Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Cheese Soup and Breadsticks, Awards!

We've had a little blast of colder weather in the Smokies this past weekend. Just another excuse for me to make soup. Even though it's Spring, I still love soup.

This is a basic cheese soup that I've tweaked it beyond recognition, except that there's cheese in it. The calories and sodium have been lightened up considerably. Despite removing all the fun stuff, the replacements are packed full of flavor and guess what? This soup can be ready in under one hour!

I borrowed the bread stick recipe from Priscilla at Priscilla Bakes. I tweaked this just a tad too. The bread sticks were the perfect partner for the cheese soup. The homegirlz were filling up on breadsticks and dough.






Chop one medium onion, 2 carrots and 2 stalks of celery. Melt 1 tablespoon of margarine or lowfat margarine in a stock pot over medium heat. Saute the onions, carrots and celery for about 5 minutes. Blend in 1 tablespoon of flour with the veggies and cook for one minute. Be careful because depending on your pot, the veggies will start sticking when you add the flour, add in a dash of nutmeg, a dash of paprika, 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard and 1/4 teaspoon of white and black pepper.




Stir in one 12 oz. can of skim evaporated milk and 2-1/2 cups of 1% milk. Add in 2 low sodium beef boullion cubes, 2 cups of water and about 3/4 of a cup to 1 cup of frozen green beans or broccoli. Let soup simmer for 30 minutes; don't let it boil. Stir in one 8 ounce package of light velveeta cheese, cubed. Simmer soup until cheese has melted and serve.

Bread Sticks -


2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
1/2 cup Sugar, divided
2 cups warm water (110° to 115°), divided
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon salt
4-1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves of garlic smashed.


In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1 cup warm water. Add the oil, egg, salt, 2 cups flour, and remaining sugar and water. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 40 minutes.

Pour 1/4 cup of olive oil into a small sauce pan. Turn heat on lowest setting. Place 2 cloves of smashed garlic into pan and let them hang out for about 30 minutes so the garlic can infuse the olive oil.

Punch the dough down. Turn onto a floured surface; divide into 24 pieces. Shape each piece into a 6-in. rope. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets, sprinkled with cornmeal. Lightly brush garlic infused olive oil each bread stick. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 25 minutes. Bake at 350° for 10 to 15 minutes or until slightly brown. Makes about 3 dozen breadsticks.


Ok, I guess this is an oxy-moron, low cal soup and bread sticks. I promise you this, as long as I was feeding the homegirlz baked goods, they were walking the dog, folding laundry, setting the table...


Kaylee from Not Another Omnivore gave me The Adorable Blog Award. It is my honor to pass this award on to 5 of my fellow bloggers. It is very hard for me to pick only 5 bloggers there are too many adorable blogs!




1. Priscilla from Priscilla Bakes
2. JenJen from Tater Tots and Jello
3. Debbie form Suburb Sanity
4. Sam from My Carolina Kitchen
5. Selba from Selby's Food Corner


I received the Sisterhood Award from Sam at My carolina Kitchen and from Selby from Selby's Food Corner. In keeping with the tradition of passing this award forward, here are the rules. The Sisterhood Award is an award from bloggers to bloggers in recognition of a blog spot which shows attitude and/or gratitude.




1. Put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate up to 10 blogs which show great attitude and/or gratitude
3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog, or sending them an email.
5. Remember to link to the person from whom you received your award.

1. The Blond Duck from A Duck in Her Pond
2. Kaylee from Not Another Omnivore
3. Gigi from Afterthoughts
4. Reeni from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice
5. Marjie from Modern Day Ozzie and Harriet
6. Tamilyn from Butter My Kitchen
7. Cathy from The Tortefeaser
8. Natasha from 5 Star Foodie
9. Donna from My Tasty Treasures
10. Debbie from Mocha Me

This is my gift to you for taking the time to visit my kitchen and leave your comments. Enjoy the Sisterhood Award, post it on your blog and pass it on to your blogger friends.



37 comments:

priscilla joy said...

Thank you so much Katherine for this award! I am so excited to receive it! And, I am so glad you liked the breadsticks, I love the addition of cornmeal.

Marjie said...

Thanks for the award, Katherine.

My boys love helping make breadsticks. Of course, that insures that they're never uniform. But then, life is more interesting that way, isn't it? Your soup looks so good. It's been cold here, too, for a couple of days. I am greatly displeased.

Meg said...

I love soup! That looks so good.

gigi said...

Thank you Dah-ling! It is much appreciated and same back at cha :)

Love all the veggies in this soup. I know you have to slip them in on the homegirlz when ever you can and to call this cheese soup is a great cover! You are one smart mama! Sorry the cold just won't let up for yall. Maybe soon.

April said...

Your soup and bread sticks look fantastic!!! Just perfect for the cold spell this past weekend!

vanillasugarblog said...

yeah winter is taking forever to leave already.
I haven't made homemade bread sticks in ages. I need too.

misti said...

I am putting that soup on my "to make" list for this week...Many thanks!

Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com said...

Hi Katherine!

Thanks so much for the award. You are so sweet! I am so excited that I met you - I love reading your blog!

XOXOX
Jen

PS - that soup looks heavenly, and the bread sticks TDF!

Pam said...

Mmmm. Cheese soup and fresh breadsticks - can't get much better than that.

Congrats on your awards Katherine - you deserve them.

Carol Murdock said...

Katherine, this Soup sounds really yummy! I have always loved Soups! Have you ever come across a recipe for Cheeseburger Soup? I would love a good recipe for that!
xoxo,
Carol

Carol Murdock said...

Oh...got excited over the soup and forgot to say Congrats to you on the Awards!
C

tavolini said...

That looks about perfect! Its going to be rainy and cold here all week--I could go for some cheese soup ;)

Debbie said...

Thank you Katherine for the award. I am always so excited to get one!! Your soup looks and sounds great. And so do the breadsticks. I would probably end up eating more bread than soup though...I love bread.

Jennifer said...

Yum my two favorite things, cheese soup and breadsticks. I am making your rice dish tonight!

Cathy said...

Wow, this soup looks perfect to carry us through early spring! And I love the breadsticks. Congratulations on your awards, Katherine -- you deserve them all. Thanks so much for thinking of my blog - I am flattered!

Anonymous said...

Sounds warming and wonderful:)

teresa said...

What a yummy combination! The soup looks wonderful!

The Blonde Duck said...

Thanks for my award! We're soul sisters with food, so it's perfect! :)

I need to adopt a bunch of people and feed them all day. It's the only way I can make all these tasty things I keep printing out!

And low-cal cheese soup? SO there!

Gladys said...

Yummmm that soup looks fantastic. Can't have the bread sticks though. Damn Asskickins diet.

Reeni said...

These are a perfect match! I'd be noshing on these too, they look yummy! And cheese soup, what could be better than that?!! Thanks for the sweet award!

Anonymous said...

Yummy soup and breadsticks! Thank you so much for a lovely award!

Tasty Bloggers said...

What a wonderful soup, thanks for sharing and great job on the awards!

Anonymous said...

I love cheese soup!

lk (healthy delicious) said...

this soup looks so good and the breadsticks are perfection! I dont stop eating soup just becasue its spring either.

Ginger said...

We are going to have a cold weekend in Cincinnati this weekend. Cheese Soup and Breadsticks are on the menu! WOW, looks really really yummy! Thanks for sharing.

MaryBeth said...

Congrats on your new award...I love soup too and yes even though it is Spring we still have cold weather everyday and soup is the only thing that helps keep me warm.

Dawn Parsons Smith said...

Katherine, that sounds like just the ticket for a comfort meal for me:) My kids love breadsticks! This will be fun to make them with my kiddos!

Selba said...

What a lovely soup!

Not Another Omnivore said...

I am sooo ready for spring!

Glad to see you're finally passing on your award!

NAOmni/Kaylee :)

Not Another Omnivore said...

Ah! I didn't even see that you gave me one! I'm such a space cadet! Thanks so much!

Kaylee

Dewi said...

I never heard and had soup like this before, it sounds really delicious. I love cheese. I might try this recipe. Cheers,
elra

La Bella Cooks said...

That soup looks delicious! My husband orders soups like this when we go to Panera and always asks me to make them. I will have to give your recipe a try.

Elyse said...

Congrats on your awards!! You're so deserving! This soup and breadstick combo sounds delicious! No matter the weather, I love a good soup, and this soup sounds fantastic!

jesse said...

Congratulations Katherine! You deserve both of those awards!! The cheese soup sounds and looks fantastic.

NKP said...

I am coming over to eat all of your breadsticks. :)

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

Thank you Katherine for the Adorable Blog Award. I've been on the road and arrived home only yesterday. You've been busy cooking since I've been gone and I need to catch up reading your wonderful recipes. You my friend are the adorable one. Merci, Sam

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

Thank you again for this award. I've just passed it along.
Sam