Kitchen

[violann]

I've made both chicken BONE BROTH and beef bone broth, and the flavor is wonderful. If you're interested, google BONE BROTH. Too long to post here.

[FASHIONISTA DIVA]

On 2/4/2015 Barbarainnc said:

Taco Soup

2 pounds ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

2 cans shoe peg corn

2 cans chili beans, mild

2 cans Rotel Tomatoes, mild

2 cans petit cut tomatoes

2 pkgs. Dry Ranch Dressing

2 pkgs. Taco Seasoning

Add water if too thick for you

Brown the ground beef with the onion, then add the canned veggies, juice and all. Then add the Ranch Dressing and Taco Seasoning. Stir, add water if needed, let simmer for a while. It freezes well, and recipe can be divided easily.

Serve with Sour Cream, Shredded Cheddar Cheese and Frito Corn Chips.

This sounds so yummy and I think I'm going to try it this weekend! Usually I always drain the ground beef after browning, do I drain for this recipe or not? Thanks!

[Madisson]

chicken noodle soup

13 bean soup with large cubes of ham

creamy leek and potato soup

tomato rice soup made with beef stock

[HULAGIRL]

Split Pea w/ham, potatoes and onion.

[lork]

On 2/4/2015 Barbarainnc said:

Taco Soup

2 pounds ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

2 cans shoe peg corn

2 cans chili beans, mild

2 cans Rotel Tomatoes, mild

2 cans petit cut tomatoes

2 pkgs. Dry Ranch Dressing

2 pkgs. Taco Seasoning

Add water if too thick for you

Brown the ground beef with the onion, then add the canned veggies, juice and all. Then add the Ranch Dressing and Taco Seasoning. Stir, add water if needed, let simmer for a while. It freezes well, and recipe can be divided easily.

Serve with Sour Cream, Shredded Cheddar Cheese and Frito Corn Chips.

This is one of my favorites! I don't put the onion in the soup (kids are convinced they don't like onions). I use a couple quarts of home canned tomato sauce (picky kids don't like pieces of cooked tomatoes, either) and let it simmer in the slow cooker for hours. Oh and I use a can of regular corn. . .tried it once with a pkg. of frozen corn and it seemed a little sweet. . .Today we've got a cold front blowing into Kansas and I've got a slow cooker filled with chili. I've recently started adding a couple Tablespoons of bulgur to my chili (per recipe from a nearby restaurant). I make my chili with ground beef, onion, quarts of tomato sauce, a can of tomato soup, chili powder, oregano, cumin, a couple hot peppers, and canned pinto beans. Sometimes we top it off with shredded colby cheese, chopped raw onion, soda crackers, & corn chips. In this part of the mid west, chili dinners are a popular fun raiser and are always served with a vegetable relish plate and homemade cinnamon rolls.

[Barbarainnc]

I don't drain off the "juices" from the ground beef, but you can if you want. To me the "juice" adds flavor. But, after being in the refrigerator, the "juices" come to the top of the soup to be degreased.

Bone Broth Site: http://nourishedkitchen.com/bone-broth/

[JeanLouiseFinch]

I like making soups this time of year, usually once every 7-10 days. I like a lot of soups myself; split pea, lemon rice, cream of mushroom, minestrone, black bean, tortilla, but many in my family don't so I usually stick to what they like. A few of them are:

ZUPPA TOSCANA (like the Olive Garden soup)

1 lb.. ground Italian sausage
1½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 large diced white onion
4 tbsp. bacon pieces
1 ½ - 2 tsp. minced garlic (real thing, not dried flakes or powder)
10 cups water
5 cubes of chicken bouillon
1 cup heavy cream (whipping cream)
1 lb. sliced unpeeled Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
¼ of a bunch of fresh kale – rinse well to get the sand off

Saute Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a skillet. Drain the excess fat. Refrigerate meat while you prepare other ingredients. In the same skillet, gently saute bacon, onions and garlic for approximately 15 mins. or until the onions are soft. In a large pot, mix together the chicken bouillon and water, then add the onions, bacon and garlic mixture. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes, return to boil, then reduce to simmer, and cook until soft – about 30 minutes . Add heavy cream and stir to combine. Stir in the sausage and cook until everything heats through. Add kale right before you’re ready to serve and just cook long enough to wilt the kale (only a couple of minutes).

Garnish each serving with Parmesan Cheese - optional

My Notes:

· I add a little more sausage than required.

· Red potatoes work fine, if you don’t have Russets

· If you can’t find kale, fresh spinach is a fine substitute

Baked Potato Soup

4 Lg. Baking Potatoes (about 2 ¾ lbs)

2/3 C. Butter (I always use the real thing – think it makes a difference)

2/3 C. All-purpose Flour

¼ tsp. White Pepper

¾ tsp. Salt

6 C. Milk

1 C. Sour Cream

Thinly sliced Green Onions (I snip w/a kitchen scissors)

Crumbled Bacon (I snip before frying – easy & faster, or better yet, buy the premade real bacon crumbles at Costco)

Shredded Cheddar Cheese – reg. or fancy shred, doesn’t matter

Bake potatoes in a 350° F oven for about 65-75 minutes, or until tender (I find it is usually longer). Cool completely. Peel and dice potatoes (some will fall apart, but that’s fine). In a small Dutch oven (or lg. for double batch), melt butter; stir in the flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add the milk while stirring continuously. Bring to a boil; cook while stirring for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat. Whisk in the sour cream. Add the potatoes back to the pot. Stir to heat through. Use the shredded cheese, crumbled bacon and slivered green onions for garnishing after serving in individual soup bowls.

Note: The continuous stirring and controlling your heat is important so the cream base doesn’t burn. If you scorch the bottom of the pan and it gets scraped and mixed into your soup, it will be ruined.

*Rather than peeling and cutting the potatoes up, I've started slicking them lengthwise and just scooping out the pulp. Since it falls apart when dicing anyway, it saves time and you don't have to be so careful. Once the pulp is collected in a bowl, run a knife randomly through it to break up big pieces. Save the shells to make baked potato skins later in the week.

Easy to increase for a crowd.

Cheese-Broccoli Soup

1 potato, peeled and shredded

1 C. broccoli finely cut

2 carrots, grated/shredded (or buy pre-shredded in the produce department)

4 cubes or tsps. chicken boullion

1 tsp. finely chopped onion

1/2 C. butter (real thing)

1/2 C. flour

4 C. milk

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 lb. Velveeta cheese, cut up

Cook potato, broccoli, carrot, onion in bouillon and 3 cups of water. In a separate saucepan, melt butter. Quickly add flour to make a roux. Cook over low/med. heat a couple of minutes to get ride of the flour taste, but watch so it doesn't burn. While whisking, pour in half of the milk and whisk to eliminate the lumps. Add the rest of the milk and salt, and cook to make a white sauce. Stir in the Velveeta, a little at a time. Combine both mixture and heat through. Serve hot.

[ChynnaBlue]

Chicken soup, but I don't use a recipe, I just play it by ear every time. I will say that about 30 minutes before I serve, I throw in a few handfuls of Farfalle pasta, which I find to be much better than egg noodles. See, handfuls... told you I play it by ear. I think it's about half a box of Barilla or DeCecco Farfalle.

I also think Better than Boullion makes the best soup base.

[vabreeze]

This is a recipe from a QVC poster. I will add Italian sausage or chicken cajun sausage to it (or both), tomato sauce and any kind of salt-free canned beans that I like (Monday I used red kidney, black, and pinto beans) and I used canned lentils and used amounts of ingredients to my preference. It's like a cousin of chili. I use lots of chili powder and ground cumin. Also used a bag of Trader Joe's frozen tricolor peppers and onions. I do mine in the slow cooker starting out by cooking on HIGH the bacon, sausage, peppers and onions together and then add everything else on LOW. Good served with rice or on its own with a crusty bread and hot tea. Yum!!!

Pot of Beans

4-6 bacon strips

1 large onion, chopped

1/3 cup dry lentils

1-1/3 cups water (vabreeze always substitute broth for water)

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 teaspoon garlic powder

3/4 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

1 bay leaf

1 can (16 oz) diced tomatoes with liquid (or can of whole tomatoes, chopped)

1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, drained

1 can (16-oz) kidney beans, drained

1 can (15-1/4 oz) canned corn, drained

In a 3-qt saucepan, fry bacon, lightly. Add onion and cook until transparent. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook over medium heat for about 45-60 min (until lentil beans are tender. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

I like to top this with shredded cheddar cheese. It's great serve with corn bread on the side.

I have substituted the bacon with ground beef or sausage which is also yummy! This recipe is great to play around with. I like to add more 'heat' to it (red pepper flakes and chili powder). And the recipe is also great without the corn if you don't have any on hand.

If anyone tries this, please let me know if you liked it. Enjoy!

basilgirl

[151949]

CrocKPOT TORTILLA SOUP

i jar pace picante - I used medium - you can use mild or hot as you like

2 cans cream of chicken soup

i soup can water (I used chicken broth)

2 cups of frozen corn

1 can of black beans - drained

2cups of cut up into 1/2"" pieces raw chicken breasts

stir it all together and crockpot it for 4 hours. Then add 1 cup grated chedder or jack cheese and 1/3 c cilantro cut up small and cook another hour. Add tortilla chips or doritos to the top and serve.