Italian "Meatball" Soup

This is a great cold weather dish.  It's also a one-pot, super easy and healthy meal. 

Italian "Meatball" Soup

(adapted from here)

Ingredients:

2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 Tb olive oil
2 Tb tomato paste (no salt added)
4 garlic cloves, minced (or cheat like me and just scoop some out of the jar)
1 Tb oregano
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes in puree
2 cups veggie broth
1 1/2 cups water
16 fully cooked veggie meatballs (Morningstar makes awesome ones)
Sea reshly ground pepper to taste
Good Italian bread, cut into in to cubes
1Tb olive oil
Fresh chopped parsley

Directions:

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat and add vegetables.  Cook for about 5 minutes until soft. Add tomato paste, garlic and oregano and stir well.

Add tomatoes, broth and water and bring to a simmer.  Cut meatballs in half and add to soup.  Simmer for 10 minutes more and season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425.  Toss bread cubes with olive oil and arrange on a baking sheet.  Bake for 12-14 minutes or until golden.

Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with toasted bread cubes and chopped parsley and maybe a little (or a lot) of freshly grated parmesan.

I'm so bad about taking pics after I cook the food!  This is from the original website.

Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Scones

These are so yummy...just like everything from Gina over at Skinny Taste.  I seriously love her blog and cooking style.

"Skinny" Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Scones (via Skinny Taste)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup cold low fat buttermilk

1/4 cup sugar (I used 1/2 stevia, 1/2 regular)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg (I used egg sub)

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1 Tb baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 Tb cold butter, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

1 large egg white, lightly beaten

2 Tb sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375° and spray baking sheet with Pam.  Combine the first four ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Set aside.

Combine flours, baking powder and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Cut in chilled butter with a pastry cutter (I do not have a fancy pastry cutter, so I used 2 knives and it worked fine), until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  Gently fold in chocolate chips. Add milk mixture to dry mix, stirring just until moist.

Place dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly with floured hands.  Form dough into an 9-inch circle onto baking sheet, about 3/4" thick. Using a knife, cut dough into 10-12 wedges all the way through.

Brush egg white over dough and sprinkle with 2 Tb of sugar.  Bake for 18-20 minutes, until nice and golden.  Serve warm and try not to eat them all in one sitting.  They are soooo good with a cup of coffee.

We ate them all before I could get a picture:)  This is the pic from Skinny Taste.

Tips:

* When the ingredient says "cold" (the butter and buttermilk), make sure it is nice and cold.  This helps hold the dough together.

* The buttermilk makes a difference, so I did not make these dairy free (anyone know if there is even a "soy" buttermilk out there??).  I did, however, use Earth Balance for the butter and my chocolate chips were dairy free.  The minimal amount of buttermilk did not seem to upset my stomach too much.

* I am kind of a chocolate chip snob.  I like the Ghirardelli Mini Semi-Sweet Chips. 

* I debated about going straight whole wheat flour, but I think the mix of white and wheat gives them a nice texture, while still adding some fiber.  All wheat flour may cause them to be too dense.