Roasted Tomato Soup

This soup is so yummy! We loved it, kids loved it, even my 2 year old asked for 3rds! I was given 2 grocery bags full of ripe tomatoes from my friend.  I made 8 pints of salsa plus this awesome soup for dinner.  I didn't get any tomatoes planted this year, (I had a baby instead :) Yay for friends' gardens!

2 1/2 lbs Fresh Ripe Tomatoes cored and halved (or quartered if large)
6 Garlic Cloves peeled and left whole
1 large Yellow Onion sliced thin
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
2 T Butter
2 T Flour
2 Bay Leaves
1 tsp Dried Basil
3 C Chicken Broth
2 T Sugar
2/3 C Half and Half

Preheat oven to 450. Spread tomatoes, garlic, and onions on cookie sheet (I needed 2 sheets).  Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast in oven for about 25 minutes or until soft and caramelized.  During the last 5 minutes of roasting melt butter in soup pot then stir in flour.  Add bay leaves and basil and let cook for a minute or so.  Whisk in chicken broth.  Remove veggies from the oven and add to soup pot along with any accumulated juices on your cookie sheets.  Add sugar.  Let simmer uncovered for 10 - 15 minutes.  Remove bay leaves.  Puree in blender in 2 batches or with an immersion blender.  (Just remember to remove the insert from your blender lid and cover with a towel so you don't have an explosion!)  Return to soup pot and add half and half.  Salt and pepper to taste (I didn't need to add any more). Enjoy!

Lego Castle Cake

Fundraiser Cakes

I made these two cakes for a dessert auction to raise funds for our church's (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) young women to go to girl's camp.  The whole night was a huge success we served dinner, had the dessert auction, and played miniature golf on courses that the girls designed and built, it was a lot of fun!

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

These turned out yummy and just the right texture. (I included the recipe source at the end of the post)  My husband and boys love them.  I think they're a little too sweet though.  I have several changes in mind to make but I thought I'd post this original recipe before I start going wild on variations lol!

Homemade Chewy Granola Bars

2.5 C Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
1/2 C Chopped Walnuts
1/4 C Sunflower seeds
2 T    Flax Seeds
1/3 C Wheat Germ

1/3 C Honey
1/4 C Unsalted Butter
1/4 C Brown Sugar
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp Salt

1/2 C Dried Cranberries (chopped a little)
1/4 C plus 2 TBSP Chocolate Chips (it was supposed to be mini chips but I didn't buy any and just roughly chopped up some regular sized chips)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line a 8 or 9 inch square pan with aluminum foil and spray coat the foil.
Spread out 1st 5 dry ingredients onto a sheet pan and toast in the 350 degree oven for 5 minutes, stir and toast for 3 more minutes.
In medium sauce pan, combine next 5 ingredients and heat until all melted together.  Stirring occasionally.
In a large bowl combine dry toasted mixture with melted sugar mixture.  Let cool for 5 minutes.  Stir in cranberries and 1/4 cup choc chips.  Press into prepared pan and really press and press and press (i used the bottom of a 1 C measuring cup to press it together).  Sprinkle remaining choc chips on top and press  them in.  Cover and cool in the fridge for 2 hours.  Cut into 12 bars, store in sealed container at room temp for soft bars, or in the fridge for firm bars.

(I found the original recipe at Inspired Taste website.  I made a few modifications for my bars and intend to make more.)

Apple Walnut Muffins

I haven't posted a new recipe in a while.  I tried these muffins this morning.  They're from the Post Raisin Bran box of all places!  I already have an Apple Streusel muffin recipe that is pure awesomeness but it really is like eating a piece of cake when it comes to sugar and butter content.  I saw this recipe and it didn't appear to be a bald cupcake under the pretense of a "muffin".  Knowing that, I was skeptical that it would have any flavor but thought I'd try it anyway.  I'm so glad I did because it turned out really yummy.  DON'T get me wrong, it is NOT a piece of dessert in disguise like most muffins, so if that is what you are expecting, then you're going to be disappointed.  I thought it looked, tasted, and felt healthy while also being quite tasty.  Just sweet enough, just light enough.  I feel very confident giving these to my kids as a snack. The apples, raisins and walnuts make this muffin, do not leave them out!

Apple-Walnut Muffins

1 Egg
1 C Milk (I used 1%)
1/3 C unsweetened Applesauce
1 T Vegetable oil
1.5 C Raisin Bran Cereal
1.5 C Flour
1 T Baking powder
1/2 tsp Salt
1/3 C Packed brown sugar
1 tsp Ground cinnamon
1 C Finely chopped, peeled Apple (I used a Fuji cause that's what I had)
3/4 C Chopped Walnuts (I toasted the walnuts in the 400 degree oven for 3 minutes, stirring halfway through)

Line 18 muffin tins with paper liners and spray coat the liners (a must).  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Whisk together the 1st four wet ingredients.  Add the raisin bran to milk mixture and set aside to soften for at least 5 minutes.  In a separate bowl whisk together the next 4 dry ingredients.  After the 5 minute soak I added the apples to the wet mixture and the toasted walnuts to the flour mixture.  Combine the wet and dry together.  Stir just until incorporated.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

(Here is Post's official version of the recipe if you care, I made a few minor modifications and changed the order of instructions.  They also have the nutrition information available which is always nice.)

Baby Smash Cake - Pink Cowgirl

I've never made a cowboy hat from gum paste before and it was a last minute decision.  I think it turned out pretty awesome for not knowing what I was doing lol!

Baby Smash Cake - Blue and Green Bow

My Birthday Cake

This is my birthday cake this year.  I love circle designs and I love how it turned out.  For some reason my camera has a hard time processing reds, so the coral color on this flower is all blown out.  I don't have a  fancy camera, or photoshop to fix anything.  Oh well, I still love how it turned out :)

 

Baby Smash Cake - Mickey Mouse Theme

I included this picture with my 2 year old to show how little these smash cakes are.

Baby Smash Cake - Owl

Another baby smash cake.  I love it!  

(These cakes may be tiny but they are still a ton of work)

Coral and Teal Flower cake

This was a baby smash cake I did last summer but in my rush to get it delivered I didn't get a picture of it.  My friend who does these photo shoots sent me this one she took that day.  I forgot how cute this cake was!  Her pictures of it are great too, wish I was a photographer and could make my cakes look so awesome :)  I have 2 more baby smash cakes to do next week, should be fun :)

Pirate Cake

This cake was for another baby 1 year old photo shoot, where the baby smashes into the cake and eats it.  These cakes are very small, about 4 inches diameter and about 3 inches tall.  (Hard to tell dimensions in picture).  This was the first baby smash cake for a boy that I've done.  It was fun.  A lot of work just to get smashed, but I couldn't go half way :)

(BTW if you google "Pirate Cake" and look at photos you will see many similar versions of this design.  I don't know who is the original brain behind it but it has been duplicated in many kitchens, including mine now, lol!  I wasn't feeling too creative this time and needed some help, thank you to whoever dreamed up this cute cake design that I pretty much copied :)