Creamy Broccoli Chowder and Panini's

So if you haven't found Pinterest yet, you must click now, and see what you are missing! You will find everything from recipes to crafts to fashion to books. Literally anything you would be interested in, you will find here. Ok, so you might blindly lose a few hours of your day surfing Pinterest, but hey, you're learning something, right??!!

So, part of my New Years goal is to try new recipes most nights of the week. I have always loved trying new recipes, but the last few months I started getting into a rut, which meant a bit more eating out. So far (alright so it's only January 10th) I have done quite well and found some amazing blogs and recipes!

Last night I made Linda's recipe for Creamy Broccoli Chowder and what a hit it was! Very simple to whip up, and an all around yummy comfort soup for winter.

Creamy Broccoli Chowder

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 sweet onion, diced
2 carrots, shredded
4 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups milk ( I used skim)
One 15-ounce can chicken broth
5-6 cups chopped broccoli
1 1/2 cups reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

In a large pot heat oil and butter over medium-low. Add onion and carrots and let simmer 15 minutes. Add flour, nutmeg, salt, and black pepper. Stir in milk, chicken broth, and broccoli. Simmer over low heat for about 1-1/1/2 hours, stirring frequently. Add cheese just before serving, if using. Makes approx 10 1-cup servings.

Next up was making panini's. We love panini's here, and I'm always on the look out for yummy mayo recipes to slather the inside of the panini, and I found one on This Week for Dinner for Garlic Basil Mayo. It was UH-MAZING. I just used regular bread (next time I will make a loaf, the regular sandwich bread was very thin), deli turkey, spinach, tomatoes and cheese. We make our panini's on a George Foreman Grill which works perfect!

Garlic Basil Mayo

Mayo

Garlic clove

Basil -fresh is best, but all I had was dried

salt and pepper

Just eyeball the amount you need, let it sit in the fridge for a couple hours to blend ingredients.

Nothing better than a hot bowl of creamy soup and a grilled sandwich on a cold winter's night. Or an almost 40 degree Minnesota night. Crazy, right? Minnesota. 40 degrees. January