Minestrone Soup

If I remember correctly, this tastes similar to Olive Garden's.  I really like it!!

Veggie-Packed Minestrone Soup

Posted By sara wells On 01.07.2013 @ 12:01 am from Ourbestbites.com

Ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small/medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, thinly sliced
1-2 stalks celery, diced
1 small zucchini
4-5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 cup frozen french cut green beans
2 15-ounce cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 15-ounce cans white beans like Great Northern or Canalini
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
32 ounces vegetable broth (that’s 4 cups)
3 cups hot water
1/2 cup ditalini or other small shell pasta
4 cups loosely packed fresh spinach leaves
2-3 tablespoons fresh minced parsley
Instructions:
Heat a large stock pot to medium high heat.  Add olive oil to coat bottom of pan.  Add onions, carrot, and celery.  Saute 4-5 minutes, until onions start to look translucent.  Add zucchini and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes longer, stirring until garlic is fragrant.  Add green beans, kidney and white beans, tomatoes, and seasonings and stir to combine.  Add broth and water and bring soup to a simmer.  Cover pot and simmer on low for 20-25 minutes, until carrots and celery are tender.  Add pasta and cook until pasta is soft, 8-10 minutes.  (Add additional vegetable broth or water if you feel you need it for preferred consistency.)  Remove pot from heat and stir in spinach and parsley.  Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
Yield: 8 servings (1 1/2 cups each)
Nutritional Info: Calories:  250 Protein: 30 g Fat: 1 g Carbs: 68 g

Monster Cookies- Gluten Free

• From Mel's Kitchen Cafe
• 
  
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/4 cups (9.25 ounces) packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup (7.5 ounces) granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) creamy peanut butter
• 1 stick butter (8 tablespoons, 4 ounces), softened
• 4 1/2 cups (18 ounces) quick cooking oats (double check oats are gluten-free if making gluten-free cookies)
• 1 cup (8 ounces) M&Ms
• 1 cup (6 ounces) milk chocolate, semisweet, or bittersweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, silpat liners or lightly grease with cooking spray.
2. In a large mixing bowl with a handheld electric mixer (or in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), add the eggs, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Mix well.

1. Add the salt, baking soda, vanilla, peanut butter and butter. Mix until creamy and well combined, 1-2 minutes.
2. Stir in the oatmeal, M&Ms, and chocolate chips until combined. The dough will be sticky.
3. Scoop the dough into heaping tablespoon-sized balls (see note above) and place about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. If you want the cookies thinner, flatten them slightly with the palm of your hand.
4. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. Don’t overbake – the cookies should just be set and very lightly golden around the edges.
5. Let the cookies sit for 1-2 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in a airtight container for 2 days (the baked cookies freeze well, also).

NOTES:

Keep in mind that if you want the cookies to be safely gluten-free, make sure your oats are certified gluten-free (it will say on the package if they are). Speaking of oats, several commenters have successfully used old-fashioned oats (the cookies may spread a bit more). Or you could take your old-fashioned oats and process them lightly in a blender before using (measure after they have been blended a bit). 

Also, lots of times when I make these, I sub in different kinds of chips. Peanut butter chips are dreamy (in addition to or in place of M&Ms or part of the chocolate chips). Finally, many of you commented you’ve gotten a lot more than 2-3 dozen cookies out of this batch and that’s because you make your cookies small and I make mine not-small. Sometimes, I use my #40 medium cookie scoop which is about 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons but a lot of time, I grab the #20 scoop which is 3 tablespoons or more. I mean, we’re going for monster cookie here, right?

Creamy Potato Salad

This recipe is taken from the from the all-new ultimate Southern Living Cookbook

4 pounds small red potatoes (No need to peel)

1 ½ c light mayonnaise (I used Best Foods Olive Oil mayo, 2 c)

1 ½ c light sour cream (I actually used less sour cream, 1 cup instead of 1 ½ c)

1 ½ t prepared horseradish (I used a little less than that, 1 ¼ t)

1 t salt

½ t celery seeds

1 c chopped fresh parsley (I used about half that much, ½ c)

1 bunch green onions, finely chopped

Cook potatoes in boiling water (I steamed them) to cover in a Dutch oven 30 minutes. Drain and cool. Thinly slice potatoes (I cut ½ to ¾ inch chunks).

Stir together mayonnaise and next 5 ingredients. Gently stir into potatoes

Cover and chill. Top with green onions. (I actually stirred the onions into the dressing and sprinkled some more parsley on top.)

Croutons!

From Mel's Kitchen Cafe  
Link HERE

1/2 loaf French Bread, or about that much of any bread
2 Tbs olive oil (a little more)
1 tsp kosher salt (a little more)
pepper to shake all over

Cut the bread into 1/2-3/4" cubes.  Place on cookie sheet.
Drizzle olive oil all over and toss well using your hands.
Sprinkle the tsp or so of salt all over.  Shake pepper on.  Toss well again.
Bake at 425 for about 8-10 min. until bread is golden brown and toasted.