Fall + Soups = Warm & Cozy

Doesn't everyone love to be warm and cozy

when the weather is cold and chilly?

I love when Fall rolls around.

It means that I can start making

pots of warm and hearty soups

and spend more time in our warm and cozy kitchen cooking.

We are huge soup eaters in the

fall and winter months.

It's very comforting to me to be in the kitchen

cooking up pots of soup during the fall and

winter months. I think it has something to

do with knowing that I am creating nutritious,

delicious and comforting soups for my family

that help chase away the chill, illnesses and fill our
bellies during those long cold months, plus
there is nothing better than
the whole house being filled with the
wonderful aromas of the soups cooking.
Talk about feeling warm and cozy.

Yesterday felt like a Homemade Tomato Soup day.

Did you know that tomatoes are so beneficial to your health?
It's true.
Tomatoes can provide about 40% of the daily vitamin C required.
Lord knows we all could use a little extra vitamin C this
time of year with the cold and flu season upon us.
Tomatoes also contain vitamin A, potassium and iron
that is essential for maintaining normal blood health.
Lets not forget about vitamin K, which controls
bleeding and blood clotting. Tomatoes are so
beneficial to our blood circulation.
I don't know about you, but I prefer to get
my vitamins in a good bowl of soup compared
to popping a pill in my mouth.

Hubby loves my Tomato soup.
Heck, who am I kidding.
He loves all my soups.

What's tomato soup without a hearty toasted cheese
sandwich to go along with it?
Not your everyday wimpy boring
toasted cheese sandwich.
No Siree.
We're talking toasted cheese sandwiches made
with hearty bread, pepperjack cheese and mayo to be exact.

It's a match made in heaven.

Give it a try.
I'm pretty sure you won't ever want to eat canned soup again.

I always make two pots of the same soup at a time.

One to enjoy right away and one to freeze for later consumption.

The freezer is already starting to get stocked for the winter months.
I used to freeze our soups in quart size ziploc freezer baggies
until I found these food storage containers that I can reuse
over and over again.
DuraHome-Containers

Campbell's soups don't stand a chance against homemade soups.
Nope.
None
Nada
Zilch!
Give up the fight Campbell's!

Here is my version of Homemade Tomato Soup.

HOMEMADE TOMATO SOUP

INGREDIENTS:

(3) 28 oz. cans Crushed Tomatoes

2 Carrots, minced

1 large yellow Onion, chopped

1 stick Unsalted Butter

4 cups Chicken Broth

1 large Garlic clove, minced

2 teaspoons Sea Salt

1 teaspoon Basil

1 teaspoon Oregano

1-2 teaspoons Lawry's Seasoned Pepper

1/2 cup Heavy Cream

Parsley - to garnish

DIRECTIONS:

In a dutch oven, or large stock pot, saute onions and carrots in the butter until slightly softened.

Add garlic, stir until garlic is fragrant, approx. 1-3 minutes.

Add crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, salt, basil, oregano and pepper. Stir and cover pot.

Cook for 1 hour.

Remove from heat and stir in the heavy cream.

Serve soup warm topped with parsley.

Source: Veronica's Kitchen

That's it for this week.
Until Next Time,
Veronica

Pecan Shortbread Bars

Our first snow fall this year

arrived yesterday, October 20th!

We had planned on taking a drive until this started

and decided to stick to the ground.

Instead of taking a drive I opted to stay at home and do a little baking.

I whipped up a batch of Pecan Shortbread Bars.

Hubby didn't have a problem with me wanting to stay home and bake.

These are melt in your mouth bars.

Pecans and butter.

What's not to love?

They literally take 10 minutes to whip up.

No mixer required.

Now that the weather has turned cold and blustery

it's got me in the mood to bake.
Let the baking season commence!

Watch out Hubby!

PECAN SHORTBREAD BARS

INGREDIENTS:

2 sticks unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 + 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup oat flour*

5 Tablespoons cornstarch

1 + 1/2 cups pecans, chopped, reserve a few whole pieces for the top

DIRECTIONS:

Set oven to 350°.

Lightly spray a 9 x 9 baking dish.

Whisk the melted butter and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl.

Add the extract and blend into the mixture. Add the flours, cornstarch and nuts.

Stir until just combined. Don't over mix.

Place the dough into the baking dish. Using your hands, pat the dough until all edges are filled

and the dough is evenly distributed.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the top looks pale and the outer edges are just beginning to turn a

golden brown.

Cool for 15 minutes before cutting.

*You can purchase oat flour or make your own*

*To make your own, place Old Fashioned Oats (not quick oats) into a blender or food processor

  and blend until oats turn into a flour texture.

That's it for this week.

Until Next Time,

Veronica

Tick, Tock

I shared this picture recently and mentioned

that I had already made a change to it.

I love our Grandfather clock.
We've had it for 18 years.
When we first bought it, it was a lighter
colored golden oak. Over the years it has
darken to an orangey-red color that I just
wasn't loving. I would have loved to paint it but
I knew Hubby wouldn't have been happy about that.

I had just finished giving our living room a refresh,

when out of the blue Hubby made a comment about

the Grandfather clock looking too orange. 

"I think you should paint it."

WHAT!

SERIOUSLY?

"Yes, I don't have a problem with you painting it."

O.K., you asked for it.

Tick,

Tock.

A new look for the grandfather clock.

I applied 2 coats of Chocolate Swirl by Behr.

I'm glad Hubby suggested I paint the clock.

It no longer sticks out like a sore thumb.

We are loving our new rich chocolate colored grandfather clock.

That's it for this week.

Until Next Time,

Veronica

Fallifying

I wasn't going to fallify our home this year

because I just wasn't in the mood.

I mentioned this to Hubby and he was quite

surprised by that statement.

He knows how much I love everything Fall.

 Well wouldn't you know, we had the perfect fall weather

yesterday that put me in the fallifying mood.

Normally I would decorate the living room,

dining room and kitchen.
I decided to only decorate the living room this year

because it is the area that we spend the most time in.

I started by pulling out a couple neutral colored pillows
and added them to the couch.

To add a pop of fall color to an otherwise neutral colored couch,
I added a pumpkin pillow that I created from a placemat.

A little fall centerpiece was created for the ottoman.

This little centerpiece began with the 2 pumpkins I made

from old sweater. I randomly pulled fall related items from

my floral tote and added them to the pumpkins to complete the look.

A soft and cozy throw was added to the chair along with a
pumpkin pillow for snuggling on those cool fall evenings.

A little fall vignette was added to the end table.

The mantle received a splash of fall.

Can you tell I love pumpkins and copper?

I dug through my floral tote and created a couple

floral arrangements which flank the base of the mantle.

The cozy little nook got a touch of fall also.

Such a warm and inviting little nook.

The legs on this chair used to be black.

I painted them the same color as the little stand.

We are now officially fallified.

That's it for this week.

Until Next Time,

Veronica