The Winter of Soups

This is a fitting post for such a cold wet day.  


I am a fan of all things cozy.  I love slippers, a good blanket, sitting by the fire, a good pair of cozy pants, and a cup of coffee.  Are you feeling me?  


This winter I decided to expand my collection of soup recipes.  So we are having the winter of soups.  Every Sunday is Soup Day.  I've used some old tried and true recipes.  And I've found some new ones.  I thought I would share some of our favorites so far.

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

{photo courtesy of lulu the baker}

This soup is full of vegetables - carrots, onions, celery, broccoli, and potatoes.
This was a hit with the whole family.  

Cheesy Tortilla Soup

{photo courtesy of Taste of Home}

My husband loved this soup.  It is good topped with pepper jack cheese.   Tortilla chips go well with this one!

Cream of Broccoli Soup
{sorry no picture}

Bunch of Broccoli, chopped
1/2 c. butter
6 Tbsp flour
5 cups chicken broth
pepper
nutmeg
about 1 cup of milk

Melt butter in pot, add flour.  Mix together.  Then add in broth slowly, and add the cut up broccoli.
Simmer for 20 minutes.  Put all of it in a blender and puree.  Put back in pot, add milk, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg.  Stir together and serve.

This is a family recipe that my mom used to make when we were little.  It makes a lot so it is good for leftovers.  Admittedly, my husband doesn't love it, but I do.  Its basically a broccoli soup, but blended down smooth.  So no chunks...easy for picky kids who may not like to eat broccoli.  I like to serve it with baked potatoes.

Hopefully, you will find these recipes as yummy as we have.  And maybe you'll even take part in our winter of soups, even though it is half over!  

Meal Planning

Some of you may have already mastered the meal planning mountain or maybe you just fly by the seat of your pants like a lot of us.  Maybe you eat out every night or maybe you just eat whatever's in the pantry.  I feel like we've been through phases of all of those.  So recently I made an attempt to make my meal planning a little bit easier and faster.  I absolutely hate sifting through my recipes trying to find things to make just so I can go to the grocery store.  It always seems to take so long, and I never know what to decide on.  

So I created themes for each night.  Every night has a theme that is repeated weekly or on a rotation.  For example Sundays are my crock pot days, so I just go to my "Fix It and Forget It" cookbook and pick something to make!  It makes things easier for me to just pick a dinner and make my grocery list.  Here is a list of our themes...notice Ed decided to name a few!

• Mama Mia - ravioli, spaghetti, lasagna, calzones, tortellini, stuffed shells, chicken parmesan, penne pasta
• Rice Bowl - beans and rice, stir-fry, veggies over couscous, chicken over rice
• Rotisserie Chicken - serve as is with sides like rice or potatoes and salad, or use any recipes calling for cooked chicken:  chicken and cheese quesadilla, chicken tacos, wraps, bbq chicken sandwich, chicken pizza, any chicken casserole
• Build It Yourself - tacos, burritos, baked potatoes, burgers, pizza, salad
• One Pot Wonder - chilis, soups, any other crock pot meal
• Fast or Frozen - leftovers, fast food, mac and cheese, sandwiches, cereal, anything in freezer like chicken nuggets and french fries
• Sandwich - grilled cheese, french dip, subs, pbj, blt, wraps
• Casserole - chicken, mexican, breakfast, italian
• Traditional Meat 'N Potatoes - pork chops, steak, tenderloin, ham, pot roast, turkey

Try planning out your more involved recipes on nights that you are home and don't have to be anywhere later.  And your quicker meals, should be on busy nights.  Fast and Frozen is our Wed night since Ed is usually not home and we are running around trying to get to church, etc.  The important thing is to make it work for your family!