a lovely living

In my never ending attempt at getting as many vegetables as possible into my children (and myself, who am I kidding), I’m always on the lookout for recipes to add to my collection. Soups, which are extremely popular in our home,  are one of the easiest ways for me to accomplish this. We make a lot of chili’s and minestrone soups which tend to be a bit more substantial with the addition of beans, but this light soup was a nice change of pace. I love the flavors and fragrance that come out of simmering homemade soups. Absolutely perfect on these chilly evenings!

Vegetable Soup via Cooking Classy:

Ingredients

2 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (1 medium)
2 cups peeled and chopped carrots (about 4)
1 1/4 cups chopped celery (about 3)
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 (14.5 oz) cans low-sodium chicken broth
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes (undrained)
3 cups peeled and 1/2-inch thick diced potatoes (from about 3 medium)
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups chopped frozen or fresh green beans
1 1/4 cups frozen or fresh corn
1 cup frozen or fresh peas

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery and saute 3 – 4 minutes then add garlic and saute 30 seconds longer.

Pour in broth (if you want lesser ratio of broth use 3 cans then only 3/4 cup of the 4th can) and add tomatoes, potatoes, parsley, bay leaves, thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil, then add green beans, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 – 30 minutes, then add corn and peas and cook 5 minutes longer.

Serve warm.

I know that many of you are new readers since last year, so I wanted to share two of my favorite pumpkin recipes with you before you begin prepping your Thanksgiving meals. One is a fairly labor intensive pumpkin pie that is more than worth the work. Leave it to Smitten Kitchen to come up with this outstanding recipe that I dream of as each Thanksgiving approaches. Since I’ve given you plenty of time to prep, I highly suggest you give this one a shot and let me know what you think of the results!

The other pumpkin recipe I have to share with you is a super simple and fun way to create mini pie treats. These could be prepped at any point during the season to serve at a variety of get-togethers. It makes for a cute display and a very yummy treat!

(Pumpkin Pie/ Mini Pumpkin Pies)

What are some of your favorite pumpkin recipes?

Over the past few years I’ve become quite a fan of making bundt cakes. In part, I’d say it’s because they look beautiful, but in all honesty it’s mainly because they are much simpler to prepare than making full blown cakes, and taking the time to ice and decorate them. I’ve also been fascinated by the Mix and Match Mama’s list of 100 Bundt Cakes. I literally want to try 75% of them. This week we’re celebrating my mother’s birthday which provided the perfect reason to try this Chocolate Cherry Coca-Cola Cake that I had been eyeing. I adapted the recipe a bit by adding some chopped moschino cherries, a fav of hers and a perfect addition to this cake. And since I didn’t have grenadine on hand, I used cherry juice which seemed to work perfectly as a substitute. If you’re a Cherry Coke (or Pepsi) fan, you’re going to love the subtle yet delicious flavor of this cake!

Recipe adapted from the Mix and Match Mama:

Chocolate Cherry Coca-Cola Bundt Cake:

Ingredients:

1 box of chocolate cake mix
1 small box of instant vanilla pudding
1 small box of instant chocolate pudding
1/2 cup of veggie oil
1 1/4 cups Coca-Cola, plus an additional few splashes for the frosting
4 eggs
3 tablespoons Grenadine, divided (optional)
1 dozen (approx) moschino cherries, chopped
4 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter, softened
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease a 10 inch bundt pan

In mixing bowl, combine cake mix, puddings, oil, 1 1/4 cups Coca-Cola, 2 tablespoons Grenadine, cherries and eggs with electric mixer. Pour into prepared pan and bake 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Let cake rest on counter in pan 10 minutes. Then, invert cake onto serving plate to finish cooling.

To make the frosting, beat butter with powdered sugar, cocoa powder and a few splashes of Coca-Cola and the remaining tablespoon of Grenadine until creamy. Stir in vanilla. Spread on cooled cake.