Broccoli Cheese Soup

I came up with this recipe by combining a few and adding some extra stuff to make it more filling!

Broccoli Cheese Soup
1 c. water
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 pkg. ( 10 oz.) frozen chopped broccoli
1 med. carrot, grated
1 tbsp. minced onion
2 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. flour
3 1/2 c. milk
2 garlic cloves minced
1 lb. Velveeta cheese
1 ½ c. cooked wild rice
1 c. cooked chicken
Pepper to taste
Few dashes of Garlic Tabasco sauce

Heat water and bouillon cube to boiling. Add broccoli and carrot; cook 10 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat, do not drain. In separate saucepan, melt butter and then slowly stir in flour. Gradually add milk. Cook until thickened. Stir in cheese, garlic, and pepper. Add broccoli and carrot mixture. Add rice and chicken. Heat and serve.

Ginger Pea Soup (Indian)

When we were in San Diego, Matt and I went out to our favorite Indian restaurant in San Diego--Bombay in the Hillcrest area. We shared a soup called Ginger Mutter (Pea) Soup. The description on their menu reads:
Creamy pea soup spiced with fresh ginger, roasted cumin and garlic, topped with fresh cilantro.

This soup was SO good that I decided to try to figure out how to make it myself. I combined a few different recipes, the description above, and my own taste and below is what I came up with today. I think it tastes very similar, but we'll see what Matt thinks when he comes home for dinner!

Ginger Mutter (Pea) Soup
3 ½ cups chicken broth or water
2 medium potatoes
2 ½-3 cups frozen peas
½ onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 t. ginger (or to taste)
1 t. cumin
½ t. black pepper
1 t. garam masala
1 t. salt
1 c. plain yogurt
Cilantro (to taste)

Boil all ingredients except for yogurt until vegetables are tender (12-14 minutes). Let partly cool. Blend in parts, adding yogurt and cilantro. Garnish with additional cilantro on top.

Cheeseburger Chowder

Cheeseburger Chowder
1/2 lb. ground beef
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cheddar cheese soup, undiluted
1 3/4 cup milk
1 cup frozen shredded hash brown potatoes1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1 tablespoon taco seasoning
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
Coarsely crushed corn ships, shredded Monterey Jack cheese, and chopped green onions(optional)

Directions

In a large saucepan, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in the soup, milk, potatoes, chilies, taco seasoning, onion and chili powder until blended.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minuted or until heated through. Garnish with corn chips, cheese and green onions if desired.

*I also garnished with pickles.
*This was enough for Jon and I, I would double the recipe if you're making it for more than two people.

Winner!

We went to the Super Bowl party for our young adults group at church and they were having a chili cookoff. I brought my taco soup for a little variety--I figured it had ground beef, beans, and tomatoes and was close enough to chili.

Anyway, I didn't even realize that the chili was a cookoff, but my taco soup ended up winning the most votes!

Here's the link to that recipe:
http://onthedinnertable.blogspot.com/2009/01/taco-soup.html

This time, I only used 1 lb. of meat, used fire roasted diced tomatoes instead of stewed tomatoes, and actually used 3 cans of Rotel instead of one. This made it a little spicier than usual. I also added a can of corn and some fresh cilantro.

Crock Pot Chicken Chili

Another one from Kraft Foods website (I'm almost at the end of my two week plan for cooking now...) I added a little water, used chicken breast instead of thigh, and used 2% cheese.

Crock Pot Chicken Chili
Ingredients
1 can (15 oz.) dark red kidney beans, drained, rinsed
1 can (15 oz.) light red kidney beans, drained, rinsed
1-1/2 cups Salsa
1 can (16 oz.) no-salt-added tomato sauce
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1-1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
1 onion, chopped
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup KRAFT Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese

COMBINE beans, salsa, tomato sauce and chili powder in slow cooker. Top with chicken, onions and corn. (Do not stir.) Cover with lid.

COOK on LOW 6 to 8 hours (or on HIGH 4 to 5 hours).

STIR just before serving. Serve topped with cheese.

Crock-pot chili

This is a super easy and yummy version of Chili. We always add shredded cheese and sour cream to our chili, not so healthy but oh so yummy! I think we're going to make it again on Super Bowl Sunday! Come on over!!!

Ingredients
1 lb. Extra lean ground beef
1 cup Chopped onion
3 (14.5 oz) cans Diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (14.5 oz) can Tomato sauce
1 (14.5 oz) can Great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 oz) can Red kidney bean, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 oz) can Corn, drained
2 tbsp. Chili powder
1 tbsp. Cumin
1 cup Salsa

Preparation
Brown ground beef and onion in a skillet until cooked through, drain and pour into a crockpot. Dump rest of ingredients in crockpot, stir. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Chicken Noodle Soup in the crockpot

We were sick at our house yesterday (and Matt still today), so I made some chicken noodle soup in the crockpot. I cooked this on high so it would not take so long!

Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients:
2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds chicken pieces
4 cups water
4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste, depending on saltiness of broth
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 leek or small onion chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram or basil
1 bay leaf
6 ounces noodles

Preparation:
Place all ingredients except noodles in the Crock Pot. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours. Remove chicken and bay leaf from pot; take meat from bones, dice, and return to broth, and add the noodles. Cook another hour or until noodles are done (about 1/2 hour on high). Or, cook the noodles separately and add them just before serving.

En-CHILI-ada Soup

This Sunday I came up with En-CHILI-ada Soup. I was looking through my cabinets and this is what came out of it!

En-CHILI-ada Soup

Need:
1 lb. ground beef
1 19 oz can enchilada sauce
1 12 oz jar salsa (or rotel)
1 14.5 oz can ranch style beans
1 cup jalapenos
5 dashes hot sauce (to taste)
1/2 tablespoon taco seasoning
1/2 tablespoon fajita seasoning2 cups shredded Monterrey jack cheese

Directions:
1. Brown ground beef and drain.
2. In a large pot combine ground beef, enchilada sauce, salsa, beans, jalapenos, taco and fajita seasonings, and hot sauce. Bring to a soft boil and let sit (lid on) for 30 minutes. Add cheese and stir well; let sit for another 20 minutes.

Spicy Mulligatawny Soup

This is from my new Cooking Light cookbook that I got for Christmas. (Thanks, Mom!) After living in India and tasting several versions of mulligatawny, I don't know how authentic this is, but it was really yummy. Matt requested that I make it again already this week.

This was pretty spicy, but I also used hot mango chutney. I also substituted cilantro for the parsley to make it more authentic.

Spicy Mulligatawny Soup
Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided
1/2 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 cup chopped peeled Gala or Braeburn apple
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 (14 1/2-ounce) cans fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup mango chutney
1/4 cup tomato paste
Chopped fresh parsley (optional)
Preparation

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and sauté 3 minutes. Remove from pan; set aside.

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in pan. Add apple and next 4 ingredients (apple through bell pepper); sauté 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the flour and next 4 ingredients (flour through salt); cook 1 minute. Stir in broth, chutney, and tomato paste; bring to a boil.

Reduce heat; simmer 8 minutes. Return chicken to pan; cook 2 minutes or until mixture is thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with parsley, if desired.

Easy Taco Soup

This is the version of Taco Soup that is in our church's cookbook. It's super easy and yummy! I make this about three times a month and Naomi loves it too. In fact sometimes when she's playing pretend she makes taco soup for her babies!

1 lb ground beef

1 (15oz) can kidney beans

1 (15oz) can corn

2 (15oz) can ranch style beans

1 (15oz) can hominy

1 (15oz) can Rotel tomatoes

2 cup water

1/2 pkg. taco seasoning

1 env. Hidden valley ranch dressing

Brown ground beef and drain. Set aside for later use. Drain corn and hominy. In 5 quart pan combine all ingredients. Simmer soup mixture for approximately 1 hour. Add any of the following for garnish; avacado wedges, sour cream, grated cheese, tortilla chips. Add more taco seasoning if you desire a more spicy mixture. Makes 8 generous servings.

Lately, I've been using chicken stock instead of water and today I just used diced tomatoes instead of Rotel. It's pretty forgiving and you can add to it or take away from it and make it your own! Enjoy!

Taco Soup

I first had this soup in college when I went to my roommate's house for Christmas. Not quite as healthy, but really good! We made it with 2% Velveeta over Christmas and that worked just fine. I usually add extra Rotel tomatoes to make it spicier and a little less thick.

Taco Soup
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 large onion
1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, drained
1 can (14.5 oz) stewed tomatos
1 can (10 oz.) Rotel tomatos
1 lb. Velveeta, cubed
1 can (10 oz) chili without beans
Salt, pepper, garlic powder

Serve with Chili cheese flavor Fritos.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I just made this and another soup this weekend to stock up my refrigerator for lunches for the week. This recipe was in the USA Weekend magazine last year and it is really good and really healthy for you and really fast to make! I use Rotel tomotoes to replace some of the crushed ones so then I can leave out the cans of green chilies.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 medium-large onions, cut into medium dice
4 large garlic cloves, minced
4 tsps. chili powder
2 tsps. dried oregano
2 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes (try fire-roasted)
1 quart chicken broth
1 16-ounce package frozen corn
2 4-ounce cans green chilies, chopped
2 15.5-ounce cans black beans
4 cups shredded, cooked chicken
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Tortilla chips, to serve

Heat oil in large soup kettle over medium-high heat. Add onions; sauté until tender, about 4 minutes. Add garlic cloves, chili powder and oregano; sauté 1 minute longer.

Add tomatoes, broth, corn, chilies, beans and chicken; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, to blend flavors, about 20 minutes.

Stir in cilantro; let stand a couple of minutes. (After cooling, the soup can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.) Serve warm with tortilla chips.