What's cookin' ...

Today I tried 2 new recipes, and I thought I'd share!

The first is a super simple Veggie Soup recipe that an old Bella Filati friend shared with me. I had to modify it a little since I think the original version would have made enough soup to LAST A LIFETIME! As it is, I had to use my biggest pot, and it was filled to the brim. I'm sure everyone has their own version of a Veggie Soup, but this was YUMMY!

VEGGIE SOUP - easy, makes a TON, freezes well, inexpensive (for the amount of food you get) and DELICIOUS!

Ingredients:

2 packages of frozen veggies

2 cans of diced tomatos (not drained)

1 big can of tomato sauce

1 small can of tomato sauce

1 can of butter beans (not drained)

1 pkg. of dry Lipton onion soup mix

approx. 2 teaspoons of splenda

1 pound of ground turkey

1/2 bag of frozen hash browns (shredded)

1/2 head of cabbage - chopped

* Add the first section of ingredients to a large pot and cook over low/medium heat.

* In a skillet, brown the ground turkey and add to the soup.

* In the same pan, cook the hash browns until slighty brown, and add to the soup.

* Then cook the cabbage until it starts to turn clear, and add to the soup.

* Stir occasionally and add water if necessary to prevent soup from becoming too thick.

* Let it cook over low/medium heat for approx. 4 hours and serve!

* Freeze leftovers and enjoy later!

The next recipe I tried was a Banana Bread recipe. I've had some brownish/black bananas in the freezer for quite some time, and I was in the mood to bake! So I tried this recipe.

BANANA BREAD - a healthier version, easy, I had ingredients on-hand ... verdict still out on the taste! I'll report tomorrow when I have it for breakfast. It seems like it might be a little dense, could be because I'm the one that decided to add oatmeal after my batter seemed a little too watery. We'll see!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter - melted

1 cup splenda

1-2 cups mashed bananas (appox. 3 bananas)

2 eggs slightly beaten

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2-1 cup chopped walnuts

3/4 cups rolled oats

* Preheat oven to 325.

* Mix the first section of ingredients with a mixer.

* In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients.

* Alternate adding the dry ingredients and 1/3 cup hot water to the mixture.

* Stir in the chopped walnuts and rolled oats.

* Cut a piece of parchment paper to sit in the bottom of a loaf pan, and grease all sides.

* Pour the batter and cook at 325 degrees for approx. 70 minutes.

That's it from the kitchen! I'll let you know how the banana bread actually tastes tomorrow!