To Frost Or Not To Frost?

That is always the question for me! See I don't really like frosting EXCEPT for whipped cream frosting. That is hard to make (in my opinion) AND does not hold its color. So in making cakes for the Harvest Festival at church, I had to come up with a solution. Not that I was going to eat the cake because it was for the cake walk but I wanted it to be superb!

Wellll.......the answer. Jello Frosting! That's right. See I had heard of Kool Aid frosting but heard that the taste and texture was a little "off" but that kids enjoyed the color and the cool flavors. I thought why not Jello. I am a HUGE fan of Jello Frosting now! Not to mention the color options! We used Raspberry Jello! YUMMY! The color was exactly what I was going for.....hot princess pink! So here is the recipe compliments of http://www.cooks.com/.

3 oz pkg Jello of choice
2/3 cup sugar, granulated
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla, optional
1/2 cup boiling water.

Combine jello, sugar, egg whites and vanilla. Pour in boiling hot water. Beat at high speed using the whip attachment for at least five minutes or until the desired spreading consistency. Enjoy!

Lentil Soup

1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic chopped
2 T olive oil
3 -4 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
6 teaspoons dry bullion
6 cups water, boiling
1 c lentils
1 pinch thyme
1 large can stewed tomatoes (minimum 14.5 ounces) *Personally I like to use Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes because of the flavor that it adds to the soup.

(1) Put water on to boil.
(2) Saute onion and garlic in oil.
(3) Add carrots and celery, saute 2-3 minutes more.
(4) Add chili powder, bullion, boiling water, lentils and thyme.
(5) Cook covered for 35 minutes.
(6) Add tomatoes and cook for 5 more minutes.

Make sure to use boiling water. This decreases that amount of time needed to cook the lentils.
Bullion can be either chicken, veggie or beef. It should be dry bullion otherwise the liquid will be doubled. So if you need to use a liquid bullion/soup base, boil the base and omit the dry bullion.

This is the basic recipe. There are many things that you can add to make even more yummier soups.

Lentil and Lamb Stew
Add 1 -2 cups lamb meat, cooked
Decrease the water by 2 cups
Add some oregano...Greek oregano if you have it

Today we added cooked chicken, leftover noodles and some browned turkey meat. So yummy.

Serve with shredded cheese, chopped green onions, black olives and some hot bread.

Enjoy!

This recipe is compliments of my mother, Esther Ruth (Hostetler) Zook who would often make this in the fall when the Midwest weather would turn crisp and cold or would become cold and rainy. "Good soup day!" would be my mom's comment as she began to pull the ingredients out of the cupboards. I think of her every time I make this soup.