Broccoli Cheese Soup

My family loves soup and one of our favorites is Broccoli Cheddar. I have seen several recipes on the food network and on pinterest. After reading many and trying some I came up with a nice version that my family just loved. It is perfect for a cold winter day like today. 

This soup is not a low calorie soup but I saw it done with half and half and I was able to make it with whole milk which made it less fattening but still creamy. Let me know what you think. 

Ingredients

5 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup flour

1/2 of a medium onion chopped

1 1/2 cup broccoli floretts 

3/4 cup shredded carrots

3 cups chicken stock

2 cups whole milk

6 oz shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 tsp nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a large pot add 1 tablespoon of butter and chopped onion. Cook about 1 min until onion softened. Add 4 tablespoon butter and once melted add flour. whisk and cook about 1-2 minutes until creamy and bubbling. Slowly add 2 cups chicken broth while whisking and then add milk. Simmer for about 10-20 minutes until nice and creamy. 

Add bite size broccoli florets and carrots along with one more cup of Chicken broth. Cook on low for about 20 minutes. Add nutmeg and cheese. cook until cheese has melted. Add salt and pepper to taste. I emulsify one small section to cream just a bit of the broccoli but that's eat because my kids love the broccoli the most. 

This serves 4 but you can double it so you can have leftovers. 

Pasta E. Fagioli (Olive Garden Copy Cat)

One of the reasons I love having a facebook page is that friends share their wonderful recipes. I posted a question about favorite soups and a friend recommended this recipe. I had to change it a bit because my crock pot was not big enough to double just about everything. I wish it was because then we could have some for dinner and freeze some for a later day. She also added Tabasco sauce. I would normally add that but my son sometimes has a hard time with tomato base soup and the added extra spice would make it even more difficult for his tummy. I am not used to making soup with pasta and 8 oz seemed like so little so I made 16 oz and added as much as I thought made sense. I regretted that because the pasta soaks up a lot of broth and I had to add more broth later.

This soup reminded me of a cross between lasagna, chili, and minestrone. We all loved it and had seconds except Brody. He doesn't really like chili or lasagna so it made sense he didn't like this soup. I loved it and am looking forward to making it again.

The next time I make it, I may change adding the pasta. I may only add it to each bowl. It might be better when reheating. Try it and let me know what you think.

Ingredients

1lb Ground Beef. 

1/2 onion chopped

2 carrots chopped

2 celery stalks chopped

1 can diced tomato 

1 can red kidney beans rinsed

1 can northern beans rinsed

4 cups beef stock or broth

1 (25 oz) jar Prego spaghetti sauce (I used tomato garlic)

2 teaspoon dried Oregano

salt and pepper to taste

8 oz ditalini pasta

Parmesan cheese for topping 

Directions

In a large skillet brown ground beef. Add it and all ingredients except pasta to the crock pot. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or low for 4-5 hours. The last hour of cooking you should boil pasta and under cook slightly. Drain and add during the last half hour. 

Crockpot Chili

My sister Brandi has been telling me about this chili recipe for quite some time. Her and my other sister Lindsy make it all the time and said my dad loves it. Well its safe to say my dad is a bit picky so I had to try it for that reason and because it just seemed so darn easy. I am always looking for a good crock pot recipe because with two kids it can be very hard to make dinner every night.

Well we all loved it and am looking forward to making it again. Maybe next time I will add two cans of everything like she recommended so I can freeze some for a later date. Try it and let me know what you think.


Ingredients

1 CAN OF TOMATO SAUCE
1 CAN OF PETITE CHOPPED TOMATOES
1 SMALL CAN OF CHOPPED CHILI PEPPERS
1 CAN OF CHILI BEANS (sometimes 2 cans) 
1 CAN OF PORK AND BEANS
1/2 ONION - diced
1 LB OF GROUND TURKEY
1 PACKET OF CHILI SEASONING

Directions

Add all the cans with juices to the cold crock pot and then turn on. Then I chop the onion and throw it into a hot pan with a little oil til they are soft and then brown the turkey until no longer pink. Then I add the chili seasoning to the turkey/onion mixture and then pour all of it into the, hopefully hot, crock pot. Cook on low all day or high for 4-6 hours. 

Easy Homemade Chicken Soup

I have bought chicken soup at Whole foods for years and paid a pretty penny every time. I went there a few days ago and they didn't have there soup out just yet. I decided I could make my own and save my self a ton of money. I was worried it would be too bland and it would have to cook all day. Well I was wrong it only took 30 minutes an it was very tasty. Next I'm going to attempt to make my own stock. As a kid I loved Lipton's chicken noddle soup so I added cut up pieces of thin vermicelli. Try this and let me know what you think. 

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

20 baby carrots cut up into bite size slices

1 large cooked chicken breast cut up 

1 onion diced

2 cloves garlic minced

5 sprigs of thyme

2 1/2 quarts chicken stock

1 1/2 cups cut up vermicelli

salt and pepper

Directions

In a large stock pot add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add garlic and carrots and cook 6 minutes.

Add Chicken and Stock and thyme and simmer. In another pot boil water and cook any noodle you desire. I add thin vermicelli because I don't like my noodles to thick. Just under cook the noodles because they will cook more in the soup. Simmer until carrots are just tender and then serve. taste and then add salt and pepper if needed. 

I didn't add celery for two reasons. One because my kids don't like it and then I have to fish there's out but also I didn't have any. You can add any thing you like to this soup.