To make the snood (the red thing that hangs off a turkey's beak), dye the other half of the frosting red. Using a sandwich baggie with the tip cut of, pipe the snood on the larger side of the beak (I made a little line on the larger side of the beak).
11. Place in freezer or fridge to allow the chocolate to solidify if it hasn't already. 
12. Share with the family and friends!

I'm sorry if the directions are thoroughly confusing. It was sometimes hard ot explain what I was doing. If you have any questions please feel free to email me or contact me. Have a Happy & Blessed Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving,

                              Andrea

Halloween Cupcakes

I hope everyone is having happy fall. Halloween is upon us. I was busy tonight making treats for my brothers and sisters to take to school for their Halloween parties. I had a lot of fun. They were fairly easy to make, just time consuming to do. They ended up looking pretty great. 

I found a lot of ideas off Pinterest. I love Pinterest. Pinterest has everything a person could ever need know(well, at least about cupcakes). 

    

1. The first cupcake I made was a mummy cupcake. I just made my own version of grease frosting (I call it Crisco frosting). It makes really white frosting because there isn't any butter in it. I then cut a small tip off the end of a sandwich baggie. I piped frosting on the cupcake, and then added Reese's Pieces for the eyes (or M&Ms). This was really easy to do. 

2. The second cupcake I made was the ghosts. I made these ghosts on mini cupcakes for my little brother's class. He has a fairly large class, so it made it easier. I made Crisco frosting again. I cut a tip off of a sandwich baggie again, but this time I made a slightly larger cut. A tip when doing this, make sure to make a clean, straight cut. If you have the 1A or 2A frosting tip then you could also use that. I then colored some left over frosting black, and then piped little dotted eyes on each ghost. 

3. The last cupcake I made were green monster cupcakes. I made more frosting, which I then dyed green. I pipped the cupcakes in a swirl using a baggie; you could again use the 1A or 2A tip here. I couldn't find mine. I melted some white melties (white almond bark). I put the melted chocolate in a baggie with a small tip cut off. I piped enough to make eyes for my cupcakes. After, I placed a M&M on each of the dots I just made with the white chocolate. Now you have your eyes.

While those cool, I cut up Airheads in different shapes. I did triangles and rectangles. After the eyes cool and harden, place on frosted cupcake, and then add eyes. I then added Mike and Ikes on the side for ears. I let the kids help decorate these. It was a fun activity to do with them. 

I hope ya'll have a happy Halloween. Keep warm, and trick or treat to your hearts content. Eat as much candy as you can get, I know I will. 

Happy Halloween.

                         Peace, love, bake on.

                                  Andrea 

           

Baked Creamy Macaroni and Cheese

Allow me to first start off with that my dad hates macaroni and cheese, and he also happens to dislike cream cheese. But does that stop me from making dishes with my first love, cream cheese, and making gooey comforting macaroni and cheese? No.

That does, however, make me stop and think of a macaroni and cheese recipe that I hope everyone will like. You see, I had been using a mac and cheese recipe for a year so that was just mediocre. My dad wasn't a big fan nor was the rest of my family; it was truly just meh-- not bad tasting just meh. I wanted something extraordinary that was creamy, filled with flavor, and extra cheesy (of course). 

What I found and created, I believe is truly yummy and extremely comforting. The secret ingredient is cream cheese. I had never really thought of cream cheese in mac and cheese. I never thought of combining the two, but I'm glad I did. 

When I ever use cream cheese in any dish, it's always treat and oh-so-delicious. So, enjoy the dish (and the calories). 

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
8 oz. macaroni
1/4 cup butter
3 Tbs. flour
1 1/2 milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
(or just do 2 cups of milk instead 1 1/2 milk and 1/2 cream)
1 pkg. cream cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dijon mustard
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
2 Tbs. butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Cook noodles according to directions. Cook to al dente.
3. In 3 quart sauce pan, melt butter and then stir in flour over medium-high heat. Cook for a minute or less, or until smooth & bubbly. Stir constantly. 
4. Mix in cream cheese, milk, salt & pepper, and dijon mustard. Cook sauce until it has thicken. Mix together thoroughly so that the cream cheese softens and mixes in throughout. 
5. Before adding noodle, add cheese. After adding cheese, mix in the noodles. 
6. Pour in a greased greased 2-3 quart casserole dish. 
7. Melt butter (I melt mine in the microwave). Mix butter and bread crumbs together. Sprinkle on top of macaroni and cheese. 
8. Bake for 15-25 minutes or until golden and bubbly.
9. Serve and enjoy!

Please enjoy and savor this recipe like my family and I do. Please comment or email me with your questions or comments. Have a happy fall!

Peace, love, bake on.

                                The Fiery Redhead

Homemade bread and butter pickles.

I know I say this pretty much every time I post something new, but it has been forever since I have posted anything on my blog. I feel bad about it because I had all these plans, but then things got crazy and super busy. I started college on a few week ago, which was crazy. It has been a long few weeks.

A few weeks ago, my grandma and I were searching for a good pickle recipe that would yield good, crunchy pickles. We had two cucumber plants, and I never knew how fast cucumbers produce until this summer. We had so many cucumber, so we thought we would make pickles. My family loves pickles. My grandma used to can pickles all the time. She'd do bread and butter, lime, and dill. However, her dill pickles never stayed crunchy, and usually ended up salty. We knew that we could make bread and butter pickles with some success. So, we did some searching for a relatively easy user-friendly recipe. And we, of course, found one. I have made three or four batches of these now and they are really amazing. My family loves them, and pretty easy to make, which is why I thought I would share them with you. 
Bonus: they only require a water bath to can, and they are required to be canned. They can be stored in the fridge. 
Good luck!

Bread and Butter Pickles

adapted from Surviving on a Teacher's Salary

Ingredients:
14 medium cucumbers
2 large onions, sliced
2/3 cups canning salt
6 cups sugar
2 tsp. Turmeric
1 tsp. whole cloves
2 1/2 Tbs. mustard seed
7 cups white distilled vinegar

Directions:

1. Cut unpeeled cucumbers thinly (I do a 1/4 or smaller, depending on the size of cucumber). Place sliced onions and cucumbers in a large pot. Mix in salt, evenly. 
2. Refrigerate for 3 hours. 
3.  Clean (sterilize) the jars, if canning.
4. After 3 hours, rinse salt off cucumbers and onions and drain. 
5. In a large pot, combine sugar, Turmeric, whole cloves, mustard seeds, and vinegar. Scald (a hard boil). Stir regularly. 
6. Add cucumbers and onions. Bring to boil and then remove from heat. 
7. If canning, spoon cucumbers into jars. Add the liquid to the jars covering the cucumber and leaving about 1/2 an inch of head space (just to the lip) in each jar. If you are not canning, just place in a container to store in the fridge. 
8. If canning, boil in a water bath for 25 minutes. Let cool for 24 hours. 
9. Serve and enjoy!

Even if you don't have any experience canning or pickling, I believe you can make these. The recipe is really straight forward. If you have any questions or just want to comment, please do. Thanks! 


                                                                                         Andrea