Feed you for Weeks SLOW COOKED MINESTRONE SOUP!

I chose the title of this post for a reason. It's an obvious one. This soup will literally last you for weeks. You can freeze it in bulk, or individual portions to get out one at a time! This is a slow cooker soup which is so great to come home to after a work day. Not only is dinner ready, but your house will smell delightful!

For those of you who don't want soup to last you through the winter, just half the recipe. However, I don't think you'll be sorry for having a plethora of leftover soup!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup dry elbow macaroni (whole wheat if you can)

2 quarts chicken broth

2 large onions, diced

2 carrots, sliced

half a head of cabbage, shredded

1/2 cup celery, diced

1-lb can tomatoes

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 T minced parsley

1/4 cup each frozen corn, peas, and lima beans (or 3/4 cup of frozen mixed veggies of your choice)

1/4 tsp pepper

Grated parmesan or romano cheese for "topping" soup at the end

Directions:

1. Precook your macaroni according to the box/package and refrigerate while the rest cooks

2. Combine all ingredients except macaroni and cheese in your crock pot/slow cooker.

3. Cover, and cook on low 8 hours. Add macaroni to pot when you get home and cook an additional 10-20 minutes to heat through

4. Garnish individual bowls with cheese and serve!

Funny story. I asked my sweet husband to throw the refrigerated noodles in the crock pot because he was going to beat me home from work. He ended up throwing the remaining BOX of uncooked noodles in the pot.... perhaps that's why ours served 12??? Either way, the noodles only took about half an hour to soften up and we enjoyed it all the same!

Slice up a fresh baguette and serve alongside your soup! Enjoy :)

Easy and Healthy Tomato Soup

This soup is pretty easy to make. It's very healthy and light, but a good side dish to almost any meal! Pulled this recipe out of Cooking Light Magazine.

All you need:

About 6 mediums sized tomatoes, quartered

1 small onion, roughly chopped

3/4 cup celery, roughly chopped

2 cups of chicken/vegetable broth (1 can- preferably reduced sodium)

Either fresh basil, or about 3 tsp dried basil, divided

Salt and Pepper

1 T Tomato Paste

Nonfat plain yogurt (for garnish, but it stirs in to add flavor as well!)

Throw your tomatoes, broth, onion, celery, tomato paste, basil (just add as much as you want really), salt and pepper in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 30 minutes.

Remove and place in a food processor or blender. You can always put it in your machine in batches if it is too much to go all at once. You could also use an emersion blender (Thats the long guy that sometimes comes with your hand mixer that you think, what on earth is this?)

Anyways, puree it SOMEHOW, then return to the pot to keep warm. Ladle into bowls. Top with a spoonful of yogurt and maybe some fresh or dried basil.

Now, before you eat, mix that little dollop in for a smooth and rich flavor boost!

Enjoy :)

Romantic Dinner for 2! PART TWO: Roasted Butternut Squash Chipotle Bisque

So, our second course of the evening was a squash soup that I had made before. We both liked it, so I took the safe way out instead of trying something new! It's a little involved, but nothing fancy or tricky that you can't handle .. do I ever give you stuff you can't handle?

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash

2 T Olive Oil

1/2 cup celery chopped

1/2 cup carrot chopped

1-1/2 cup onion chopped (one medium-large onion)

4 cups chicken stock

3 cloves garlic minced

2 tsp chipotle pepper seeded and minced

Pinch of tyme

Pinch of sage

Directions:

Slice your squash in half lengthwise, reserving seeds, and discarding pulp (like a pumpkin) - and place flesh side down in a greased baking dish. Pierce all over with a fork:

 

Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until VERY fork-tender. It should come out soft and very orange:

 

While the squash is cooling, begin sauteing your onion, carrot, and celery in the oil

 

I let these cook about 5-7 minutes until soft (Not brown!) Then add your garlic and cook about 1 more minute. Then, add your broth and start scooping the flesh of the squash into the pot as well. Bring to a simmer and cook 30 mintues. Meanwhile, begin to toast your squash seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until dry and crunchy. Add salt and set aside.

 

It will be chunky, and that's okay! FOR NOW! Add in your thyme and sage. I also added some salt and pepper. Once it has finished simmering for 30 minutes, get out a blender or food processor and start pureeing the soup in batches. Once all of it is pureed, pour back into your pot and keep warm.

 

At this point, stir in your 2 teaspoons of chipotle pepper for a little kick. Ladle into bowls, top with toasted seeds, and serve! Last time I made this, I stirred some chipotle pepper sauce into a half cup of sour cream and served a dallop of that on top along with the toasted seeds.

However you top it off, just enjoy it :) Its a good, warm, winter soup. Its healthy, but not at the cost of taste!

White Chicken Chili - A la Mama!

So, this is a recipe I'll keep forever. You know this dishes your mom makes growing up that just TASTES like home and all those memories you have of it? This is it for me. Nick loves it and grew up with a similar recipe from his mom- so its a sentimental dish for both of us. And what better way to kick off the season premiere of 24???!!!

The List:

- It calls for 4 cups of cooked chicken, i buy about 1.5 pounds and boil, then shred it

- 4 cans of canellini beans rinsed and rained, or 1 lb dried

- 6 cups of chicken stock

-2 onions, chopped

- 3 cloves of garlic, minced

- 1 bag of white frozen corn

- 1 tsp Olive Oil

- 2 4oz cans of diced green chiles

- 2 tsp Cumin

- 1.5 tsp Oregano

- The juice of 2 limes

- Shredded jack or cheddar cheese for sprinkling

- We like to add oyster crackers, but you could do cornbread or any dipper you like!

So, there are many ways to approach this. You could slow cook, but it isn't necessary. If you are using dried beans, go ahead and soak them overnight. In the morning, drain them, cover with new water in a soup pot, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 40-50 minutes until beans are soft.

If you are going to boil your own chicken- here is the "Technical" method- but do whatever you like! I cover mine in about 2 inches of water, or more. I bring them to a boil, then reduce the heat, and allow to simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and allow them to cool before shredding. You don't have to let them cool, but your asking for a chicken steam facial if you don't.

With all that aside, here's what you do!

The Process

1. Combine broth, beans, and ONE of the chopped onions in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 2-3 hours until beans are very soft. Monitor the soup, you may need to add some chicken broth if it starts drying out.

2. Add lime juice and corn to the pot after it has cooked for the amount of time above.

3. In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat and cook the onions until translucent, about 5-7 minutes.

4. Add chile peppers to the skillet as well as the cumin and salt. Mix well.

5. Add chile and onions to the main pot as well as the shredded boiled chicken (or your pre-cooked diced chicken!)

6. Stir them in well, and allow the chili to cook/simmer for another hour to combine flavors.

It should cook down to something like this!

You can either top with cheese, or just grind some salt and pepper over the top to serve!

White Bean and Winter Green Soup ... It's a Keeper!

So, allow me to preface before diving into this recipe. First of all, I hardly took pictures because, I made the majority of this recipe up, and figured by doing so, it would be a flop. I WAS WRONG! And so I have one picture of it cooking to show you :( But believe me when I say, this will warm you up on any cold winter evening and you'll feel satisfied, but not too full, at all! We enjoyed it and will be having leftovers this week! It makes a lot!

Also, like I said, although I was inspired by a recipe on wholefoods.com - this dish is really a dish I created in my mind the longer I thought about it, as well as one I created based on leftover veggies in my refrigerator! You could leave a lot of it out, and I'll let you know when that option comes along!

Lastly, its going to call for Chicken Sausage. If you live near a Whole Foods- they have AWESOME chicken sausage. Mine were spinach and feta flavored. They also have like sun dried tomato ones etc. BUT- you can use turkey sausage or any chicken sausage you find at your local grocery!

The "Recipe" (Loose as it may be!)

12 oz of Chicken Sausage (I used spinach and feta sausage)

2 - 32 oz Jugs of Chicken Broth (Reduced sodium if you can find it!)

1 T Olive Oil

3-4 garlic cloves smashed and minced

1 white or yellow onion chopped

1/2 red bell pepper chopped (Optional, I had it in my fridge!)

1 cup julienned/sliced carrots (Optional, I had them in my fridge for tomorrow's dinner!)

Salt and Pepper to Taste

1 bunch of Kale, ribs and stems removed, leaves torn or chopped

7 cups of cooked white beans (Equal to about a bag and a half of dried beans)

*If you buy dried beans, soak them overnight, then boil for about an hour until soft the next day*

Italian Spices/Seasoning

 (Optional- you could use any italian spices- rosemary, thyme, parsley, oregano etc.)

Method:

IF YOUR BEANS ARE DRY- you need to soak them in water at least 8 hours, preferable over night. Then, cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for an hour until soft

IF YOUR SAUSAGE IS RAW (Meaning not pre-cooked)- you'll need to boil or steam them so that they are ready to throw in the dish!

1. Put about 1/4 cup of broth in the bottom of a large pot. (I used a dutch oven) Add Olive Oil. Heat over medium heat.

2. Slice up your sausage and toss it in. Let it cook until liquid is absorbed, stirring constantly. They should start to brown up in the olive oil.

3. At this point, add your garlic, chopped onion, chopped pepper, and carrots. If they start to stick to the bottom, splash some chicken broth over them. Let them cook about 5 minutes and soften up.

4. Add the rest of the chicken stock to the pot, along with the cooked beans

5. Bring to a boil. Add kale, cover, reduce heat, and simmer about 5 more minutes.

6. Add in salt and pepper as well as any italian herbs/spices you want TO TASTE.

7. Once heated through, it is ready to serve at any point!

Optional Toppings: Crutons, Torn Stale Bread, Oyster Crackers, Red Onions, Red Pepper Flakes, Hot Sauce.

ENJOY :)

Taco Soup and Homemade Corn Bread Muffins :)

This is an EASY, CHEAP, and delicious combination! Healthy cornbread, and healthy taco soup! PERFECT for a cold and rainy day! (Or foggy like today!)

First, the Taco Soup

Nick got this recipe from Brittany at his office. Brittany, if you're reading this, thank you!!

Whatcha need:

1 lb ground turkey (Yes, you could use beef or chicken!)

1 packet taco seasoning

1 packet dry ranch seasoning (Hidden Valley)

1 can Original Rotel

1 can Petite Diced Tomatoes, rinsed and drained

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

1 can chicken broth

1 can yellow corn, rinsed and drained

Optionals:

Any kind of cheese for sprinkling

You could get sour cream if you want

Tortilla tips to crush over the top

Really, there isn't much to the instructions.

Brown your meat in some olive oil (I seasoned the meat with cumin, chili powder in salt, but you don't have to)

Then, add your taco mix and ranch seasoning:

Now, add everything else!

Let this simmer as long as you'd like. Meanwhile.... why don't you make some cornbread!?

Healthy Whole Wheat Honey Corn Bread

Whatcha need:

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup cornmeal

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

2 t Olive Oil

2 t Honey

1 egg

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

Mix your batter JUST until all is combined, don't over-mix or you risk dry bread!

Heap about 2 spoonfulls of mix into muffin tins (or a bread pan if you rather)

Pop in the oven at 450 degrees

In they go.....

Cook them about 12-15 minutes (watching them constantly after the 10 minute mark) until they are done and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Try to get them out of the pan/muffin tins as soon as possible to prevent them from continuing to cook.

Immediately wrap them in foil and keep warm for up to 3 hours until ready to serve with the soup.

Thats it! Dress up your soup, add a cornbread muffin, and enjoy :)

We sure did!

Turkey Noodle Stew with Sweet Potato Dumplings

This was a delicious, homemade, and "loosey-goosey" recipe. I'll give you the ingreidents, but the measurements do NOT need to be exact. Also, the pictures aren't AWESOME just because it was hard to photograph, but this meal was PERFECT for a cold day. It was filling, it was hearty, it was TASTY.

It was supposed to be a "leftover thanksgiving ingredients" dish, but you don't have to have leftovers to make it (we sure didn't! We being... me and my mom! We made this together while the guys were at a football game)  Also- you could substitute ANY of the veggies you see, any of the seasonings... but I must say, were I to make this again, I wouldn't change A THING! Except, maybe I would half it! It could have served 8-10 people!

Now, this ingredient list looks long, but you'll have a lot of it on hand, so please dont' write this off yet! (Thanks!)

Ingredients for Soup:

1-2 pounds of turkey breast

1 onion

1 bag of sliced carrots, or 1 bag of carrots, sliced!

Celery (probably about 1 cup sliced)

1 can of peas, or frozen peas

1 T EVOO

About 4-6 oz eggless noodles (we used whole wheat eggless noodles)

fresh or dried thyme

fresh or dried rosemary

Salt and pepper

1 quart + 1/2 can of chicken broth

Ingredients for Dumplings:

2 small-medium sweet potatoes

1.25 cups flour

2 t baking powder

Salt and pepper

1.5 cups buttermilk

Directions:

Note: This is some-what time consuming, but here's how we did it.

1. Place turkey breasts in a shallow baking dish filled with about 1/2 inch of water. Season with a couple sprigs of rosemary and thyme, as well as salt and pepper. We liberally seasoned the turkey with the herbs because they will eventually get thrown in the big pot. Cook turkey until done, about an hour. (Internal temp should be 165)

2. Cube and steam sweet potatoes. If your steamer stacks, steam carrots as well. Obviously you could boil both if you prefer to do that.

3. Cook eggless noodles according to package. Once they are finished, DO NOT STRAIN. Set aside, and let them absorb all liquid in the pot.

3. Once turkey is done, allow it to cool. Then, in a dutch oven, over medium heat (or large soup pot), add Olive Oil. Saute onions until soft. Add carrots and peas.

4. Meanwhile, mash up sweet potatoes, add the flour, the baking powder, buttermilk, salt and pepper. Whip until they are one consistency. Set aside

5. Shred turkey once it has finished baking.

6. Add all broth to the pot of veggies. Add in turkey along with the juice leftover from baking it in the oven. If using fresh herbs, pull off some rosemary leaves and toss into the pot. Add noodles.

7. Simmer about 20 minutes, covered, and bump oven up to 400 degrees.

8. In heaping tablespoons, scoop up sweet potato mixture and drop into stew. (Its okay if they touch each other!)

9. Place in oven, covered, and cook 30 more minutes.

You won't believe the delight you will find in this stew. It is savory and delicious. I cannot say enough good things about it. Its like chicken and dumplings taken to an ENTIRE new level!

ENJOY! And if you have questions, e-mail me! I know I was vague about a lot of the directions, but we really were just throwing things together and making it up as we went!

I tried to get a good photo with the dumplings in it, but, its nothing to write home about:

That big lump is a dumpling and they are AMAZING. You'll want to search the pot for another once you taste it!

Bean Stew, Stuffed Tomatoes.... and THEY'RE BACK! 3 ingredient cookies GO MUFFIN!

Yes, so much to blog here. It's been awhile, huh? Yesterday I made some really good burgers and sweet potato fries, but.... we ate all of it and I took ZERO pictures. Nick and Kelsie can attest to the fact that it was indeed delicious though! I used my new kitchen aid slicer to make sweet potato chip shapes, but i didn't cook them long enough to be qualified as chips. I'd call them round fries.

BESIDES THE POINT. Here we go. I made an older recipe, but changed it up a bit. Lean turkey sausage was on sale 2 for 5 dollars, so i wanted to get sausage. You're supposed to also add chicken to the dish, but I didn't want to buy double meat at the store, so i skimped. It didn't hurt the taste though, rest assured!

Easy! Here it is:

2 kielbasa lean turkey sausages (Usually one pack)

Technically, 1/2 lb chicken, diced and cooked (I left this out today!)

1 can Northern Beans

1 can Dark Red Kidney Beans

1 can diced tomatoes with oil, basil, and oregano (Del Monte makes it)

1 T brown sugar

THATS IT GUYS!

1. Slice up your sausage, throw in a PAM sprayed skillet. Brown it up. (You would also brown up your chicken, all the way cooked through, if you add chicken here.)

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and allow to simmer on medium-low for 8-10 minutes until flavors have combined

3. Serve- you can also slice up some green onions for garnish if you have them (I didn't!)

CHEAP MEAL! GO FOR IT!

I also made stuffed tomatoes. Easy as well, if you have a food processor! Here's all I used:

- 4 firm red tomatoes

- 1 clove of garlic

- 4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

- 3-4 T chopped onion

1 T dried parsley

- 1 t olive oil

-1/4 cup bread crumbs (made my own out of sandwich bread)

Salt and Pepper

Parmesan Cheese

1. Cut the tops off of your tomatoes, scoop out the pulp and place in food processor.

2. Place your tomato shells in a baking dish

3. Add to food processor all ingredients EXCEPT the parmesan cheese

4. Pulse ingredients until combined (not until pureed!)

5. Stuff tomato shells with filling

6. Top with Parmesan Cheese

7. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or longer until cheese is browned.

There were ZERO leftovers of this meal. Have i ever blogged that there WERE leftovers, I mean seriously!?

Okay, lastly, this past weekend, I had to scramble to get a dish together fast for a party that we went to. My awesome sister-in-law told me to make the 3 ingredient cookies, only, instead of like 3 batches of cookies, just make 12 muffins. Well- I only had white cake mix, so i added some famous spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, cloves, and then added the pumpkin and chocolate chips. THEY TURNED OUT AMAZING! Take a look at these guys!

Oh yeah.... you know you're going to try it! So i packed them up, and off we went. Ready in under 2 hours notice!

I still dare someone to try this with chocolate cake mix. I had brownie mix, and I'm a little angry I didn't think to use that!!!