Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding and Vanilla Sauce

While Jon and I were tearing apart Pinterest last night trying to find a suitable dinner recipe (see my Beer and Cheese Soup post), I came across this dessert recipe for bread pudding and knew I just had to make it. Wow, am I glad I did!

I started prepping while working on dinner, and the timing worked out nicely so that by the time we had finished with dinner, dessert was warm and ready for us. It took about an hour and fifteen minutes in total to make, but was very easy. The recipe said it would take about 40-50 minutes in the oven, which proved accurate - I kept mine in the oven for 50 minutes exactly.

Bread pudding in the oven

Next time I may try swap out the raisins in favor of craisins just for the added flavor. But other than that, there's absolutely nothing I would change about this recipe! The bread was divine and the vanilla sauce was perfect. Yum!

Vanilla sauce brewing on the stove

Beer and Cheese Soup

Last night Jon and I were struggling to decide what to make for dinner, when he remembered he has been dying to make beer and cheese soup. Unfortunately, by the time he figured this out, it was getting a little late and our hunger was becoming undeniable. We quickly scoured the internet for a beer and cheese soup recipe that would satiate our hunger with the least amount of total cook time possible, yet still provide the tasty flavor Jon was searching for. Jon was doubtful that we would ever find anything suitable. I, however, have far more faith in the world wide web - and it did not disappoint me. Thanks to Rachel Ray, we were able to concoct a beer and cheese soup that met all our demands.

We were hoping to make our own croutons, but time and the measly selection of ingredients at our small town grocery store were not on our side. Instead, we picked up some pre-made garlic and butter croutons and they certainly got the job done.  We also added some grated cheddar cheese to the soup after serving.

We changed a few things from Rachel's recipe - we opted not to use leeks and we added onion and celery. We also decided to use Guinness beer instead of the suggested Dos Equis - a fantastic swap, if I do say so myself... so flavorful!

All in all, this was a pretty great recipe! Rachel states the recipe takes about 20 minutes to make, but it took Jon and I around 40 minutes or so (perhaps because I was simultaneously prepping our dessert - also to be blogged about!). Definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a flavorful and creamy soup.

Tomato Basil Penne Pasta

This is an easy and quick go to recipe for those rushed evenings when you get home from a long day of work and you feel like you couldn't possibly have time to make dinner on top of all your other responsibilities (aka watching the intense fall primetime TV lineup). All the ingredients for this recipe are regularly stocked in my cabinets and it requires very little culinary skill, yet is tasty and hits the spot. Recipe serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup red onion, chopped
• 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1 lb whole wheat penne pasta

What to do:

1. Heat olive oil on medium low heat in large saucepan, then sauté garlic until fragrant, approximately 1-2 minutes. 
2. Add red onion, tomatoes, and basil and cook on medium low for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

    3. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to box directions.

    4. When one minute remains on cook time for pasta, drain pasta and cook in tomato basil mixture for remaining minute. This will allow the pasta to really absorb the flavors of the sauce.

   5. Transfer to a serving bowl and enjoy!