Lasagna Soup

I've been trying really, really hard to pretend it feels like fall.  I mean, I'm ready for 50-60 degree weather, football, boots & sweaters.  Yesterday, it was 91 degrees in Denver.  91 Degrees!  So needless to say, I'm not quite ready to bust out all of my saved pumpkin recipes, soup recipes, etc.  We are still outside grilling!
A few weeks ago, I did have the opportunity to try a good fall recipe.  It was a bit on the cooler side, it was Sunday evening & we had just spent the afternoon at the Bronco's game.  I've had this recipe saved for awhile now & I'm glad we tried it!  It was so good.  Sorry the picture is so bad...we were so hungry, I just quick snapped a picture before we devoured it!

{Lasagna Soup}
recipe compliments of  Cassie Craves

{I tried to get a picture of the Ricotta mixture at the bottom of the bowl...didn't work out so well}

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 pound spicy sausage
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with garlic and olive oil
5 cups beef broth
1/2 cup tomato basil spaghetti sauce
1 bay leaf
4 ounces campanelle pasta
4 ounces ricotta
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1/8 teaspoon salt
Pinch of pepper
1 cup shredded mozzarella

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sausage and sauté, breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until the sausage is no longer pink, about 5 to 7 minutes. Drain any excess fat from the pot. Add the onions and sauté until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and Italian seasoning and sauté for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and sauté until the paste turns a rusty brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice, the spaghetti sauce, the broth, and the bay leaf and bring the soup to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.

2. Add the pasta, then increase the heat to medium-high and boil the soup until the pasta is tender to the bite, following the time recommendations on the pasta package. Discard the bay leaf. If desired, season with salt and black pepper to taste.

3. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, the Parmesan, the 1/8 teaspoon of salt, and the pinch of pepper. To serve, place about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the ricotta mixture in each bowl, sprinkle with some of the mozzarella, and ladle the soup on top.

Enjoy!

Block Party! and a few great recipes...

Hopefully everyone is having a great weekend!  Last evening, we had our first annual block party.  We had a great time!  This is what our street looked like:

and:

Even Little Oli had a good time...although this morning he's had a slight hangover: by that I mean like a food coma/hangover.  We watched our little 13 pound dog eat 1 hotdog, 1 cupcake wrapper & he took a cookie right out of a little girls hand!  Who knows what else he got ahold of.  SO needless to say he's a big sluggish this morning. 

We ended the evening with a bonfire in the middle of our street.  It was so much fun!  Can't wait to do it next year!  As for what I brought- they were both new recipes that I will be keeping around.  I enjoyed them both (and a big thank you to Pinterest- which is where I found the links.)

{Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites}
recipe compliments of Foodaphilia

1 cup creamy peanut butter
2 Tablespoons softened butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
mini pretzels
1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine peanut butter & softened butter in a large bowl.  Mix to combine.  Add the sugars & mix again.  At this point if the filling will roll easily into balls without sticking to your hands you're ready to go.  If not, add a little more of each sugar until you've reached a consistency that is easy to roll.

Use a teaspoon measure to scoop the filling.  Roll each portion into a small ball, then sandwich them between two whole pretzels.  When all the balls are rolled & successfully sandwiched, stick the whole tray in the freezer for about 30 minutes (I froze my completely.)

Pour the chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl & heat at 30-second intervals, stirring occasionally until completely melted.  Remove the pretzel sandwiches from the freezer & quickly dip each half-way into the melted chocolate.  Return to the tray & repeat with remaining sandwiches.  When all are dipped, return the tray to the freezer to set up completely.  Store the sandwiches in the refrigerator until ready to serve. 

TIP: line the tray with parchment paper

now on to my favorite:

{Asian Chicken Pasta Salad}

recipe compliments of nobiggie.net

1 box bowtie (farfalle) pasta
4 chicken breasts cooked & shredded (I shredded a rotisserie chicken)
1/4 cup green onions; sliced
1/2 pack sliced almonds; toasted
1 bag spinach
1 small bag peapods
1 can mandarin oranges; drained

Dressing:
NOTE: this recipe MUST be doubled

1/4 cup sesame seeds; toasted
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable oil (or sesame oil)
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper

Cook pasta (a little al dente.)  While pasta is cooking, shred chicken.  Make 1 batch of the dressing.  Combine cooled pasta & chicken in a container: pour dressing over.  Place in fridge overnight (or at least 4 hours.)

Right before serving, toss all together with 1 more batch of the dressing.  Top with a small amount of additional sesame seeds.  Enjoy!

Aspen Recap & a Great Soup Recipe

Wow! Aspen was amazing.  We had a great time just hanging out, watching volleyball, walking around town, eating tons of food & drinking some really good wine (pretty much left over from our last Napa Valley vacation.)  Before I share one of my favorite soup recipes....Sausage Tortillini Soup, I thought I'd share a few photos from our trip.

My hubby & I

 

The girls

Post hiking up Aspen Mountain...we needed a few beers & some FOOD!

Aspen Sunset...

Needless to say we had a busy week! 

Since coming home from Aspen, the mornings have been a bit on the chilly side & it's been a bit dark when I've been waking up for work.  I think it's appropriate to say that fall is in the air!  Soup is such a fall meal for me...it's this time of year I usually bust out a few soup recipes.  This is my absolute favorite!

{Sausage Tortillini Soup}

recipe compliments of Ann Bishop

3 stalks Celery; chopped small

3 stalks Carrots; chopped small

1 package fresh mushrooms; chopped

1/2 onion; diced

1 pound Italian Sausage

1-28oz can petite diced tomatoes; undrained

2-15oz cans chicken broth

1 small package premade cheese tortillini

Parmesan cheese

French Bread

Saute celery, mushrooms, carrots & onion in a large soup pot.  At the same time, brown sausage.  Once cooked, add sausage to veggies.  Add undrained petite diced tomatoes & chicken broth.  Bring to a boil & add tortillini.  Boil until pasta is cooked. 

Top with parmesan cheese (and I also topped with some fresh basil from my garden) & serve with french bread. Enjoy!

Headed up to Aspen this weekend!

We are headed up to Aspen for the long Labor Day Weekend this afternoon!  This is quite a big deal in our house: my hubby recently resigned from his job & now has weekends off!  We've never been to Aspen before, so we're really excited.  We're going with our good friends Heather & Nate and Andrea & Tony. 

 

Some things that will be going on this weekend:

-Jazz Fest

-Wine drinking

-Riding bikes through town

-Brunch

-Zac Brown Band concert

-Hiking

-Enjoying good friends & good food

 

Since I don't have a recipe to share...I thought I'd share the comfy outfit I'll be wearing for the trip up.  I've got to get the last weekend of wearing white in!  I'll be sad to see my white shorts/skinny jeans go.  I'm not sure...I might rock they out for a bit after this weekend.  We'll have to see.

 

Have a great Labor Day Weekend My Friends!

{Kate}

headed up to Aspen this weekend! by kategriffin09 featuring short shorts

AG Adriano Goldschmied short shorts
$185 - stylebop.com

Abercrombie fitch
$68 - abercrombie.ca

Bernardo sandals
$195 - net-a-porter.com

Hermes stainless steel watch
$2,700 - usa.hermes.com

Jennifer Meyer chain necklace
$1,500 - barneys.com

Jennifer Meyer stud earrings
$675 - barneys.com

Dogeared Jewels gold bracelet
$70 - dogeared.com

Ray-Ban ray ban shades
$159 - mytheresa.com

7 Layer Greek Dip

Tomorrow night my hubby & I have seperate (and very gender appropriate) activities going on.  My hubby has a Fantasy Football Draft party & I have bookclub.  Now, I don't know much about all that football draft stuff...but I do really enjoy getting together with the girls.  We each bring an appetizer & the person hosting for the evening provides the wine.  This past month we read Honolulu by Alan Brennert.  It wasn't the best book we've read but I did finish it, which says quite a bit.

I've made this dip before, but I believe we had gone golfing & must have been starving when we got home because it was almost all gone before I remembered to take pictures.  So here is round 2...hopefully the girls enjoy tomorrow night!

{7 Layer Greek Dip}
recipe adapted from OurBestBites.com

1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened (I used low-fat)
1 tsp. dill weed
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 package hummus
1 c. seeded, diced cucumbers
1 c. seeded, diced tomatoes
1/2 c. chopped Kalamata olives
1/3 c. chopped green onions (about 3 green onions completely chopped)
1/2 c. crumbled Feta cheese
1/8-1/4 c. minced fresh basil

With an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese, seasoning, garlic, and lemon juice until light and fluffy. Spread in the bottom of a pie plate or a small, shallow baking dish. Then spread a layer of hummus. In order, create layers by sprinkling the cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, onions, Feta cheese, and basil. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours. Serve with pita chips, fresh vegetables, and/or flatbread.

Spicy Honey Chicken

Last week, we were driving back to Denver from Vail.  A trip that usually takes us about 2 hours literally took us over 3 hours: construction, summer traffic, etc.  The trip home is usually the worst thing about heading up the hill, so to pass time, I started looking at the recipe index from Our Best Bites.  They have the best recipes! 

As I've blogged in the past, our trips to Vail usually include a lot of golfing, eating out & drinking.  After a few days up there, we were ready to come home, unpack & cook a healthy meal.   I flagged a few recipes to try & this is the first one.  We loved the rub/glaze on the chicken (we actually used it to glaze some porkchops later in the week.)  The salad was really good- the dressing was so light & the mangoes were awesome with the red onion.

{Spicy Glazed Chicken}
recipe compliments of Our Best Bites

8 boneless chicken thighs; about 2 lbs
2 tsp vegetable oil

RUB:
2 tsp granulated garlic
2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp coriander

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder

GLAZE:
1/2 cup honey
1 TBSP cider vinegar

Combine all the rub spices in a bowl & mix well.

Use kitchen shears to trim off any excess fat from the chicken pieces.  Pat dry.  Drizzle oil over chicken & rub in with your hands to lightly coat all the pieces.  Then toss chicken with the spice rub to coat all sides well.  Use your hands and get it in there!  Grill chicken.

While chicken is cooking, warm honey in the microwave so it's not so thick.  Add the vinegar & combine well.  Reserve 2 TBSP honey glaze for later.  Take the rest & brush on chicken (both sides) in the final moments of grilling. 

Right before eating, drizzle with reserved honey mixture.

{Spicy Honey Chicken Salad}
recipe compliments of Our Best Bites
serves 4 large salad

1-2 heads romaine lettuce; shredded
2 ripe mangoes; thinly sliced into strips & chilled*
2-3 ripe avocado; thinly sliced into strips
red onion; thinly sliced

{Honey-Citrus Vinaigrette}

1 garlic clove; minced
1/2 TBSP grated onion
1/3 cup fresh OJ
3 TBSP fresh lime juice
2 TBSP honey
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 ground black pepper
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Combine all & shake well

Combine all salad ingredients & drizzle with salad dressing.  Serve with chicken.  Enjoy!

* this is a good time to talk about my most favorite kitchen tool of late.  My mango pitter that I purchased from Crate & Barrel.  You can purchase one here.

Red Sangria

I LOVE sangria. 

I really, really like it.  What I cannot stand is bad sangria.  Like Applebees...they have terrible sangria.
I have a personal preference when it comes to my sangria...and the very best comes from San Chez Tapas Bistro in Grand Rapids, Michigan (my home town.)  If you're ever in the area...check it out.

So here it goes:

pardon my mani...I was gardening.

Best. Sangria. Recipe. Ever.

{Red Sangria}

recipes compliments of San Chez

Note: Makes 1 Gallon of base (which is ALOT)

46 oz. can Guava Juice

5 Liters Burgundy Wine

1 cup Nonalcoholic Triple Sec

1 cup Brandy

1 qt. Orange Juice

splash of lemon lime soda in each glass

Assorted fresh fruit

Combine all but lemon lime soda & fresh fruit.  Dispense into iced glasses or pitcher.  Finish with soda & fruit.  

Note: it is impossible to find non-alcoholic triple sec.  Go big or go home...just get the usual stuff.