Ham Bone Soup

 I've never been a fan of split pea soup so what else do you do with a ham bone?  I searched and found this https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/ham-bone-soup/

Just a couple of tweaks.  One difference is that I cooked on low for like 10-12 hours but I'm sharing on my blog because my nephew and a couple of others have asked for the recipe and I can never remember what blog I found it on.

And, she does mention it but something I learned from another recipe where the beans would NOT soften is you REALLY need to make sure NOT to add tomatoes until the beans are cooked.

This soup freezes well and has a nice rich flavor.  Everyone who I've shared it with, loved it.

What you'll need:

1 onion peeled and chopped (I used a purple onion)

3 carrots washed, quartered and sliced (I leave the peel on for extra nutrients)

1 ham bone

20 oz bag of dried bean soup mix.  I honestly think it was called multibean soup or something like that.

8 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 t dried thyme

1 T minced garlic

3 cups of diced ham, my ham bone had meat on it too so I think I only added a cup?

15 oz can petite diced tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

Rinse beans thoroughly and set aside seasoning packet for later.  I didn't get a seasoning pack the last time I made it and it was fine.

Place everything except diced ham, tomatoes and seasoning packet in crockpot.  Cook on low for 8-12 hours.  

Remove ham bone from the slow cooker.  Chop up any ham that is falling off the bone, stir in diced ham, tomatoes, seasoning packet, salt and pepper.  

Cover and cook for an additional 20 minutes to heat through.

Fridge Cleaning Soup

 

I had a bunch of random things in the fridge and decided to use all of them to make a soup.  The result, pretty darn yummy!

You can mix it up depending on what you have in the fridge.  Be adventurous, that's the beauty of fridge cleaning soup.  Keep throwing stuff in until you get a flavor you like.  If you want to make this exact soup, here's what you'll need:

8 C Chicken Broth (or 8 cups water, 8 bouillon cubes)
1 can V8
1 can diced Tomatoes with chili's
1/2 diced Onion
Handful of chopped carrots
2 stalks celery diced
Bring to a boil.  Turn heat down and add:
2 C chopped chicken (leftover crockpot chicken or rotisserie or pan fried or whatever)
1 C cooked Wild Rice
1 C cooked Lentils
1 C Frozen Corn
1 lb Bok Choy washed and chopped
Couple handfuls of Spinach chopped

Let the flavors blend about 10-15 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve.  This one would be super easy to make vegetarian.  Just use vegetable broth and leave the chicken out.

Vegi Wild Rice Soup

I've made this before with Chicken but thought I'd get crazy and go Vegi on you.    You can also use any kind of vegetables you want, this is what I had and it worked for me. 

Here's what you're gonna need:

6 C Vegi Broth
1 can Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic
1/2 C Carrots minced
2 stalks Celery minced
1/2 t Cayenne
few cranks of the pepper mill
1 T Garlic Pepper ~ if you don't have this, just use Garlic Powder
1  Can of your favorite Beans ~ I'd go Great Northern
1/2 Red Pepper chopped
1/2 Green Pepper chopped
3 cloves Garlic minced
1/2 medium Onion chopped
1/2 Zucchini chopped ~ or use whole and skip yellow squash
1/2 Yellow Squash chopped
1/4 lb of fresh Green Beans snapped into bite size pieces
Handful of Asparagus, snap off the tops and use those only. Use the stalks for a stir fry
1-2 t Olive Oil
1/2 to 1 t Red Pepper Flakes
2 - 2 1/2 C cooked Wild Rice or Brown Rice would work too.
Couple handfuls of fresh spinach and/or Kale chopped

And, this is how you'll use it all

6 C Vegi Broth
1 can Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic
1/2 C Carrots minced
2 stalks Celery minced
1/2 t Cayenne
few cranks of the pepper mill
1 T Garlic Pepper ~ if you don't have this, just use Garlic Powder
1 Can Beans

Get this all on the stove and simmer at a medium heat for about 30 minutes.

Now
1/2 Zucchini chopped
1/2 Yellow Squash chopped
1/2 Red Pepper chopped
1/2 Green Pepper chopped
3 cloves Garlic minced
1/2 medium Onion chopped
1/4 lb of fresh Green Beans snapped into bite size pieces
Handful of Asparagus, snap off the tops and use those only. Use the stalks for a stir fry
Toss with a slight drizzle of Olive Oil, maybe a couple teaspoons. Throw into cake pan, sprinkle with 1/2 to 1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes and roast for 10-12 minutes at 450.

Dump into soup pot.

Add 2-2 1/2 C cooked Wild Rice or Brown Rice would work too.

Cook for another 10 minutes just to blend the flavors. Add a couple handfuls of chopped fresh spinach and/or Kale, give it a stir and serve.
Makes 6 bowls.

Spicy Carnitas Soup

So you make a porketta roast for dinner.  Porketta reminds me of my childhood.  It's an EASY crockpot dinner, throw in a crockpot on low for 6-8 hours (3 lb roast) with 1/2 C of water, it's done when a fork inserted easily breaks the meat apart. 

Sliced up or shredded and eaten on a yummy hard roll.  Accept that your children eat about 2 bites and decide it's too spicy.  What do you do after being irritated?

I make soup and call it what it reminds me of...carnitas, since a lot of people haven't heard of porketta.  The chopping helps with the irritation too;)  The result...YUMMY. 

Here's what you'll need or rather what I had in the house and used to make this soup:

2 lbs shredded, cooked Porketta ~ If you have the juice from making the roast add that too
6 C Beef Broth
6 C Chicken Broth
2 Carrots diced
3 cloves Garlic minced
1 small Onion minced
1 can Diced Tomatoes with green Chilis
1 can Pinto Beans rinsed ~ or Black Beans rinsed
2 Potatoes diced ~ or 1 C Minute Rice (I chose potato this time around)
1 C frozen Corn
Handful of fresh Cilantro chopped

Heat pork, broth, carrots, garlic, onion and tomatoes until boiling.  Boil for 10 minutes or until carrots are soft.  Add beans, corn and pototoes or rice.  Cook until potato or rice is soft (about 6-10 minutes)  Turn off heat, add chopped cilantro.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

 

Beef Barley Soup

The temps dropped this weekend and it rained off an on and it was time to make some soup.  I've made beef barley before but this one a touch different.  That's the beauty of making soup, you can make it different but similar and the result is always YUMMY.

I had some leftover Crockpot Beef in the freezer and decided to go from there. I would also like to note that I don't have the right amount left over from one crock pot of beef. I keep a container in the freezer and add to it. When the container gets full, I make soup! The crockpot beef gives it a little extra flavor because it has the sauce/gravy with it.

Here's what you'll need to get the party started:

4 C of Crockpot Beef
7 C Beef Broth ~ I use 7 cups water and 7 beef bouillon cubes
1 Soup Bone ~ this is just a bonus.  I happen to be at the butcher and grabbed one.  It just gives your soup a little more depth but completely not necessary.
1 small Onion chopped
2 Carrots chopped
1 can Petite Diced Tomatoes
4 cloves Garlic chopped
2 Potatoes chopped
3 Cloves of Garlic minced
1 T Italian Seasoning
2 t Basil and Oregano
3/4 C Frozen Corn
2 C Fresh Green Beans
1 C Barley ~ I used quick cook

Put beef, broth, soup bone, chopped garlic, carrots, onion, tomatoes, spices and bring to a boil. Add leftover beef and reduce to a simmer.  Simmer for an hour.  Add Barley, potatoes, green beans and corn. Cover and cook 10 minutes. Dinner is served! Or you can put in a crockpot, put in the fridge and reheat for tomorrow, takes about 4-6 hours to get to proper temp on low.

Chop your potato

My Grandma didn't make soup but I've heard from a few people that it tastes like the one their Grandma did:) Enjoy!

 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I have some recipes for chicken tortilla soup but didn't feel like searching.  Some day I will take a photo of my "to make" pile of recipes that I have printed off over the years and share with you, it's scary. 

OR maybe next year that's all I will make?  Hmmmm, something to think about. 

I also broke that avocado rule again and made it hot.  But, the chicken tortilla soup I have had, has had avocado served on top so how was it really different?  I didn't see how it was, so I dropped it in at the very end and gasp, I reheated it for my lunch and it was fine.  No, it was good.

Anyhooooooo, I kind of threw this together with leftover crockpot chicken and I liked the finished product.  I would NOT however put this in the freezer because of the avocado.  And, I took this photo before I added the shredded pepper jack cheese and tortilla chips which of course made it even more YUMMY! 

 

 

So, what you're going to need:

 

10 C Chicken Broth or 10 C water and 10 bouillon cubes

2 C shredded Salsa Chicken or crockpot chicken or rotisserie chicken

1 Can Fire Roasted Tomatoes

1 Jalapeno minced without seeds ~ mine was about the size of my pinky

3 cloves Garlic minced

1 Can Pinto Beans

1 C Frozen Corn

1/2 C Refried beans ~ optional

1/2 t Cumin

Juice of 2 limes

1 bunch Cilantro minced

2 Avocados chopped

 

Put broth, chicken, tomatoes, jalapeno, garlic, pinto beans and corn in a soup pot and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, whisk in refried beans.  This will thicken soup just a bit and give it good flavor.  Sprinkle in cumin.  Add lime juice, cilantro and avocados.  Stir and turn off heat.  Break up some tortilla chips in the bottom of the bowl, ladle on soup and top with a pinch of pepper jack cheese, you could also add your chips now instead of pre-ladle too. 

 

This would also be pretty easy to make vegetarian.  Simply add another can of beans instead of chicken and use vegetable broth.  Enjoy.



Ham Bone Soup

What are you going to do with the ham bone from dinner?!  I don't like peas so that means that I REALLY don't like split pea soup, a common soup to make with your ham bone.  Or we have just plain old bean soup, another one that's not my favorite.  So, I made this soup a couple of years ago and a few times since.  The original had dry black beans in case you want to go that route.   It's a yummy soup and it freezes well. 

What you'll need:

6 quart slow cooker

3 Cans Black Beans rinsed
6 C water
Ham bone ~ my ham was a 7 lb ham and there was still quite a bit of meat on it
1 Red Bell Pepper~chopped
1 Green Bell Pepper~chopped
1 Jalapeno Pepper~minced..I left in half the seeds for heat
1 Anaheim Pepper~minced ~ I left in all the seeds
2 Chipolte Peppers~minced I bought a can and used 2
1 Red Onion~chopped
2 cans Diced Tomatoes with Green Chilis
2 C Salsa ~ I used Medium
1 t Chili Powder
6 cloves Garlic~minced
1 t Kosher Salt
1/4 t Pepper

Place the ham bone in the crockpot. Add the beans and everything else on top except salt and pepper. Cover with water and cook on low for 10-12 hours.

Remove the ham bone, shred the ham that fell off the bone, nothing was left on my ham bone after that long.

I also want to explain the difference between chop and mince. Chop means a small size that you can bite, mince means small enough that you can barely detect it. When recipes call for mince, I use my mini food processor and give it a whirl.
Ham Bone
Chopped green and red
Anaheim pepper is the larger of the two
Can of Chipotle Peppers I bought
Ready to crock

Yum!

Chicken Lentil Soup

What happens when you make a soup you really like?  You make another version of it with a different leftover.  In this case, salsa chicken.  Yes, I came up with yet another recipe to use Salsa Chicken in and it was YUMMY!  You could also use leftovers from crockpot chicken, your choice.  Same as with beef, I keep adding chicken and broth to a "leftover" bowl in the freezer until it screams, "Make something comforting"!

Because you're starting with leftover chicken, this soup can be done in an hour.  Rich, tastes like it's cooked all day on the stove in less than an hour!  Crazy talk right??  Nope, give it a try.

Once again, I only have a final shot of the soup because it was that easy.  So, easy that I almost forgot to take a photo since I was inhaling it for lunch.

3-4 C leftover salsa chicken
10C water
6 bouillon cubes or 10 C chicken broth replaces water and bouillon
12 baby Carrots chopped
I can Diced Tomatoes with green chili's
1 C Salsa
3 cloves Garlic minced
1 small onion minced
3/4 C dry Lentils
1 C frozen Corn
1 1/2 C fresh Green Beans
3 C Chopped Zucchini
2 t Olive Oil
2 t Red Pepper Flakes

Bring leftover chicken, water/bouillon or broth, salsa, carrots, tomatoes, garlic and onion to a boil in your soup pot. Turn down heat to a simmer and pour in 3/4 C dry lentils. Simmer for about 45-50 minutes stirring occasionally until lentils are soft.

Chop zucchini and green beans into bite size pieces, drizzle Olive Oil over top and season with 1/2 t of salt, 1/2 t Garlic Powder, 1 t of pepper. Toss together and put on cookie sheet. Into a 425 degree oven to roast for 30 minutes.

When lentils are soft, add corn, roasted vegis and red pepper flakes. Cook until heated through.  Serves 7 and has 6 points per bowl.

Beefy Lentil Soup

I had some leftover crockpot beef and wasn't really sure where I was going so I didn't take step by step photos but it's easy.  You've got this:)  The result is YUMMY!!  Did I mention that I don't typically like lentils?  I promise, they worked in this soup.  It was the kind of soup that warms you up and makes winter weather a bit better for a day.

To achieve leftover beef, everytime I make it, I throw what's left in a ziploc and throw in the freezer.  When I get a decent amount, I make soup.  Or if you want to skip the leftover part, make the beef with a smaller roast and you're directly ready to make soup.  You can still follow the recipe, it will just make more broth which is a good thing:)

What you'll need:

1 1/2 lbs of leftover crockpot beef
12C water
7 bouillon cubes or 12 C beef broth  replaces water and bouillon
12 baby Carrots chopped
I can Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
3 cloves Garlic minced
1 small onion minced
3/4 C dry Lentils
3 small Potatoes sliced into bite size pieces
1 C frozen Corn
1 1/2 C fresh Green Beans
3 C Chopped Zucchini
2 t Olive Oil
2 t Red Pepper Flakes

Bring leftover beef, water/bouillon or broth, carrots, tomatoes, garlic and onion to a boil in your soup pot.  Turn down heat to a simmer and pour in 3/4 C dry lentils.  Simmer for about 45-50 minutes  stirring occasionally until lentils are soft.

Chop zucchini and green beans into bite size pieces, drizzle Olive Oil over top and season with 1/2 t of salt and 1 t of pepper.  Toss together and put on cookie sheet.  Into a 425 degree oven to roast for 30 minutes.

When lentils are soft, add corn, potatoes, roasted vegis and red pepper flakes.  Cook until potatoes are done.

Makes 10 servings at 6 points per bowl.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

I have posted this before BUT I just figured out that it's only 4 WW points per serving if you do the fat free options!  Woo Hoo! 

SUPER easy, no fail soup for you to enjoy after your cold day outside. You can make it in a crock pot or you can make it on the stove. Either way...YUMMY:)

1 can Black Beans rinsed
1 can Diced Tomatoes ~ I like the ones with green chilis added but not necessary
10 oz Frozen Corn
1/2 small Onion chopped
1/2 Red Pepper diced
10 oz can Enchilada Sauce ~ I used Mild because that's what I had, prefer HOT
1 C Salsa ~ I used Thick and Chunky Medium
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup ~ I used 98% fat free
1 1/2 C Milk ~ I use skim
3 Boneless Breasts
1 C Pepper Jack Cheese shredded ~ optional for topping
1 t Chili Powder and 1 t Cumin optional

Pour your Enchilada sauce, Chicken Soup and Milk in crock pot, give it a whisk. Add Chicken breasts and everything else. Give it a bit of a stir. Crock on low for 6-8 hours. Shred chicken, mix back in and serve. Top with cheese, sour cream, guacamole or chips if you want but it's good enough without.

If you want to make it on the stove. I typically have extra cooked chicken breast in the freezer. So, add the chicken and all your ingredients and cook on low for 1 hour.

I only took one photo of the finished product because to be honest, I was in a hurry and I don't think you need step by step to dump cans;) Makes 7 servings.

Pumpkin Chipotle Soup

I was surfing around on blogs that I read from time to time and found this soup on this blog. This woman does it all but most importantly she makes a wonderful soup. Seriously, don't be scared of the pumpkin in the title. I'm not a fan of squash/pumpkin soups typically but this soup didn't taste like your "typical" soup. It was almost buttery in flavor and I called it Chicken Chipotle until people tried and liked it.

I only changed a couple of things and my recipe reflects that. If you want her orginal, click on the link above.

2 T Butter
2 T. Olive Oil
1 Onion chopped
Hanful baby Carrots, chopped
3 stalks Celery
3 cloves Garlic
2 boxes Chicken Stock~Aldi was having a sale or it would have been 8 cups water/8 bouillon cubes
14 oz can Pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix~I don't know what that means but thought I better leave it, we only have cans of Pumpkin in MN as far as I can tell, no pie mix? Just make sure the ingredients on the can is just pumpkin and you'll be good to go)
3 c. cooked Chicken ~ I actually used leftover crockpot Turkey
2 large diced Potatoes~I cut them about as thick as my finger so they didn't fall apart while cooking
1/2 c Barley
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. ginger
1/4 t nutmeg
2-3 T honey
2 Chipotles chopped very fine (it comes in a small can in the mexican section of the store and is packed in a heavy sauce)—I like spicy food, if you don't start with maybe a half of a pepper first.

1 C light Sour Cream
1/4 C Heavy Cream~I used Whipping Cream that wasn't whipped, you buy it by the milk
salt and pepper to taste

To begin, saute the celery, onions, carrots and garlic in the oil and butter until carrots are almost tender. Always salt as you go along and then adjust the salt at the end. Don’t wait til the very end to add salt or your dish will lack a depth of flavor.

Then add chicken stock, pumpkin, chicken, potatoes, barley and all the spices. Cook at medium to high heat for about 45 minutes to an hour or until barley is tender. Turn heat down to simmer. Add sour cream or yogurt and whisk so that no lumps remain and then add cream. Taste and reseason.

Chicken Asian Soup

I really like the Asian Beef soup that I make but wanted to see how it tasted with chicken. I had made a crockpot chicken and had leftovers so I thought I'd give it a go. The results were YUMMY!

1 lb of cooked chicken cut into bite size pieces or shredded
2 48 oz cartons chicken broth
2 T Olive Oil
2 t crushed Red Pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic minced
2 inches of ginger root, peeled and minced
1 med head (1 1/2 lbs?) of bok choy lettuce, cut into bite size pieces
1 t Sea salt and Pepper or to taste
1/2 lb thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta broken into thirds
1 bunch Scallions chopped
5 oz Fresh Spinach chopped

Wash bok choy, cut off end and discard. Chop the rest. Peel and mince garlic cloves. Peel and mince ginger. Chop off the hairy end of the scallion and discard. Chop scallions into small pieces. Rough chop spinach. Put 2 T Olive Oil into soup pot. Add garlic, ginger and red pepper flakes. Saute for a minute. Add bok choy , sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute another minute. Add chicken (I use meat from roasted chicken) and chicken broth, give a stir. Bring to a boil. Add spinach, scallions and pasta. Give a stir and cook for 6-8 minutes until pasta is cooked. Serve.

If you have questions about the step by step, check out the beef version here.

If you want to crockpot a chicken, check here. You don't need to prep this the night before as the directions read. It tastes very similar if you season and cook:)

Artichoke Spinach Soup

Always looking for vegetarian recipes for Dylan and being that it's Lent, been thinking about my Catholic friends too, when I found this I was excited. I only changed a couple of things, I apologize that I can't give my direct source, I thought I'd be able to find the recipe again and I can't.

Dylan likes soup and he said this is the best soup I've ever made. It has the same great taste as artichoke spinach dip.

I took out a few bowls for Dylan and added chicken to the rest to share with friends since you all know that my kids won't eat soup unless I bribe them with money. "Restaurant quality" is what I heard a couple of times.

Bonus...SUPER easy:)

Here's what you'll need:
2 T Butter
2 T Olive Oil
Medium Onion diced
8 oz package of Mushrooms ~ roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
1/2 t Pepper
1/2 t Salt
1/2 t Cayenne
2 cans Artichokes packed in water
6 1/2 C Chicken or Vegetable broth
1/4 Flour
1/2 t Tarragon
1/2 t Thyme
2 C Half and Half
5 oz fresh Spinach chopped
1 C Parmesan
Package of Boneless Chicken Breast ~ optional

In your soup pot, melt butter and olive oil together over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, mushrooms, salt and pepper. Saute for about 6-8 minutes until vegetables are softened. Add artichokes. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir to combine. Add broth, making sure you scrape the bottom of the pan to get everything mixed together and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Add thyme, tarragon and cayenne. Add half and half and spinach and simmer for another 10 minutes~very important to not let the soup boil after you put in the half and half. Stir in cheese and the chicken if you choose. Serve. Makes 8-10 bowls of soup.

If you are going to use chicken, cut into bite size pieces and pan fry with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.


Make sure you buy the ones packed in water

Mince your onion and rough chop your mushrooms

Chop your artichokes

Saute your mushrooms, garlic and onions. Add artichokes after about 6 minutes

Sprinkle your flour after about 6 minutes

Add your chicken broth

Add your half and half

Enjoy!

Beef Barley

I was hungry for some really good soup. I had some leftover Crockpot Beef in the freezer and decided to go from there. I would also like to note that I don't have the right amount left over from one crock pot of beef. I keep a container in the freezer and add to it. When the container gets full, I make soup! The crockpot beef gives it a little extra flavor because it has the sauce/gravy with it.

I also think good soup comes from a little bit of this and a little bit of that, so my measurements are very close but aren't exact. If you want to change it up a little bit and give it your own flavor, I encourage it.

But, here's what you'll need to get the party started:

4 C of Crockpot Beef
7 C Beef Broth ~ I use 6 cups water and 7 beef bouillon cubes
7 stalks of Asparagus broken into pieces
1 small Red Onion chopped
1 Zucchini chopped
2 Carrots chopped
1 Green Pepper chopped
1 can Petite Diced Tomatoes
4 cloves Garlic chopped
2 Potatoes chopped
1 T Garlic Powder
1 T Italian Seasoning
2 t Basil and Oregano
3/4 C Frozen Corn
3/4 C Barley ~ I used quick cook

Toss the Asparagus, onion, zucchini, carrots and green pepper with a tablespoon of Olive Oil and 1 T Garlic Powder. Spread out on a cookie tray. Roast at 400 degrees for 20 minutes

Put beef, broth, chopped garlic, vegis, tomatoes, spices and bring to a boil. Add Barley, potatoes and corn. Cover and cook 10 minutes. Dinner is served! Or you can put in a crockpot, put in the fridge and reheat for tomorrow, takes about 4-6 hours to get to proper temp on low.

Vegis pre oven

Vegis post oven

Chop your potato

My Grandma didn't make soup but I've heard from a few people that it tastes like the one their Grandma did:) Enjoy!

Spicy Potato Soup

A friend at work brought this really yummy spicy chowder and I wanted to make it at home. Problem was, I didn't get to the store to to get all the ingredients so I improvised. I'll give you the "real" recipe another time but this one is a tasty substitute.

And, did I mention that it's EASY and it meets my crockpot rule of at least 8 hours!!

What you'll need:

10-12 Potatoes peeled
1 Leek chopped
1 Medium Onion diced
2 stalks Celery diced
Handful of carrots diced
1 Can Fiesta Cheese Soup
4 C Vegetable Broth ~ or chicken Broth
1 t Salt
1/2 t Pepper
1 t Dillweed
1 t Curry ~ you could maybe leave this out, I was going for curry flavor and when that didn't work for me, I went another direction. I only mention this because I used it.

Put all this in the crockpot and cook on low for 8-10 hours

1 heaping t Chipolte Pepper
1 C Frozen Corn
12 oz can Evaporated Milk

Mash your potatoes and add these things in the last 1/2 hour of cooking just to heat it through.

Here's the potatoes.

This is the carrots and celery. I said to "chop" them. Here is a simple rule I use when cooking, ask yourself "what size feels comfortable in my mouth". If you like bigger carrots, cut them bigger, just know that they might be a little crunchier when the soup is finished.

A leek looks like a BIG green onion. This is what it looks like when you cut most of the green off.

I cut it in half and proceeded to chop it. If I'm feeling lazy, I'll just use my kitchen shears to cut it into pieces directly into the crockpot.

Here's the onion, peeled and cut in half for easy chopping. If you run it under cold water, it keeps the tears to a minimum. The onion will break down as it cooks but if you want it minced really fine, I recommend the food processor.

If you are saying that you don't like onions, well onion really gives this soup the flavor, I promise you won't notice the onion when it's cooked. A friend of mine who "hates" onion is none the wiser;)

Peel your potatoes and chop in various sizes. You can be exact if you want to but I find that if you use different size cuts, you get a better texture. I don't like completely "creamy" potato soup but if you do, make sure your potatoes are more uniformly cut.

The old fashioned masher comes into play after the potatoes are soft. Use this directly in the crockpot to mash the large chunks. If you like a creamier soup, you could use one of those hand held beaters. As I said, I'm not a fan of creamy potato soup and I also don't play with too many gadgets in the kitchen;)

Vegi Chili

Dylan is still not eating much meat. Only chicken and only occasionally if he can't pick around it. SO...I decided to make him some chili without meat. The recipe is pretty similar to my regular chili so he was a happy kid. Weight Watcher counters.. 7 servings, 5.5 per bowl.

What you'll need:

1 medium Onion chopped
1 medium Green Pepper chopped
5 cloves Garlic chopped
1 can Black Beans rinsed
1 can Spicy Chili Beans
1 can Pinto Beans
1 can Tomato Soup
1 Soup can Water
1 sm can Tomato Sauce
1 can Diced Tomatoes and Green Chili's
3 T Chili Powder
2 t Cumin
2 t Chipolte Peppers

Saute onion, green pepper, garlic and diced tomatoes for about 5 minutes. Add everything else, give it a stir, turn the burner to a simmer and cook for about an hour. Serve:)

What you'll need

Saute a bit

Busted, I threw some leftover taco meat into mine but the rest was all vegi for Dylan

Curried Lentil Soup

Dylan is still doing the vegetarian thing and he asked me to make him something "curry". I found this recipe on line and it turned out pretty good.

I adjusted the recipe a little. Hope you like it.

2 T Olive Oil
1 large Onion diced
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 1/2" Fresh Ginger, minced
1 C portabella mushrooms, diced
2 T tomato paste
1 heaping T Garlic Chili Paste
1 C dried lentils
6 C vegetable stock
14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
3 T curry powder
1 t dried thyme
2 t fresh cracked pepper
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, to garnish

Directions
Preheat a cast iron pan or heavy frying pan over medium heat. Heat the olive oil.
Add the onions and garlic and saute for 3-5 minutes until they begin to brown.
Add the carrots, ginger and portobellos and saute for another 3-5 minutes until the mushrooms begin to absorb the oil. Season this step with 1/2 tsp pepper and salt to taste. Honestly, I think you could skip this step and just throw everything in the crockpot.

Add the tomato paste and chili paste and stir just to combine the vegetables.

In the bottom of your crock pot, add the curry powder, oregano, thyme and remaining pepper. Add the sauteed vegetables and lentils and mix well.
Pour in the can of diced tomatoes and stock. Stir to combine.

Cook in a crock pot on high heat for 6 hours or low for 10 hours.

I like ginger so this is how much I added

Coconut Curry Soup

This soup was a HUGE hit. Seriously, everyone LOVED it.

It came about because I had leftover Crockpot Curry.

This is the rice I bought.

This is the chili paste I use, found in the Asian aisle.

8 C Water
6 Chicken Bouillon Cubes
2 bags Instant Basmati Rice
5-6 C leftover Curry Chicken
1 can Coconut Milk
1 T Chili Paste
1 t Salt

Bring water and bouillon to boil. Add 2 bags of rice and cook for 8 minutes. Remove bags of rice and add leftover curry, coconut milk, chili paste and salt. Bring to boil and add rice back in. Serve.

Throw 2 bags of rice into the water with bouillon cubes.

About this much leftover curry works.

Add the leftover curry

Add coconut milk, chili paste, salt and bring to a boil. Add rice back in. Serve

Mmmmmmm