new year

Wow. Last published post, July 13th!!
Yeah, you can say the rest of the summer and the fall (and the winter so far?) had gotten away from me. We had what seemed visitor after visitor and then trip after trip and while it's true that I let life and lazyness get in the way of smart meal planning more often that usual, it didn't completely disappear as the void in this blog would have you believe.

But it's a new year with a new start and it's good to be back!
I have some really yummy recipes that I've used a lot (in the last six months) and I want to get them on here to record and share. I've got a new motivation to keep up with the recording of recipes on here as I went to whip up one of my New Year's Dinner staples, one which I only had a bookmark/link to and it was gone. I almost cried. So from now on at the very least, all my faves are being typed up or pasted on these pages here so I know they won't disappear on me!!

Here's one to get us started...
It's been really really cold in our neck of the woods ever since Christmas (woke up to -6° this morning) and while I'm not normally an "I like soup" kind of person very often, these arctic days have had me whipping up a pot or two more often. This soup I've actually made twice in the last two weeks. Yummy!
It's a quick and heartier replacement for my usual Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup you can find here.

Here's the recipe snatched directly from Picky Palate:
(thanks Jenny!)

Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, finely diced
4 celery stalks, diced
6 large carrots, peeled and diced
4 Cups fresh baby spinach leaves, coarsely chopped
4 cans chicken broth
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
6 oz dry chow mein stir fry noodles (they work awesome in soup!!)
Pinch of salt and fresh cracked pepper
Pinch of Lawry’s Garlic Salt with Parsley

1. Heat oil in large dutch oven over medium heat. When hot, saute onion, bell pepper, celery, carrots and spinach for 5 minutes or until vegetables are softened. Pour in chicken broth and add chicken breast. Bring to high heat until just starting to boil. Reduce heat and add in noodles. Stir until softened, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, season according to taste with salt, pepper and garlic salt. Simmer until ready to serve!!

8-10 large servings

[my notes: both times I made this I've actually just picked up a ready to go rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and shredded it right off the bone... yummy and easy! I also have had some extra fresh mushrooms on hand and have chopped those up and added to the veggies. Totally the kind of soup that you can just throw together whatever you have on hand.]

I made this last Friday evening with some sweet potato fries and some warm beer bread while we had friends over for dinner... friends who have been fighting colds and sickness and pneumonia for the past couple of weeks... in between sipping and exclamations of "yummy!" my friend said, "Oh, I can tell this is making me better already!"

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

I don't know what this soup kick is that I'm on... if you were to ask me I don't even really like soup.
I do think I like it more when I make it from scratch though... YUM!

Here's another good one. I originally had low hopes for this one. I am not a fan of cauliflower. I only made it because my neighbor recommended the recipe and we had two heads of cauliflower from our produce co-op. I wasn't planning on eating those two heads of cauliflower myself, so why not give it a whirl.
Well, it shocked me, but it turns out I like cauliflower soup! This version anyway. It's really got great flavor and it was super simple to make:

Roasted Cauliflower Soup
(from Epicurious)

2 heads cauliflower
3 garlic cloves
2 shallots
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 bay leaf
2 cups heavy cream

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Cut cauliflower into 1-inch flowerets (about 10 cups). In a large baking pan toss cauliflower, garlic, and shallots with oil to coat and roast in middle of oven about 30 minutes, or until golden.

In a 4-quart kettle simmer broth, water, roasted cauliflower mixture, and herbs 30 minutes, or until cauliflower is very tender. Discard bay leaf and in a blender puree soup in batches until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids), transferring to a bowl. Return soup to kettle and stir in cream and salt and pepper to taste. Heat soup over moderate heat until just heated through.

*****

I didn't have shallots, so I used some red onion instead. I wasn't entirely sure from the recipe how to roast the veggies, so after cutting the cauliflower, I just chunked up the onion real big and left the garlic cloves whole and tossed it all on the pan. Also, I roasted them longer than 30 minutes, as per reviews on the recipe... I think I did 45min+... they were quite blackened. I also skipped adding the water and used Half&Half instead of the heavy cream, and only just over 1 cup instead of 2. It was plenty creamy even that way.

Ryan and I were both really impressed with this soup. Savannah tried a decent amount too. She actually said it was too sweet. (?!)
We served it with cornbread and veggies and dip. We're thinking next time (and I do foresee making this again... Not sure if I'd buy cauliflower just for it, but next time we get a head or two from our co-op, I'm looking forward to this soup!) we'd try adding some sausage or cubed ham or something meatier to the soup to make it more of a filling main course.

Roasted Tomato Soup

Another yummy homemade soup!!
I made this one ahead of time and then just threw the soup back on the stove to warm up along with grilled cheese for a quick, but homecooked lunch.

Roasted Tomato Soup
6 cups (3 pints) cherry tomatoes
3 tbsps olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tbsp butter
2 garlic cloves
1 cup chopped onion
1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp thyme
1 cup whipping cream (I used half&half)

1- heat the oven to 400*. On a baking sheet combine the cherry tomatoes, 2 tbsps of the olive oil and the salt and pepper. Toss to coat evenly and spread in a single layer.













Roast the tomatoes until they are shriveled with brown spots, about 35 to 45 minutes.









2- In a large pot heat the butter and the remaining tbsp of oil over med. heat. Add the garlic and the onion and saute' until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes with their juice, the broth, the thyme, and the roasted tomatoes, including any liquid on the baking sheet. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce heat to simmer, partially covered for about 40 minutes.
3- Using a food processor or blender, puree the soup until it's smooth. Return to the pot and stir in the cream. Without letting the soup boil, warm it over medium heat, stirring often, until steaming. Add salt and pepper (and I added a little Italian seasoning), if necessary.

I really liked this soup, and I'm not a fan of tomato soups. It had a really good rich flavor, and even though I thought it was a tad bland in the seasonings, as soon as we added the italian seasoning, it was great. Once again, my kids wouldn't touch it, but the two other little boys we shared lunch with sucked it down.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

Easy crock pot comfort food recipe.
I got this from a crockpot cookbook I have, from the section of five ingredient dinners. I've tweaked it quite a bit to make it feel more "homemade"...

original ingredient list:
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken
2 cans condensed creamy chicken mushroom soup
1 10 oz package frozen mixed vegetables
1 tsp seasoned pepper or garlic pepper seasoning
1 1/2 cups dry egg noodles

my recipe:
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken
2 cans cream of chicken soup
I skip the frozen veggies and slice/chop up onion, carrots and celery
I also add way more than 1 tsp of seasonings.... usually salt, pepper and garlic powder. Plenty of it.

Stir 5 cups of water into the cans of soup in your slow cooker. Whisk until smooth.
Stir in chicken, vegetables and seasoned pepper.
Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hrs or high for 3-4 (lower for longer is preferred for soup!).
Stir in noodles for last 20-30 minutes of cooking (if using low setting, turn to high-heat setting). Cook until noodles are tender.

Like most soups, this is much much better days after preparing!

The kids like this too!

Cheddar and Mushroom Soup

I whipped up this yummy soup yesterday getting in the wintery food mood with the cold temperatures and icy wind outside. I loved it!

Cream of Mushroom Soup with Cheddar Cheese

• 4 tbsp butter
• 1 lb mixed mushrooms, sliced thick
• 1/2 medium sweet onion, sliced thick
• 5 cloves garlic, minced (I only used 3)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup cream, half and half or milk
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• black pepper to taste
• 1 cup finely grated cheddar cheese

In heavy saucepan, melt butter and saute mushrooms, onions, garlic and salt until the onions are soft and translucent and the mushrooms have released their juices.
Sprinkle with the flour and stir for 1 minute.
Add chicken broth while stirring.
Bring to a low boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
Slowly stir in cream and bring back to simmer.
Add cheddar cheese and stir until melted and combined.
Season with nutmeg and pepper to taste.
Remove from heat and serve.














Oh, this soup was good! Even while I was cooking the mushrooms, onions, etc, I had my nose over the pan and just couldn't wait until it was all finished. It smelled so good. There's nothing like a good mushroom soup. It was so yummy!
The kids ate Campbells chicken noodle. They didn't even pretend to be interested in real, made from scratch, homemade soup. Ryan really liked the soup... as much as someone who doesn't much care for mushrooms could. He picked around most of the big mushrooms and onions. He said it reminded him of a good stroganoff. It was so yummy. Oh, did I already say that??

Next time I will mince the onion as well; we don't really care for whole onion "rings" in our dishes. And I'll probably add some beef or chicken and maybe some broccoli pieces as well to make it a heartier soup for those of us (Ryan) who want something in it besides just mushrooms.

Chili in the Crock

I was brainstorming for menu ideas this cool and dreary past Sunday and my husband chimed in that a big pot of chili for Monday night football would be perfect...
So chili it was!

I've never really made chili before. I know. One of the easiest dishes around and I've never even attempted it. I buy the Banquet Homestyle Bakes chili and cornbread in the box. I know, we're sad. But I just don't like chili. Actually, I've realized over the years, I do like chili, I just hate the beans. And I hate the hassle of picking them out of a good bowl of chili. So I decided to buckle down and find a good no-bean chili recipe to try out this week.

In my searching I made some discoveries...
Did you know that original, classic, true chili doesn't involve beans at all? A popular saying among self-proclaimed chili purists is "If you know beans about Chili, you know Chili ain't got no beans!". The thought that beans do not belong in chili may be further proven in the fact that most official chili cook-offs do not allow beans. In many cases the chili would be disqualified if it contained such ingredients considered "filler".
Chili is a Texas creation, a Texas invention, and a Texas tradition. It was created as a cheap food for cowboys, one that could easily be made while riding the hard trails, and that would also travel well. In other words, it was quick and easy to make, but could be made to serve lots of people over a long period of time. Following the herds across country, a group of cowboys could start a pot of chili, and continually add meat scraps and fat to the pot over the weeks as they traveled--and it only got better as the trail went on. Including beans in chili just wouldn't have happened as dry beans were heavy to travel with and involved a long soaking and cooking time.

So anyway, here was my first attempt at my own homemade "beanless" chili. I picked a simple yet interesting recipe off of Recipezaar and tweaked it just a little according to my pantry and our taste. The original recipe:

1 lb ground beef
1 pkg dry onion soup mix
2 tsp cocoa powder
2-3 tbsp chili powder
1 can tomato paste
1 can diet coke

cook on low at least 6 hours

I chose this recipe because a) it made a decently small amout... enough for 4-6 adults. I knew it would just be me and Ryan eating this and I didn't want to make a huge pot of chili for us to be eating on forever... especially if I didn't know it was a great recipe!
and b) the diet coke and the cocoa really caught my attention and intrigued me.
I love that these are ingredients I would pretty much always have on hand.

Alterations by me:
I didn't realize I didn't have any tomato paste on hand... I used tomato sauce instead
I added a can of diced basil garlic and oregano tomatoes
I added about a clove of chopped garlic and a sprinkle of onion powder

Verdict:
I thought it was really really yummy! Just the right amout of sweet and spicy. I was hesitant on the chili powder and only did about 2 tablespoons and I might go a little more on that next time. Also maybe add some real finely chopped onions. But the consistency was right on and I loved the flavor! Ryan really liked it too. I asked him if I should keep trying other chili recipes to find our favorite and he voted on keeping this one as the norm!
Of course the kids would have nothing to do with it... they pretty much only ate the accompianing corn bread!

mmm, mmm good

It was such a soup kind of day!
It was trying hard to snow much of the day today... just the tiniest little flurries flying around in the gray sky... cold, cold wind, the kind that stings your skin...
It was great to stay in all afternoon and smell homemade soup simmering away.

We had Swistle's Soup for dinner. It's a super simple throw together soup that you don't have to cook all day... I just liked the feeling/smell of it simmering on the stove all day so we left it there.
Here's the recipe.
I had grabbed a fresh loaf of Sweet Wheat bread from the bakery on the corner too, and it was a great meal.
The kids both ate everything on their plates (cheese cubes, peaches and the bread) and while Sawyer (of course) totally gonged the soup, Savannah actually ate a good bit of hers.
I love this soup!

Fall soups

Now that the weather has finally turned fall, I'm in the soup mood!!

I made Swistle's Autumnal Soup last week and have been enjoying it ever since. It's a vegetable soup and it was really simple (no cutting!!) and really yummy. Of course, as with most soups, better reheated the next day.
Swistle's Autumnal Soup

• 1 pound or so of ground beef or ground turkey (I use ground turkey, which at our store comes in 1.3 pound packages, and I use the whole package)
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (I like Contadina)
• 15 oz can tomato sauce (I like Contadina)
• 4 c. water
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 16 oz package frozen mixed vegetables (I like Birdseye classic blend: carrots, beans, peas, corn)
• 8 oz frozen broccoli (I like to thaw it a little and then snip it with kitchen scissors into smaller pieces)
• 1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup mix
• 2 t. salt (or to taste--I love love love salt so maybe start with less than I use)
• 1 t. crushed red pepper (optional, for spicier soup)

Swistle says, "Fry up the ground meat and drain off as much grease as you can. Put the meat into a big pan--at least 6 quart or you'll be a sorry, sorry cook later on. Add everything else and stir it. Heat to boiling, then reduce it to a simmer and cover it. Let it simmer for half an hour, stirring it occasionally if you feel like it. It's okay to eat right away, but I think it's better reheated the next day.

Delicious accompaniment: garlic toast.

One thing I like about this recipe is that it's flexible. You don't have to use broccoli and classic-blend vegetables, you can instead use up the little half packages of vegetables nobody liked as side dishes, or fresh vegetables that are in danger of going bad in the fridge, or a bag of Italian blend vegetables if you're feeling really wild and crazy. One summer William grew some green bean vines but didn't want to eat the green beans, so I snipped some up into my soup every time I made it. Oooh, and lima beans are good.

It freezes GREAT.

Incidentally, if you do Weight Watchers Core Plan, this soup is a freebie. Well, unless you get all tight about how many grains of that 1 tsp. of sugar are in each portion."

Next up, is a soup I have yet to make this fall, but LOVE IT!

Curried Butternut Soup
You can make this rich soup with any kind of squash, or even sweet potatoes.

• 8 cups cubed, peeled butternut squash (about 2lbs)
• Cooking spray
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 cups chopped peeled Granny Smith apple
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onions
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 2 (14oz) cans chicken broth
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup grated extra sharp white cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400*
Arrange squash in single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 45 min or until tender.
Melt butter in a dutch over over medium-high heat. Add apple, onion, celery, and bay leaf; saute 10 minutes. Stir in curry powder and garlic; cook 1 minute stirring contantly. Add squash, broth, ad salt; stir well.
Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Partially mash mixture with a potato masher until thick and chunky; stir well. Top each serving with cheese.


And another recipe I picked up last winter that we love around here,
Chicken Tortilla Soup

• 1lb shredded cooked chicken
• 1 15oz can tomatoes
• 1 10oz can enchilada sauce
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 4oz can chopped green chili peppers
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 cups water
• 1 15oz can chicken broth
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 10oz package frozen corn

Put all ingredients in crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. (or high 3-4 hrs)
For serving:

• 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
• broken tortilla chips
• limes cut into 8ths
• shredded cheese
• sour cream

Add ingredients to top each serving.