Vegetable Soup (not vegetarian)

One of my favorite things about the cold months of the year is eating soups and stew.  When we lived in the Charleston area of South Carolina, it never got really cold, so it always seemed strange to be eating soup or stew when it was 65 degrees out.  Now that we are in Utah, I look forward to the cold weather so I can eat soup that will warm me up.

I had surgery last year and a nice woman brought us a big pot full of vegetable soup.  By the time I recuperated and finished working full time, the weather was warmer and I didn't think of the soup again until this past fall.  I searched the Internet for the "perfect" vegetable soup.  I ended up taking some portions from several different recipes.  This is the one I came up with.  The good thing about vegetable soup is that you can put in pretty much any vegetable that you have on hand.  This recipe probably makes about 20 bowlfuls. 

Tips:
1.Sometimes you may have to add more liquid if it has been sitting a few days because the liquid soaks into the pasta.
2. If you don't want to eat that much soup over a week, you may half the recipe.  Follow the directions for step one.  Reserve half the broth and freeze it for the next time you would like to make the soup, or for another recipe that calls for broth.

Ingredients:
water/broth
soup bones (mine were pork)
1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
12-15 quartered small red potatoes
two cups cut up carrots
one onion, chopped
6 stalks celery, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1/4 head of cabbage, chopped
1/2 lb green beans, cut into bite size pieces
1 small head broccoli, cut into small pieces
1/2 small bag frozen corn
1 box wheat penne pasta
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Italian spices to taste

Directions:
1. Use a large soup pot to make this soup.  Mine is a 14 quart stockpot.  Fill the stockpot up halfway with water or broth (vegetable or chicken).  Add soup bones and cook on low for 5 hours.  Remove the bones and set aside.

2. Add all your vegetables to the pot.  Remove meat from the bones and add to soup. Boil over med-high heat, then reduce heat and simmer on low until potatoes are done (about 30-40 minutes).  Add pasta a cook according to box directions over med-high heat.  Add spices to your liking.

Very Delicious Ham and Potato Soup

For Christmas we had a spiral cut ham and there was plenty of leftovers.  I searched for a recipe where I could use some of the leftovers.  This recipe was SO good!  I would have posted a picture, but we ate it too fast.  I think that next time I will double it so I can have some leftovers.  The good part about using the food processor was the veggies were so small that you could add other vegetables without anyone noticing.

Ingredients


2-3 stalks celery, diced or chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 T oil of your choice
3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1 cup diced cooked ham
3 3/4 cups water
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground pepper, or to taste

5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk

Directions

1.I used my small food processor to chop the celery and onion.  I sauted them in canola oil in my stockpot.  Add the potatoes, ham and water.  Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.  Keep an eye on the water level, you may have to add more during cooking.  Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.

2.In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thickened, 4 to 5 minutes.

3.Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.  Garnish with shredded cheese or green onions.

Soup in a Pumpkin

I've been waiting to make pumpkin soup in a pumpkin since I read Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle book a couple of years ago. Since we grow pumpkins in our garden, I was set to do it last year, but didn't get around to it before the mold did.

This year, I set aside the pumpkins to try again and decided I better hurry up. So, tonight was the night!!  I have been eating very limited gluten, dairy and sugar the past couple of months, and so I didn't follow the recipe to a tee. Which, I'm sure is why I have only rated this three stars. I'm sure that this soup is great!! But... alas, mine was very fun to make but didn't quite make the cut for me.  I do have to say that it tastes a bit better to me now (10 minutes after making it) than it did right after it came out of the oven, so perhaps, I'll try again in the morning and it will be fabulous!  And, my pumpkin shell got too soft and the bottom burst out when I tried to remove the soup to puree it. Maybe I cooked it a bit too long.

Since it isn't fabulous, try Barbara's recipe if you decide to brave it. I omitted the sage (I have some but couldn't find it) and the milk and added parsley and thyme.  I like the consistency and the flavors of the garlic and spices.  Maybe its the pumpkin flavor that I'm not so fond of, but it is ultra healthy so I gave it an extra star!  (In the picture, I've added a dollop of yogurt after the pureeing.)

But... its got me to thinking that I might be able to figure out a way to make pumpkin pie soup in a pumpkin as a dessert. Hmm.. Sounds yummier to me, but it might not be gluten, dairy and sugar free. Oh, well.

Cheesy Potato Soup

Cheesy Potato Soup

8 med potatoes; diced
1 onion; chopped
5 c water
6 T butter
6 T flour
2 c milk
1 ½ c grated cheese
1 t salt
1/8 t pepper
2 green onions, sliced
Optional add ins: broccoli, ham, carrots, celery


Combine potatoes, onions, and water in big pot. Bring to boil and reduce heat. Simmer until potatoes are tender (abt. 15 minutes). Do not drain. In separate pan, melt butter, add flour. Stir and cook until mixture bubbles. Slowly add milk while stirring. Cook and stir until sauce thickens. Stir sauce slowly into potato mixture. Add cheese; cook until cheese is melted.  Serve and top with green onions if you desire.

Usually when I make this I add in broccoli.  Last night I decided to cut baby carrots into small pieces and celery finely chopped.  I added them with the potatoes.  I think that it would be really tasty with ham.  I would add it before the cheese (if it was fully cooked already).

Chicken Rice Soup

49oz Chicken Broth
2 cans Hormel Chunk Chicken (or 1 lb shredded chicken)
26oz spaghetti sauce
2 T chopped parsley
3 cups cooked rice
Grated Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan, combine first 4 ingredients.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.  Add rice; simmer 10 minutes.  Serve with cheese.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Whole Chicken

3 1/2 qts Water, or enough to cover chicken

1 Onion, peeled, quartered, and sliced

2 t. Italian seasoning

2 t garlic powder
1 1/2 t. lemon pepper seasoning
3 bouillon cubes
salt and pepper to taste



Add all ingredients to a big pot. Cook until chicken is tender. Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool.

Remove and throw away onion. When chicken is cool, pick all chicken off the bones. Throw the bones away. Set chicken aside.

Next ingredients:

2 cups sliced carrots (about 4 regular carrots)
2 cups sliced celery with leafy tops (about 4 also)
3 cups uncooked egg noodles
salt and pepper to taste (if needed)

Bring stock back to a boil, add carrots and cook for 3 minutes.

Add celery and cook about 6 minutes.

Add egg noodles and cook according to package.

Add chicken and cook 2 more minutes.

Add salt and pepper if needed.

Note:  When I made this today, after adding the carrots and celery I added the chicken back in.  Then I took out half of the soup (about 8 cups) to cool so I can put it in jars and freeze it for future use.  When I make this soup we eat it for a few days, I give some away, and we still have a lot left over.  I've tried to freeze it with all of it put together, but the noodles don't unthaw well.  So this time I decided to freeze it before the noodle stage.  I can add those when I unthaw it later.

Creamy Chicken Veggie Soup

This is a really easy recipe for a good soup.  I think it took me about 45 minutes to make this meal.

2 T butter/margarine

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 c skinny strips of onion

1/2 red pepper in strips

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 1/4 c chicken broth

1 1/2 c milk

2 chicken breasts or 6 tenders, cooked and cut up

pepper

garlic powder

parsley flakes

bit of nutmeg

half of a small bag of frozen broccoli

1. 
   
   
   In a large saucepan saute mushrooms, onions, and pepper in butter until the veggies are tender.  Stir frequently.
   
   
   
2. 
   
   
   In a bowl, combine soup and broth until smooth.  Add milk and stir until combined.  Add this to the saucepan.
   
   
   
3. 
   
   
   Stir in chicken.  Season with herbs as you like.  Add broccoli and heat until just boiling.  Reduce heat to low.  Cook until broccoli is tender-about 5 minutes.
   
   
   

We like to eat this with dinner rolls or crusty bread.  You could add as many vegetables as you want.

Hide-the-Healthy Chicken Soup

Chicken cut-ups or Whole chicken, skinned
Veges of your choice
Herbs
Seasoning
S & P

Chicken Soup is a great way to get nutrients to your kids. Shhhhh.... I've learned that my kids will pick out certain foods they don't like, so I hide them! When making Chicken Soup, I cook the chicken cut-ups and remove the meat. Continue cooking the bones to make more broth. While I am doing this, I skillet-fry onions, garlic, celery until well cooked.  (Very important to cook well or the broth will taste like raw onions!) I transfer these ingredients (or any other that my children dislike at that moment in time) to the blender and puree away. The kids love the flavor of the broth, the just don't like the slime of the onions, celery, mushrooms...  All the nurtrient and flavor... just hidden!! Then I prepare the rest of the veges--thick chunks of broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, zucchini, etc. (Thick chunk help prevent mushy (hence, slimy) veges. After removing the bones from the broth, I add the pureed mixture and season with rosemary, thyme, and sometimes basil. Then, toss in the rest of the veges and cook. Season to taste with salt and pepper... Add noodles or rice. My love it with the Fluffly Spanish Rice--tastes fabulous!