Rainy day cream of tomato soup and Asiago cheese croutons

Yesterday was one of those 'blah' days where it was rainy, dreary and just not a nice day outside.  One of those days where you don't want to get out of bed and the thought of putting on "real" pants seems like a daunting task.  All I could think was how perfect it would be to make soup.  

I consulted with the refrigerator and pantry to see what I had that could be used.  It just so happens that I had many tomatoes that were about to spoil. In addition to that, my mom had made bread that was going stale and needed to be used.  So....tomato soup it was.

As I had never made cream of tomato soup before, I referred to Ina Garten's recipe for guidelines on how to create this masterpiece.  

Although I did add a full cup of half and half to the recipe, I stand by that it is still a relatively healthy soup.  With five pounds of fresh tomatoes, fresh carrots, fresh onion and fresh basil, the indulgence of the half and half is minor when it comes to the nutritional value of this soup.  ( Tomatoes= lots of lycopene and vitamin C)

The basis of this soup was two large carrots, a medium red onion and roughly five pounds of fresh tomatoes. I chose to use solely organic ingredients for this soup.  Anytime you eat the skin of a fruit or vegetable, I think that is an important choice to make.

As I have many picky eaters in my family that have issues with texture, I ran ALL the ingredients through the Vitamix. This is the carrot and red onion post Vitamix.  As said before, I love using the Vitamix, not a day goes by that I don't use it for something.  When making this soup I found it to be especially handy and prepping all my ingredients.

The carrot and red onion were sauteed until tender in some extra virgin olive oil.

I put all the tomatoes through the Vitamix prior to cooking as well.  This is the end result.

Chicken stock, garlic, fresh basil, pureed tomatoes, half and half, salt and pepper are added to the pot.  This was brought to a boil and then allowed to simmer for approximately 40 minutes.

Who wants to have soup without some awesome homemade croutons?  My mom had made a few loaves of bread that were going stale.  I cut them into cubes here and coated them in olive oil, garlic and freshly grated Asiago cheese ( yep...I ran it through the Vitamix too.  I wasn't about to grate all that cheese by hand.)

Croutons in the oven.  Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

Croutons and soup ready to be served.

By the end of cooking this, I was really hungry and forgot to take a "pretty" picture of the soup with the croutons.  So, this was my actual plate about midway through eating.  Once the soup was finished cooking, I ran the whole batch through the Vitamix again so that all the ingredients blended together perfectly.  

 My first adventure with making soup using the Vitamix and only fresh ingredients proved to be a success.  The croutons were the perfect pairing for this soup adding a little bit of pizazz with the Asiago cheese.  The soup was eaten last night and for lunch today as well.  It made for the perfect meal on a rainy, gross and dreary day.  


Lots of vitamin C,
Caitlin

My Melting Pot Birthday Celebration

The Melting Pot is unquestionably one of my favorite restaurants to go. Unfortunately, I don't go very often because I don't find myself having $100+ dollars to spend on a meal.  Thankfully though, my family likes to treat me to dinner at The Melting Pot for my birthday.  


The meal consists of 3-4 courses, depending on what you order.  While the food isn't the most amazing cuisine, the ambiance makes up for it.  While at The Melting Pot, you get an opportunity to linger over your food and interact with those you are dining with.  


On this occasion, we got a cheese course, salad, meat and dessert ( my favorite!).


For the first course, we had Swiss cheese to dip a variety of 'dippers' in.  Dippers include bite size piece of bread, vegetables and Granny Smith apples.  The Granny Smith apples are my favorite dipper; the mix of salty and sweet is really good. 


My second course was a traditional wedge salad, which consists of a 'wedge' of iceberg lettuce topped with bacon and blue cheese dressing.


The third course was the meat course.  I had 6 oz. filet mignon, but I also photographed a family member's sirloin teriyaki.


The final course was the chocolate course.  I decided to use my birthday wish and get all white chocolate.  My family members, for comparison, ordered half milk chocolate and half white chocolate.  


The staff brought my dessert 'dippers' with a birthday candle in a mini piece of cheesecake.  Check out the photos below to see what a dinner at The Melting Pot is like!  

You can't have cheese without wine!  This is just a basic 'by the glass' Pinot Grigio.

For my main course I had filet mignon, asparagus and Portabello mushrooms. 

Will had sirloin teriyaki, which is his favorite.

This is what the meat course looked like before we demolished it.  The meat is cooked on the table in various liquids.  Ours had a white wine base, broth, garlic, mushrooms and a touch of cherry kirsch.

Ying-yang chocolate!  Yum.

The best part of the whole meal, dessert!  The Rice Krsipie treats dipped in chocolate are amazingly good.

This is the table before the havoc of our hunger wrecked the table setting.

I would recommend everyone try fondue at least once in their life.   I probably won't get to go back to The Melting Pot until my birthday next year, but it makes it all that more special.  


If I lived closer to Pittsburgh, The Melting Pot would be my regular Friday or Saturday evening hang out for dessert fondue and cocktails.


Chocolate covered everything,
Caitlin

Chaya, the Mayan miracle plant

On my journey to Mexico during spring break, I had one alterior motive:  find some cool, unique, interesting food that is only in Mexico.

This magical food presented itself as we took the 2.5 hour drive to Chichen Itza. 

After a long, hot (and I mean HOT) morning of touring the beautiful Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza, we cooled off in a nearby cenote.  There are more than 6,000 cenotes (sen-oh-tays) in Yucatan peninsula, Ik Kil is a short drive from Chichen Itza.



A borrowed photo of the Ik Kil cenote near Chichen Itza.  I was unable to take any photos due to risk of my camera going for a swim.



  After a cooling swim in this cenote, we had a chance to sample some authentic Yucatan/Mayan cuisine at the historic hotel Mayaland.  Mayaland is the world's oldest hotel inside an archaeological park, built in 1923 by the Barbachano family, who own and operate it to this day.

While at Mayaland, they had a full buffet of foods including hand made tortillas ( cooked on a hot stone), Mayan pork, churros, papaya as well as margartias.

It was at this buffet that I discovered this 'miracle plant'  chaya. 

I am unsure of how this drink was made.  I believe it was a combonation of water, sugar and chaya leaves.

According to the National Institute of Nutrition in Mexico City, ingesting chaya will:

• Improve blood circulation,
• help digestion,
• improve vision,
• disinflame veins and hemorrhoids,
• help lower cholesterol,
• help reduce weight,
• prevent coughs,
• augment calcium in the bones,
• decongest and disinfect the lungs,
• prevent anemia by replacing iron in the blood,
• improve memory and brain function and
• combat arthritis and diabetes.

A nutritional analysis shows that chaya is richer in iron than spinach, and a powerful source of potassium and calcium. 

For more information on the nutritional and health benefits of chaya, check out this website http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1996/v3-516.html 


While Mexico didn't offer many familiar food options to me, I was obsessed with the fresh fruits that were always available.  I can see why it is that Mexican's drink so many fruit based beverages, the fruit is everywhere!

The rest of my trip to Chichen Itza looked a like this:

A few of the homemade tortillas with Mayan pork.  Rice and beans as the side.

Fresh watermelon and papaya.  There was a lot of papaya available during my trip.  Papaya has many digestive properties due to its enzyme, papain.  You can purchase papain over the counter in chewable form.  Eating papaya fresh is also a way of absorbing this enzyme.

It wouldn't have been a trip to Mexico without a margarita. 

In front of the largest pyramid! Hola from Chichen Itza!

Green plants and Mexican adventures,
Caitlin Eats & Bakes

Sister Bakes' Snickerdoodles

For those who do not know....my younger sister has been hoarding the most perfect snickerdoodle recipe.  This recipe was 'borrowed' from a family member years ago, yet has never returned.  I have attempted to bribe and blackmail her to get a copy this recipe, with little success.

She has sent me photos of these fabulous snickerdoodles being made. 



After the dough has been mixed, prior to be rolled in cinnamon sugar (on the left hand side)  Apparently, another important aspect of making snickerdooles is an iced-coffee from Starbucks. 



Rolled in cinnamon-sugar and ready for baking!

*Ding* cookies are done!



I was going to go work out, but then I was like......is that a plate of snickerdoodles?


One day I will get my hands on this recipe.  It has the perfect balance of soft and crunchy. 

Until then....

My drunk cupcake

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  

It was a busy week, and I had a hard time thinking of what I wanted to blog about.  Given that it was St. Patrick's Day, I thought I would combine two good things to make a great thing.  Cupcakes and alcohol.

This is how it went down....

Chocolate cake batter.

Chocolate cupcakes, fresh out of the oven!

Ready for frosting!

Here is the secret: Bailey's Irish buttercream frosting.

After frosting.

My drunk cupcake.  I left it alone and this is what happened. 

I've named these " Bailey's Irish Pot-o-Gold cupcakes."  The chocolate cupcakes were normal, but it was the frosting that made them over the top.  My guests referred to the frosting as "the bomb" as they fought over who got to lick the bowl of frosting clean. 

The rest of my night looked a little something like this:  

My mother's homemade bread, butter and grilled.  NY Strip steak, Chicken tenderloins, grilled vegetables and baked potatoes.  #sofull

Brown sugar chicken tenderloins.

Grilled asparagus, zucchini, onion, portabella mushrooms and green pepper. 

Grilled NY Strip steak.  

I hope everyone has a great St. Patrick's Day!

Drunk cupcakes and pots of gold for everyone,
Caitlin

Green Smoothies

In my never ending quest for better health, I have discovered 'the green smoothie.' 

Okay, yeah its gross looking, but you have to consider the bigger picture. 

Many people, including myself, have a difficult time fitting healthy and fresh foods into their diet.  Whether its because we are busy, we forget to eat, we eat junk...you can't exactly throw a salad in your purse the way you can a Snickers bar.

Having a green smoothie everyday is like a health insurance policy.  You get fiber, vitamins and minerals of fruits and vegatables and get to down it all through a straw.

At first green smoothies seem really gross, and green.  But, after getting use to the color, you notice that it tastes fresh and sweet.  Green smoothies can take on many different shapes and forms, and you can customize it to fit your tastes.

Here is what it looks like when I make a green smoothie: 

Here are the ingredients for my favorite green smoothie.  I used a frozen acai berry packet ( found in the frozen section at Whole Foods), two stalks of celery, one frozen banana, one apple sliced and cored, one pear sliced and cored and half a lemon peeled.  I also threw in a handful of blueberries and some strawberries ( I use what I have on hand).



For the 'green' part of the smoothie I added a few handfuls of baby spinach and around five leaves of romaine lettuce ( torn to fit into blender).



Blend 14 oz of water with your 'greens' until pureed. ( I really like the 'power greens' mix they sell at Whole Foods, but they were out the last time I was there.  It has baby swiss chard, baby kale and baby spinach.) 

Add all of your sliced fruit, veggies and frozen berry packet to blender.  Blend until smooth. 

Okay..this one didn't turn out so green.  The acai berry packet tends to turn things more brown than green.  But it adds sweetness and antioxidants.  I promise this tastes good ( you taste banana more than anything). If you didn't add the smoothie packet it would be very green.

This is usually enough to last me two days.  I will put the extra in an airtight container and store it in the fridge.  It makes a quick and easy breakfast when you are on the go.

There are so many different ways you can make a green smoothie.  You can add and omit anything you like or dislike.  I suggest changing it up to see how it turns out. 

Disclaimer:  I used a Vitamix blender. I have used a few different blenders and have not found one that performs quite like this one does.  It will puree whole foods, including skins and greens into a smooth consistency.  You can also make hot soups with it by adding the raw ingredients and blending on high, the soups come out steaming hot due to how fast the blades spin ( creating heat).  The motor has 2.25 Horsepower, it is easy to clean, and they come with a 10 year warranty. I will probably do a whole separate blog post on my love for the Vitamix blender one day. 

Peace, love and green smoothies,
Caitlin

Key lime cheesecake

Key lime pie is one of my favorite foods, but I felt like making a cheesecake this week.  So, I combined the two and made key lime cheesecake.

Citrus is still in season, and the grocery stores are full of it.  Although this recipe uses key lime juice from a bottle, there is still fresh lime zest involved.

I like a graham cracker crust with my key lime desserts.  The warmth of the graham sets off the tartness of the filling nicely. 

Graham cracker crumbs + hot butter = crust.

I like to make miniature food.  This is the crust for my mini cheesecakes before being pressed into the bottom of the pan.

Filling ingredients: cream cheese, eggs, white sugar, lime zest a bit of corn starch.  *I made a mistake here and forgot to whip my cream cheese ahead of time....don't do that.

Baked cheesecakes out of the oven. 

Finished product.  I added a strawberry as a garnish. I would have made whipped cream had I had any heavy cream.  

   Although these cheesecakes didn't turn out perfect, they were still tasty.  I made the mistake of beating mine too much, which incorporated too much air into the mixture.  This caused tiny little air bubbles throughout the cheesecake. 

Things I learned about making cheesecake:

1.  Don't over beat the mixture.

2. Make sure your cream cheese is completely softened.

3. Why did I not have whipped cream ingredients?

4.  Cool slowly, and refrigerate overnight.

Next time I make the key lime cheesecakes, I might try added some almonds into the crust for a bit of nuttiness. 

   
    Perhaps it was a different ingredients, but the bourbon pumpkin mini cheesecakes I made for Thanksgiving turned out a lot better than this batch.

Mini bourbon pumpkin cheesecakes I made for Thanksgiving.

I think that this may start a series of different flavors of mini cheesecakes, using seasonal ingredients for me.  I really enjoy making cheesecakes and every one else really likes to eat them.