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!  

Thursday Thoughts

Fall has arrived!  Don't you love it?  It was so nice this morning putting on some jeans, a cardigan, some new shoes, and a COAT!  The crispness in the air is invigorating.  My husband even took us out to breakfast this morning!  


My oldest son has always loved clothes.  It a weird obsession really.  However he joyfully put on some "new to him" clothes this morning.  Ten minutes later...I want hot weather.  That didn't last long.


I have been in a battle recently with the middle child.  He can be so strong willed.  He has the craziest ability to make me second guess everything.  What is that?  I am the Mother after all.  We've somewhat successfully potty trained him.  He wears underwear at all times except bed.  However, he will only go when I ask him.  He has a strong willed bladder too it seems, as he will hold it ALL.DAY.LONG.   So it is a battle every time he goes.  He wants me to help him, and he doesn't need it.  And he won't go number 2 in the potty.  He has figured out that he can just wait until the pull-up at nap and bedtime.  So frustrating!  We had a stand off yesterday that last ALL DAY.  I prevailed and he finally pooped in the potty!  I won.  Now I am bound and determined to turn this ship around.


Recently, Homeschooling my children has not been my favorite.  Don't get me wrong, I know that we are supposed to do it this year.  The kids enjoy it, and for the most part, we like it.  I've just been discouraged with it and sometimes I want to put all three on the big yellow school bus as it drives by our house.  Haha, I'm just kidding...actually I don't really know if I am.  Anyway, Ed snuck out of the house with Micah one morning and came home with these.  And a little note from Micah.

Made taco soup last night.  We love anything mexican around here, but this is one of our favorites.  Its a mexican twist on chili.  We eat it with tortilla chips, but it is also good with the traditional cornbread.  


Here's the recipe in case it is new to you...


Taco Soup


1 lb ground beef or turkey
1 can kidney beans (drained)
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can whole corn (drained)
1 can petite diced tomatoes (undrained)
2 cans tomato sauce (16oz)
2 pkg taco seasoning
2 pkg ranch dressing mix
2 cans green chilies (4oz)
1 1/2 cups of water
onion powder


1.  Cook ground meat with onion powder, drain.
2.  Mix meat and all other ingredients in large pot.  Simmer 30 min.
3.  Serve with tortilla chips or cornbread.  Top with shredded cheddar, sour cream, and whatever other mexican toppings you like.  Enjoy!


Happy fall!

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!  
 

Recipe of the Week

In honor of my last brunch at CBS tomorrow, here is this week's recipe...

Sausage Cheese Muffins (what?! i didn't say it was good for you!)

1 (1lb) pkg ground pork sausage
3 cups Bisquick
1.5 cups shredded cheddar
1 can of condensed cheese soup (who would actually make cheese soup?)
3/4 cup water

-Preheat your oven to 375 and grease those muffin tins or line them with paper.

-Cook the sausage in a large skillet, stirring it until it crumbles and is no longer pink. Please drain it (let's be somewhat healthy...at least get off the fat that you can see!) and let it cool!

-Combine the sausage, Bisquick, and shredded cheese in a large bowl. Make a well in the center.

-Stir together cheese soup and water. Add to the well in the sausage mixture. Stir it just until dry ingredients are moistened.

-Spoon into muffin cups, filling to top of cups. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Yummy!

*They are best served warm, with a cup of coffee, and maybe even a bowl of strawberries. Now you know how I roll! I'm a dork.

Recipe of the Week

Its been a while since I've done my recipe of the week, but I thought I would get back into it. I will say however that I am not a very adventurous cook, but I like to try new recipes all the time. And when I find a good one, I like to share! So none of my recipes are "original"...they are copied!

King Ranch Casserole
(from Southern Living...my favorite recipe source)

1 onion chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced

Saute those things in butter. Start with onion for 6-7 minutes. Then add pepper and garlic for 3-4 min.

After these are done, add the following...

1 can cream of mushroom
1 can cream of chicken
1 can rotel, undrained
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp ground red pepper (or less)

Simmer, stirring occasionally for 8 min.

Take above ingredients, along with 3 cups cooked chicken, 3 cups shredded cheddar, bag of tortilla chips (we like to use the hint of lime ones!)

Assemble like this...
half chicken
half soup mixture
1 cup cheese
half chips - crushed
Repeat layers once.
Top with remaining 1 cup of cheese.

OR, do like this... (my personal preference)
Throw all the chicken in the bottom of a 11x9 (greased), then pour all soup mixture on top, layer some cheese on top of the soup, then hand crush some chips over cheese. (Add one last layer of cheese for the last 10 min of cooking.)

Cook about an hour or until bubbly. Let stand 10 min.

P.S. Have some extra chippies on hand for eating with the casserole. My hubby likes to eat it as if it were dip!

Throw some corn on the stove or microwave and call it a meal!