Just Ideas ;)

A few things before we get to the food...

• Sorry for all the phantom posts that have you may have seen in google reader,  blogger's "schedule" function has not been cooperating lately.

• Thanks to everyone who has voted in support of me in Project Food Blog, if you haven't yet (ends Thursday)--there's still time!  Click here to vote!

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I've been meaning to share some good eats with you, more or less ideas rather than strict recipes.  The first was Brittany's Kale w/Peanut Sauce.  Absolutely delicious, you should make it ;)   And if you have some leftover peanut sauce, I'll let you know that it also works as a pasta sauce.  I thinned it with a little starchy pasta water, tossed it with the cooked pasta (I had some Spicy Thai Linguine) and a ton of julienned veggies for an amazing dinner!  If you want to kick up the heat, serve some Siracha (the rooster sauce) on the side!

Spicy Thai Linguine w/Peanut Sauce

Another morph came when I was making Janetha's taco soup.  I always remember my need to utilize my crockpot more when I make delicious recipes like this!!  When thinking of an accompaniment for the soup, I was leaning towards cornbread when I remembered something I'd seen who knows where...  cornbread croutons!   I took some of my Summer Squash & Basil Cornbread since I had just made it and cut it into ~1/2" cubes.   Sprayed with a little nonstick cooking spray and spread out on a cookie sheet, these croutons will bake up in a preheated 350degree oven in no time.  

Cornbread Croutons w/Taco Soup

Are you a fan of croutons?  I don't actually like them in salads, but I loved the crunch in this soup :)  Definitely one I'll have to remember as I make more soups/stews as the temperature drops...