Homemade Tomato Soup (and Grilled Cheese!)

John and I had dinner at a friends house a couple weeks ago and they served us a delicious meal with homemade tomato soup.  I was inspired to find a recipe and try it out myself.  Here’s what I came up with!  Add your own variety of grilled cheese sandwiches to make this meal complete!

Ingredients

• spray olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 14-oz. crushed tomatoes, with juice (I like the one that has basil in it!)
• 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup fat-free half and half, warmed
• Salt and pepper

Spray bottom of large saucepan with olive oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until slightly softened and fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in flour to blend, about 1 minute.

Add tomatoes with juice and broth to saucepan, increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Stir or whisk constantly until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.

Working in batches, carefully transfer soup to a blender and puree until smooth. Return soup to saucepan, stir in cream and cook over low heat for 3 to 5 minutes, until heated through. Do not boil. Season with salt and pepper.  Serve hot in warmed cups.

Spicy Italian Linguini

I don’t think I could ever get enough pasta!  I combined a couple recipes I found last fall and have created a new favorite.

• Linguini pasta (enough for 4-6 servings)
• Olive Oil Spray
• 1 lbs Italian Seasoned Ground Turkey (you could also use Italian Turkey Sausages)
• 3 large garlic cloves chopped (I prefer to press mine)
• 1/2 pint cherry or grape tomatoes cut in half
• 3-4 cups fresh arugula
• 1 Tbls Red chili pepper flakes (more for spicier, less for a milder taste)
• 1/4 cup Fat-Free Half and half
• 1/8 Cup Parmesan Cheese

Prepare pasta according to directions on box.  Spray large skillet with olive oil. Add turkey and saute until cooked through, about 5-10 minutes. Add red pepper flakes (to taste and spice preference), tomatoes, arugula and salt and pepper; cook another 3-4 minutes until arugula is cooked down. Add half and half and cook for 2 more minutes.  Toss with hot pasta in serving bowl. Serve with Parmesan on top.

Taming the Wild Cats

Our cats are around 5 years old and they still act like kittens.  They race around the house, play all night, pounce on toys and take little naps when needed.  We chose not to have them declawed when they were kittens, but have often wondered what could be done about some of their bad cat habits.

Until this year, our cats have never clawed at our furniture, but after buying a new couch, our youngest cat has been treating it like a scratching post.  He also has a habit of scratching doors and mirrors at night.  Our slightly older cat has never really taken well to strangers and will swat when she sees fit.  Short of sending them to a kitty psychologist I thought I’d try a product to cap their nails.

Cat nail caps are amazing!  You just glue them on to the cats existing nails (after giving them a trim) and it covers their sharp little claws.  I thought this would be problematic from my cats chewing them off to the caps themselves falling off.  I haven’t had these problems at all!  My cats had no adverse reaction to the caps.  In fact, I’m not even sure they know they have them on.  They did try to chew them off after a few hours, but have since given up since the caps wouldn’t budge.

The two brands I know of are Kitty Cap Nail Caps and Soft Claws.  While I have used the former, I’m sure both are great!  I highly recommend these caps for anyone with cats who still have their claws!