Broccoli Cheddar Soup

It's cold here. If you don't live in AZ you're probably chuckling and shaking your head saying, "Silly girl...it doesn't get cold in Phoenix." But it is. Right now according to the weather on my phone it's 34 degrees at 11:50 AM. Brrrr. Once it's cold (or even AZ cold which usually means low 60s for the high), I want to eat soup. I love soup, and I'm always looking for a tasty homemade soup recipe. I rarely eat canned soup anymore because the ingredients are mostly stuff I don't want to put in my body, and they're just too darn salty for my taste. Except Campbell's tomato soup. I'll eat that when I'm sick, HFCS be damned! I like it made with milk and crushed up saltine crackers stirred in. Yum.

Anyway, one of my online friends, Stephanie, posted this recipe on the message board website I frequent, and I was dying to try it. My kids are pretty hit or miss when it comes to soup, but they love broccoli and cheese, so I took a chance that this one would be something they'd like. Plus Stephanie is a nutrition consultant, so I knew I could trust that this was something healthy to feed my family.

Broccoli Cheese Soup
Source: The Mamasphere via Stephanie

1 tablespoon melted butter
1/2 medium chopped onion
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups half-and-half cream
2 cups chicken stock (I use homemade)
1/2 lb fresh broccoli
1 cup carrots
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese
salt and pepper

1. Sauté onion in tablespoon butter. Set aside.

2. Cook melted butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes.

3. Stir constantly and add the half & half.

4. Add the chicken stock. Simmer for 20 minutes.

5. Add the broccoli, carrots and onions. Cook over low heat 20-25 minutes.

6. Add salt/pepper/nutmeg to taste. Puree with immersion blender.

7. Return to heat and add grated cheese.

*****

I've made this twice in about the past month, and it's a big hit with my family. My boys always grumble a little when I've made it, but they both eat it all up. Actually I made it this past week and doubled the recipe to take some to an injured friend and her family. They all liked it, too. It's really hearty and filling, and it comes together pretty easily, too. I really should just double it on a regular basis so I have some to eat for lunches or stick in the freezer because one batch goes pretty quickly. This is definitely a great addition to my go-to soup repertoire! Add a salad and some crusty bread or rolls, and you have a great meal!

Green Chile Pork Stew

There's quite a back story on this recipe. Well, maybe not. That makes it sound a lot more dramatic than it actually is. When Boy #1 was six months old I joined a local chapter of MOMS Club. I'm sure I've talked about it before. It was a huge lifesaver for me for many reasons. I was definitely a workaholic before he was born and then quit to be a stay at home mom when my maternity leave was done. We had moved to a different part of Phoenix when I was pregnant, so all of my friends with kids lived at least 30 minutes away, and everyone else I knew worked. It was a rough transition A friend on the east coast suggested I look into finding a MOMS Club chapter near me to meet other mamas. So I did. And I found one. There were several other women with babies around Boy #1's age, plus a lot of moms with older kids who gave great advice and knew exactly what I was going through. I had a lot of my identity in my career and what I had done, so it was a HUGE change to not have that define me anymore.

This is a lot more deep than I intended to get...sorry about that. The whole point was that one of the monthly activities was a cooking club, where the coordinator would pick a theme and everyone would bring a dish that fit the theme. There was a sandwich one, one to bring something with apples, cookies, and a soup one. I know there were more, but those are the ones that stick out. My friend Aimee brought a delicious green chile pork stew to the soup cooking club, and I've thought about it ever since then. Keep in mind the boy was maybe seven or eight months old at this point, and he'll be seven this coming February. I'm not lying when I say I've thought about it for years. I don't know why I never made it. Then recently I found pork stew meat on sale for super cheap...and of course I couldn't find the recipe. So I posted on her Facebook wall. Our mutual friend Mary saw it and found the recipe and sent it to me (God bless her!). I happened to have some roasted Hatch chilies in my freezer that I wanted to be using, so obviously all signs pointed towards me making this stew.

Wow, that was a really long explanation for a pretty simple soup recipe!

Green Chile Pork Stew
Source: Adapted from my friend Aimee

2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 pound pork loin -- cut into 1/2-inch chunks and remove all visible fat
3 small garlic cloves -- finely minced
1 red onion -- finely chopped (optional)
2 tablespoons flour -- preferably masa flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons water
28 oz. New Mexican chiles -- roasted, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
1-2 tablespoons chopped jalapeno pepper -- optional and preferably fresh
1 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
2-3/4 cup chicken broth
2 large fresh tomatoes -- pureed (or peeled and chopped)

In dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Saute pork until all pink is gone (about 5 minutes). Move meat aside and add garlic and onion. As soon as garlic sizzles, stir together with pork.

In a small bowl, make thickener by adding water to flour and cornstarch. (Add another tablespoon of cornstarch and a tablespoon of water if you prefer a thicker sauce, but wait until later in the cooking to decide if the texture is what you want, or you may accidentally make it too thick.) Add mixture to dutch oven.

Add chiles, spices, chicken broth to pot. Bring to a low boil, then reduce heat and add tomatoes. (puree the tomatoes if you like a very smooth sauce; peel and chop 'em if you like more texture). Simmer on very low heat, covered, for at least 1 hour.

(Makes 4 good-sized servings) Freezes very well.

*****

The original recipe called for using the crockpot, but I think I ran out of time to do it...or figured if I was already dirtying pans, why dirty the crockpot too. The husband and I thought this was fantastic. I didn't bother having my kids try it because it was really spicy, and I knew they wouldn't like it. This was really easy to throw together, especially since I had pork stew meat, so I didn't even have to cut up the meat. I would definitely make this again for the husband and me to eat!

Mary's Tortilla Soup

Last year when my dad passed away, my BFF Jen Clementine set up meal support for my family, which was a huge lifesaver. Honestly it's the only way my kids were going to get fed because I was not functioning at all. My friend Mary brought us this soup one night, and it was so good. My vegetarian brother was tempted to give up his non-meat eating ways to have some, he thought it looked and smelled so good. I was really excited to make it again, but given my family's soup aversion I never had. Plus it always seems weird to me to make soup in the summer in Phoenix. Who wants to eat soup when it's over 110 degrees outside?! But, after the Ham and Beans was decently received, I figured it was worth making. Our Wednesday and Thursday nights for the past month and half have been crazy busy with my bible study group meeting at our house on Wednesday nights and Boy #1 having soccer practice on Thursday nights, so I have been on the lookout for crockpot meals to make my life easier.

Mary's Tortilla Soup


Chicken Tortilla Soup

3-4 chicken breasts (frozen ok)
2 cans corn
2 cans chicken broth (14oz)
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can cream of potato soup
1 can green chilies
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 can tomato sauce (8oz)
16 oz sour cream (I use the light)
1 handful of cilantro

Put it all (except sour cream and cilantro) in the crock pot on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours. Take out the chicken and shred it, then add back in. Add the tub of sour cream (you need to temper it so it doesn't curdle). Garnish with cheese, avocados and chips.

*****

I'm not sure if the husband had any of this last year when Mary brought it over since he wasn't that hip on soup, but he LOVED it this time. He requested this be the only tortilla soup I ever make again. Boy #1 thought it was okay, Boy #2 devoured it and asked for seconds. Woo hoo! It was really so easy to make, especially being able to just throw frozen chicken breasts in with everything else. I also added in a can of black beans because I had them on hand and thought they'd be a nice addition. I used regular tomato sauce, but I bet using El Pato sauce instead would be tasty as well. Hmmm...I'll have to try that next time.

I picked up some ciabatta rolls the same day we were having this, sliced them in half and put them under the broiler to brown them a bit, then spread with butter and sprinkled on some shredded cheddar cheese and put back under the broiler to melt the cheese. I figured Boy #1 wouldn't be that excited about the soup, so I wanted there to be something with the soup that he'd like. He thought the cheese rolls were the best thing ever. He kept saying, "Mom this cheese bread is just too good!" Ah, bless him.

This soup will probably be in high rotation in our house this winter. Thanks, Mary, for such a great recipe!

Oh, and the amazing cheese bread:

Ham and Beans

When I was growing up, my grandpa would love it when he'd have a ham bone because he could make ham and beans. Honestly I was never really a fan growing up because of my bean aversion, but now that I'm learning to embrace and love the bean I figured it was worth a shot, mostly because I came across a ham bone in my freezer that I needed to use and we were low on grocery money this particular week. Grocery prices lately are driving me nuts, by the way.

I asked my mom about my grandpa's recipe but she didn't know specifics, so I did some searching on Food.com. This sounded good and like what I remembered my grandpa making. Good enough for me!

Ham and Beans
Source: Adapted from Food.com

1 lb great northern bean
1/2 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
8 garlic cloves
1 bay leaf
7 cups water
4 teaspoons chicken bouillon
1 ham bone

Rinse and sort thru beans (has anyone ever really found a rock in these?). Cover with water and let sit overnight.

In the morning, drain water, rinse again and place beans in the crockpot. Dump in all of the other ingredients (except ham bone) and give it a few good stirs.

Put the ham bone in the crockpot, cover and cook on high for 6-8 hours.

Remove the bay leaf, ham bone and fish out any bones that may have fallen off during cooking. Stir the beans a few times. Remove 1 cup of the beans and place in a bowl, mash them with a potato masher or back of a spoon, then return to the beans and stir; this helps thicken it up a bit.

Take off any meat left on the ham bone, chop and return it to the crockpot.

Stir again and serve!

Nutritional info:
Calories 106.2
Calories from Fat 3
Total Fat 0.4 g
Saturated Fat 0.1 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 51.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 19.9 g
Dietary Fiber 6.0 g
Sugars 1.5 g
Protein 6.7 g

*****

I really didn't know how my family would react to this as none of them are big soup fans. Turns out the husband and Boy #2 love soup! Boy #1 not so much, but as Meatloaf says, "Two out of three ain't bad." this will be my go-to recipe when I have a ham bone that needs to be used up. Not that it happens very often, but now at least I can hold on to them and use them instead of passing them on to my mom. Sorry, Mama!

Barefoot Bloggers: East Hampton Clam Chowder

I love clam chowder. LOVE IT. I'm sure part of it stems from growing up in Seattle which is home to some of the world's best clam chowder. Or at least I think it's some of the best. I'm sure there are a few cities in the Northeast that claim to have the best, and I'm sure there are some there that are quite good, but I'm biased. I'm okay with that.

As much as I love clam chowder, I don't think I've ever tried to make my own. I was pretty excited when I saw that Laura from Family Spice Home had chosen Ina's East Hampton Clam Chowder as the Barefoot Blogger's first recipe for October. Technically if I stick to my diet it's not something I'm supposed to have because of the potatoes, milk, and flour, but it's not like I'm going to eat the whole pot of it.

East Hampton Clam Chowder
From Barefoot Contessa Family Style, 2002, All Rights Reserved

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, divided
2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
2 cups medium-diced celery (4 stalks)
2 cups medium-diced carrots (6 carrots)
4 cups peeled medium-diced boiling potatoes (8 potatoes)
1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 quart (4 cups) clam juice
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
3 cups chopped fresh chowder clams (1 1/2 pounds shucked clams)

Melt 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) of the butter in a large heavy-bottomed stockpot. Add the onions and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until translucent. Add the celery, carrots, potatoes, thyme, salt, and pepper and saute for 10 more minutes. Add the clam juice, bring to a boil, and simmer, uncovered, until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

In a small pot, melt the remaining 8 tablespoons of butter and whisk in the flour. Cook over very low heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Whisk in a cup of the hot broth and then pour this mixture back into the cooked vegetables. Simmer for a few minutes until the broth is thickened.

Add the milk and clams and heat gently for a few minutes to cook the clams. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve hot.

*****

Since it's still in the 90-degree range here for the daily high temperature I decided to cut the recipe in half. Who wants to be eating a steaming bowl of chowder when it's still hot outside? Plus I didn't think the boys would really eat it, and I can't eat a ton of it so I can keep getting skinny. I mention this so you can avoid a potentially very big mistake that I made. Make sure you cut all the ingredients in half. Like...don't put in the full amount of flour when you're only supposed to do half of what is listed. Of course I realized this after I had the roux going and couldn't figure out why it wasn't melting down more once I added in the broth. D'oh! I ended up pulling out some of it, adding more butter, and I used canned clams so I put the juice from their cans in with the roux. I think that managed to salvage it.

Having never bought canned clams before (although I should do it more because my uncle makes an awesome clam dip, and I bet since I'm his favorite niece he'd give me the recipe), I didn't realize how absolutely tiny chopped clams would be. Yikes. They were minced as fine as garlic. I'd much prefer chunks of clams in my chowder, but that's my own mistake.

The recipe itself is really tasty. Not as good as some of the chowder restaurants in Seattle, but given that this was my first attempt at making it on my own, I was pretty pleased. The husband sampled it as well and rated it highly. It was relatively easy to put together, too. I gave myself an hour for it, and that's about how long it took, but I was also working on something else in the kitchen, so I wasn't completely focused on the chowder.

This is definitely better than any canned chowder I've tasted, and really it's better than most chowders I get here in Phoenix. If I get them, which is rare since the quality is generally subpar. When I get a hankering for chowder and flying to Seattle for chowder from Totem House or Ivar's is out of the question, this will definitely be my go-to recipe.

Clam juice. Interestingly enough, my mom was asking recently where to buy clam juice. Mom, it's with the canned meats. Safeway and Fresh & Easy both carried it, but it was about half the price at F&E!




Mmmmm...bowl of chowder. Normally I like it with extra pepper and oyster crackers mixed in, but this time I just had it plain.

Jen's Butternut Squash Soup

I've never been much of a squash fan, but I'm trying to branch out and embrace the squash. Last fall my friend Jen B. forced me to try making butternut squash soup. I was hesitant to say the least, given my dislike of all things squash (which may very well stem from my mom sneaking zucchini into everything when I was growing up), but I went ahead and tried it. The result? I LOVED it!! It was tasty and creamy and yummy and tasted like fall. I couldn't wait for fall this year to start making it again. I almost bought a butternut squash a couple weeks ago at the regular grocery store but decided to hold off because I wasn't going to be able to make the soup before we went out of town. Man alive, was I glad I waited because Trader Joe's had them for $1.49 each. EACH!!!!!!!!!!! Do you know what an awesome deal that is?! Everywhere else I'd seen them they were $0.99 per pound, and some of those can be big suckers! I only bought one at the time and kind of kicked myself when I got home for not getting more. I went back this week and got four--although two were for my friend Jen A..

This soup is so, so, so easy to make and equally tasty! Jen's original recipe called for two squash, but when I first made it I cut it in half in case I didn't like it. I cut it in half this time as well because I knew I'd be the only one in my house eating it. So, if you want the full recipe check out the link, but I'm going to post the half version.

Jen's Butternut Squash Soup

1 whole butternut squash
olive oil
salt
pepper
nutmeg
garlic powder
3 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter (not margarine)
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Dash ground cayenne pepper
1/2 package cream cheese

Roast Butternut Squash on a cookie sheet as follows: First, season with olive oil, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and garlic powder. Then, roast halved squash face down for 25 minutes and then face up for 25 minutes @ 375 degrees for a total of 50 minutes roasting time. When cool enough to handle, peel squash, and cut into chunks.

In a large saucepan, saute onions in margarine until tender. Add squash, chicken stock, marjoram, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Bring to boil; add cream cheese.

Puree squash and cream cheese in a blender or food processor in batches until smooth. Return to saucepan, and heat through. Do not allow to boil.

*****

I've been eating this for my lunch this past week, but I'll probably freeze some to have on hand for later. I ended up adding in more chicken broth because it was REALLY thick after I blended it. Actually I used my immersion blender right in the saucepan. When I've reheated it in the microwave it's come out really thick, too, so I don't know if I should have added even more chicken broth or just added some in each time I've reheated it.

Go to Trader Joe's (if you have one near you), get a butternut squash, and make this right now!! Today! Hurry!

Barefoot Contessa's Cheddar Corn Chowder

I forgot last week when planning out my menu that it was a Barefoot Bloggers recipe week! Oops! So I decided I'd make it this week to have for lunches. It's still not soup weather here in AZ (really it's only soup weather for maybe a week or two out of the whole year), but it's cooler so I figured it would work. Plus I love a good soup! This recipe is from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, but it's also available on the Food Network website. Jill from My Next Life chose this recipe for us to try.

Cheddar Corn Chowder
Copyright, 1999, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, All rights reserved

8 ounces bacon, chopped
1/4 cup good olive oil
6 cups chopped yellow onions (4 large onions)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
12 cups chicken stock
6 cups medium-diced white boiling potatoes, unpeeled (2 pounds)
10 cups corn kernels, fresh (10 ears) or frozen (3 pounds)
2 cups half-and-half
8 ounces sharp white cheddar cheese, grated

In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, cook the bacon and olive oil until the bacon is crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions and butter to the fat, and cook for 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent.

Stir in the flour, salt, pepper, and turmeric and cook for 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and potatoes, bring to a boil, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are tender. If using fresh corn, cut the kernels off the cob and blanch them for 3 minutes in boiling salted water. Drain. (If using frozen corn you can skip this step.) Add the corn to the soup, then add the half-and-half and cheddar. Cook for 5 more minutes, until the cheese is melted. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve hot with a garnish of bacon.

*****

I read the ingredient list and thought, "Wow, that makes A LOT of soup!" Then I realized it said 10-12 servings. I'm really the only person in my house that eats soup, so that was going to be way too much. I decided to cut it in half. I also figured there were a few things I could do to make it slightly healthier. I figured since the bacon would render a lot of fat, and the recipe called for butter I could easily cut down on the olive oil. I used maybe two teaspoons, but it was probably closer to just one. I also used fat free half and half. I wasn't about to skimp on the cheese because I heart cheese. :)

*****

I sat down to have a nice bowl of this soup for my lunch once both kids were down for their naps. I was a bit leery of it because the picture in the cookbook didn't really look like a chowder to me, it looked more broth-y. Mine ended up looking like chowder, but I definitely had my reservations while it was cooking until it had that creamy chowder look to it. I'd read another Barefoot Bloggers review of this recipe, and she thought it was under-seasoned as it's written in the recipe and had added in Old Bay. I was ready to add some in if it needed it, but I really liked the flavor of it without adding anything additional. I had one bite that had the perfect amount of cheese flavor, a bacon piece, potato, and corn in it...it was fantastic!! The other bites were good but that one especially was great.

This was pretty easy to put together, and really tasty. I used frozen corn for mine and thought it was fine. Plus it's much easier to pour some frozen corn into the soup pot than having to cut the kernels off cobs.

I will definitely make this again at some point! Oh, and I put the recipe into the Recipe Calculator on the Weight Watchers website, and it came out to seven Points per serving, which I thought was pretty decent, considering chowders can be pretty decadent soups.

Spicy Black Bean Soup

This is one of my most favorite WW recipes ever!! I planned out my breakfasts and lunches this week so I can keep track of my points easier. This recipe popped in my head, and I got ridiculously excited. It's so yummy! When I was in college both of my roommates were vegetarians. When we lived on campus, my roommate Courtney would always get black bean soup in the dining hall when they served it. I joked that it looked like sludge and was totally grossed out when she'd eat it. I don't really know when I came about and started liking black beans, but they're probably my favorite bean. I used to add them to everything for a little extra protein and fiber--especially spaghetti sauce and mixed in with rice. Sadly the husband doesn't like black beans, so I don't eat them as often as I used to.

I'm making this soup to have for lunch throughout the week. I really struggle with lunch because if we have leftovers from the night before I usually send them with the husband for his lunch, and whatever the kids eat usually doesn't appeal to me (I can only have so many PB&J sandwiches, chicken nuggets, and hot dogs). A lot of days I end up just snacking instead of ever eating lunch, so I'm hoping if I plan out my lunches for the week I'll do a lot better.

Weight Watchers Spicy Black Bean Soup
POINTS® Value: 3

1 spray(s) cooking spray
1 medium onion(s), finely chopped
4 medium garlic clove(s), minced
45 oz canned black beans, undrained, divided (three 15 oz cans)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 tsp ground cumin
14 1/2 oz fat-free chicken broth, or vegetable broth
10 oz canned tomatoes with green chilies, such as Rotel Tomatoes
11 oz canned yellow corn, drained

Coat bottom of a large stockpot with cooking spray. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are soft but not brown, about 5 minutes.

Place one can of beans in blender; add sautéed onion mixture, red pepper flakes and cumin. Cover and blend on high until smooth, about 30 seconds. Pour mixture back into stockpot.

Place second can of beans and broth in blender and puree until smooth; add to stockpot.

Stir third can of beans (do not puree first), tomatoes and green chilies, and corn into stockpot. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes. Yields about 1 1/2 cups of soup per serving.

© 2009 WeightWatchers.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
WEIGHT WATCHERS and POINTS are the registered trademarks of Weight Watchers International, Inc.

*****

Mmmmm!! I didn't realize how low on garlic I was, so I will probably just use garlic powder since I didn't buy any at the store this week. I really have no desire to run out for one thing with both kids (one of which is a sick baby), so garlic powder will have to do.

Aunt Holly's Gumbo

I love Aunt Holly. She's the husband's aunt, and I've only met her once, but I love her. She's awesome, and she makes some darn good gumbo. The husband and I went to New Orleans for our first anniversary and had dinner at Uncle Charles and Aunt Holly's house one night while we were there, and Holly made her gumbo for us. I was fortunate enough that she emailed me the recipe when we got home. It's not something I make very often because, well, it's just not gumbo weather in Phoenix very often. Who wants to stand over the stove making a roux when it's 110 degrees outside?! But, I bought some andouille sausage recently, and yesterday was cloudy and rainy, so I figured it was perfect. Actually I had already planned it for dinner last night, it was just a nice coincidence that it was cloudy and rainy. The recipe is exactly as Holly sent it to me, so you'll have to read through it for the ingredients and directions. But, to help in the process, I took pictures as I was going!! That's why I'm posting the day after, I didn't get the pictures uploaded last night. I'll paste in the recipe and pictures and their descriptions will be below.

Aunt Holly's Gumbo
First you make a roux. I don't use olive oil I use about 3 or 4 large cooking spoons of flour and about 1 large spoon of vegetable oil. Med. heat. The roux should be the consistency of a loose paste. Stir then let it sit a few seconds then stir. Keep repeating till the roux is a med dark brown. not as dark as chocolate. Then add 1 chopped onion, about 3 or 4 green onions chopped, 1/2 bell pepper, chopped, 1 or 2 sticks celery (optional) chopped, Parsley chopped. Keep stirring and cook about 10 min till onions start to cook then add about 4 cups of water this may not be enough. but let it come to a boil and let all your roux melt this takes about 20 min. You can always add more water. It may take about 6 or more cups. I don't know I never measure. I just know what constancy it should be. Remember Gumbo is watery not like stew. As soon as it comes to boil turn fire low or it will boil over. In separate pan on high heat brown chicken. I use either breast and thighs (boneless) or sometimes like my Grandma did I cut a whole chicken. Just brown the chicken don't cook it. Then put it in with Gumbo, add smoked sausage (Bryan) I also pre cook that in separate pot to get out oil. I also add andouille sausage. I also add 1 smoked turkey wing which is also hard to find. But the smokey flavor of the turkey wing just adds flavor it's not a necessity. Everything is in one pot now and boil on low fire till chicken is well cooked. Then you can add file' if you can buy that also. I think you can it's with the spices and called Gumbo file' Add about 2 tbs. of that sprinkle on top stir than cook about 5 more min. I add a little garlic powder. Oh don't forget plenty of salt thats your flavor and pepper and cayenne pepper to, it's Cajun remember. Serve over rice.

I broke out both of my Le Creuset pots for this endeavor:


Here are my vegetables, all chopped up and ready to go:


Here's my sausage browning away. I used Trader Joe's chicken andouille sausage and half a thing of Hillshire Farm smoked sausage. I like to put it cut side down to get some of the fat/oil out and to brown that side of it.


Check out all this sausage remnant yummy-ness. I cooked my chicken in it because I just live on the edge like that.


Here's my sausage and chicken ready to go for a swim in the gumbo.


Here's the start of my roux. I hate making a roux, but I think I did better this time than I ever have before.


Here's my roux part way through cooking. I was worried it was burning because I got busy taking pictures and dealing with an unruly toddler while the husband was napping on the couch. But it was okay...it didn't burn. See how it's starting to get darker?


Here's my roux when it was done. I thought this was a nice medium brown color.


This was my meat cooking pan after I had browned the sausage and chicken. I couldn't let all those glorious browned bits go to waste, so I deglazed the pan with a bit of chicken stock then poured it into the gumbo pot. Had I been thinking, I would have done everything in the same pot so my roux would have cooked in this yummy goodness.


Here's the vegetables mixed with the roux, before the water is added in to the mix.


Now, the gumbo simmering away. YUM! You can kind of see some chicken and sausage poking out.


And, the final product. This was actually my second helping because I was too excited to eat to stop and take a picture of my first bowl.


Yum. This was such a good dinner. The boy just ate the meat out of it and some rice, he doesn't really dig on soup. The andouille gave this great flavor and spice. There's some left in the fridge that I think I'll have for lunch. I can't wait!!

Slow Cooker Minestrone

This was actually our dinner last night, but I ran out of time to post. Jen B. and I both wanted to get out of our houses as we've been stuck at home with sick kids for longer than we'd like (really, isn't more than a day stuck at home with a toddler--regardless of their health--too much?!), so we went to the mall, lunch, and Trader Joe's. With all of that running around I just didn't have time to post my recipe. What about after the fun, you say? Or after the boy went to bed last night? Well, when we got home I was busy throwing stuff in the crockpot for dinner, then after dinner I spent 45 minutes on the phone with my friend Jess. Then there was stuff on the Tivo to watch...you know how it goes.

Anyway, this is another recipe from Meal Planning 101 blog via Jen B's blog. The husband is taking a bible study class on Wednesday nights for the next 12 weeks (well, I guess 11 weeks since last night's is done), so I'm going to be doing crockpot dinners on Wednesday nights to make sure he gets to eat before he leaves. Jen had really liked this, and I had all the vegetables on hand that needed to be used up, so I figured what the heck. It met my vegetarian criteria and furthers me along in my "embrace the bean" mentality I'm trying to adopt...even though minestrone has never been my favorite soup.

Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 Carrots, chopped
3 cloves chopped garlic
4-6 cups of Vegetable Broth or Chicken Stock
1 can diced Tomatoes
1 can of Red Kidney Beans
1 can of Great Northern Beans
2 tbsp tomato Paste
2 tsp Italian Seasoning (or 1tsp oregano, 1tsp basil)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or combo of cheese and Parm-Reg rinds--see notes)
1/2 cup basil pesto (premade or fresh)
1/2 jar leftover marinara sauce
1 cup macaroni (cooked)

Finely chop onion and slice carrots and onion and add them to your slow cooker. Chop garlic and add. Gradually add stock, tomatoes, mixed beans, tomato paste, spices, Parmesan cheese and pesto. Turn on low heat for 6-8 hours.

After cook time is complete:
Fill a large stove-top pot with water and season with salt and bring to a boil. When boiling add macaroni and simmer according to package directions. When macaroni is done, drain and set aside. Scoop macaroni into bowls and ladle soup over top. Serve immediately.

*****

I can almost guarantee that no one in the history of slow cookers has thrown the ingredients for minestrone soup into the crockpot faster than I did yesterday. We had just gotten home from our day out, the baby was screaming because he was hungry, and I realized I needed to get dinner in the crockpot ASAP so we'd be able to eat before the husband had to leave. If you've never breastfed a baby, you may not understand the urgency with which this task needed to be done, but if you HAVE breastfed a baby and know what it's like to hear them screaming and not be able to feed them right away, well...you know why I hurried. I didn't have any marinara sauce to throw in, nor did I have pesto. I used the whole can of tomato paste to try and make up for the lack of marinara sauce. I put in some basil to try and make up for the pesto.

The result? It was okay. Jen said she thinks my not using real pesto probably impacted it a lot. Since I'm not a big minestrone fan to begin with, I thought it was good considering. However, I have a TON left...almost a whole crockpot full of it. The boy didn't eat it, the husband didn't have a whole lot (he doesn't like soup which I totally don't understand). I made ham and cheese paninis along with the soup, and he liked the sandwich a lot better. I think I'm going to freeze most of what was left because it would take me at least two weeks to eat what's left on my own. I don't think this is one I'd make again, but that's only because it's not my favorite soup, and I already have a lot of it left.

Split Pea Soup #2

Jen B. told me the picture didn't show up for the split pea soup post below, so I thought I'd do a blog update the old fashioned way and just add in a picture. I'm too lazy to go back and edit the other post to change it up. It came up fine on my computer, so who knows.

Split Pea Soup

I went to college in a cool town called Bellingham, WA. I loved it...a total college town. I really miss it and wish there was some way I could live there, although maybe it doesn't hold the same appeal after college? I don't know. There are tons of good restaurants (and cool bars, but that's a post for a different time or maybe never. You may lose all respect for me if you knew how often I frequented the bars in college...and how many of them.), so whenever I'd go back up there prior to moving to AZ it was always a tough decision where to eat.

There's a part of town called Fairhaven that has all these funky shops and restaurants (not so many bars though). Very artsy and kind of hippie (I couldn't decide if hippie was the right spelling or hippy...seriously, I went back and forth between the two about five times). There's a bookstore there that has a restaurant in the downstairs of it, Colophon Cafe. I heart Colophon! One of my most embarassing moments happened there. I'll tell you the story so you can feel a little more clued in on my life. ;) My roommate Courtney and I had gone there to get dinner one night and study. I had really bad body image issues in college, so I was complaining about how fat I was (and in reality I wasn't at all but I thought so at the time and now I'd give just about anything to look like I did then). Courtney busts out with--in a pretty loud voice for a mostly empty restaurant--"Claire, I've seen you naked and you have nothing to complain about." Nice, huh?

Anyway...

My mom really liked Colophon when she'd come up to visit me, and she bought (or I got her as a gift, I don't remember) their cookbook. I stole it from her awhile back and scanned a bunch of the recipes from things I loved there. This recipe I'd had for awhile and made on occasion. I was moving some stuff around in my pantry today and discovered a bag of split peas and thought, "I'm going to make soup!" i don't think this is quite as good as it was at the restaurant, but it's pretty good. And completely vegetarian!

 

I'm trying a new feature I saw in my Picasa Photo Viewer. It had a link to "Blog This!" so I did. It brought up a window to type my blog entry and had a link to the picture already on it. Hopefully it's big enough that you can see the recipe.

Herbed Chicken and Dumplings

This was our dinner last night, but I was so busy nesting yesterday I didn't get a chance to post it. Seriously, my family room has never been cleaner than it is now. Well, there's toys that somehow migrated out of the toy room and some clutter on the coffee table, but the room itself almost sparkles. We had our carpets cleaned yesterday, and I was motivated to clean with all the furniture out of the way. I cleaned baseboards (insert mental image of a pregnant woman with nine days until her due date on hands and knees with a bottle of 409 scrubbing), vacuumed the blades of the ceiling fan, vacuumed up the corners of the room to get rid of dust and cobwebs. I still need to Magic Eraser some spots on the walls, but the room looks great. Our kitchen floor, however, was a casualty to the whole carpet cleaning process. Our couch and loveseat stuck to the linoleum or something and tore it up in a couple spots. Only one is REALLY noticeable and deep. We've always said we wanted to put tile in there, so I guess this is a sign that now is the time. Anyway, in my cleaning frenzy yesterday I also completely cleaned out my car, brought in the baby swing and washed the cover, washed the boy's laundry. I don't remember what else, but I have more on my list to get done today.

On to the whole point of my blog! I was looking through October's issue of Cooking Light over the weekend (somehow I had never gone through it!) and found a recipe for chicken and dumplings that looked really good, and I already had most of the ingredients on hand to make it. Of course at the grocery store yesterday I realized I had forgotten to check the recipe before we left to see what the ingredients were that I didn't have. Oops. Turned out it was only parsley, so that's not too bad. I heart chicken and dumplings, but this was my first time making it myself. My mom made some really good ones when I was little, but she hasn't made them in years. Or at least she hasn't made them for me.

Herbed Chicken and Dumplings
Cooking spray
8 ounces skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
3/4 cup (1/4-inch) diagonally cut celery
1/2 cup (1/4-inch) diagonally cut carrot
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
3 parsley sprigs
1 bay leaf
3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2.25 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup 1% low-fat milk

1. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Add celery and next 5 ingredients (through bay leaf) to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Return chicken to pan; cook 1 minute. Add broth to pan; bring mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.

2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, chopped parsley, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Add milk, stirring just until moist. Spoon by heaping teaspoonfuls into broth mixture; cover and simmer 10 minutes or until dumplings are done. Discard parsley sprigs and bay leaf.

*****

Like I said, I forgot to buy parsley, so I left that out of the soup mixture and used dried parsley in the dumplings. I also used chicken breasts instead of thighs, and I doubled the recipe since it only made two servings. I'm not sure if it's really a recipe that doubles well. I think next time I'd cut down on the amount of broth--six cups was a lot, I think four or five would have sufficed. It also needed a little something more for flavor. The broth/chicken/veggies was kind of bland. I think next time I might toss the chicken pieces in some seasoned flour before browning to give it a little extra oomph and help thicken the broth some. The dumplings, however, were FANTASTIC. The husband said he could have left the soup and just had the dumplings. The boy liked it well enough, although I don't know if he ever tried the dumplings. All in all, I'd try making this again to see if I could jazz it up a bit so there was a bit more flavor to it, but if I still couldn't get it right after that, I'd probably stop trying.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

The husband woke up with a really bad cold yesterday and is still sick today. We had some frozen gnocchi from Trader Joe's last night for dinner, which was really good. Today is mostly overcast and yucky looking outside, and I want soup. I have most everything on hand for Chicken Tortilla Soup, so I'm going to make some up after the kid and I run to Walmart for a couple items and some more tissues for the husband. I can't wait to have a big bowl of this for lunch today!

Chicken Tortilla Soup
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 container (12 ounces or so) salsa
6 regular cans chicken broth (or 2 large)
1 lime, juiced
1 bag tortilla chips
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
Hot sauce to taste
Shredded cheese to taste
Cooked chicken to taste

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil. When oil is heated, saute onions until translucent. Add garlic and saute for a few more minutes. Add cooked chicken, chicken broth, salsa, and bring to a boil. Add any aditional vegetables (i.e. corn, tomatoes, black beans, etc.) at this step. Once boiling add cilantro, lime juice, and hot sauce to taste.

In individual serving bowls, place some broken-up tortilla chips in bottom and sprinkle with cheese. Pour the hot soup over the chips and cheese and serve.

*****

I can't remember if I mentioned last time that this can be made into a vegetarian version by leaving out the chicken and adding in some black beans or kidney beans (or both) or even just leaving out the chicken and not adding anything else to it. After I dry my hair, we're off to Walmart and then it's soup time! I'm trying to decide if I should sneak some pureed veggies into it, but I'm not sure what I'd use.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Oh man, I've been waiting a week and a half to make this! My MOMS Club has a cooking club and this was the recipe that was done for December. This is why I cooked the whole chicken last night, so I could use the leftovers for this! My friend Jen B. made it...her recipes have so far all been awesome!

Chicken Tortilla Soup
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 container (12 ounces or so) salsa
6 regular cans chicken broth (or 2 large)
1 lime, juiced
1 bag tortilla chips
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
Hot sauce to taste
Shredded cheese to taste
Cooked chicken to taste

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil. When oil is heated, saute onions until translucent. Add garlic and saute for a few more minutes. Add cooked chicken, chicken broth, salsa, and bring to a boil. Add any aditional vegetables (i.e. corn, tomatoes, black beans, etc.) at this step. Once boiling add cilantro, lime juice, and hot sauce to taste.

In individual serving bowls, place some broken-up tortilla chips in bottom and sprinkle with cheese. Pour the hot soup over the chips and cheese and serve.

*****

I realized when I was getting stuff out for it that I forgot to get cilantro. I hope it turns out okay without it...the cilantro really gave it a fresh flavor when Jen made it. I added in some canned corn to mine, when Jen made it she had some tomatoes she needed to use and added those. My best friend's mom makes tortilla soup and adds avocado when she serves it, and that's really good.

So far the sample tastes I've had are really good...I can't wait to have some!

Butternut Squash Soup

Here's another recipe from my friend Jen B. (there you go, getting your name in lights!). To be quite honest, when she sent it to me I wasn't sure if I'd like it, but I told her I'd give it a try. I had complete faith in her recipe, I just thought I didn't like squash. I was basing that on my extreme dislike of zucchini (thanks, mom, for trying to feed it to me too much growing up and sneaking it in to stuff!), but she assured me it was nothing like zucchini.

So, I found myself at Trader Joe's last week, and a butternut squash made its way into my cart. Only $0.99! I had cleaned house yesterday, so I figured I'd make up the soup this afternoon to have for lunch over the weekend if I liked it. And if I didn't like it, I wasn't out a whole lot. She originally got the recipe from Allrecipes.com but modified it, so I'm including her version.

Butternut Squash Soup
2 whole butternut squash
olive oil
salt
pepper
nutmeg
garlic powder
6 tablespoons chopped onion
4 tablespoons butter (not margarine)
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 package cream cheese

Roast Butternut Squash on a cookie sheet as follows: First, season with olive oil, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and garlic powder. Then, roast halved squash face down for 25 minutes and then face up for 25 minutes @ 375 degrees for a total of 50 minutes roasting time. When cool enough to handle, peel squash, and cut into chunks.

In a large saucepan, saute onions in margarine until tender. Add squash, chicken stock, marjoram, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Bring to boil; add cream cheese.

Puree squash and cream cheese in a blender or food processor in batches until smooth. Return to saucepan, and heat through. Do not allow to boil.

*****

I happen to have an imersion blender that I had never used, and it worked great for this!! Plus I hate pouring hot soup into a blender or food processor. Had a bad experience one time and don't want to repeat it, so that worked out great.

Oh, I actually only used one squash and half a block of cream cheese. Of course, I forgot I was going to cut the recipe in half until I was dropping the cream cheese in the pot, so I had to ladle out some of the chicken broth. I ended up adding some back in because it was pretty thick. It made a TON, so I can't imagine how much it would make if I'd made the whole thing!

I was kind of nervous when I dipped my spoon into the pot to try it because I didn't think I liked squash, but...lo and behold, I LOVED IT! I actually called Jen on the spot to tell her because she knew I was making it this afternoon. It was kind of hot, but Will had a bite and loved it, too. THe husband wasn't so sure, but by the time he tried it, it had thickened some from cooling, so he thought it would be good as a dip. What can I say...he's kind of weird, plus he'd been at happy hour. ;)

So, thanks Jen B., for another great recipe!!! I can't wait to have some of this for lunch tomorrow.

P.S. I think this could easily be made with vegetable stock instead of chicken to make a vegetarian version.

Chicken Chowder

I came across this in one of my crockpot cookbooks and thought it sounded good. It's still kind of warm in AZ for chowder, but I'm ready for cooler weather and the associated food. Plus my friend Jen made baked potato soup last week that sounded really good. I can't wait until it's cold enough for beef stew, but I just can't justify having that when it's still in the 80s outside for the high.

Chicken Chowder
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 baking potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1/2 lb chicken breast tenderloins, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup nonfat half and half
1/2 cup nonfat chicken broth
2 15-oz cans cream-style corn
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
2 Tbsp chopped green onions
1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes
1/2 cup nonfat shredded cheddar cheese

Spray inside of slow cooker with cooking spray. Combine carrots, potato, and chicken in slow cooker. Combine half and half, chicken broth, cream-style corn, pepper, onion powder, and green onions in medium bowl and mix well. Pour half and half mixture over chicken and vegetables and mix well. Cover and cook on low heat for 5-6 hours. Add potato flakes. Increase heat to high and cook 5-10 minutes until mixture has thickened and flakes have siddolved. Sprinkle with cheese just before serving.

*****

Okay, I skipped the carrots because I was feeling lazy. I also did two potatoes because it didn't seem like one would be enough. Not sure the weight of the chicken tenderloins, I used three. It didn't seem like a lot of chicken to me (especially for a recipe called Chicken Chowder). I think everything else was the same. Oh, and I don't usually have instant potatoes on hand, but I found a small package at the store for $0.69, so I thought that was pretty good.