Homemade Garlic Croutons

I bought some bread from Wegman's and decided to make croutons with about 1/2 of the loaf (it was a nice sourdough).
approx 3 Cups day old sourdough bread, cut into cubes
2-3 T olive oil (I used 3)
few shakes garlic powder
salt to taste
1 shake cayenne pepper (optional)
few shakes Italian Seasoning
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, Toss all ingredients together. Place in oven uncovered and cook until croutons get nice and crispy (approx 25 minutes). Toss them every 10 minutes or so. These are so flavorful. I put them in caesar salad, but they would be great tossed in soup.

Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup

This was such a great soup, roasting the tomatoes gives the soup an intense tomato flavor, red pepper flakes give it a bit of a kick! I got the idea from a Bobby Flay recipe, but changed it completely to make it my own. Here is original recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_10158,00.html

and here is mine:

Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup

10 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise, seeds removed

4 T olive oil, divided

garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

5 cloves of garlic, minced

tsp sugar

3 C vegetable stock

2 T basil, chiffonade, plus extra for garnish

1/2 C heavy cream

1/2 C fat free half and half

Red pepper flakes to taste (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place tomatoes in large baking dish and drizzle with 2 T olive oil. Shake garlic powder--one shake over the whole thing. Season with sea salt and pepper. Roast for 25-30 min (I did 30 min). until the tomatoes are soft.

Heat remaining olive oil over med and saute garlic for 1-2 minutes. Add tomatoes and their juices, stock, basil and sugar. Cook for 20 minutes. Using an immersion blender blend the soup until pureed (takes a while with the tomatoes), or put the soup in the blender in batches and once smooth, add cream and 1/2 and 1/2 and cook another minute or two. I added red pepper flakes for a kick and some more salt to taste. I ladled them into bowls and topped them with a bit of shredded cheddar and fresh basil, chopped.

Parmesan Dijon Chicken

I was looking for a new chicken recipe and I found one!!!! I got it from Erin's Eats. Seriously it is my new fave chicken recipe, so easy and so yummy that i was so sad for the last piece. This cooks up so yummy and crunchy. I made some changes which I highlighted.

Parmesan Dijon Chicken

1/4 c melted butter

2 T Dijon Mustard

3/4 C dry bread crumbs (I used Italian)

1/4 C parmesan cheese

6 boneless chicken breasts (I used 4)

Heat oven to 375 ( I did it to 400), Mix butter and mustard until well mixed, use whisk. Mix bread crumbs and parmesan cheese in large dish.

Dip chicken in butter mixture, coat all sides, coat in bread crumb mixture. Place in single layer on 13 x9 x2 pan. I used nonstick foil to line pan and sprayed the chicken with a bit of oil. Bake 25 minutes at 400 and check for doneness. so yuuM!