Warm Up with Soup

7 delicious soups to keep you warm inside and out.

Soup is a great way to clean out your refrigerator.  You can make soup with all kinds of meat, vegetables, legumes, grains, and/or pasta.  Here are 7 of my soup recipes that are simple and delicious.  Many are meatless, vegetarian, or vegan and all will help keep you warm.

A #roundup of 7 delicious soup #recipes. Warm Up w/ Soup  [Tweet this]

Black Bean Soup

A creamy, flavorful, and meatless soup made with black beans and spices.  Filling enough for an entree.

Warm up w/ #meatless Black Bean Soup  [Tweet this]

Cauliflower and Chickpea Soup

A creamy soup made with chickpeas, cauliflower, coconut milk and warm spices.  Cauliflower and chickpea soup is a delicious and vegan meal.

Warm up w/ #vegan Cauliflower & Chickpea #Soup  [Tweet this]

Green Pea Soup

Healthy and easy frozen green peas pureed in a flavorful broth for a creamy and delicious, vibrant green, soup.

Warm up w/ #frozenpeas in Green Pea #Soup  [Tweet this]

Lentil Soup

A bold and spicy soup with hot Portuguese sausage and healthy lentils.

Warm up w/ #healthy #lentils in Lentil Soup  [Tweet this]

Minestrone Soup

A simple, vegetarian, Italian style soup made with vegetables, beans, pasta, tomatoes, and spices.

Warm up w/ #vegetarian Minestrone #Soup  [Tweet this]

Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

A creamy, meatless, soup with mushrooms and wild rice.  It's warm comfort food for a cold night.

Warm up with #comfortfood Mushroom and #WildRiceSoup  [Tweet this]

Pureed Carrot Soup

A creamy, vegan, soup made with pureed carrots, onions, and beans in a vegetable broth with a hint of dill.  It's filling enough for a meal but also great with a small sandwich.

Warm up w/ #vegan Pureed Carrot #Soup  [Tweet this]

Enjoy.

Linked to:  Full Plate, Foodie Friends, Freedom, Foodiefridiy, Pretty Pintastic, 2 cup, Lou Lou Girls Whimsy, Wonderful, Tickle my Tastebuds

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Best of the Month July 2015

A recap of my most popular posts from last month (July 2015).

In all of my blog updates, I forgot to mention that I set up my subscribe by email campaign in MailChimp back in April.  I never thought I would set up any kind of email subscribe option.  It's just not the way I prefer to follow blogs.  I much prefer social media as a way to follow my favorite blogs, but I started reading about how other bloggers thought email subscriber was better.  I still follow my favorite blogs on social media and I don't subscribe by email (I just don't like having my mail inbox cluttered--I follow many blogs) but, I decided it was a good idea to give my followers the option.  MailChimp made the process quick and easy.

#Blogtip: MailChimp makes setting up suscriber emails #quickandeasy.  [Tweet this]

In January, I came across a post by Ashley from My Craftily Ever After about How to Set Up Your RSS Feed with MailChimp.  This post introduced me to MailChimp and was a big help when I finally decided to set up weekly email updates.  Now I have 19 followers by email.  I know that's not a lot, but I really didn't expect any so I'm happy.  I get an email each time someone subscribes and it's always a pleasant surprise.  If you would like to subscribe to my weekly email updates enter your email address below.

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Now on to my best of the month:

2013 best of July:

Light Wheat English Muffins

Soft, flat buns full of nooks and crannies.  English muffins make a great breakfast or lunch sandwich even a great snack.  Now has 476 views and 6 +1s.

#BestoftheMonth July 2015 | Light Wheat #EnglishMuffins: 2013 #bestofJuly via @joybeewhatsfor  [Tweet this]

2014 Best of July:

Wild Rice Cherry Pecan Salad

A salad of wild rice, dried cherries, and pecans tossed in a raspberry vinaigrette.  It makes a great side dish or lunch.  Now has 535 views and 60 +1s.

#Bestofthemonth July2015 | #WildRice CherryPecanSalad: 2014 #bestofJuly via @joybeewhatsfor  [Tweet this]

Back to this year's best of July:

Maple Glazed Carrots

A simple and tasty vegetable side dish of carrots roasted in maple syrup.   The perfect accompaniment to any meal. 581 views and 52 +1s.

Maple Glazed Carrots #veggiesides | #BestoftheMonth July 2015 via @joybeewhatsfor  [Tweet this]

How to Make Roasted Red Peppers

A simple tutorial on how to roast sweet red bell peppers at home.  501 views and 26 +1s.

#Howto Make #RoastedRedPeppers | #BestoftheMonth July 2015 via @joybeewhatsfor  [Tweet this]

Simple Chicken Tacos and Black Beans

A very simple dinner using leftover chicken for tacos and a quick black bean side dish.  432 views and 18 +1s.

SimpleChicken #Tacos & BlackBeans | #BestoftheMonth July2015 via @joybeewhatsfor  [Tweet this]

Focaccia Pizza

An Italian flat bread made with a wet dough, shaped into a pizza, and topped with tapenade, sun-dried tomatoes, and feta cheese (or toppings of your choosing).  396 views and 12 +1s.

#Focaccia #Pizza #bread | #BestoftheMonth July 2015 via @joybeewhatsfor  [Tweet this]

Turkey and Rougette Crescent Sandwich

Juicy turkey breast and warm creamy buttery Rougette cheese on a tender Crescent Roll.   369 views and 10 +1s.

Turkey & #Rougette Crescent #Sandwich | #BestoftheMonth July 2015 via @joybeewhatsfor  [Tweet this]

Check out my previous bests of July:

Best of the Month July 2013

Best of the Month July 2014

Linked to:  J&J, Lou Lou Girls, Whimsy, Wake Up, Tickle My Tastebuds full Plate, Freedom

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Maple Glazed Carrots

A simple and tasty vegetable side dish of carrots roasted in maple syrup.  The perfect accompaniment to any meal.

**Updated post from original from 12/2012 (90 views): new pictures, minor editing, add tweetabe, like recipe links, rich pin.

Carrots are a great vegetable.  They add great color to brighten up even the blandest meal.  They are also very versatile.  They are great raw, steamed, stir-fried, and roasted.  What I love most about carrots is that they store well.   I have kept carrots in my refrigerator for over a week and they are still good.  This is a great recipe to keep in the arsenal.  It is warm, slightly sweet (the maple syrup brings out the natural sweetness of the carrots), and very simple.

Carrots brighten even the blandest meal.  [Tweet this]

Maple Glazed Carrots

Cook time:  45-60 minutes (depending on the size of your carrots)
Servings:  4

Ingredients:

3-4 Large carrots peeled and cut bite-sized or baby carrots
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp dried thyme
coarse salt and pepper to taste
juice from 1/2 lemon, optional

This is really easy, you can make more or less just keep an equal ratio of oil/syrup.

Preheat oven to 400F

Toss the carrot pieces with oil and maple syrup.  Add thyme and salt and pepper and toss to combine evenly.  Then pour the carrot mixture into a baking dish.

Bake at 400, covered, for about 40 minutes or until tender.  Then remove cover and bake for about 15 minutes more until nicely browned.  Remove from oven and add lemon juice and stir.

Makes 3-4 servings.

This is a wonderful side dish.  You can use any sweetener or syrup you like such as honey, or it might be interesting to try agave nectar.  You can also use any oil, and any herb (fresh or dry) you have or like.  I think thyme tastes really good with carrots, but you could use rosemary, dill, oregano, or anything that smells good just be creative. The lemon juice is optional, but I think it brightens up the carrots, I like to add an acid to sweet sometimes.  I saw a recipe that uses balsamic vinegar, that would be great too.  Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Enjoy.

For more carrot side dishes check out:

Sweet Dill Glazed Carrots

Moroccan Raw Carrot Salad

Simple Carrot and Cucumber Salad

Linked to:  Treasure Box, 2 Cup, Lou Lou Girls, Tickle My Tastebuds, Wake Up, Fun Summer Finds, Foodie Friends, Best of the weekend, Pretty Pintastic

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Sweet Dill Glazed Carrots

Tender orange carrots cooked in a butter, brown sugar, and dill sauce.  A colorful and flavorful vegetable side dish.

I was looking for a new winter vegetable side dish when my husband remembered his mom making this when he was younger.  He didn't know the exact recipe so I looked it up online and made a few adjustments.  I first tried it at Christmas with our Swedish Meatballs and fell in love.  Then I had to make it again to go with other winter meals like Lamb & Guinness Shepherds Pie and Chicken and Wild Rice Hotdish.  This is a wonderful warm vegetable side and I love the orange color.  It's like sunshine on a plate.

It's like sunshine on a plate [Tweet this]

Everyone knows carrots are good for eyes, but they are also delicious.  Carrots have a natural sweetness that can be enhanced with the addition of any type of sweetener and this recipe does just that. The carrots are tossed in butter, brown sugar, and dried dill then baked until tender.  The sugar brings out the sweetness, but it's not too sweet.  This is a great way to cook carrots that will brighten up any plate.  You can use sliced carrots or even baby carrots for a simple and quick vegetable side that tastes and looks great.

Everyone knows carrots are good for eyes but they are also delicious. [Tweet this]

Sweet Dill Glazed Carrots

Ingredients:

1 pound carrots (either sliced or baby carrots)
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp brown sugar
a few shakes of dried dill

Preheat oven to 350F

In a large bowl, melt the butter in the microwave and then mix in the brown sugar.

Toss the carrots (at room temperature--if they are cold just out of the fridge the melted butter will solidify again and be more difficult to coat the carrots) with the butter mixture until all the carrots are coated.

Sprinkle with some dill and toss more adding more dill as needed until all the carrots are coated with some dill.

Pour everything into a covered baking dish, cover, and bake at 350F for 30 minutes-1 hour until tender.  Sliced carrots take less time than baby carrots (it all depends on the size of the carrot).

Makes 4-6 servings.

Enjoy.

Other recipes mentioned in this post:

Swedish Meatballs       -----

Lamb & Guinness Shepherds Pie

Chicken and Wild Rice Hotdish

For more carrot side dish recipes check out:

Moroccan Raw Carrot Salad

Maple Glazed Roasted Carrots

Simple Carrot and Cucumber Salad

Linked to:  2 cup, Best of Blogosphere, Treasure Box, Teach Me, LouLouGirls, Full Plate, Freedom,  Food Friends Fri Pretty Pintastic, Best of the Weekend, Show Off

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