Creamy Carrot and Millet Soup

{Meatless Monday}

I already have a number of Carrot Soup recipes.  And I LOVE them.  They are some of my favorites.

There is the Moroccan Carrot Soup that my sister introduced me to....here.

And my newer favorite, Roasted Carrot Soup (you all know my obsession with roasted vegetables... ; ),  that I found from Martha Stewart....here.

And now I have a new one to add into the rotation.  Each of these soups has a very distinct flavor even though they all mostly have just carrots in them.

I had never tried Millet before.  Have you?  It looks like this:

And I buy it in the bulk section of my WinCo.

It cooks up completely soft and is blended up with the soup, so there are no chunks...but it gives a wonderful creamy flavor to the soup...almost a cheesy undertone.  Seriously...you have to try it!  It is delicious, plus just really good for you.  We all know we should be getting a good variety of grains.

Here's what you need:

2 T butter
1 medium onion, chopped
2 lb. carrots, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup millet
3 cups broth
1/2 tsp salt

1 to 1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup sour cream

Bread (french bread or just regular sandwich bread)
Cheddar Cheese
Optional toppings: green onions and dill weed  (I have never used either of these yet.)


Here's what you do...

Saute the onion in the butter until tender, about 10 minutes.

Add the carrots, millet, broth, and salt. Bring to a boil.  Reduce to low and cook, COVERED, for 35 minutes.  Blend in a blender (I have to do mine in batches) adding the milk to make your desired consistency.  Return blended soup to the pot and stir in the sour cream.  Warm up soup, if needed.

Now, the night that I made this and took my pictures, I had not a lick of bread in my house.  I was all out.  But it is SO YUMMY to make regular grilled cheese sandwiches--or just melt some cheese on top of French Bread slices--and cut them into croutons.

this is, sadly, the best picture I got of the soup...  ; )

Ladle soup into bowls and top with your grilled cheese croutons.  Add additional toppings, if desired, and ENJOY!!  I love creamy soups that are mostly vegetables with just a hint of cream.  I plan on making this one regularly throughout this fall and winter.

Delicious and EASY Breadsticks

Hello, again!  Now that it is Fall, and all of my kids are in school all day long, I am hoping to have more time to keep posting and sharing on this blog.  ; )

I was scrolling through all my posts looking at a few that got stalled in the "draft" stage, and I came across this one.  I guess I uploaded the pictures and never got around to typing up the recipe.  

You will want to try these.  They are SO easy.  And SO good.

The best thing about these is that they can be done so quickly.  You can go from start to finish in about 45 minutes...with most of that time involving no work from you since the dough will be rising or baking.

Here's how to do it....

Warm up 1 1/2 cups water in a small bowl in the microwave.  Add 1 T yeast and stir.  Sprinkle 2 T sugar over the top and stir again.  

In a large bowl or mixer, combine 3 cups flour and 1 1/2 tsp salt.  Add the yeast mix and stir well.

  LET SIT 10 MINUTES.

While that starts to rise, cut up 1/3 -1/2 cup butter on a cookie sheet and place in the oven with the oven  either on warm.  Set a timer for 3-5 minutes so you don't end up burning the butter.  ; )  Take the butter out of the oven and sprinkle on garlic and parmesan cheese to your taste.  You can also sprinkle on herbs like Italian Seasoning, Oregano, Basil, etc. (I use the herb mix that I always have on hand for dipping our Italian bread in.  You can find it here.)

After the 10 minutes, roll out the dough into a rectangle and cut into strips (I cut them on the shorter side of the rectangle.)  

Take one strip and coat both sides in the butter.  If the dough is pretty stretchy, I like to stretch each one a bit and fold in half and twist...as shown below.  Or you can keep them straight and just lay them on the cookie sheet.  Repeat with all remaining breadsticks.  My recipe normally makes about 15-16.

Let rise for 10-15 more minutes while you preheat your oven to 350*.

Bake for 15-17 minutes until  just barely browned.  You don't want to overcook these.  And the longer you can let them rise, the thicker they will be and the softer they will end up being.

These are SO simple to make.  They are my favorite thing to make when we have company coming because it is the easiest homemade bread, EVER!!