Potato Soup

One day, I came home from work to this soup simmering on the stove, a fully vacuumed house, and a very smug husband.  The soup was delicious, the vacuuming is “his job” anyway, and I’ve got to love that guy 😉  Since I do most of the cooking, it’s always nice to have an unexpected night off… and it’s even better when I get good food out of it!

From Kathy Richardson’s recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/4 lb bacon
• 1/2 c diced onion
• 4 c diced potatoes
• approximately 3 c milk
• 2 eggs
• flour (gluten free if necessary)
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

• Cook the bacon, then the onion in the same pan
• Boil the potatoes in water until soft, about 15-20 minutes
• Drain the potatoes & return to the large pot; add bacon & onions
• Mix 2 eggs with enough flour to make dumplings (basically lumps of dough at this point); add them to the potatoes
• Add milk gradually, until the potatoes are just covered.  It may take more or less than 3 cups
• Add salt & pepper to taste, or Alpine Touch seasoning, and let the soup cook over low to medium heat until the dumplings are done, about 15 minutes
• Top with shredded cheese and bacon bits before serving, if desired

Cauliflower, Leek & Potato Soup

Even after eating this soup, I still can’t tell you what a leek tastes like.  It looks like a giant green onion… and that’s all I know.  But this soup is good- it pretty much tastes like creamy potato soup.  And it would be a good way to get veggies into kids, or even adults who don’t like cauliflower 😉

Adapted from Clean Eating magazine, October 2012 issue

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 c thinly sliced leeks (the white & light green parts, not the leaf-ish parts)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large Yukon gold potato, diced
• 3 1/4 c chopped cauliflower florets
• 2 c low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 c water
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 slices bacon

Directions:

• In a large saucepan, heat oil on medium-low. Cook leeks, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes
• Add garlic & cook for another minute, stirring frequently
• Add potato, cauliflower, broth, water, salt & pepper. Increase heat to bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover & simmer for 20 minutes, or until cauliflower & potatoes are soft.
• While that simmers, cook the bacon in a small skillet.  Remove from pan & allow to cool before crumbling
• Blend the soup mixture, with an immersion blender or by running batches through a regular blender.  Stir in bacon bits & serve
• Optional: top with shredded cheddar cheese

Crockpot Potato Soup

I’ve never really been a huge fan of potato soup, but I really wanted to try this recipe… just because it uses hash browns, instead of potato chunks.  That just sounded weird, in a good way.  So, I threw everything in the crockpot Saturday afternoon… but I waited too long.  The soup wouldn’t have been done until past the time we wanted to eat, so I stuck it in the fridge & finished it the next day, to pack up for lunches.

The soup tasted pretty good, but it was a little thin.  I tried to thicken it with 2 tb flour + 1 tb water, like the recipe recommended, but that just gave me lumps of flour.  Even thin, the  soup was good though- give it a try!

slightly adapted from Kayotic Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tb olive oil
• 1 1/2 lb frozen hash browns (about 5 1/4 cups)
• 5 c chicken broth
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1 1/2 c grated cheese
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

• Heat the olive oil in a small skillet.  Saute onion for about 4 minutes, over medium heat.  Add garlic & cook another minute or two.
• Add all the ingredients, except cheese, to the crockpot.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours.
• Add the cheese & cook for 30 more minutes, to melt it.

Sweet Potato Chili

I haven’t found a mashed sweet potato recipe that I love, so I moved on (at least for now)… decided to try sweet potato chili.  Cody was… skeptical, to say the least.  BUT, he was also pleasantly surprised.  This tasted like chili, not sweet potatoes!

slightly adapted from Team Determination

Ingredients:

• 2 cloves garlic, minded
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 2 tb olive oil
• 3 sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into 1/2 cinch cubes
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 15 oz can black beans
• 3 medium tomatoes, diced (or 15 oz can diced tomatoes)
• 3/4 c chicken broth
• 1 tb chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:

• Saute onions & garlic in olive oil for 1-2 minutes, then add sweet potatoes & bell pepper.  Cook until onions are soft, about 5-6 minutes.
• Reduce heat to medium low; add remaining ingredients. Stir to combine well.
• Simmer, partially covered & stirring occasionally, for 20-25 minutes (or until sweet potatoes are tender).

Chili, version 2

I wanted to make my regular chili recipe (I even made a special trip to the store for kidney beans). And then I realized I didn’t have diced or crushed tomatoes. And I didn’t want to go back to the store… so I improvised.  I actually like this version better- it’s just a little more runny than the original (less dry).

Adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 c chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 (15 oz) cans kidney beans, rinsed
• 1 (15 oz) can corn
• 1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
• 2 tb chili powder
• 1 tb vinegar

Directions:

• In a 2 quart saucepan, cook the hamburger, onion & garlic until burger is browned & onion is soft.
• Add remaining ingredients.
• Heat to boiling, reduce heat & simmer 30 minutes.

 

Roasted Cauliflower & Broccoli Soup

As long as you don’t add extra broccoli (like I did), this soup would probably be really good.  Just use the 2 cups called for & you should be good 🙂

slightly adapted from Prevention RD

Ingredients:

• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 head garlic (not clove)
• 1 tb olive oil
• 1 tb unsalted butter
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 large carrot, peeled & diced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tb flour (I used GF Better Batter)
• 1/3 c white wine
• 1/3 c water
• 28 oz low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/3 c half & half

Directions:

• Combine cauliflower & broccoli.  Coat with olive oil, sprinkle lightly with salt & pepper.
• Cut the top off the head of garlic & wrap in foil.
• Place all on a cookie sheet; bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt butter in a large stock pot.  Add onion, celery, & carrot.  Saute over medium head for about 10 minutes.
• Whisk in salt, pepper, paprika, thyme, and flour.  Cook for 2 more minutes.
• Add wine & water, mixing into flour mixture.  Slowly add chicken broth.
• Remove garlic cloves from skin & add to pot whole.  Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce to medium-low.  Simmer for 10 minutes
• Add cauliflower & broccoli.  Simmer an additional 5 minutes.
• In batches, add the soup to a blender or food processor.  Puree until smooth & return to pan.
• Stir in half & half.  Cook until heated through

Roast Beef Stew

Last week, I put a roast on our menu for a day Cody had off.  He dutifully prepared the roast while I was at work… but by dinner time we weren’t very hungry (an impulsive trip to Dairy Queen had nothing to do with that, of course).  So I stuck the roast in the fridge for a later dinner.

Since we have a lot of roasts in the freezer, neither of us really felt like eating more roast. So, I made it into a stew, using a recipe I’ve made before with stew meat.  It was sooo good!  The roast was a lot more tender than stew meat & the veggies were just right- not too mushy, not too hard.

Adapted from All Recipes

** I forgot to take a picture and now it’s all gone**

Ingredients:

• 3 pound beef roast
• 1/2 c water
• 2 tsp Alpine Touch (or 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, & 1/2 tsp onion powder)
• 1 tsp seasoned salt
• 6 cubes beef bouillon, crumbled (see note below to make this gluten free)
• 7 cups water
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 3 pounds potatoes, cubed
• 4 carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 6 stalks celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 onion, chopped

Directions:

• The day before, or early the same day: place the roast in a crockpot.  Season with Alpine Touch & seasoned salt; pour 1/2 c water in.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Refrigerate until ready to make stew.
• Cut the roast into 1 inch cubes.  Place in a large pot.  Dissolve bouillon in water & pour into pot.
• Stir in parsley & pepper.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.  Cover & simmer for 30 minutes.
• Stir in potatoes, carrots, celery & onion. Cover & simmer 1 hour more, or until potatoes have reached the desired softness.

Gluten Free: I used Better Than Bouillon, because it was the only gluten free bouillon-ish thing I could find.  Use 1 tsp of BTB to replace 1 bouillon cube (so dissolve 6 tsp in the water)