Tomato Vegetable Casserole

Tried this and loved it. We don't like zucchini so we used butternut squash instead. Not often you find a genuinely delicious and healthy recipe.
Ingredients
1 medium potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium yam, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced into rings
2 small or 1 large zucchini, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces
Salt and pepper
2 large ripe tomatoes, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons dried Italian-style bread crumbs
Fresh basil sprigs, for garnish
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Toss the potato, yam, bell pepper, carrots, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss until coated. Spread vegetables evenly over the bottom of the pan.
Arrange the onion slices evenly over the vegetable mixture. Arrange the zucchini over the onion. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange the tomato slices over the zucchini.
Stir the Parmesan and bread crumbs in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the Parmesan bread crumbs over the vegetables in the baking dish. Drizzle with the last tablespoon of olive oil.
Bake uncovered until the vegetables are tender, and the topping is golden brown, about 40 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil sprigs, if desired.

Banana Bread with Orange Glaze

This is one of my new favorite recipes. It has a little more sugar than your standard banana bread, but it has whole wheat flour, so it must be good for you. For a dessert, serve warm with vanilla ice cream.... or that is good as a mid-morning snack too :o)

3/4 cup soft butter
8 oz. soft cream cheese
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
4 medium mashed bananas
1/2 tea vanilla
1 1/2 cups white flour
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
1/2 tea baking powder
1/2 tea baking soda
1/2 tea salt

Glaze
Juice and zest of one orange
1 cup powdered sugar

Beat butter and cream cheese together until fluffy, add sugar and beat again. Add eggs, vanilla and banana's and mix until combined, then add the rest of the ingredients. Bake in 2 8"x4" loaf pans at 325 degrees for 60 minutes. Pour the glaze over hot bread before removing from pans, let cool 10 minutes, and then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Magic in the Middle cookies.

So I have to admit I'm just cut and pasting from a friends blog, but when I tried these I had to share the wealth. Some of the best cookies ever hands down.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar (plus more for dipping)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (i used regular)
1 cup creamy peanut butter, divided (use skippy)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 large egg
3/4 cup powdered sugar
Directions
Preheat oven to 375. Whisk together first 4 ingredients in a medium-size bowl. In a separate bowl, beat together both sugars, butter, and 1/4 cup peanut butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and egg, beating to combine. Stir in dry ingredients, blending well. Set dough aside.
Stir together remaining 3/4 cup peanut butter and powdered sugar until smooth. With floured hands, roll mixture into 26 (1 inch) balls.
Break off about 1 Tablespoon cookie dough; make an indentation in center with thumb, and press 1 peanut butter ball into indentation. Wrap dough up and over filling, pressing to seal; roll cookie to smooth it out. Repeat for each cookie.
Dip top of each cookie in sugar and place 2 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Use greased bottom of drinking glass to flatten each cookie to about 1/2 inch thick.
Bake cookies at 375 for 7 - 9 minutes until set. Let cool on wire rack.

Carrot Ginger Soup

About 1 Tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion
1 bunch green onions
2 lbs fresh raw carrots
1 1/2 to 2 quarts chicken broth
1/2 tsp fresh ginger
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup heavy cream or milk
1 Tbsp parsley
About 1 tsp salt (I like a little more)
About tsp pepper (I like a little more)

Chop both kinds of onions and sautee' in a large pan with the olive oil. When clear and soft, add carrots (that you've chopped into small pieces) and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer for about 30-40 minutes or until carrot pieces are soft.

Using a blender, transfer one or two cups of broth + carrots & onions, and puree until smooth. Return each pureed batch to a large pot until all of carrots & broth are pureed. Heat well while adding finely grated fresh ginger, sugar, salt & pepper, and cream. If soup seems to thick add more broth; if seems to runny, let it simmer for another half hour or so.

Serve with hot bread (and garnish with chives if you so crave). Enjoy!