Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Mustard Croutons

It is officially soup season!

Soups have become one of my favourite things to cook. They tend to be inexpensive to make, they tend to come together quickly and most recipes make a lot of servings so you have meals for days, or you can freeze them and eat when you don't want to cook.

I have had a lot of success with soups in the past (check some out here, here, here, here and here) and this one is another home run! If you do make this please do not skip the croutons (unless you hate mustard....) they send this soup to new heights. I added 3 or 4 to my soup but ended up dunking in another handful - I couldn't get enough!!

Whole Grain Bread

I am still new to the whole bread thing.

However, I am an expert at the smothering it with butter and eating a whole loaf of crusty bread in one day thing.

The whole activating yeast, rising and kneading process is still new to me, but it has become a great learning experience.

Mmm.. nothing smells better than fresh bread

With cooking I can adjust the flavours, throw some more sauce in, add some more spice. With bread measurements need to be exact and you need time and patience to let the yeast do its thing.

Don't let this intimidate you though, just take your time, know that the bread needs a little more attention than, say, cooking a stir fry would.

In the end, I think you'll be surprised at how simple it is to create, from scratch, a beautiful loaf of whole grain bread. Even if the bread is a little dense, has some brunt sports on top or didn't rise as much as you hoped, it is totally satisfying to eat something that you created with just a few ingredients.

Herbed Ricotta Bruschetta

Sometimes life gets crazy. Crazy busy.

One week is full of traveling, tears and family. The next is celebrating love, dancing till your feet hurt and drinking too much apple pie moonshine (for real). 

That is life. It's up one day and down the next, you never know what the new day will bring. 

When life gets crazy and people need you, you need to be there. Drop your prior commitments and be there.

And that's why I haven't been here, but now I am back and have a few things up my sleeves to post this week. 

Quesadillas!

Here is a simple recipe that is perfect for busy weeknights! In my case, I made these one night when I was cooking for just me, they turned out so good I made them the next day for my fiance and he loved them. They are sweet and very cheesy!
One of the ingredients that makes this recipe taste so good is the addition of chili sauce, I used a style of chili sauce that had chunks of peppers, onions and tomatoes.

No-Knead Bread

There once was a time that I was afraid of dough. Maybe it was yeast or all the kneading that was required to form the dough... then what happens if it doesn't rise? What happens when you bake it and take it out then it falls flat? I just spent all that time kneading and letting it rise and I don't have anything to show for it!?!!!

These were all the reasons why I did not go near recipes for homemade bread, pizza, begals... anything that required yeast and kneading, I steered clear of from the beginning.

Then one day I found this recipe, I looked at my bag of flour and then myself in the mirror and said "Let's DO this!!"

Blueberry Banana Flaxseed Bread

Everyone has a banana bread recipe that they turn to when the freezer starts to overflow with those sad brown frozen bananas. I have one that I found on Shutterbean, that my boyfriend and I love, the bread is gone so fast!

I wanted to change things up though, I am trying to add extra vitamins and minerals to my daily routine since winter is here and colds and flu are definitely here!!
To the tried and true banana bread recipe, I tweaked it slightly, adding one more banana, some frozen blueberries and ground flax seeds! It is moist but dense, perfect for breakfast, mid-morning/afternoon work snack or quick to whip up for coffee and tea with company!