Tasty Lentil Tacos

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com and didn't make any modifications except I used soft taco shells. It was delicious, cheap, and easy.

Ingredients:
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
1 tablespoon chili powder - instead of the chili powder, cumin, and oregano you can just use taco seasoning
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup salsa
12 taco shells
taco toppings: lettuce, tomatoes, sour cheese, cheddar cheese

1. In a large nonstick skillet, saute the onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the lentils, chili powder, cumin and oregano; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Uncover; cook for 6-8 minutes or until mixture is thickened.

2. Stir in salsa. Spoon about 1/4 cup lentil mixture into each taco shell. Top with lettuce, tomato, cheese and sour cream.

French Onion Soup

Now that it is getting colder outside soup season is officially here. :) I got the recipe from here but I changed it some from reading reviews and combined some aspects of Julia Child's soup recipe. Make sure you have a good chunk of time caramelizing the onions takes at least 45 minutes.

Ingredients:
3 TBS butter
1 TBS oil
6 onions (about 3 pounds), sliced - this may seem like a lot but the onions really really cook down
6 garlic cloves, sliced
2 sprigs of thyme
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup dry white wine (I'm going to try red next time, according to reviews it is better)
6 cups canned beef broth
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
4 sourdough bread slices, toasted
Gruyere cheese


Melt butter and oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add onions, garlic, and thyme. Stir thoroughly so that all onions are coated in butter/oil. Cover and turn heat to medium low. Cook covered for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. After 20 minutes remove lid, add 1/2 tsp sugar and 1 tsp salt and turn heat to medium high to high. Stay in range of the onions during this time, you don't want them to burn. Cook the onions, stirring frequently until they are brown and caramelized. This will probably take 20-25 minutes. Once caramelized add wine and let condense until thick, about 3 minutes. Next I added 2 cups of beef broth and the mustard. I then transferred it to a larger pot to add the rest of the broth and the bay leaf. Simmer soup for 20 minutes.

To make the toast:
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Drizzle eat side of the bread with olive oil and place on a cookie sheet. Cook for 15 minutes on each side (30 minutes) total.

Preheat broiler. Ladle soup into broiler proof bowls. Top each with slice of toast and grated/sliced cheese. Broil until cheese melts and bubbles.

Diana's Cheesecake

This is the best cheesecake ever!

Crust:

2 packages (2 2/3c) graham crackers

1 stick butter melted

1/4 c sugar
Mix all of these together and pat into the bottom of the pan

Cake

3 lbs cream cheese ( 6- 8oz packages ) room temp. - Beat until smooth
2 cups sugar - beat in thoroughly

5 eggs - beat in one at a time

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon juice

Pour cheesecake batter into two 8' inch pans.

Place in water to bake 300 deg. for 1 hr 15 min. Let sit 1/2 hour. Remove from hot water.

Let cool completely. Refrigerate overnight. Remove from pan.

*I use a spring form pan so I wrap it in aluminum foil to make it water proof.