A couple more recipes...

Here are a couple more of my recipes from this week's menu.

First, Potato Cheese Soup, which I got from one of my favorite sites, Patty's Pantry. You can find this recipe here:
Potato Cheese Soup

Now, here are the recipes I plan to make for supper tonight. I've posted them both before, but to save hunting for them, here they are:

LENTIL SOUP

1 to 2 Tblsp. olive oil
2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, shredded
3/4 tsp. crumbled marjoram
1/2 tsp. crumbled thyme
1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
7 cups beef broth (I use the beef bouillon granules with water)
1 1/2 cups dried lentils, picked over, rinsed
1/2 tsp pepper
Shredded Cheddar cheese

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or heavy kettle. Add the onions, carrots, marjoram and thyme. Saute´, stirring, for about 5 minutes or until the onions are tender. Add the tomatoes, broth and lentils. Bring the soup to a boil; reduce the heat, cover the kettle, and simmer the soup for at least 1 hour or until the lentils are tender. Stir in the pepper. Serve soup with shredded Cheddar sprinkled over each portion. (Or put a bowl of shredded Cheddar on the table for people to add at their own discretion.) Yield: 8 servings.

The cheese completes the protein in the lentils here, but you could also serve the soup with corn bread or some other bread to serve the same purpose. I nearly always serve corn bread with lentil soup.

FAVORITE CORN BREAD

3 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
1/2 stick melted margarine (1/4 cup) -- or use 1/4 cup canola oil as I do
2 cups buttermilk baking mix (I use Hannaford brand)
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal (I use the Hodgson Mill stone-ground brand)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9-inch square pan. Blend eggs, milk, and melted margarine (or oil). Sift sugar, cornmeal and baking powder together and add to egg mixture along with baking mix. (There will be some bran left in the sifter if you use the stone-ground cornmeal. Just add it into the mixture.) Whisk the ingredients together just until blended. Pour batter into greased pan and bake approximately 30 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the corn bread comes out clean. (It may take up to 40 minutes, depending on your oven.) Makes 1 9-inch pan of corn bread.

Recipe may be doubled and baked in a 9 x 13-inch pan. This may not be the healthiest corn bread in the world, but it may well be the best corn bread you've ever tasted! Wonderful with a bowl of chili or soup!