Oh So Simple Bean Soup

I've had a pound of white beans in my cupboard for more than 2 years, so I thought I should try to put them to good use. I soaked them yesterday, so they would be ready for me today.

I tried looking for a good recipe to use, but nothing was jumping out at me, so I decided to do a little experimenting. This is NOT something I usually do.

Feeling a little daring, I put the beans in some fresh water, put it on to boil, and started grabbing cans from my cupboard.

Here's the end result:

Oh So Simple Bean Soup

• 1-15.25oz can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1-10.75oz can cheddar cheese soup + 1 can of water
• 1-15oz can of crushed tomato + 1 can of water
• 1-15oz can of tomato sauce + 1 can of water
• 1-15oz can of chili beans
• 1-15oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 lb of dried white beans, soaked and cooked
• 1/4 cup of Wahoo! Chili (Tastefully Simple)
• 1 1/2 T Garlic Garlic (Tastefully Simple)
• 1/4 c minced onion
• 1 T salt
• 1 tsp basil

Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Simmer for at least 30 minutes until hot and flavorful.

I topped this with Texas Toast(R) Cheese & Garlic croutons. Yummy!

Cookies NEED eggs

Jeff asked me to bake some cookies after dinner last night. I had found a recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies on my friend's family recipe blog, and he agreed that they sounded delicious.

So, I mixed them all up, and popped the first dozen in the oven. Then I started to clean up and realized there was no egg shell on my counter.

Ooops! I had forgotten to add the egg.

While the first dozen was baking, I had already put the next dozen on the pan--ready to put in the oven. After a minute or so of hemming and hawing (is it OK to mix in the egg after the chocolate chips have been stirred in? what effect will no egg have? will the egg mix properly after the fact?), I decided to toss the dough of the 12 uncooked cookies back in the bowl, and go ahead and try to still mix in the forgotten egg.

Turns out, cookies really do need eggs. The first dozen tasted OK, but they didn't stick together very well.



And they didn't flatten as they should have.


We were left with very thick, dry, crumbly cookies.

Thankfully the remaining 2 1/2 dozen were delicious! Moist, chewy! I love the flavor combination of the peanut butter and chocolate chips.

If you're wondering what an egg exactly does in cookies, check out this website that I found this morning. It answers this very question plus gives more great information about the egg.

P.S. Is forgetting eggs a pattern? I also forgot eggs when making pancakes back in 2006. Perhaps since it was more than two years ago, it's not a pattern. Let's hope.