Zucchini Soup

This is really delicious! Yes, my kids sometimes call it slime soup because of the color - but they love it, especially with peasant bread. You can also use yellow squash in this too. This is my new go to St. Patrick's day meal, served with French bread or peasant bread and some cold milk with green striped paper straws. Easy! No green food coloring required. Or, just add it to your zucchini recipe file for the end of the summer when anonymous neighbors leave zucchini on your porch in the middle of the night.


Some other great St. Patrick's Day food would be Broccoli Bow Tie Pasta Salad, Key Lime Pie, or Rainbow Jello.

1 cup chopped onions
2 Tbs butter
3 cups sliced zucchini
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 cup half -and-half cream (or milk for a lighter version)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, then crumbled
In a large saucepan cook onions in melted butter until tender. Add sliced zucchini and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Simmer until tender (about 15 min.) Add salt and pepper. 

Cool slightly, then pour mixture into blender and puree it. Stir in half-and-half cream. Return to saucepan and reheat, but do not boil. Garnish with grated cheese, sour cream and bacon. 

Makes about 6 servings.

 

Vegetable Cheese Chowder

This soup tastes similar to a potato cheese soup, but it is lighter and better for you with all of the vegetables in there. I think cauliflower would be an amazing addition to this soup, but it is still on my list of things to experiment with. This is really yummy and perfect for lunch or dinner.

Vegetable Cheese Chowder

4 cans, or 64 oz. chicken broth
4 cups water
1 bunch of broccoli, finely chopped
4 medium potatoes, finely diced
4 stalks celery, finely diced
1 small onion, diced
4 carrots, shredded or finely diced
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cans evaporated milk (or I just use 2 cups regular milk)
2 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
Flour and water, one part flour to two parts water to thicken

Combine chicken broth and water in large soup pot and add diced vegetables. Simmer until the vegetables are tender. Add 2 cans evaporated milk.

Combine 1/2 cup flour with 1 cup water in a separate bowl and mix well with a whisk until all lumps are gone. Stir in flour and water mixture into vegetable broth mixture until bubbly. You may continue to thicken as needed.

When it has thickened to your liking, cook and stir one minute more to completely cook the flour, then simmer 15-20 minutes longer.

Add 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese. Simmer until cheese melts. Makes 16 one cup servings.

You may garnish with crumbled bacon on top, and serve with peasant bread.

Chicken Taco Soup

I'm still dreaming about dinner last night. I can't wait to have the leftovers for lunch today. I've kind of been in a rut lately when it comes to planning dinner. Trying to make meals that are healthy, and not the boring same-old same-old. And this recipe was a winner. Super easy and fast, delicious flavor, and low Weight Watchers Points Plus values. I might make something different for the rest of the family for dinner tonight, just so I can keep all the leftovers of this soup for myself!

This is sometimes called Chicken Tortilla soup too.

2 Tbl. olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. oregano
4 c. chicken broth
8 oz. chopped green chiles
4 c. shredded cooked chicken
2 medium onions, diced
4 tsp. chili powder
60 oz. crushed tomatoes (I used 4-15 oz. cans)
16 oz. bag frozen corn
2 cans black beans, 15 oz. each
tortilla chips to serve

Heat oil in soup kettle. Add onions and saute until clear; add garlic and saute for one minute more.

Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips and a sprinkle of grated cheese on top.

Just the soup, without chips or cheese is 2 Weight Watchers PointsPlus per cup. And this recipe makes a huge pot -- 7 quarts, or 28-1 cup servings.

For fun, you could serve this in a tortilla bowl. You can make your own using a mold like these. (Hint: If you like the molds, it is helpful to have two or four so you can make more than one bowl at a time.) You could also cut up some tortillas into little 1/2" x 2" strips, fry them up, and use them to garnish on top of the cheese.

Zucchini Soup

This recipe is from my cousin, Laura, who confesses that her family called it slime soup when she was little. Don't let that scare you, it is really delicious, especially with some peasant bread on the side. And it's healthy too! This could also be a cute St. Patrick's day meal, and you could call it Leprechaun soup and tell your kids the leprechauns turned it green. Or add it to your zucchini recipe file for the end of the summer when anonymous neighbors leave zucchini on your porch in the middle of the night.

Zucchini Soup

1 cup chopped onions
2 Tbs butter
3 cups sliced zucchini
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 cup half -and-half cream
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, then crumbled

In a large saucepan cook onions in melted butter until tender. Add sliced zucchini and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Simmer until tender (about 15 min.) Add salt and pepper. Cool slightly. 

Pour mixture into blender and puree it. Stir in half-and-half cream. Return to saucepan and reheat, but do not boil. Garnish with grated cheese, sour cream, and bacon. Makes about 6 servings.
 

Tips: You can substitute milk for the half and half, or even leave out the dairy products and it will still taste really good. You can also add yellow squash to this.

Chicken Noodle Soup

It's cold today. Where I live, it's gonna get even colder this weekend. Go make your family some of this good warm soup. I made some of this chicken noodle soup last night with some homemade bread. I can't lie, it's incredibly satisfying to me to have my family sit down to that dinner. It just seems so wholesome and traditional and healthy.

My soup experiment: I made one batch creamy and one batch brothy.

This is easy, but I don't have exact measurements. Sorry. Add more or less of an ingredient depending on your personal taste I guess. I got the recipe from someone else, and that is how it was given to me. I put my measurements in parenthesis if that helps.

Boil chopped carrots (1o large carrots), chopped celery (about half of a large bunch), and chopped onion (1 whole onion) in a pot with just enough bouillon to cover them. (I used 5 cups of water and 10 bouillon cubes.)

Boil 1 package of Mrs. Weiss' Kluski Enriched Egg Dumpling Noodles (red and blue package) according to package directions. Drain noodles and add to vegetables.

For creamy soup: Stir in 2 cans cream of chicken soup, and milk until it is the right consistency.

For brothy soup: Omit the cream of chicken soup. Add more chicken broth to the right consistency.

Add cooked cubed chicken. (I used 2 1/2 chicken breasts because that's what I had. You could do just 2 chicken breasts.) Let it simmer together for a little while before serving, mostly to be sure the chicken is nice and tender when you serve it.

My husband liked the creamy version better. I liked them both.

Originally posted 9/24/07 with a picture that didn't do this recipe justice. I think this comes from or is close to the Lion House recipe.

Minestrone Soup

A new recipe from my Mom.

4 c. canned tomatoes
4 c. water
1 can beef consommé (Campbells Soup)
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
4 stalks diced celery
3 large diced carrots
1 tsp. basil
1 Tbl dried parsley
1 Tbl Sugar
½ tsp oregano
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Put all these ingredients in a large pot and simmer until vegetables are soft, about 45 min to 1 hour.

1 lb sweet Italian sausage
2 large onions, chopped

Brown sausage and onion together and add to pot.

1 can cut green beans
1 can red kidney beans
1 c. elbow macaroni (uncooked)
2 small zuchinni cut in half the long way and then sliced

Continue to simmer until macaroni is tender, about 15 to 20 min. Salt and pepper to taste.

I like to double the liquid because there doesn’t seem to be enough.

This soup is very low in points (1 or 2 points per cup if I remember right?).

Esau's Pottage

This recipe comes from my sister-in-law Nancy. This meal is especially great for little kids and has great flavor. My kids all scarf it - even my picky 3 year old. Nancy claims this meal is so easy you should make some homemade rolls to go with it. I agree!

Our family also loves to eat it with Cheezits on top.

2 c. lentils
8 c. water
5-6 beef or chicken bouillon cubes
3 Tbs. dried onion
4 carrots, chopped
4 potatoes, chopped
2 Tbl. bacon bits
1/2 tsp. salt
garlic powder

Mix together in crockpot. Cook on high for at least 4 hours.

Originally posted 1/29/08 without picture

Taco Soup

This is a great meal when I am pressed for time, or my husband calls on his way home from work and I realize I haven't started dinner yet. This is really easy, really fast, and very tasty. When I'm really in a hurry I will skip chopping an onion, just cook the meat and add dried onion to the soup.

1 lb. ground beef
1/3 c. taco seasoning (1 packet)
1 can chili beans
1 onion or dried minced onion
1 8 oz. can of water
1 can tomatoes
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn

Cook the ground beef and onion together, then add the remaining ingredients. Serve with sour cream, grated cheese, and olives, and corn chips.

Alternate serving suggestion: with corn bread.

Pinto Beans

A classic dinner from Kevin's family.

2 c. dry pinto beans
6 c. water
1-6 oz. can tomato sauce
2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. taco seasoning

Let beans soak overnight. Change the water. Add remainging ingredients and turn on low for all day, or on high for 4-5 hours.

Top with cheese. Serve with ketchup if desired.

Bacon Potato Cheese Soup

Cook and drain 1 pound of bacon, cut up into pieces. Place 10 pounds of peeled and cubed potatoes in a pot with a thick bottom (to keep soup from scorching). Barely cover the potatoes with water. Sprinkle 1 minced onion (may add more) over the potatoes. Add 2 Tbl. salt and as much pepper as desired. Cover and cook till tender. Do not drain.

You'll need 3 (12 ounce) cans evaporated milk and 8 Tbl. flour. Mix some of the milk and the flour to make a paste. Pour into the potatoes and stir. Add rest of milk. Turn down the heat to low. Keep stirring as it thickens. Watch to keep from scorching. Add a 2 pound block of Velveeta cheese, sliced and cubed. Stir till melts. Stir in the bacon before serving.

Be careful. This can burn easily. Watch it closely.

Potato Cheese Soup

6-8 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
Chicken boullion
1/2 - 1 lb. Velveeta, cubed
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can milk

Put potatoes in large pot with enough chicken boullion to cover the potatoes (several cups). Boil potatoes for half hour with the lid off, then remove from heat and mash the potatoes to desired consistency. I like to leave a few small lumps in there. Sprinkle Velveeta over the top and put the lid on to melt the cheese. When cheese is melted, add cream of chicken, mushroom soup, and milk and stir well.

Stir in parsley or black pepper as desired.

(I have made this without the milk and it was still good.)

Stew

This is one of my husband's favorites that he requests a lot.

2 lbs. stew meat
2 cans cream of celery
1 can cream of mushroom
1 envelope Lipton onion soup
3 soup cans water
Kitchen Bouquet (for color) - to taste

Combine ingredients, and chopped onion, potatoes, carrots, and celery to taste - as much or as little of each as you like.

I bring it to a boil on the stove top and reduce to low heat so it simmers for 3-4 hours. Stir often and scrape the bottom as it may burn.

You can add frozen petite peas just before serving. Also cooks in the oven for 3-4 hours at 325 degrees.

Hint: Kitchen Bouquet comes in a dark colored bottle with a yellow label and yellow lid. It is on the same section of the grocery store as ketchup, barbeque sauce, etc.

Edit: I recently made this in the crockpot for the first time, and it just didn't work. I will be sticking to the stovetop or oven in the future.

Tomato Macaroni Stew

My whole family loves this soup. The tomato flavor with the sweet corn is perfect on a cold winter day, and serving it with cornbread is always a hit.

Boil 2 c. of elbow macaroni in 2 qt. water for 10 minutes and strain off water. Brown 1 lb. hamburger with an onion. Combine hamburger, macaroni, 1 can of corn with juice and 2 cans of diced tomatoes in large pot. Add tomato juice (equal part tomato sauce and water) until right consistency. Mix in 1/2 tsp. salt. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with rolls or cornbread and cold milk.

Alternative: You can substitute 1 can of peas (with the juice) instead of the corn.