Cooking....what cooking?

That pretty much sums up how I have felt about being in the kitchen the last couple months. We have had a lot of pre-made meals and we have been eating out much more than we usually do. I hate that but everything makes me nauseated of course.....I mean opening up the spice cabinet...wow...let's just say I breathe threw my mouth a lot lately. Anyway, my goal of this post is not to wine about my nausea again, it is to share with you a couple great recipes. Because I actually tried some new things last night and made a decent meal for my family!

And also before I forget, I would like to say that my sweet husband, who is not very skilled in the kitchen (sorry honey:)...but he can grill and use his smoker well!), has been helping out so much. He made two meals last week all by himself and he has pretty much been doing all the dishes. Thank you Kevin!!

So the first recipe is for Creamy Tomato Soup without cream! A very healthy version and it was fantastic. Second recipe is for the BEST grill cheeses you will every eat. Third, is a summer dessert I grew up with.


Creamless Creamy Tomato Soup (Cook's Illustrated Magazine)

1/4 extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 large cloves garlic, minced
pinch hot red pepper flakes (optional)
2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes in juice
4 slices white bread crusts removed, cubed
1 Tablespoon brown sugar, packed (you can add more at the end if it is not sweet enough for your taste, but we liked the bold flavor with out more sugar)
2 cups chicken broth
Salt and pepper
fresh chopped basil for garnish

Heat oil in large pot on medium. Saute onions first, then add garlic. Cook until onions are clear and make sure not to brown garlic. Add hot pepper flakes if you want them. Next dump in tomatoes and their juices, let this simmer for a minute or two. Then add your bread cubes and brown sugar and let that simmer for about 5 minutes or until the bread is breaking down. Then get out your blender and puree this in two batches! Then return it to the pot and add the chicken stock and salt and pepper to taste. Let it simmer for another few minutes on low while you make your grill cheeses! Garnish with basil.


Best-Ever Grill Cheeses

1 bag of your favorite shredded cheese (I used mozzarella this time)
1 can of cream of mushroom soup ( I have done it with other cream soup flavors which are great too, but I thought this complimented the mozzarella really well)
1 loaf of sour dough or french bread
butter

Mix thecream soup and cheese in a bowl. Stuff sandwiches with the mixture and butter the bread. Grill to desired doneness!!

Summer Strawberry Pie

2 cartons of strawberries
1 carton strawberry glaze (found in produce section..Albertsons and Kroger always have..but other places are hit and miss...and make sure you don't grab the sugar-free it is not nearly as good)
1 graham cracker crust
cool whip

Slice strawberries, mix with glaze in a big bowl, dump in pie shell, cover with cool whip. It's that easy and oh so refreshing! Keep refregerated! Sorry I did not get a picture of the pie:)

Oh and total side note, a couple comments from my previous post just disappeared! Has anyone ever had that happen? So fyi--Kelli and Angela I did not delete your comments!!