Cream of Broccoli Soup

Cream of Broccoli Soup


4 c. chicken or vegetable broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 c. fresh broccoli (or 1 bag of frozen broccoli)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 med onion; chopped
1/4 c. flour
2 c. milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Mix broth and soup in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Add broccoli and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes or until broccoli is tender.

Meanwhile, heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat; add onion. Saute until tender. Add flour. Cook, stirring, 1 minute longer. Gradually stir milk into skillet. Cook, stirring continually, until thickened. Add salt and pepper; mix well.

Stir milk mixture into broccoli mixture. Simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. Ladle soup into a serving bowl. Top with cheddar cheese.

* To make a more hearty soup, first peel and dice 3-4 potatoes. Cook in a separate pan until soft while preparing the rest of the soup. Add when combining milk and broccoli mixtures.

** Can also add precooked and shredded chicken, or 1 can of precooked chicken.

Beef & Rice Soup

Beef & Rice Soup

Large pan of water

1 -  1 ½ lb beef stew meat

8 oz bag of snow peas

3-4 carrots (peeled and sliced)

1 medium white onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup rice

1 tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

Bring water to boil, place all ingredients in pan. Simmer until meat is cooked through and carrots are tender.

Creamy Veggie Soup

Creamy Veggie Soup

4 c. chicken or vegetable broth

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 cup water

1 – 1 ½ lbs. carrots (peeled and sliced into rounds)

1 – 8 oz. bag snow peas (chopped into thirds)

1 cup cooked shredded chicken

1 large white onion (diced)

2 cloves garlic (minced)

2 TBSP olive oil

¼ cup flour

2 cups milk

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

Mix broth, soup, and water in a large saucepan.  Bring to boil over medium high heat. Add carrots and return to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until carrots are almost tender. Add snow peas and chicken just before carrots are tender.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Sauté until tender, 5-10 min.  Add flour.  Cook, stirring, 1 min longer. Gradually stir milk into skillet. Cook, stirring continually, until thickened. Add salt and pepper; mix well.

Stir milk mixture into carrot mixture. Simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes. Ladle soup into a serving bowl.

Loaded Potato Soup

Y.U.M.

If the first photo didn't convince you, maybe this one WILL! :)

Ingredients

4 (6-ounce) red potatoes

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 cup pre-chopped onion

1 1/4 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups 1% low-fat milk, divided

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 bacon slices, halved

1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese

4 teaspoons thinly sliced green onions

Directions

1.Peel and slice potatoes in large chunks. Boil them in water until tender, then drain. OR Pierce potatoes with a fork. Microwave on HIGH 13 minutes or until tender. Cut in half; cool slightly, then discard skins.

2. While potatoes cook, heat oil in a separate saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add broth. Combine flour and 1/2 cup milk; add to pan. Stir often. Slowly add 1 1/2 cups milk. Bring to a boil; stir often. Cook 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in sour cream, salt, and pepper.

3. Arrange bacon on a paper towel on a microwave-safe plate. Cover with a paper towel; microwave on HIGH for 4 minutes. Crumble bacon. (Or use precooked bacon and heat in microwave)

4. Coarsely mash potatoes into soup. Top with cheese, green onions, and bacon. (Or mix bacon into soup, like I did. :) )

The only problem with this is it is a smallish batch and our family ate it all in one meal, no leftovers. So I'll probably try doubling it next time. :)

Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden)

This is what I always choose to eat when we go to Olive Garden, so I decided I should find the recipe and make it myself.
I really like how it turned out. The whole family loves it!

1 lb Jimmy Dean's Italian Sausage
2 medium potatoes, cut in half lengthwise, and then cut into 1/4" slices
3/4 cup onions, diced
6 slices bacon
1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups kale leaves, cut in half, then sliced
2 tablespoons chicken base
1 quart water
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Brown sausage in nonstick skillet on stove-top.

Place onions and bacon in a large saucepan and cook over medium heat until onions are almost clear. 

Remove bacon and crumble. 

Add garlic to the onions and cook an additional 1-minute. 

Add chicken base, water, and potatoes, simmer 15 minutes. 

Add crumbled bacon, sausage, kale and cream. Simmer 4 minutes and serve. 

Broccoli Cheese and Potato Soup

·                     1 small onion, chopped

·                     1 carrot, chopped

·                     1 celery stalk, chopped

·                     2 cloves garlic, minced

·                     1 tbsp butter

·                     2 tbsp flour

·                     2 1/2 cups fat free chicken broth (or vegetable broth)

·                     1 cup fat free milk

·                     2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced small

·                     salt and fresh pepper

·                     4 cups (about 2 heads) broccoli florets, chopped into small pieces

·                     1-1/2 cups 2% shredded sharp cheddar

·                     2 slices 2% American cheese

·                     1 tbsp parmesan cheese

Chop onion, carrot, celery, garlic in a chopper or mini food processor.

In a large soup pot, melt butter.  Add chopped vegetables and sauté on low heat until soft, about 5 minutes.

Add flour, salt and pepper to the pot and stir until smooth.

Add chicken broth, milk and potatoes and set heat to high until it comes to a boil, then cover and cook on low until potatoes are soft, about 10-15 minutes.

Add broccoli florets, parmesan cheese, and stir well. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Cook uncovered until broccoli is cooked, about 5 minutes. Add cheddar and American cheese, stir well and remove from heat.

Using an immersion blender, quickly blend part of the soup for a quick second or two. If you don't have an immersion blender, remove about 1-2 cups of potatoes and broccoli, place it in your chopper, then add it back to the soup. This helps thicken it a bit.
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Found this at http://www.skinnytaste.com/

Cucumber Soup

 

Suprisingly to me, this was actually pretty tasty!  My friends and family who tasted it also loved it! 

This was my first time making a cold soup and would be great for summer!

Cucumber Soup

Ingredients:

3 medium cucumbers
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups sour cream
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1 clove garlic, minced

Toppings:

2 medium tomatoes, chopped
3/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

Directions:

Peel cucumbers; halve lengthwise and remove seeds. Cut into chunks. In a blender, cover and puree cucumbers and broth in small batches. Transfer to a large bowl; stir in the sour cream, vinegar, salt if desired and garlic until well blended. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Stir before serving. Garnish with tomatoes, almonds, onions and parsley.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cucumber-Soup/Detail.aspx

Senate Bean Soup

I altered this recipe that I found to fit with the way that I cook. (I didn't want to use dry beans and ham with the bone in.) The recipe below is listed the way I made it and turned out really yummy!

Ingredients

4 small/medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 tsp. kosher salt

2 cans great northern beans

1/2 pound ham (diced)

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 large onion, diced

2 stalk celery, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Freshly ground pepper

Directions

Bring water (maybe 10 cups? I just guessed here) salt, and potatoes to a boil in a large pan over medium-high heat, then add beans, ham and milk and reduce the heat and simmer until the potato is fork-tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, garlic and parsley and cook until the vegetables are translucent, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the vegetable mixture to the soup, reduce the heat to low and cook, adding up to 2 more cups water if the soup is too thick. Season with salt and pepper.

Sausage Tortellini Soup

I don't have photos of this soup, but we loved it. I didn't have all the igredients when I made it, and managed to botch the right amounts on 2 of the ingredients. Thank goodness for forgiving recipes. If you're in the mood to try something new, I recommend this one.

Okay, I just tried copy/paste and it didn't work. It is the Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup from www.allrecipes.com. I hope you try this recipe while the weather still makes you want soup!

Amazing Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is one of my favorite meals. So good! And though you need more than 20 minutes to make it, it's quite simple (just 15 min. prep, then 45 mins. to simmer) and gluten free. It makes about 10 servings (I always make the full batch because we eat a ton, plus it's a good leftover).

Amazing Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 medium jalapeno pepper, chopped (I leave this out)
  
• 1/2 medium green pepper
• 4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I never have this and always forget to buy it, so I leave it out)
  
• 4 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 2 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
• 2 (8 ounce) cans tomato sauce

Toppings (optional)

• 1 cup gluten free tortilla chips
• sour cream
• shredded cheddar cheese
  

Directions

1. Sauté onion, garlic, jalapeño and green pepper with olive oil in a large pot until soft.
2. Add all the rest of the ingredients to the large pot and bring to a boil.
3. After about 15 minutes, remove the chicken breasts and shred. (Two forks work well to pull the chicken apart!). (I do more of a cut/shred with my chicken depending on my mood)
   
4. Return shredded chicken to the pot and simmer an additional 45 minutes.
5. Serve, topped with crushed chips, sour cream, and cheese if wanted.

I got this recipe from Recipezaar here (and if you don't believe me that it's amazing check out the reviews).

I like mine with all the delicious toppings. This is so good!!!

TIPS to make prep time even faster:

• Anytime I have leftover chopped onions or green peppers I put them in a baggie and freeze them. If you've done this then when you're making this meal you can skip the chopping part and just throw the frozen vegies right in to sauté. (This meal calls for 1/2 a green pepper. Cut up the other half too and freeze it.)
• Buy a container of garlic and it cuts out having to mince the garlic.

Chicken Noodle Soup

So with cooler weather coming along, I have been into making soups and yummy autumn foods. I don't have exact measurements for this soup, but I have a general list and hope you like to experiment! :)

.

This makes a lot. (Define that how you will. :))

.

Water

6-8 red potatoes (scrubbed and cut in large chunk)

2-3 carrots (peeled and cut into 2" sticks)

2 celery stalks (washed and cut in large chunks)

1/2 medium onion (cut in medium chunks)

1/2 pckg uncooked pasta (8 oz., I used Rotini)

2 cans chicken breast (10 oz. ea, sooo much easier!)

salt/pepper to taste

.

Add all vegetables and chicken in large pan of water (make sure you have plenty of water, since you will be cooking your pasta in it too.) Bring to a boil. Turn temp down to medium and add pasta, salt, and pepper. Cook for 20-30 min until tender. Really yummy! (I bet it may be good to add a chicken bullion cube or some chicken broth, I just didn't have any on hand.)

Vegetable Chunk Soup

Ok, so I don't have specific measurements for most of the items in this soup, but I will give you the general idea and you can experiment.

.
Water
1 can beef broth (optional)
8-10 red potatoes (scrubbed and quartered)
3-4 carrots (peeled and sliced into thick rounds)
2-3 celery stalks (washed and sliced into chunks)
1/2 large onion (large dice)
ham (cut into medium sized chunks)
-I buy cooked/frozen spiral cut ham, reheat it, put the glaze on it, and then refreeze it in smaller freezer baggies to use in different meals.
salt/pepper to taste

.
I pretty much add all of the above listed ingredients into a large pot of water, bring to a boil, then turn down to medium and let it cook for 20-30 min until tender. It doesn't take a lot of time because I kept everything in large chunks and threw them in. It turned out great!