Today my plate is a BOWL!

A few months ago, my good friend and boss extraordinaire brought the most fabulous soup to work to share with me.  Turns out she has been a long time friend with the blog author at Pithy's Kitchen and this beautiful Tomato Bisque soup recipe came from her. I've had it on my heart to make it since my first taste, but just got around to it this past Sunday.  No chicken wings or guacamole for this girl during the Super Bowl.  If you like tomato soup, then this ramped up, slightly spicy, and very substantial soup will also be pleasing to your palate!
I won't bother to copy/paste her complete recipe here, but rather offer you this simple link:

Most Delicious Tomato Bisque Soup Ever

*I did make one change.  I used quick cooking pearled barley instead of rice. It decreased the simmering time by about 20 minutes and you can read the nutritional differences for yourself.

The BEST Cookie Ever! (and my obsession with making it)

 

My first challenge was to recreate one of the BEST cookies I've ever put in my mouth. It was a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie that was HEAVENLY. Come to find out, it was a from the good ol' fashion Betty Crocker Cookbook.  Sort of.  With a few "healthier" modifications. After a couple of trial and error batches and an ingredient consultation with the creator of the inspiration cookie, I struck GOLD!  You too can discover the riches of this cookie IF you follow this EXACT recipe. 

 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used Smucker's Natural.  Give it a REALLY good stir when you get it, then put it in the refrigerator. You won't need to stir it again. Side note: I do not enjoy eating this, but it sure did work in baking!)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (softened, NEVER melted)
• 1 egg
• 1 1/4 cups WHITE whole wheat flour (I don't advise that you use whole wheat. I did the first time. You taste it.)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate baking chips

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, beat brown sugar, peanut butter, butter and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir in peanut butter chips. **Baker's note: I mixed the first 5 ingredients in my new Ninja then added all dry ingredients except flour and mixed again.  Finally, I 1/2 the flour, mixed and then added the other 1/2 of the flour.  This is a small enough recipe that I was able to mix the entire batch (minus the chips) right in the Ninja mixing bowl.  I added the chips last and just used a spoon to mix them in.
2. Either shape dough into 1 1/2-inch balls or you can do what I did and use a #40 scoop (mine is from Pampered Chef, but any will do) Then, flatten with the back of a measuring cup or glass.
3. Bake cookies for 8 minutes or until light golden brown.  Cool for a few minutes and then move from baking sheet to wire rack.

This should be your result:
Lovely, plump, soft on the inside with just the right crispiness on the outside...like I said, HEAVENLY!