Sunday Supper Soup…dare you to say that 5x fast.

Sunday just seems like a soup kinda day to me.  Especially when you and your husband are both fighting colds and it’s been snowing non-stop all weekend long.  Plus, soup is relatively easy to just throw together in the morning and then you just let it hang out on the stove for a couple hours and let it make your house smell all delicious and warm…before you know it, you’ve got dinner and leftovers for tomorrow already made.  We typically attend mass on Sunday evenings and we’re usually starving by the time we get home, so I always try to plan in advance so we have dinner waiting on us when we get home.  I love having a nice, homecooked meal that requires Gus and I to actually sit down at the dining room table for Sunday supper (confession: yes, this means that the rest of the week we’re usually eating dinner at the coffee table…because it has the best view of American Idol), but I always try and choose something that requires minimal effort on Sunday’s, as I’m all about that whole day of rest thing.  This also happens to be one of Gus’ favorite soups and one that I’ve never made before.  The soup by itself was pretty good…but once you had some grated Gruyere cheese and a handful of Garlic Parmesan Croutons, it made it pretty darn good.   And now my throat is feeling better, I’m all warm and toasty even if it’s 16 degrees outside, and I enjoyed a nice, well rested Sunday supper that didn’t include planning our dinner around our TV schedule. 

 

 

French Onion Soup

• 6 Sweet Vidalia Onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup Butter
• 1 tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 cups Dry White Wine
• 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. Fresh Thyme, chopped
• 2 Bay Leaves (don’t forget to remove these later…biting into a big ole bay leaf is not delicious)
• 4 cups Beef Stock
• 4 cups Chicken Stock
• Couple shakes of Worcestershire Sauce
• Salt and Pepper to taste  (easy on the salt though…broth is salty enough and we don’t want our fingers so swollen tomorrow that our wedding rings don’t fit)
• handful of grated Gruyere Cheese (you could also use Swiss, Fontina, Provolone, etc…Gruyere is my favorite though, but it is a little pricey so hide the grocery bill from your husband till he tastes that $12 cheese…then he’ll be a Gruyere supporter.)
• handful of Garlic Parmesan Croutons (these are just too easy not to make…buy a baguette or just use some day old crusty bread…chop into large cubes, brush with melted butter, season with garlic powder, sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese and toast under your broiler on low till golden brown…you’ll never buy store bought croutons again.)

 

1. Melt the butter over medium low heat in a large dutch oven or stock pot.  Add the sliced onions and toss to coat with the melted butter.  Once onions are all coated, let them sweat and cook down for 15-20 minutes without stirring. 
2. Once onions have softened, continue to cook over medium low heat and stir occasionally until onions have turned brown and caramelized.  This should take about 45 minutes. 
3. Add the wine and vinegar to the onions and turn the heat up to high.  Allow the liquid to reduce to a syrup consistency.  Make sure you scrap up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan.  (brown bits = yummy in my tummy flavor)
4. Add the broth, garlic, thyme, bay leaves and Worcestershire sauce to the pot.  Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 45 minutes – 1 hour. 
5. When ready to serve, remove the bay leaves from the pot and ladle soup into oven safe bowls.  Add a handful of croutons and grated cheese, then broil over low until the cheese is melted and bubbly. 

I love my cupcake pushing Mama.

I could never pick my absolute favorite cupcake…classic vanilla, red velvet, carrot cake, double chocolate, banana with cream cheese frosting…I could keep going, but I’ll spare you.  Even though I could never pick a #1 favorite, this next one is definitely one of my many favorites.  Let me introduce you to my friend, Black Bottom Cupcake…she’s also known as chocolate-cupcake-topped-with-chocolate-chip-cheesecake-filling…or for short, heaven.  I didn’t even discover this little piece of heaven until a couple years ago during a trip down to Perry(dise), Georgia to visit my Mama.  She made these and I wasn’t really intrigued because 1.) No frosting?!?  How could I love something that doesn’t have frosting?  and 2.) I’m usually not a fan of anything with the word “cheesecake” in it.  One bite in and I honestly feel like I’ve been missing out for my entire life.  It’s incredibly rich, moist, fudgy, and surprisingly, I didn’t miss frosting at all.  Plus, it made me rethink my whole aversion to cheesecake…when you add chocolate chips and a chocolate cupcake to the mix, I certainly love me some cheesecake.  Sometimes all you need is for your Mama to force your finicky self to try something new and you’ll thank her for years to come. 

 

 

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Cake

• 1 1/2 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 1 cup Water
• 1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 tbsp. Cider Vinegar
• 1 tsp. Vanilla

Filling

• 8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup Sugar
• 1/8 tsp. Salt
• 1 cup Miniature Semisweet Chocolate Chips

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line cupcake tins with paper liners or lightly grease. 
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.  Make a small well in the center of the bowl and add the water, oil, vanilla, and vinegar.  Stir together until well blended.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, egg, sugar, and salt.  Beat for 5-7 minutes or until light and fluffy.  Fold in the chocolate chips. 
4. Fill the cupcake tins 1/2 full with cake batter and top with a heavy dollop of filling.  Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. 
5. Feel free to enjoy right outta the oven, or resist temptation and wait a day as these definitely get better over time…you can thank me later. 

My favorite animal to eat.

I was so ahead of the eating-fish-twice-a-week-for-dinner trend.  Since I don’t eat red meat, ground turkey and chicken can get kinda boring 7 days a week, so fish was the obvious animal to mix things up in our dinner routine.  With all the different varieties out there, seafood just never gets old to me.  For the most part seafood is healthy, as long as you don’t deep fry it or dunk it in buttah (mmm…lobster), but you have to get kinda creative with the preparation because without it, most fish is pretty tasteless.  Tilapia is a great fish for people that think they don’t like fish.  It’s super mild, slightly meaty, and picks up just about any flavor that you pair it with.  This tilapia recipe is a favorite in our house because it’s healthy, yet it has this crunchy parmesan crust that gives it this faux-fry quality, but without all the artery clogging oil…which is great because we’re going to have lots of the yummy, artery clogging stuff for my next post…cupcakes are a’coming!

 

 

 

Parmesan Encrusted Lemon Pepper Tilapia (super long name for a super easy dish)

• 2 - 4 oz. Tilapia Fillets
• 1/4 cup Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 tsp. Lemon Pepper
• 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp. Parsley
• 1/2 tsp. Paprika
• 2 tsp. Grated Parmesan Cheese

 

1. Heat your oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly spray a baking sheet with olive oil. 
2. Place the tilapia on your baking sheet and evenly distribute all seasoning over fish.  Add the lemon juice over the fish and then bake for 20 minutes. 
3. Remove fish from the oven and sprinkle the top of the fish with Parmesan cheese.  Heat your broiler to high and broil the fish until the cheese is golden brown. 

All aboard the healthy train!

Chooo chooo!  After the holidays, we decided it was time for a nice, long ride on the healthy train.  I’m all about moderation and making good choices, so don’t worry…this doesn’t mean the desserts are gone and I’ll be only be blogging about celery and carrot stick appetizers.  I’ve shared several of my “Daniella-ified” healthy dinner recipes with you, but you can’t sustain on Mexican Lasagna alone, so I thought I’d share some of my favorite healthy snacks/treats/vittles, that might help keep you on the healthy train too.  And the best part of making healthy choices now is that those chocolate truffles on Valentine’s Day will taste SO much better…or in my case, that romantic dinner at Cracker Barrel.  Nothing says “I love you” like your 7th annual Valentine’s Day date over biscuits and gravy.

 

Whole Grain Cream of Wheat

 

This stuff takes me right back to my childhood.  I was a hot cereal luvah from the very beginning.  Oatmeal, Grits, Malt-O-Meal, you name it…if it’s a cereal that’s served hot, then I love it.   Now, we all know that Oatmeal is a great, healthy way to start your day and while I certainly enjoy it, it can definitely get boring to eat every.single.day.  So I almost shrieked in aisle 12 when I saw that Cream of Wheat now comes in a delicious and nutritious Whole Grain variety!   Before it was pretty much just a bowl of nutrient empty bad carbs, but now I can enjoy a warm bowl of Cream of Wheat and know that I’m actually getting some fiber and protein in there!  And it really tastes just like the original, so there really isn’t any reason not to eat this, if you happen to be a HCL (hot cereal luvah) like me. 

 

 

Deep Chocolate VitaBrownie

 

Even when you’re on the healthy train, you still need dessert if you expect to stay on.  I don’t know how they do it, but this company manages to pack fiber and protein into a low-fat, low-cal, delish brownie.  It’s gotta be magic.  The price isn’t magical though, so definitely look for them to go on sale.  Or if you’re really in love with them, you can buy them in bulk here.  You can just call me the magic brownie pusher.  These come frozen, so after a quick nuke in the microwave, you have a warm, melty, chocolate brownie that’s actually good for you.  Sometimes I’ll even add a dollop of fat-free Cool Whip on top…it’s so heaven in my mouth and not on my thighs. 

 

 

Robert’s Soy Crisps in Creamy Ranch

 

Goodbye movie popcorn, helllooooo Soy Crisps!   This is my go-to movie snack and yes, I am the lady hauling her giant tote bag filled with Soy Crisps and a thermos of Iced Tea.  No shame here for healthy and cheap movie snacks!   These are so much better than cardboard tasting rice cakes because 1). They could so pass for healthy Cool Ranch Doritos and 2.) They are made with soy!  Soy = protein!  Protein is great!  And even if you are really having a salty, crunchy craving kinda day (been there…done that), you can polish off the whole bag for less than 400 calories AND you’ll get almost 25 grams of protein in the process.   You certainly can’t say that about a tub of movie popcorn! 

 

 

Trader Joe’s Apple-Cranberry Bran Muffins

 

If we were handing out fiber awards, this snack would take the fiber-filled cake.  I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me when I saw the nutritional values on these muffins…just one little muffin packs a whopping 13 grams of fiber!  Plus they are low in sugar, but still have a hearty, sweet taste because they are loaded with chunks of apples and a few tart cranberries on top.  While they are delicious, I wouldn’t recommend eating more than one a day…because…well…I really don’t want to go there, being that this is a food blog and all.  Just remember, fiber is great but don’t overdose on it…if you know what I’m saying. 

 

 

Fat-Free Black Bean Hummus

 

I’m not Lebanese, but you might think I was if you saw me eating hummus right out of the container with just a spoon.   I love the stuff and while I certainly miss enjoying the good stuff from Metro Detroit (fun fact: Detroit has the largest Middle-Eastern population outside of the Middle East.  They better never leave or I will follow them and their hummus.  and fattoush.  and toum.), I have managed to find an acceptable substitute while living in Chicago.  And it definitely doesn’t hurt that the substitute is fat-free and has only 11 calories a serving.  Yes, eleven.  Now you know why I don’t feel bad eating it with a spoon.  If you want more than a spoon to dip, I highly suggest some sliced English cucumbers and grape tomatoes.  Delish, healthy, and gets me through my Lebanese cravings…until my next trip back to Detroit.