Soupy Noodles

Tomato-Tortellini Soup

Made: January 9, 2013

Ingredients
- 2 14oz cans reduced-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
- 1 9oz package refrigerated tortellini
- 1/2 8oz tub cream cheese spread with chive and onion
- 1 can condensed tomato or tomato bisque soup
- Snipped fresh chives (optional)

Directions
- In a medium saucepan, bring broth to boiling
- Add tortellini; reduce heat
- Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes
- In a bowl, whisk 1/3 cup of the hot broth into the cream cheese spread until smooth
- Return all to saucepan along with tomato soup; heat through
- Sprinkle with chives before serving (optional)

I only used 1 14oz can (or rather, 14oz) of reduced sodium chicken broth for this since I only needed two servings. I kept the rest the same though, minus the fresh chives. I needed a quick and simple recipe for the refrigerated tortellini we had leftover.

(Recipe used: Better Homes & Gardens)

Soup & Veggies

Minestrone Soup

Made: January 3, 2013

Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 stalks celery, diced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1/3 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 28-ounce can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
- 1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 15-ounce can low-sodium kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup elbow pasta
- 1/3 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat
Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 4 minutes
Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds
Add the celery and carrot and cook until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes
Stir in the green beans, dried oregano and basil, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste; cook 3 more minutes
Add the diced and crushed tomatoes and the chicken broth to the pot and bring to a boil
Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer 10 minutes
Stir in the kidney beans and pasta and cook until the pasta and vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes
Ladle into bowls and top with the Parmesan

I used black beans instead of kidney beans. The noodles sucked up a lot of the broth, so I might have to add more later on. But overall, I really enjoyed this!

(Recipe used: Food Network)

Corny Soup

Velvety Corn Soup

Made: December 2, 2012

Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 3 green onions, finely chopped
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 2 15oz cans cream style corn
- 1 1/2 cups half & half
- 4 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon paprika

Directions
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat
- Stir in the flour
- Cook, stirring continually for 1 minute, or until smooth & bubbly
- Add the green onions to the flour mixture
- Cook, stirring continually, for 1 minut
- Sit in 1 1/2 cups water
- Bring to boil, stirring occasionally
- Boil the mixture, stirring continually, for 1 minut
- Stir in the corn, half & half and bouillon granules
- Bring to a boil, stirring frequently
- Stir in the salt and pepper
- Ladle into soup bowls
- Sprinkle with paprika

I used what I had available. So no green onions and I used bouillon cubes (2) instead of granules. I don't care for paprika, but the soup itself had enough seasoning. I also used about 1/2 cup milk to top off the half & half since I ran out.

(Recipe used: My way cooking)

A soup of tomatoes

Easy Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese Croutons

Made: September 14, 2012

Ingredients
Tomato Soup
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cups yellow onions, chopped (2 onions)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
- Large pinch of saffron threads
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup orzo
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- GCC

Grilled Cheese Croutons
- 4 slices white bread
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 4 oz Gruyère cheese, grated

Directions
Tomato Soup
- In a large pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil on medium heat
- Add the onions and cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until golden brown
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute
- Stir in the chicken stock, tomatoes, saffron, salt & pepper
- Bring soup to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes
- Meanwhile, fill a medium pot with water and bring to a boil
- Add the orzo and cook for 7 minutes (It will finish in the soup)
- Drain and add it to the soup
- Stir in the cream
- Return the soup to a simmer and cook for 10 more minutes, stirring frequently
- Serve hot with GCC scattered on top

Grilled Cheese Croutons
- Heat panini grill
- Place the four slices of bread on a cutting board and brush lightly with the melted butter, being sure to butter the corners
- Turn the slices over and pile the cheese on two of the slices
- Place the remaining two slices of bread on top, buttered side up.
- Grill the sandwiches on the panini grill for about 5 minutes, until nicely browned
- Place on a cutting board, allow to rest for 1 minute and cut into 1 inch cubes

I didn't make these "special" grilled cheese. I think American style grilled cheese in a frying pan worked just as well with the flavors of the soup. I thought I had diced tomatoes, but I didn't ... so I used stewed tomatoes that I cut up personally. I also didn't use that much onion or garlic ... I used about 1/4 of an onion and garlic powder and salt instead. But I really did like the soup and the GCC were a new touch that I liked anyway since I like to dip my Grilled Cheese in my Tomato soup :)

Pickles in the soup

Polish Dill Pickle Soup

Made: July 22, 2012

Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 5 medium carrots, shredded
- 2 large potatoes, cubed (about 2 cups)
- 3 large dill pickles, shredded
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup sour cream
- Salt
- Pickle juice

Directions
- Combine 5 cups water, the butter, the carrots and potatoes in a saucepan
- Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are tender
- Add the pickles and continue to boil
- Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, sour cream and salt in a separate bowl
- Add enough water to make a paste, then slowly, to avoid curdling, add the mixture to the soup to thicken
- Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat
- Add pickle juice, to taste

I used my dutch oven instead of a saucepan, I like having the room, just in case. Although, my "paste" stayed paste in my soup, so I had clumps all around. So next time I might either add in the pickles after the paste or make the paste a cream. Either way, it had a really good taste.

For the pickle juice, I had 2 jars of pickle spears. I used about the remains of one jar and half of the other with about 10 pickle spears used overall.

(Recipe used: foodnetwork.com)

Inside out Stuffed Peppers

Slow Cooker Stuffed Pepper Soup

Made: February 15, 2012

Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef or turkey
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
- 28 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
- 6 oz can tomato paste
- 4 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 3 cups chopped green pepper
- 2/3 cup uncooked rice (white or brown)
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Ground black pepper to taste

Directions
- In a large skillet, cook ground beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until browned
- Drain any juices and transfer mixture to a slow cooker
- Add remaining ingredients and stir gently to mix
- Cook on low for 8-9 hours
- Add water to thin if necessary

I followed this one pretty much to the tee, until my slow cooker was too full to add anymore. I only did about 3 cups of chicken broth and only 1 can (14.5 oz) of diced tomatoes. It also took about 7 hours to cook, I put it on around noon and it was ready by 6:45pm. The peppers were nice and soft and the rice was nicely cooked. Apparently it needed more salt and pepper, but I don't want to over season where it's inedible. Overall, it wasn't bad. I added some shredded cheese overtop of mine. :)

Potatoes and cream

Creamy Baked Potato Soup

Made: January 18, 2012

 Ingredients
- 3 bacon slices, diced
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 2 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 1 cup half and half
- 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Minced fresh parsley
- Croutons

Directions
- In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, cook bacon until crisp
- Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon drippings, set bacon aside
- Saute onion and garlic in drippings until tender
- Stir in flour, salt, basil, thyme & pepper, mixing well
- Gradually add broth, stirring well
- Bring mixture to a boil, boil and stir for 2 minutes
- Add potatoes, half and half & hot pepper sauce
- Cook until heated through but do not boil
- Serve in bowls with a sprinkling of bacon, cheese, parsley & croutons on top

With all the fixin's

I made a few adjustments. I added in more chicken broth and a few more potatoes. No garlic, onions or pepper sauce, but overall the broth had a great taste without them. I also used ranch flavored croutons which added nice texture and extra flavor. It was more of a potatoes and cream feeling, but it was still quite yummy and I plan on making this again :)

Creamy Tomatoes & Crab Soup

Zesty Tomato Crab Bisque

Made: October 2, 2011

Ingredients:
- 2 cans (19 oz each) Progresso Vegetable Classics hearty tomato soup
- 1 can (7 oz) Old El Paso chopped green chilies
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon seafood seasoning
- 3/4 cup chopped cooked crabmeat
- Fresh thyme sprigs, if desired

Directions:
- In a 3-quart saucepan, heat soup and chilies to boiling over medium heat
- Reduce head to low
- Beat in cream and seasoning with whisk until blended
- Cook just until hot; do not boil
- Stir in crabmeat
- Ladle soup into individual small mugs
- Top each serving with thyme

I used about 1/2 of the recipe. A family of 3 doesn't really need 12 servings. But having it as a smaller size made it full of crabmeat! So it was worth it. :)

I didn't use chilies, I had some salsa verde, so I added in a teaspoon of that for a kick along with the Old Bay seasoning. I also didn't serve it with thyme as Rob's serving would be the only one with it. But it came out nice and creamy. I thought it had a nice flavor. :)

(Recipe from: Pillsbury)

Do you like cabbage?

"Skinny Soup"

Made: May 20, 2011

Pop made a ton of things when both me and my Mom were growing up. Her favorite was called Skinny Soup. It apparently has about 5-10 calories a serving and a full serving of veggies. It's really pretty good, but I do love cabbage. :)

Ingredients

- 15 oz can of tomato sauce
- 12 oz can of tomato paste
- 16 oz can of diced tomatoes
- 4 cups water
- 4 beef bullion cubes
- 1 head of cabbage, chopped/diced into small cubes/squares

Directions

- Put all ingredients into a pot
- Simmer for about 1 1/2 hours until cabbage is tender
- Enjoy!

You can add other veggies if you wish, but Mom's way is just cabbage. I also added a couple cans of water while getting the rest of the paste and sauce out of the cans. Plus a dash of salt, pepper & some sugar to cut the acid and can taste of the tomatoes. :)

Cheesey soup and noodles

Mac & Cheese soup

Made: March 4, 2011

Ingredients:

- Salt
- 4 oz elbow macaroni (about 1 cup)
- Cooking spray
- Ground Pepper
- 1 carrot, cut into 1-in pieces
- 1 stalk celery, cut into 1-in pieces
- 1/4 cup flour
- 3 3/4 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 6 oz shredded cheddar cheese (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

- Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil.
- Add the macaroni and cook as the label directs; drain. Set aside.
- Mince the shallpots, carrot and celery in a food processor.
- Mist a saucepan with cooking spray, add the vegetables and cook over medium heat until softened (4-5 min)
- Add the flour and cook, stirring - 2 min.
- Gradually stir in the broth and bring to a boil; cook, stirring until thickened (6-7 min). Remove from heat.
- Add the milk, cheese and macaroni and stir until the cheeses melt.
- Season with pepper.

I used both macaroni and shells as the pasta and I used Monetary-Jack cheese in addition to add an extra taste to it. I also just used a mandolin on level 1 thickness (very thin) to dice up the veggies instead; it added a nice texture against the creamy cheese & soft pasta :) But good reviews all around - minus that it was missing something but we couldn't really figure out what. :/

(Recipe from Food Network)

All mixed up soups

"Kimmi's Chicken Tortilla Soup"

Made: January 17, 2011

I mixed up two recipes; so I'll post both and you can make it how you see fit :)

"Chicken Tortilla Soup"

Ingredients:

-  1 pound skinless chicken breasts
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
- 1 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
- 1 can (10 oz) Old El Paso® mild enchilada sauce
- 1 can (4.5 oz) Old El Paso® chopped green chiles
- 1 3/4 cups Progresso® chicken broth (from 32-oz carton)
- 1 cup Green Giant® Valley Fresh Steamers™ Extra Sweet Niblets® frozen corn (from 12-oz bag), thawed
- 3 teaspoons dried minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 soft corn tortillas (5 to 6 inch), cut into 1-inch strips

Directions:

- Spray 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker with cooking spray.
- Place chicken in slow cooker.
- Add all remaining ingredients.
- Cover; cook on low heat setting 6 to 7 hours.
- Remove chicken; shred with 2 forks.
- Return to slow cooker; stir well to blend

 "Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup"

Ingredients:

- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs (1 1/4 lb)
- 1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
- 3 (6-inch) corn tortillas, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 1/2 cups Green Giant® Niblets® frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
- 1 can (15 oz) chick peas or garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed
- 1 can (4.5 oz) Old El Paso® chopped green chiles
- 3/4 cup salsa verde
- 2 cans (14 oz each) chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
- 2 tomatoes, seeded, chopped
- Chopped fresh cilantro leaves, if desired

Directions:

- In 3- to 4-quart slow cooker, mix all ingredients except tomatoes and cilantro.
- Cover; cook on Low heat setting 5 to 7 hours or until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut
- Stir to break up chicken thighs.
- Stir in tomatoes before serving.
- Garnish with cilantro. 

"Kimmi's Chicken Tortilla Soup"

Ingredients:

- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup of chopped onion (I used a red onion since we still had one)
- 1 can (10oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles, undrained
- 1 can (10oz) El Paso® mild enchilada sauce
- 1 3/4 cups of chicken brot
- 1 bag (8oz) frozen whole corn
- 1 can black beans; drained & rinsed
- 2 tablespoons salsa verde
- 1 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 large round soft tortilla cut into roughly 1 inch squares

Directions:

- Put everything into the slow cooker
- Use low heat for 5-7 hours (I cooked it roughly 6 hours)
- Mix throughout the cooking time
- Pull out chicken and shred with fork (I did this around hour 5)
- Top with strips of tortilla and cheese

:) I love this soup. It has awesome flavor, nice texture .. but it's not too overly spicy and hot, but does has some kick to it.

Chili with Beef

Hearty Black Bean Chili

Made: January 29, 2011

Ingredients:

1 pound dried black beans
1 pound ground beef
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cubed
3/4 cup chopped onion
3 cups water
1 can (15oz) tomato sauce
1 can (14 1/2oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 & 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 & 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Shredded cheddar cheese & thinly sliced green onions - optional

Directions:

- Sort beans & rinse with cold water.
- Place beans in a Dutch oven; add water to cover by 2 inches.
- Bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes - remove from heat, cover & let stand for 1-4 hours or until beans are softened.
- In Dutch oven, cook the beef, chicken and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.
- Add the water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes & seasonings; mix well.
- Add the beans & bring to a boil. Reduce heat.
- Cover and simmer for 3 1/2 - 4 hours or until beans are tender.
- Serve with cheese and green onions if desired.

At the beginning of making this recipe, I didn't have a dutch oven and planned to make this in a slow-cooker. So I sorted, rinsed and cooked my beans in a slow-cooker on low for about 4-5 hours as I had a couple things that had to be done while cooking. This worked out well for the beans, as they were nice and soft by the time I was home and ready to start making the chili.

To my surprise today, my Dutch Oven arrived early! So I was able to finish the recipe in there. Which really saved me a step from cleaning out the pan of the bean goo. (Or whatever it may be called, it's kinda gross to be honest). So I used a slow-cooker bag/saver and it worked to my advantage with draining the beans into my strainer to rinse/drain.

The Dutch oven is pretty amazing, as this was my first time cooking with one. I'll definitely be using more recipes requesting it. :)
(Recipe used came from Taste of Home)