Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup

1/2 cup dried minced onion

2-3 tsp minced garlic cloves

2 cans of sliced carrots

3 carrots, sliced

2-3 red potatoes, cubed

2 cans (15-oz.) black beans (or kidney beans which is more traditional -- but I didn't have them)

1 can (15-oz.) garbanzo beans

1-2 cans (28-oz.) diced tomatoes, according to your taste

1 can (15-oz.) tomato sauce

1 can garlic basil flavored tomato paste

1 lb. browned italian sausage

2 T. parsley

1 t. oregano

2 t. basil

1 tsp celery salt (since I didn't have celery)

(I would have added 2 bay leaves but I didn't have those either)

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 T. beef base

4-5 c. water

1 box cooked pasta

Combine ingredients in crock pot (meat can be added later).  Cook until vegetables are tender.  Add cooked pasta shortly before serving, quantities according to your taste. 



Here is my "crock pot". I gave up on real crock pots and now use this roaster. It works perfect! I can control the temp so much better. I have plenty of room to make something that will feed my family and guests! And it is easy to clean since the bowl lifts right out!

Chicken Enchilada Soup

This was seriously good. Lillian had been telling me how good Trader Joe's Enchilada sauce was and so I bought it. But I didn't really feel like making enchiladas. So I came up with this.


4 cans chicken broth
1 bottle Trader Joe's Enchilada Sauce
1 zuchinni diced
1 carrot diced
1 cup frozen corn
1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1-2 cups cooked diced chicken breast

Simmer until the veggies are soft. Serve with strips of flour tortillas, grated cheddar cheese, fresh cilantro, sour cream, avocado, and chips!

Week 21 -- Cauliflower soup

I made this soup after getting the idea from pioneerwomancooks.com (here is her recipe).  Because I am not the best "recipe follower"  I will give you the version I actually made. 

I used a food processor and chopped up all of the following.
almost 1 whole yellow onion
the top half of one celery bunch
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
about 15 baby carrots
2 heads of cauliflower

Dump all of the chopped up stuff in a large sauce pan and add 3 cans of chicken broth.  Bring to a simmer for about 25 minutes (or until everything is tender). 

In a separate sauce pan, make a white sauce
4 TBS of butter (melt in the pan)
6 TBS of flour (whisk into the butter)
Add 2 cups of skim milk and 1 1/2 cups of light cream

Whisk until thickened and then pour into the other sauce pan. 

At this point I tasted it and added 2 Tbs of chicken base and 2 tsp of chicken boullion and some salt and pepper. 

It was delicious.  Even most of the kids liked it.

Week 6 - Chicken and Noodles

So here is what I wanted to make off Pioneerwomancooks.com that required the homemade noodles. It was delicous. I highly recommend it.

Here is her recipe and if you follow the link you can see all her pictures.

Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour
Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 6
Ingredients
1 whole Cut Up Fryer Chicken
2 whole Carrots, Diced
2 stalks Celery, Diced
½ whole Medium Onion, Diced (optional)
1 teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoons Turmeric
¼ teaspoons White Pepper (more To Taste)
¼ teaspoons Ground Thyme
2 teaspoons Parsley Flakes
16 ounces, weight Frozen "homemade" Egg Noodles
3 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour
Preparation Instructions
Cover chicken in 4 quarts water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes.
Remove chicken from pot with a slotted spoon. With two forks, remove as much meat from the bones as you can, slightly shredding meat in the process. Return bones to broth and simmer on low, covered, for 45 minutes.
Remove bones from broth with a slotted spoon, making sure to get any small bones that might have detached.
Add the carrots and celery (and onions, if using) to the pot, followed by the herbs and spices. Stir to combine and simmer for ten minutes to meld flavors.
Increase heat and add frozen egg noodles and chicken. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes.
Mix flour and a little water. Stir until smooth. Pour into soup, stir to combine, and simmer for another 5 minutes, or until broth thickens a bit. Test and adjust seasonings as needed.

Here is what I did different. I added 1 tsp of onion powder and 4 tsp of chicken boullion. And it took me two bowls of flour to get it thick enough.

Broccoli Cheese Potato Soup

I set out to make this soup last night. I looked for a recipe and found 2. One for cheesy broccoli soup and one for cream of broccoli potato soup. I combined them and tweaked them.

It was the best soup. Everyone agreed. All the kids loved it. Trent loved it. I loved it!

So here is the recipe (so I can remember what I did)

1/2 quart of half and half
6 cups skim milk
2 cups grated cheddar cheese (I prefer sharp)
1 1/2 to 2 crowns of broccoli
2 large potatoes (peeled and diced)
1/4 cup minced onion
1 Tbs chicken boullion
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour

salt and pepper to taste.

You will need 3 pans.

I used a 6qt, a 3 qt, and a 2 qt saucepans.

In the 6 qt pan, I melted 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter. I added a slightly heaped 1/2 cup of all purpose flour and whisked the two together. Then I added about 2 inches of skim milk into the pan (probably 3-4 cups) whisking constantly until the flour/butter roux was smooth and the milk was starting to thicken. Then I turned off the heat until the other two pans caught up.

In the 3 qt pan, I steamed the broccoli. The pan was nearly full and I would guess it was 1 1/2 crowns of broccoli. (I used the fresh broccoli that is already trimmed and ready to go from costco -- You could also use frozen, but I think fresh made a big difference.) When the broccoli was done I drained off the water and ran 2 sharp knives through the broccoli a few times to break up any large pieces.

In the 2 qt pan, I added 2 large potatoes, peeled and diced and 1/4 cup dry minced onion. (I am sure real onions would be great too, but I didn't have any) I covered them just barely with water and let them boil until the potatoes were tender (not mushy)

Once the 2 smaller pans are finished I turned the heat back on the white sauce. I added 1/2 quart of half and half and a TBS of chicken boullion. Then I added the broccoli and the potatoes/onions (and all the water from the potatoes and onions -- do not add the broccoli water-- too green!) I stirred it all and then added more milk until I had the desired consistency. Slightly runnier than I wanted the final product to be.

I brought it up to a nice simmer and then turned off the heat. Then I added the grated sharp cheddar cheese and stirred until it was all melter. REMEMBER, if you add the cheese and your soup is too hot or it boils your soup will be grainy and greasy -- Always add the cheese after removing from all heat and make sure it is not still boiling.

Serve with fresh bread!