How Do You Find the Time?

"How do you find the time?"

I get asked that question a lot and I really don't know the answer. I know that I just do the thing that I get enjoyment from and the things that need to be done.

A single parent, a working professional, someone who loves to read, knit, craft and create, someone who is working really hard to create a good life for herself and her kids. I know I'm not the only one out there, and I enjoy reading the blogs of others, so I thought, "well, why not?" So here we go!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Shouldn't Snow Days Have Snow?

Usually that's the way it is, but today was a no-school day because of the extreme cold. When I got up this morning, the thermometer read - 13. It got to -17 before it started warming up, if that's what you can call it. Now, at 12:20, it's a balmy -7!

So what does one do on a day off from school?

  • let teenagers sleep
  • drink coffee
  • get dressed in warm clothes
  • make blondies
  • make tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches
  • Work on making bags
  • mop kitchen floor
  • play some games on Facebook

My first cooking task today was to make Blondies. If you have never had these, you are missing out! Not PointsPlus Friendly, but really good! I found this recipe and the next one on this blog. She's got some great recipes here!


Blondies:



Basic Blondies
Ingredients:
12 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 Cup Chocolate Chips

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350.
-Line a 9 X 16 pan with foil and lightly spray wit
h PAM.
-In a large microwave safe mixing bowl melt the butter.
-Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
-Mix the brown sugar with the melted butter and beat until smooth.
-Beat in egg and then vanilla.
-Add salt, stir in flour and baking powder (if using).
-Mix in any chocolate chips

-Pour into prepared pan and use a greased spatula to evenly spread mixture in pan and level the top.
-Bake for 20-25 minutes or until set in the middle. (Mine took a good 40 minutes)
-Cool on rack before cutting.

-Cut into 28 pieces - 5 WW PointsPlus each


Next up, "Creamless" Tomato Soup

I love tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. It takes me right back to my childhood. This recipe sounded great and points friendly, with a little modification as to the amount of olive oil. So for lunch, we had Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup


Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup
Ingredients:
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
pinch hot red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
2 28-ounce cans whole tomatoes packed in juice
1 tablespoon brown sugar
6 slices light sandwich bread torn into 1-inch pieces
2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth

Directions:
In a Dutch oven set over medium-high heat, heat oil until shimmering. Add onion, garlic, red pepper flakes (if using) and bay leaf. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent. Add tomatoes and their juices. Mash tomatoes using a potato masher, until tomato pieces are all smaller than 2 inches. Add sugar and bread. Increase heat to high and bring soup to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and and cook, stirring occasionally, until bread is completely saturated and beginning to disintegrate, about 5 minutes.

Remove bay leaf, add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil and use an immersion blender to blend the soup until smooth. Stir in broth. Alternately, transfer half of soup to a blender. Blend for 2-3 minutes, or until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a large bowl and repeat with remaining soup. Return soup to pot and stir in broth. Season to taste with salt and pepper and return to a boil.

This made 10 cups of soup, 1 cup of soup = 2 WW PointsPlus

We really enjoyed this soup. With the grilled cheese sandwich, made with 2% milk American cheese and 2 tsp of butter, the total point count for the meal was 8 points. The soup had a little bit of a kick to it from the red pepper flakes. I think I'd also try Siracha to give it a pop. There is enough to share with my neighbor! Yum! Now I'm off to craft!

2 comments:

  1. Yum, blondies! I am going to try this recipe today too. I've been making another. Do you know if you have to use foil to line the pan? Just trying to figure out if there's a reason other than just making cleanup easier.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Not sure, Dee, except that I flipped them out of the pan and they were sure easy to cut and portion. Cleaning was pretty easy, too.

    ReplyDelete