Lemon Olive Oil

You can really taste the price difference in olive oil. The cheaper ones taste much different than those that are made with a much higher quality olive and there is also a taste difference in olive oil made in the traditional Italian fashion with olives from Italy. While wandering the Farmers Market, I walked past the Texas Hill Country Olive Company, located in Dripping Springs outside of Austin. This small, family-owned orchard was started in 2008 and is currently the only certified organic olive orchard in Texas. This company has a wide array of products including olive oil, infused olive oils and balsamic vinegars. After spending some time sampling the different infused olive oils, I decided on a lovely lemon olive oil. It was fresh and the lemon notes weren't sweet, but rather created another layer of flavor in the olive oil. This is perfect to use with chicken or seafood and would also bring another flavor note to an olive oil and spice dip for bread. If you are visiting Austin, be sure to stop in, take a tour and sample some of their wonderful products. These make a lovely hostess present or for special occasions in the kitchen. Come back and see how I used my lemon olive oil.

Oven Roasted Tomato Mozzarella Soup

The weather is definitely not appropriate soup weather, but I couldn't help myself. I have never made a soup before, but this oven roasted tomato mozzarella soup caught my eye and I knew it was time to make it anyways. This is a healthier version of tomato basil soup and I can't say that I missed the butter and cream too terribly much. The mozzarella is optional, but added a little something extra. Plus when it melted it created a extra layer of flavor. This soup was super simple to make, so it definitely made me confident in my soup making abilities. Soup just takes a little time to make, but the aroma from the ingredients is really intoxicating. I can honestly say that the aroma from the tomatoes, onion and garlic roasting made it smell like fall in the kitchen. If you are looking for a satisfying soup for those cooler autumn evenings, then be sure to give this a try.

Ingredients:

2 lbs ripe tomatoes (for me, this was 2 large heirloom tomatoes)
1 big white onion
4 cloves of garlic
2 1/2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 ball of mozzarella
Pepper
Olive oil

Directions:
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 400F.

Wash and cut the tomatoes into eight pieces with the skin side down on the baking sheet. Peel the onion and cut into pieces and lay on the baking sheet. (I had chopped onions that I used, so I put those on the baking sheet for the last 10 minutes.) Peel and halve the garlic cloves. Then put the garlic cloves into the pieces of tomato. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast the veggies for 35 - 40 minutes. Mine were in the oven for 35 minutes.

Put the roasted veggies and juices into a large soup pot. Add in the vegetable broth, thyme sprigs and bay leaf. Bring the ingredients to a boil and then simmer on low for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs. Pour the soup into a blender and puree. I blended mine for about 4-5 minutes. It really depends on the consistency that you would like your soup to be. I can't say that the soup was perfectly smooth, but the tiny inconsistencies in the texture were okay with me.

You can either add thin slices or pieces of mozzarella to the soup or leave it out. You can also melt the mozzarella into the soup. I liked the mozzarella pieces in the soup because you got a little bit of cheese with every bite. You could also add some fresh thyme on top or serve with some toasted pieces of baguette. This is a wonderful soup that won't make you feel guilty and is full of fresh flavors. I can't wait for the next soup I get to make...now the weather needs to get a little cooler and everything will be much better!

Ace Pumpkin Cider

I am not a huge beer lover (though I am trying to work on it by forcing myself to experiment), so usually the closest I am to beer is hard cider. The fall makes me want to try more beer since there are lots of flavors like apple cinnamon and pumpkin. While strolling along the aisles of HEB, I happened to get stuck at an endcap display in traffic and happened to glance at what was next to me. Thank goodness that I looked since it got me really excited. It was pumpkin Ace. Ace has a few different varieties like apple and pear, but I have never seen this before. This was either going to be gross or really good. Apple and pumpkin seem like an unlikely combination, but let me tell you that it definitely worked! The apple notes are the first thing you taste and then it transitions into a mellow pumpkin pie flavor without being sweet. I'm sure that doesn't make much sense, but I think that pumpkin cider (or beer) is something that you have to taste because it's a bit hard to describe. If you aren't a huge beer person, but want to get in on the fall flavors, this is a great option to try. Grab some and cheers to the beginning of fall.

Morning Muffins

Breakfast during the week is difficult because I don't always have the time or feel like cooking something to eat. However, I know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day so I try to find things I can make ahead. I found this recipe from Yummly for Morning Power Muffins that sounded healthy and filling. There were some bananas that were becoming dangerously ripe so I figured this was a a good option to use them in a different way besides banana bread. However, if you need to use up bananas be sure to check out this recipe for two ingredient cookies. These turned out to be super moist so don't let that scare you in thinking they are undercooked and sweet without being too sweet for first thing in the morning.

Ingredients:
4 ripe bananas
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened
5 tablespoons honey (or agave nectar)
1 cup oats, quick cook
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or almond flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Note: the recipe says it makes 20 muffins, but mine only made 18 which is odd since I usually end up with more servings not fewer servings. 

Line two muffin pans with cupcake liners or spray generously with cooking spray. Peel the bananas and break into pieces. Mix on low for about 1 1/2 minutes.

Add in the canola oil, applesauce and honey. Mix on low until well incorporated.

Thoroughly mix in the baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground cinnamon for 2 minutes.

Next, add in the whole wheat flour and the oats. Mix only until combined. I mixed for about 30 seconds and then finished by hand just to make sure there wasn't anything at the bottom of the bowl that got missed. 

*Note: If you want to add in dried cranberries, raisins or any kind of nut, this is where you would fold them in. However, I didn't have any of that so I didn't add anything in.

Use a tablespoon or cookie scoop to fill the cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes. The muffins will still look wet when you take them out, but as long at the toothpick comes out clean, they are ready. Let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes before letting them finish cooling on a wire rack. You can eat these plain, with a drizzle of honey or some kind of nut butter. You are ready to enjoy your breakfast, knowing you have fueled yourself properly for the day!

Crock Pot Pumpkin Butter

During the fall, it seems that different "butters" start to become popular. Just to clarify, this doesn't actually have any butter in it. I think that the name comes from the similarity in consistency, but not in the ingredients. I haven't really tried many of these, let alone made one so I figured now was as good a time as any to try to make one. We all know it's now the season of pumpkin recipes so I decided to get on the boat and trying making a pumpkin butter. I am try to make more use of my crock pot (because the idea of throwing some ingredients together in a pot and then leaving it alone is very appealing) and it's a slightly underrated kitchen appliance. This couldn't be easier to make and it a great hostess gift as well. It makes a huge amount so you can definitely share and still have some to enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 15 oz can of pumpkin

1/2 cup low-sugar apple juice

3/4 cup brown sugar (the original recipe called for granulated sugar)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in the crock pot and cook on low for about 5 hours. Make sure that you occasionally stir the butter to prevent it from getting too brown. The butter will be done when you can turn a spoon upside down and the butter stays.

Put the butter in containers and let it cool completely in the refrigerator. It will last about a week in the frig and up to 6 months in the freezer. I left some out to use immediately and then froze the rest in smaller containers. That way when I run out, I can pull out some more for a few days without it going bad.

Butternut Squash Chili with Quinoa

It's the beginning of fall and the start of chili season. I have recently found a few different recipes that I can't wait to try. The temperature is slowly but surely starting to come down, so I figured that I could make my first chili of the year. This recipe is for butternut squash chili with quinoa. It sounded like it would be a hearty and healthy fall dish. It was a little bit on the sweet side because of the squash and it didn't have the liquid that usually goes along with chili. If you are looking for a vegetarian twist on chili, this is a great recipe to try. I did have to make some adjustments to the chili and guess on some of the directions since they left some of that information out.

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or 1 cinnamon stick)
1 teaspoon ground oregano
3 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
3/4 cup of quinoa
1 cup water
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can of black beans (or kidney beans)
1 teaspoon ground coriander (or one fresh bunch)
olive oil
pepper

Directions:

Cut the butternut squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Then peel and cubed. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes at 400F. *Note: It made be easier to cube and peel the squash after roasting it. It was pretty hard to cube, however this was the first time I have ever used a whole butternut squash. Usually I by the already cubed kind, but this one looked pretty good at the farmer's market so I gave it a try.

While the butternut squash roasts, cook the quinoa uncovered on low for 10 minutes. This was the first time I cooked with quinoa that wasn't the quick cook version. It took me a little to figure out that it needed to be uncovered (yes it boiled over) and what setting to cook it on. If you use the quick cook quinoa, just follow the directions on the package.

While the squash and quinoa cool for a few minutes, cook the onions and garlic in a large pot. You will know when the onions are down as they will turn an opaque color.

Add in the dried oregano, ground cumin and chili powder until it fully coats the onions and the mixture becomes very fragrant.

Now is the time to put in the quinoa, butternut squash, the tomatoes and their juice, cinnamon and bay leaf. Let this simmer for 10 minutes. 

Add the beans and simmer for 5 minutes. It will be smelling very delicious by now I can promise you that. Exactly what a kitchen in the fall should smell like. Stir in the coriander and serve. Note: I have never seen fresh coriander, so I not sure where you can get it. I have only every seen whole dried coriander or ground coriander, so if you know about the fresh version please let me know.