Tomato Basil Soup - A recipe I can't wait to try...

A first-rate soup is more creative than a second-rate painting.

Abraham Maslow

I love tomato basil and tomato bisque soups, but just like my coffee I'm kind of a snob about them.  My favorite is Crispers Tomato Bisque soup, I think if I didn't know how many calories one serving packs (not to mention the fat content) I could live off of their tomato soup.  I've tried finding a good recipe I can make at home that is healthier but I'm so picky that I haven't found any that I like.  Recently I turned to Pinterest to look up some ideas for the best Tomato soup.  While this one isn't the healthiest I've seen I think I'm going to try it out in the near future.  I thought I would pass it on in case you need a good soup to warm up your winter season.  Since I'm in Florida I won't be making it to warm me up but rather just because my waistline doesn't need anymore Crispers :-) enjoy!

Tuesday's Tip - Chicken Stock

"I love chicken. I would eat chicken fingers on Thanksgiving if it were socially acceptable. "

What a cute quote and I have to admit that I too love chicken.  Especially today, as I'm home sick and nothing sounds better than chicken noodle soup.  I don't have the energy to make a pot of it but I thought discussing chicken stock would be a great tip for today.  One of the best money saving tips I have learned in cooking so far is that of making your own stocks.  It is much cheaper to buy the whole chicken, use what you need for your meal and save the bones for a stock to be made at a later date.  Not only is it so much cheaper it is also a lot healthier, you can moniter the salt and fat amounts and adjust according to your diet.  Since learning this I don't throw anything away. 

Happy New Year!!!

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Martha Stewart Recipe Box

Happy New Year!!! This year has been wonderful, crazy, stressful, busy and scary all at the same time.    This year I became Mrs. Latter - yep that's right I'm no longer Courtney Greer I'm now Courtney Latter.  Still sounds a little weird but I'm getting used to it.  Probably the biggest shock was that it was easier than I expected.  I know weird right?  Honestly though, people had me completely freaked out.  I kept hearing "the next 5 years will be the worst years of your life, but don't worry you'll be fine after that".  I was honestly so freaked out that the week before the wedding I kept having to tell myself "it's ok, they say that's only 5 years, just look forward to year 6".  All I can say now, is that if this is "hard" then year 6 is going to be awesome!!!!  I love that Shale and I are so compatible and that he supports every passion I have.  During this year I also had the wonderful privilege of figuring out some of my passions in life.

Soup Season

"There is nothing like soup. It is by nature eccentric: no two are ever alike, unless of course you get your soup in a can."
Laurie Colwin

Le Creuset Cookware

Well it doesn't get very cold in Florida so the few days when it actually get below 70 degrees I'm all about celebrating the small moment of fall before it gets back up to beach weather.  This weekend I was craving making some soups.  They are just so warm and comforting and such a great way to watch the waistline!  They are filling, full of fiber, cheap to make and great on-the-go.  This weekend Shale asked me to make lentil soup.  After I got over the initial shock that he requested something healthy, I started looking online and stumbled across a great find!  Apparently the food network is featuring soup recipes and has an awesome list you can print out for 50 simple soup recipes (some of them use the same base and only tweak one or two ingredients)  Visit http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes-and-cooking/50-easy-soups-1--10/index.html to print out the list.  When looking I found a great recipe for black bean soup that I tweaked to make my own version without having to buy more ingredients.  It turned out awesome!!!  Even the meat-and-potatoes husband loved it!!!!  So I just had to share!!!