Category Archives: Soups

Thai Soup

  February 4, 2014 - 9:26 am | ,
Comments Off on Thai Soup

2 lemongrass stalks, bottom 2/3 of stalks beaten with a tenderizer to release flavor

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 (3 inch) piece fresh ginger root, pealed and chopped

4 cups chicken broth

2 lbs. chicken, cut into bite size strips

4 tsp. red curry paste

3 Tbsp. fish sauce

1 Tbsp. lime juice

2 cans coconut cream

1 Tbsp. dried cilantro flakes

(opt. chopped carrots, peppers, potatos cubed)

Stir the lemon grass, garlic, ginger, and broth in a large pot.  Bring to a boil and than on a medium-low simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Strain the chicken broth into a bowl and set aside.  Discard lemon grass, garlic, and ginger.  Place the chicken in the pot and cook for 5 minutes.  Stir in red curry paste, fish sauce, and lime juice until combined.  Stir in chicken broth and coconut cream.  (If you’re adding potatoes, carrots, or other ‘harder’ garnishes put them in now.)  Return to a simmer and cook another 15-20 minutes.  Remove from heat and add in cilantro.  Serve with rice. . . or add the rice right in the soup.

Enchilada Soup (Freezer Meal)

  October 22, 2013 - 9:30 am |
Comments Off on Enchilada Soup (Freezer Meal)

This soup is delicious!  With four boys six and under I just haven’t been able to find the time to cook as often as I used to.  I’ve resolved to make a bulk meal every couple of weeks so that I can divide it up and freeze the majority of it.  Especially as it gets closer to winter it will be nice to have several meals ready to be put in a crockpot or oven at a days notice.  The original recipe was found at my favorite go to recipe site HERE.  One thing I love about allrecipes is that you can change the serving amount to make a huge batch.  I changed my serving batch to feed 40 so I can have lots of freezer bags full.

Enchilada Soup

5 cups cooked and shredded chicken

2 onions chopped

5 tsp. minced garlic

3 peppers chopped (different colors)

3 carrots peeled and chopped

5 cans chili beans, with liquid

5 cans kidney beans, with liquid

5 cans whole kernel corn, with liquid

5 (8oz) cans tomato sauce

10 cups chicken stock

5 packages taco seasoning

Stick everything in a big pot on medium heat and stir to a boil.  Let simmer for 20-30 minutes.  If freezing, combine all ingredients and then place in freezer bags.  When ready to eat, thaw out and place in pot. Yumm yumm!

Cheesy Potato Soup

  February 19, 2013 - 8:55 am | ,
Comments Off on Cheesy Potato Soup

I realize it’s been a LONG time since my last post.  It’s sad that in all this time I probably have only really cooked a handful of meals.  I’ve had a wicked cold for about three weeks, and with that added to being prego, cooking has been one of my lesser priorities.  It’s times like this that makes me very grateful for freezer meals and quick fixes.  On Christmas my little 5 year old gave me a cookbook because he thought it looked like something I would like.  He didn’t know what the cookbook was about, but it couldn’t have been a better book for me right now.  The book is called “Families on the Go” it’s FULL of make-ahead easy freezer meals.  A few weeks ago I put together a freezer meal exchange with 7 other women.  We each prepared a meal that we multiplied 8 times to exchange for one of each other’s meals.  I made 10 of my meal, to make the math easier.  Which means at the end of the night I put 7 new meals into my freezer and had 2 of the soup that I had made (the 10th soup we ate fresh after cooking it the day before).  My total time in the kitchen preparing the soup was about three hours.  It was completely worth it!  I’m excited to do this again sometime soon so that I can prepare for the last trimester of my pregnancy when I don’t want to spend any time in the kitchen.  I highly recommend doing a freezer meal exchange and getting THIS book.  Awesomeness!

(Easy) Cheesy Potato Soup

1 onion, finely chopped ( I used onion flakes)

2 Tbsp. butter

3 (14 oz) cans chicken broth

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk

1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes

1 bag frozen cubed hash browns

1 (4 oz) pkg. pre-cooked bacon bits (not imitation)

Saute onions in butter.  Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.  Add soup and evaporated milk and bring to a boil.  Add cheese and heat until melted.  Add hash browns and bacon bits.  (If freezing: Now place in a gallon-size freezer bag and freeze)  Otherwise, simmer until potatoes are cooked through.

Carrot, Apple, Ginger Soup

  August 28, 2012 - 3:01 pm | ,
Comments Off on Carrot, Apple, Ginger Soup

I found this recipe on THIS website and I was salivating just thinking about it.  One of my favorite healthy smoothies has a carrot and apple base to it and it is delicious, so the thought of eating it in soup form made me get excited.  (Warning: if you are not a fan or carrot juice then you will not like this soup!)  I tried it and LOVED the first few bites, but then it bothered me and I couldn’t figure out why.  After having some friends test it out their first response was that they loved it . . . except for the texture.  So, when the recipe says to puree, do it for a long time.  I pureed mine to a consistency slightly runnier then baby food.  It’s soup, so let it be soupy.  I ended up using mine to dip grilled cheese sandwiches in and that was awesome!!!!  It is sweet, healthy, and low calorie.  You will love it with grilled cheese, on a cold day, or for a summer fresh soup with watermelon on the side.  This is the exact copied recipe from the original blog.  When I made it I put in two apples.

Carrot, Apple, Ginger Soup

  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil + more for garnish
  • 1 small onion, diced (1 cup diced onion)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
  • 1 large apple
  • 1.5 pounds carrots, peeled and chopped (~5 cups)
  • 4 cups vegetable broth (I used full sodium)
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. In a large pot, add 1 tbsp olive oil over low-medium heat. Add chopped onion and cook for about 5 minutes until translucent. Add minced garlic and ginger and cook for another couple minutes on low. Add chopped apple and carrots and cook for a few minutes more.

2. Add the vegetable broth, stir, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low-medium and simmer for 20 minutes, or until tender.

3. Carefully transfer this mixture into a blender (or you can use an immersion blender probably), add a pinch of nutmeg, and blend until smooth. You might need to do this in 2 batches depending on the size of your blender. You don’t want the soup more than halfway full or it might explode through the top. Make sure to allow steam to escape through the top of the blender lid too.

4. Add salt and pepper to taste. You can also thin the soup out a bit with more broth. Serve and garnish with freshly ground pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. It goes lovely with fresh bread andEarth Balance. Makes 5 delicious cups!

Hard Rock Cafe (copycat) Potato Soup

  March 7, 2012 - 8:30 am |
Comments Off on Hard Rock Cafe (copycat) Potato Soup

IMG_0464

When Brett and I were dating he wanted to impress me by making this soup and yep, I was pretty impressed.  This is the perfect warm comfort when you come in from the snow.  It’s spicy, but not so much that my 4 year old wouldn’t eat it. . . . oh, and did I mention the bacon?  Bacon just makes every soup better. 🙂

Hard Rock Cafe (copycat) Potato Soup

12 slices bacon, fried crisp

apx 1-2 Tbsp. oil

1 cup diced yellow onion

2//3 cup flour

6 cups chicken broth

4 cups diced peeled potatos (bite size)

2 cups heavy cream

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 tsp. minced garlic

1  1/2 tsp dried basil

1  1/2 tsp. Tobasco

2 tsp. crushed red chili peppers

1  1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1 cup grated chedder cheese

1/3 cup diced green onions

When making soup I like to have most of my things ready to go before I begin. So, start by getting your cutting board out and chop up the parsley, potatoes, and green onion. I leave the parsley and potatoes on one side of the cutting board because they are put in at the same time, and leave the green onions on the other side.  Crumble up your bacon and set aside. (I like to fry my bacon ahead of time and keep it in the freezer so it crumbles easily.) Get a big pot and pour the oil in the bottom.  Turn your stove heat to medium and cook the onions in the oil until transparent.  Add more oil if it is sticking to much.  Add flour stirring constantly about 3-5 minutes.  Add broth gradually, still stirring, but now with a whisk until thickened.  Stir in potatoes and parsley for about 5 minutes and then turn the heat down to a low/medium .  While that’s still going, in a large measuring cup or bowl  I get all of the remanding ingredients minus the green onions and cheese combined. This gives the potatoes a little more time to cook.  Now you can turn the stove down to a simmer, add the spices and cream mixture and let sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Then add cheese and green onion.  Stir until cheese melts.

This soup tastes the best in a bread bowl.  I made our bread bowls with Rhodes Rolls there’s a tutorial HERE

Best Thai Coconut Soup

  February 5, 2012 - 10:54 pm | ,
Comments Off on Best Thai Coconut Soup

I’m not a huge fan of complicated recipes, but every once in a while it’s fun to do something out of the norm. I attempted this dish tonight and was pleased. It was very good and sweet. Brett is slightly obsessed with Thai food lately, so it’s nice having another dish that I can make. The nice thing is it’s mild enough that our boys ate it too. Noah seemed to like it a lot and had two bowls. I’ve put in the recipe exactly as it’s written on allrecipes.com, and put my own notes underneath.

IMG_0034

Best Thai Coconut Soup
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
1 stalk lemon grass, minced
2 teaspoons red curry paste
4 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
3 (13.5 ounce) cans coconut milk
1/2 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 pound medium shrimp – peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
salt to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir the ginger, lemongrass, and curry paste in the heated oil for 1 minute. Slowly pour the chicken broth over the mixture, stirring continually. Stir in the fish sauce and brown sugar; simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk and mushrooms; cook and stir until the mushrooms are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp; cook until no longer translucent about 5 minutes. Stir in the lime juice; season with salt; garnish with cilantro.

My notes: I did not put in mushrooms. Instead of shrimp I used two large chicken breasts. Lemon grass was really hard to find, but I tracked down some dried cut up lemon grass at a health food store. I put in apx 2 Tbsp. I liked the flavor of the lemon grass, but next time I’ll strain out the grass pieces floating before I eat it, because I didn’t like the texture (Brett didn’t mind it). I could not find red curry paste anywhere (if you know where to find some let me know!) Instead I used about 2 Tbsp hot curry powder and added some ketchup and lime juice as a substitute. The fresh ginger was great! This was the first time I ever cooked with fresh ginger and now I want to only use fresh from now on. I poured it over rice and it was delicious!

White Chicken Chili

  February 3, 2012 - 9:36 pm |
Comments Off on White Chicken Chili

My Sister-in-law Cassi shared this recipe with me a while back.  She got the recipe from the American Heart Association.  You’re going to LOVE it! It’s easy, healthy, flavorful, and filling. . . perfection!

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1.5 lbs chicken breasts (cooked and small cubed)
1  chopped onion (medium)
2 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
2 (4 oz) cans chopped green chlils
3 (15 oz) cans white beans (great Northern)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp oregano leaves, crushed

1. Sauté onions, cilantro, and garlic in olive oil until onions are transparent.

2. Add remaining ingredients.

3. Simmer for 10-20 minutes.

4. Serve with tortilla chips, sour cream, and cheese.