Tomato Soup with Homemade Italian Croutons

Easy, warm, yummy fall dinner: Campbell's Tomato Soup (with 1/2 can water, 1/2 can milk), topped with homemade Italian croutons.

Yes, in a perfect world I'd like to be able to come home on a weekday night, whip up some homemade tomato soup (I have an awesome recipe for that from my Mom), make some homemade bread (did a lot of this BEFORE having my child!), and turn that homemade bread into croutons (did a lot of this too, sans child). However, in the meantime, here's a quick, inexpensive meal that's pretty wholesome:

Serves 3 - 4

2 cans soup (we love tomato in our house)

If making tomato soup from concentrate, use 1/2 can water and 1/2 can milk or plain soy milk; cook soup according to instructions -- I find it best to have a little whisk handy to keep soup from clumping or sticking to the pan (I think my little stainless steel whisk is from Pampered Chef -- one of my favorite tools)

1 can of breadsticks (like Pillsbury) OR a few slices of bread (sourdough is the best for this); spread either one on cookie sheet and preheat oven 375 degrees

Melt a couple tablespoons butter in a pan or in a small dish in the microwave, add 1 teaspoon Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning to the melted butter, stir, then brush butter mixture onto the breadsticks or bread slices. Top bread with some Parmesan cheese, if you'd like, and then bake until toasted (follow label instructions for breadsticks)

When bread is done, cut into crouton size pieces, top the soup when ready to serve.

Photo from www.peppercornpress.com/blog

Beautful Day for FALL FEST AT THE BARN

Today's weather for Sunday, October 18th:

Mostly sunny and warmer. Highs near 60. Winds: S 5-10

It's going to be a beautiful day (finally!) for a visit out to the Barn at Lucerne in Ballwin, MO for the Fall Fest at the Barn. We will be one of 34 outdoor vendors and 13 indoor artists booths. There will also be seven antique tractor collectors, three great bands, fantastic food and drink, and rides and games for kids. All to raise funds for Operation Food Search! A canned food item can be exchanged for a game/ride.

Not only will Garlic Earth share free food samples of Italian Artichoke Dip (only 5 ingredients -- so easy!) and their Southwest and Asian Chicken, but we are also introducing handmade photo cards made from recycled paper, and we are now a retailer for the very cool-I-can't-live-without-mine ChicoBag, made from 100% recycled fabric.

The Barn at Lucerne is located at 930 Kehrs Mill Road in Ballwin, MO. The hours for the festival are NOON - 7 PM.

Hope to see you there!

Oktoberfest Meal -- Pork Chops with Apples, Raisins & Cinnamon

First of all, a huge thank you to those of you who made it out to the Best of Missouri Market at the Botanical Garden last weekend. I woke up this morning around 7:30 and thought "at this point last week, I was already awake for 3 hours and had been serving food for 30 minutes -- whew!" It was quite a task, but Mindy and I had a BLAST meeting and serving you all. We had to have met and served over 3,000 people... I did the math and we went through that many toothpicks! Fun, fun, fun.

Another HUGE thanks to the Girlies who helped us prepare for this event. This certainly includes Tracy and Kathy for helping out at the booth so that we could take breaks. Thank you SO MUCH!

So, what is on the menu at the Schantz household this week? For one, I bought pork chops, organic Granny Smith apples, organic raisins, organic cinnamon, organic raw sugar and organic sesame seeds. These ingredients, along with a one of the Garlic Earth seasonings (Asian Garlic Seasoning is my favorite with this one -- strange, but the sweetness goes well with this) creates a hearty, healthy dish. Here's the recipe:

Pork Chops with Apples
Serves 4-6
4 - 6 Pork Chops
Garlic Earth Seasoning (Asian or Italian -- 1 tsp./pound of pork)
a few tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
2 Granny Smith apples, sliced
1/2 cup (or a few handfuls) of raisins
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. sugar
sesame seeds (optional, but nice touch plus adds calcium!)

Shake seasoning onto pork chops, top and bottom, and let marinate at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add the pork, let brown for about 5 minutes on each side -- it's good to get those "bits" on the pan. Remove pork, place onto plate and keep warm in microwave or under foil. With those bits in the skillet, add the apples, raisins, cinnamon, sugar and sesame seeds. Saute well, but gently, for about 5 minutes. Move mixture to side of skillet, add the pork back to the pan, cover with the apple mixture, cover skillet with lid or foil. Let simmer on low until pork is done (about 10-15 minutes over medium low heat). Serve.

Picture from dinkswithkids blog