Chicken Wild Rice Soup

Chicken Wild Rice Soup 1 stick butter                                                          1  teasp salt 1 cup flour                                                              6 cups chicken broth 2 cups cooked wild rice                                         ½ cup grated carrots 2 cups shredded cooked chicken                          2 Tblsp minced onion 6 Tblsp chopped, slivered almonds (optional)       2 cups Half-and-Half chopped parsley or chives (optional) Melt butter in saucepan and saute onion until tender. Blend in flour and gradually stir in broth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil.  Boil and stir for 1 additional minute.  Stir in rice, carrots, chicken, almonds and salt. Simmer about 5 minutes.  Blend in half-and-half.  Heat thoroughly.  Serve in bowls and garnish, if desired. Nutrition: 1 cup of soup has 253 calories

Cauliflower Soup

Cauliflower Soup                         2 Tblsp butter                                                1 large onion, finely chopped 1 lb cauliflower florets (about 5 cups)        1 Tblsp thinly sliced chives 28-30 oz. low-salt chicken broth                  ¼ cup Pecorino Romano Cheese Melt butter in large saucepan.  Add onion and cook about 8 minutes until tender.  Add cauliflower.  Saute 2 minutes.  Add broth.  Cover and simmer for about 25 minutes or until cauliflower is soft.  Add cheese.  In batches, puree soup in food processor.  Bring to simmer. Add chives and serve.  Season with salt and pepper if desired.  (Add red pepper flakes for a little zip!) Nutrition : If divided among 8 bowls, each bowl contains 56 calories

This recipe came from www. epicurious.com

Chocolate Caramel Brownies

Chocolate Caramel Brownies                       1 box German Chocolate cake mix                      1/2 cup butter (melted) 1 small can (5 oz or so) evaporated milk               33-35 caramels 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips Unwrap caramels and place in microwavable container.  Add 1/3 cup milk. Set aside. Blend  melted butter, cake mix and remaining milk together.  Press ½ of this mixture into ungreased 9x13 pan.  Bake 350 degrees for 6 min.  Meanwhile, microwave caramel mixture, stirring occasionally until smooth.  Pull cake mixture from oven when time is up, sprinkle chocolate chips on top, then cover with caramel mixture.  Drop remaining cake mixture by spoonfuls on top of caramel.  Bake 18-20 minutes. Let cool for several hours or overnight.  (As brownies are cooling, loosen brownies from side of pan).   Cut into bars.  These can be frozen if you prefer firmer brownies.

Nutrition: When the above recipe is divided into 28 bars, each brownie is 197 calories