Potato Leek Soup

I thought all the cold weather was gone. We had a whole week of 95 degree days a couple of weeks ago and then WHAM - back to 50 and 60's and rain! Rain, Rain and more Rain. Just when I thought it was safe to pack up my soup recipes - Wham - I want to bring them out again.

This past weekend - I knew just what soup I wanted! Potato Leek Soup always hits the spot in our house.

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 Leeks, Washed and chopped
1 large sweet onion, chopped
4 cups vegetable broth
2 small, all-purpose potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 cups milk, I used 1 percent
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Dash of curry powder, optional

In a large nonstick saucepan or Dutch oven, melt the butter. Add the leeks and onion. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes.

Add the broth and potatoes, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered until the potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.

Stir in the milk, pepper and curry powder. Heat to desired temperature.

Put in blender or blend with hand held blender in pot.

Enjoy on your next rainy day--- don't forget to top with cheese or popcorn!

White Chicken Chili!

Did you read Wednesday's post? This was the recipe I talked about. My family loved it and I hope you will too!

White Chicken Chili
1 lb. chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 onion chopped
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tablespoon oil
2 (15oz) cans Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14 oz ) can chicken broth
1 (14oz) can chopped green chilies
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whipping cream

Saute chicken, onion, and garlic powder in oil. Add beans, broth, chilies and seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in sour cream and whipping cream. Reheat on low if necessary. Serve immediately!

Enjoy!

Mema's Potato Cheese Soup!

My sweet little friend Cary gave me a recipe book for a hostess gift at my Christmas Cookie Exchange and I have been loving it! It is the Kitchen Cornerstone by Purcellville Baptist Church and every recipe I have made is wonderful! This recipe for Mema's Potato Cheese Soup was sent in by Jane and it is no exception!

Mema's Potato Cheese Soup
4 potatoes, cubed
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup butter
4 cups water
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese
4 oz Velveeta cheese
1 cup diced ham (optional)
2 cups heavy cream

Saute onions and garlic in butter; add water and potatoes; cook until tender, mash potatoes with masher or hand held blender, but leave slightly chunky. Turn heat down very low; add ham, sharp cheese and Velveeta cheese. Cover and cook until cheese is melted. When it is good and hot - do not boil- add cream and stir thoroughly. DO NOT BOIL as it can cause curdling of cheeses and milk. Garnish with cheddar cheese. Excellent served with rolls. My kids love popcorn on top - sort of like croutons - but more fun!



One of my girl's teachers at school was going in for surgery and they asked the parents if they could make some meals, freeze them, and bring them in for her to take home to eat during her recovery. This soup was the perfect recipe. I also made some chili mac and a great recipe for White Chicken Chili - which I will post on Friday!



I like to put all the soup in the same containers. Put in fridge to cool - then move to freezer. I unscrew top - but leave sitting on top while it becomes frozen. This will stop the container from breaking. Once frozen screw on top and attach recipe. I like to put the recipe in a ziplock bag (Pictured below) and attach it to each container with a rubber band (Shown above). If a person likes the dish - they can duplicate it!



Giving Warms the Heart! What dishes do you make to give away?

Midwest Chowder - A Real Man's Soup!

The big red cups are out again. Yup, another soup night but when it is cold you can't have too much soup. The recipe is Midwest Chowder.
Did I tell you that much of my life I spent in the Midwest? I was born in
Minnesota where my father worked and because we followed his paycheck we spent time in Omaha and Kansas City as well as Minnesota. When the wind comes whipping across the plains you do need a good soup recipe and this one was published years ago in "Country Woman Magazine".

MIDWEST CHOWDER - Serves 8

2 cups diced potatoes
1/2 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup sliced celery
1/4 cup diced onions
1 tsp. salt
2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
Black pepper to taste
2 cups milk
10 ounces cheddar cheese
2 cups corn

Cook potatoes, carrots, celery and onions in boiling water for 10 minutes. While vegetables cook, melt butter, stir in flour and pepper and cook for one minute. Gradually stir in milk; cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Add cheese, stirring until melted. Stir in corn. Heat through but do not boil. Add vegetables and liquid.

Although my dad likes this soup he loves this soup after he splashes in some Louisiana Hot Sauce. He loves everything just a wee bit hot. Good you're a wee bit "hot" mom!

Bobi's Bites: Sausage and Sauerkraut Soup

I finished my chemo treatments this past June and feel great but am suffering from "Chemo Brain". This "Fog" has turned me into one of those people I really don't like. You know the type - you ask them a question and they say they'll have to check and get back to you - and they never do. I am now THAT friend. I hate it! I can't remember dates, times and many faces...but funny thing - when my mom sent me this blog I instantly remembered a poem I learned in 1st grade!
It was found in Father Fox's Pennyrhymes and it went....

The sky is dark, there blows a storm
Our cider is hot, the fire is warm
The snow is deep and the night is long:
Old Father Fox, will you sing us a song?

Mister Lister sassed his sister
Married his wife 'cause he couldn't resist her,
Three plus four times two he kissed her;
How many times is that , dear sister?

Knickerbocker Knockabout
Sausages and Sauerkraut
Run! Run! Run! The hogs are out!
Knickerbocker Knockabout.

I can't remember one of my best friends birthdays - but I can recite a poem I learned in 1st grade about Sausages and Sauerkraut.....that's just the kind of friend I am now!



Although I did not have this soup when I was a child it brings back childhood memories of that book I loved.

The recipe is one my mother received from our mutual friend Sally Issac who now resides in cold Minnesota. We have been loving it for years.

Sauerkraut & Sausage Soup

4 strips bacon, diced
1 medium onion diced
1 large clove garlic chopped
2 pounds polish kiebasa cut into chunks or circles
8 oz. package of sliced mushrooms
6 cups chicken stock or broth
1 bay leaf
3 medium carrots cut into penny shapes
2 ribs of celery sliced diagonally
4 new potatoes, quartered
1 pound sauerkraut, rinsed, and well drained
pepper to taste

Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until half done, about five minutes. Add onion, garlic and mushrooms. Cook until onions are softened, about five minutes, stirring occasionally. Increase heat to high. Add sausage and cook until lightly browned, about ten minutes stirring often.

Drain off fat from skillet. Add the contents of the skillet to broth along with the vegetables and sauerkraut. Cook partially covered in a large pot until vegetables are just tender. Add pepper to taste.

To thicken this soup I use one can of Campbell's potato soup and one can of Reed's German potato salad.

One wonderful piece of your favorite bread or crackers of your choice and your meal is complete.

Now go knock yourself out with some Sauerkraut Mr. Lister!

Cheese and Broccoli Soup

There is nothing better than a hot cup of soup on a cold day - and nothing brings back better memories than my mom making this soup on those cold winter days when I was growing up in Kansas City. I remember sledding all day and then coming in and making a fort under the kitchen desk. The desk just happened to have the hot air duct under it - and I would not come out until I was sweating! Ah - those were the days - when someone you loved CALLED you FOR dinner. Now I just get HOLLERED at TO MAKE dinner! ahhhh those were the days.
I made this soup for my "Healthy Hero" friend Cindy and she loved it. She has been asking for the recipe ever since but I hate to give it to her. She thinks it is full of this....



Broccoli - which it is. She has no idea it is also full of this....



a pound of Velveeta. Ahhhhh shelf stable cheese - I LOVE IT! Once she sees this recipe, I doubt she will make it, but it was fun watching her enjoy it while she was here. I bet you'll love this too! Go build a fort near the hot air duct and have a cup - no one is watching!

Cheese and Broccoli Soup

2 Tablespoons Butter
3 Tablespoons flour
3/4 cup minced onions
4 cups water
6 chicken bouillon cubes
8 oz fine noodles
1 tsp. salt
2 (10 oz) frozen broccoli (or substitute fresh)
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
4 cups milk
1 lb. Velveeta
pepper to taste

Saute onions in butter over low heat in heavy sauce pan. Add 3 Tablespoons of flour until smooth. Add water and bouillon cubes. Heat to boil. Gradually add noodles and salt. Cook uncovered for 3 minutes. Add garlic and broccoli and cook 1 minute. Add milk, cheese and pepper. May freeze.

Denise's Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is my sweet, sweet friend Denise! We have known each other for 8 years now-and our friendship just keeps getting better. This picture cracks me up. It was taken this past year when we went down to the National Mall and did the "Walk for the Cure". We had just run into "Carlos" from Desperate Housewives in a store downtown. Denise - my crazy, always up for anything friend wanted to get our picture with him. She had remembered that he had lost his mother to breast cancer and wanted to use me (her breast cancer friend) as a decoy to get a picture with him! I love her - and on any given day I probably would have been up for it - but I was literally having a panic attack on the spot. My inside voice kept saying, "Your hair looks like a guy, you're 20 pounds over weight, and you would look like an idiot in the picture anyway - so what is the point of taking a picture you wouldn't show any one anyway!" I HATE that little voice. I have since stopped listening to it. Needless to say - today I wish I had thrown myself into "Carlos' " arms and told Denise, "Take a picture". Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda's!! Doesn't she have cheek bones to die for? By the way, she is an AMAZING tennis player and just went to the national level with her Ashburn tennis team.



Denise's Chicken Tortilla Soup
2-3 Chicken Breast Cubed (you can use raw or pre-cooked chicken)



2 Cans of Cream of Chicken Soup whisked with 2 cans of water
2 celery stalks chopped
1 onion chopped
1/4 cup of Fresh Cilantro chopped (I do this in the food processor with the onion)
1 Red Bell Pepper finely chopped
16 oz of Corn
1/2 cup of Cheddar Cheese or Mexican Cheese mix
Tabasco to taste (you may want to add that to only your own portion since it can be too spicy for kids)



4 to 6 hours in Crock Pot (my kids have fun topping the soup) with the following that make the soup a success:

Favorite Tortilla Chips broken
Dollop of Sour Cream
Fresh Salsa (Giant has the best)
Shredded Cheese
Guacamole (if you like)
Tabasco


I love this soup. Denise brought it to me the day after my surgery and I have been hooked ever since. Hope you enjoy it too!

WW Black Bean Soup

With Fall at our doorstep I knew it was time to break out this favorite Weight Watcher recipe. I pair this with the Pan Bagnat recipe I made last week. It makes the perfect lunch with girlfriends!

This recipe was adapted from the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook - Black Bean Soup (page 74)

Makes 4 servings

Black Bean Soup
2 teaspoon olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded, deveined and chopped (wear gloves to prevent irritation) I substitute 2 oz chopped green chillies in a can for a little less heat
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 Tablespoons dry sherry
1 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
1 small onion or 2 scallions, minced

1. In a medium nonstick saucepan, heat the oil. Saute the chopped onions, jalapenos and garlic until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the beans, broth, cumin, coriander and 1 cup water; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the flavors are blended, about 45 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in the sherry, lime juice and salt. Cool slightly.
2. Transfer the soup to a food processor or blender; puree. Pour back into the saucepan and heat to serving temperature. Serve, topped with the minced onion and cilantro.

Per serving: 207 Calories, 4 g Total Fat, 1 g Saturated Fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 292 mg Sodium, 31 g Total Carbohydrate, 7g Dietary Fiber, 11g Protein, 78 mg Calcium.

Points:4 per serving.

Tomato Frank Soup

I always think of soup as a winter dinner - but one day when it was so hot and I didn't want to turn on the oven - my oldest asked if she could make soup. Why not I thought? I quickly got my grandpa Kortright's recipe for Tomato Frank Soup and let her run with it.

1 cup chopped onion
8 oz frankfurters, sliced (4 or 5 - I always end up using the whole package - about 8)
3 Tablespoons butter
1 can condensed tomato soup
1 can condensed bean with bacon soup
1 1/2 soup cans water (2 cups)
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. oregano

In a saucepan cook onion, franks, and butter until onions are tender. Stir in remainder of ingredients. Cover and simmer five minutes.



It made a lovely summer dinner! Try it!



P.S. Make a big batch for dinner and send it to school with the kids the next day!