I had tons of leftover vegetables in the fridge because The Roommate was experimenting with a strange (liquid) diet. I decided to use the leftovers to make vegetable soup. I didn’t follow a recipe, just this.

It was hearty and delicious, and the perfect dinner for a rainy, gross Monday. Clean out your fridge, and make this!

Here’s what I did.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup red onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups carrot, coarsely chopped
3 cups celery, coarsely chopped
1 cup broccoli florets, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup kale, chopped
1-2 cups pasta
3-4 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup marinara sauce
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons herb de provence
1 teaspoon dried basil
4-6 cups water

Start by heating up olive oil in a dutch oven. Add onion and garlic and sauté until onions begin to look tender and garlic becomes fragrant. Add the rest of the vegetables and cook for 10-15 minutes. Cook pasta until al dente in a separate pot. Drain and add to soup mixture. Add in the rest of the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let soup simmer for 30-45 min or until you’re ready to eat.

Yep, that’s all. Don’t feel like you need to use this combination of vegetables — it’s what I had in my fridge. Combine any combination of veggies you have (though I would be sure to use onion and garlic at least), as well as your favorite combination of herbs. Potatoes would be delicious. Or substitute pasta for rice. It’s up to you.

Check back tomorrow for the Sun-Dried Tomato, Parmesan, and Pistachio Biscotti. They were SO yummy and the perfect addition to a vegetable soup. Have a wonderful Wednesday everyone!

This weekend I got to snuggle and pet and love on the two cutest little guys!

King Arthur.

and King Felix.

They were so adorable!

Okay, I hung out with people too …

The Peanut Butter Puppy Treats from Friday were for the little snuggle bunnies, of course.

Quite frankly, the treats were too big for Arthur. They were about as big as his head!

Felix sure did like ‘em though.

Check back tomorrow for another soup recipe!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

I get to hang out with him all weekend. Yay!

I baked … again. It’s a problem. I know. But at least these weren’t for me.

Peanut Butter Dog Treats! I already shared a few with this little bugger:

He went nuts for them. Here’s the recipe:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup skim milk.

Mix it all together. Roll the dough out with a rolling pin, and cut it into whatever shape you like. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until cookies just begin to turn brown.

I used about a 1.5 inch diameter cookie cutter and it made 55 cookies!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Hi there. It’s Fall. Did you know that? I sure hope it’s as nice and chilly where you are as it is in Atlanta. With the true arrival of Fall, I think it’s time to break out the pumpkin spice. So, I present to you:

I wouldn’t go so far as to say these are as good as true French palmiers (or elephant ears if you prefer), but they are pumpkin-y, buttery, and delicious! Did I mention easy?

They’re basically frozen puff pastry with a sugar-pumpkin-spice mix sprinkled all over. They did satisfy my pumpkin craving though. I didn’t follow a recipe, but this is what I did:

1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
1 frozen puff pastry

Mix 1/4 cup sugar with 2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice. Follow the instructions on the puff pastry box. Sprinkle the entire pastry with the sugar mixture. Roll the dough up halfway until each spiral meets. Freeze the pastry for a few hours so it will keep it’s shape when you cut it. Slice pastry into 1/4 inch cookies, and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

I also added a half of a teaspoon of pumpkin spice to my favorite hot chocolate recipe for a little extra zing! This is my favorite hot chocolate recipe — I’m not really a Swiss Miss kinda girl.

1.5 cups skim milk
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
dash of salt
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (optional)

Add all of the ingredients to a small saucepan. Turn heat to medium-high, and stir with a whisk until the lumps are gone. Voila!

Do you love cooking with pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice?

Chirp chirp chirp. I woke up bright and early this morning to make some flaky, buttery croissants from scratch.

Just kidding. They’re actually frozen from Trader Joe’s, can you believe it?

These things are legit, and I’ve eaten my fair share of pain au chocolat. The ten pounds I put on while living in France are proof of that.

They’re frozen from TJ’s. You take them out the night before, let them rise overnight, and pop ‘em in the oven when you’re ready for breakfast. In 20 minutes, they come out perfectly crisp, flaky, delicious, and oozing with chocolate.

GENIUS, I TELL YOU. GENIUS.

They also have regular croissants if you aren’t into chocolate, but I ask you, Between Your Ears readers, who ISN’T into chocolate any time of day?

STORY TIME: The first time I went to France, I was in high school and stayed with a family. It was my first morning, my French was very rusty, and I was exhausted from all the gesturing I had to do to supplement my pathetic speaking skills. My ‘sister’ woke me up and walked me through breakfast at their house — the breakfast I would be eating for two weeks. She grabs two croissants, pops them in the toaster, then pours herself a bowl of chocolate Frosted Flakes. When the toaster dings, she cuts the croissant in half and slathers Nutella in between. She starts eating her chocolate cereal, gets to the end, and dips her chocolate croissant in her chocolate cereal milk. Chocolate croissant and chocolate cereal? And they say French women don’t get fat. Pssssh.

Anyway, if there’s a TJ near you, book yourself to one and try these.

You will thank me. Your thighs may not.

Just kidding.

Kind of.

I’ve recently decided I need to start eating more seasonal vegetables. It’s better to eat seasonally because the fruits and veggies taste better, and it’s better for the Earth too. Well, it’s a great thought, but poorly timed considering the growing season is over.

Ah ha! That’s where I was wrong you see. There are all sorts of veggies in season that I’d never actually cooked before — an entire veggie playground I plan to frolic in and explore!

Enter: the butternut squash. Great for soups. Great to put on your table at Thanksgiving. And now, great to pair with puffy, buttery pastry for a yummy, vegetable-y meal.

I found a few different recipes that I combined to make this one. This one looked the prettiest!

Let me tell you, the smell of this thing in the oven?

This is probably in the top 5 of Best Things I’ve Ever Made. Really. And that includes the dark chocolate chip & cherry cookies from last week!

Okay, here’s the recipe:

1 small butternut squash, diced
1 small red onion, sliced very thinly
2 cups carrots, diced
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 garlic clove
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
6 ounces goat cheese
1 frozen puff pastry

I started by roasting the garlic. Chop off the head of the garlic and drizzle a 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of rosemary on top. Wrap it in aluminum foil and set aside.

Coat all of the chopped vegetables in a tablespoon of olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme. Put vegetables on foil-lined baking sheet with the clove of garlic. Roast the vegetables and the garlic in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

When vegetables are good and brown, transfer to a mixing bowl. Remove the cloves of garlic from their papery skin by squeezing one edge of each clove. *Mash garlic cloves together to create a paste, and add to vegetable mix. Crumble the goat cheese into the vegetable mix and toss, letting the cheese melt a little bit.

Follow the instructions on the puff pastry. Heap vegetable mixture onto the center of the pastry, and pat down so it forms a circle, leaving at least three inches around the edge. Fold the pastry onto the vegetable mixture creating a hole in the center of the mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until pastry is golden and crispy. Cut it in to slices and serve with a salad.

*If you aren’t a big garlic fan, only add half of the clove — this had a very garlicky taste!

Boy, oh, boy will you thank me!

PS- If you’re a meat-eater, this would be fantastic with lamb, I think. I would probably just cut the lamb into cubes, coat it in a few tablespoons of olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, and thyme, and sear it in a hot pan. Then add it into the vegetable mixture before heaping onto the puff pastry. DELICIOSO!