Sausage & Vegetable Stew

This is hands down my favorite soup (at least right now). Last time I made it we didn't have any leftovers and it was so sad. I even posted my lament on facebook.

Click here for the printable version.

 You'll need: 3TBSP extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, 1 TBSP apple cider vinegar, parsley, 2 tsp minced garlic, 8 baby red potatoes, 2 parsnips, 4 medium carrots, 1 large red onion, 1 lb kielbasa, 2 TBSP paprika, and 3 T flour. (not pictured 4 C water and sour cream for garnish)

 Dice the onion.

 Heat oil, onion, and garlic in a heavy pot over medium heat until softened. This will take about 5 minutes.

 Stir in the paprika and 1 tsp salt. Then stir in the flour,

 and immediately stir in the water until there are no flour lumps.

 Chop up the carrots and parsnip to bite size pieces,

 quarter the potatoes,

 and slice the kielbasa.

 Add the carrots, parsnip, potatoes, and sausage to the pot. Add some salt, turn up the heat, and bring to a boil.

 Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.

 Uncover the soup and stir in the vinegar. This just helps to brighten the flavor, so if you don't have any, it's not completely required.

Serve garnished with sour cream and parsley and some crusty bread on the side (a baguette works well) Then enjoy every last bite!

Click here for a printable version of this recipe.

What's your favorite soup?

Loaded Potato Soup

I absolutely love this soup. There's nothing like a warm soup after a long cold day and this stuff is practically addictive. I've modified my recipe quite a bit over the years since I first started making it, so this is the most up to date version. We actually had it for dinner last night and I'll be eating leftovers for lunch today. To see my first two versions, check out my old site here.

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For this recipe you'll need:
3 T butter
2 stalks celery, diced
1or 2 medium carrots, diced
1 medium onion, diced
4 C chicken broth or stock
1 1/2 C milk
32 oz frozen diced potatoes (did you know you can make your own?)
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 C bacon pieces + extra to garnish
1/4 C chives, thinly sliced + extra to garnish
sharp cheddar cheese, shredded, to garnish

 Place butter, carrots, celery, and onion in slow cooker on high heat and allow butter to melt and veggies to soften (about 30 minutes). Then add broth, milk, and potatoes and reduce heat to low. -If you don't have time to wait for butter to melt, either saute everything on the stove first or just add all ingredients and cook on low.

Anywhere from 5-10 hours later (at 5 hours the veggies will be a tad al dente and at 10 the potatoes will be falling apart- I prefer the consistency of everything at 8 hours) add the softened cream cheese and allow to set 10-15 minutes before stirring in. The higher quality the cream cheese the better it will melt and become part of the soup.
Stir in 1/2 C bacon pieces and 1/4 C chives just before serving.
Serve garnished with cheese, bacon, and more chives.

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Do you have any recipes that have evolved over the years?

Sweet Potato Chili

This is probably my favorite chili recipe and I'm pretty sure it's Wyatt's too. I can pretty much always count on him to ask for seconds and thirds when I make this yummy goodness. This is also one of the two ways I can get David to happily eat sweet potato and this version is certainly healthier than the sweet potato casserole I make .

 This recipe is perfect for those days you will be gone all day and want a hot and tasty meal ready as soon as you get home. I usually cook this 8-10 hours, but it could cook for 12 without getting overcooked.
Serves about 10 with roughly 302 Calories and 11 g dietary fiber per serving.
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 You'll need: 2 tsp chili powder, 2-3 TBSP baking cocoa, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 2 cans chili style tomatoes, 1 can chili beans, 1 can black beans, 1 can dark red kidney beans, 1 can cannellini beans, 1 lb sweet potato, 1 onion, 1 tsp oregano, 1.25 lb stewing beef

 Turn slow cooker on low. Peel and dice the sweet potato and onion. Place in the slow cooker with the beef chunks.

 Add the chili beans and tomatoes with their juices.

 Drain and rinse the cannelini, black, and kidney beans before adding them to the slow cooker.

 Add the spices...

 ...and stir together. It won't look like it has enough liquid, but it has plenty. Cover the slow cooker and leave it alone for at least 8 hours

 When it's ready, the sweet potato will be tender, the meat will be cooked, and the liquid will have more of a brown color than red.

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What's your favorite way to eat sweet potatoes?

Tortellini Soup

This soup is on David's top 3 list (along with broccoli cheese and loaded potato) and is a regular at our house. My mom and I have been making it for a long time. Growing up, we made it on the stove top, but these days I toss everything in the slow cooker and save myself the trouble of watching the pot for 20-30 minutes.

To start cooking, place 32oz chicken broth (or quality vegetable), 2-3 14.5oz cans of stewed tomatoes (you can use diced tomatoes to make it a little more kids friendly), 10-12oz frozen chopped spinach (the chopped part is extremely important), and about 2 cloves of minced garlic. Cook on low 3-6 hours (I average about 4.5 hours, it just depends on what my day looks like)

About 20 minutes, but no more than an hour before you're ready to eat, add one bag frozen tortellini- anywhere around 19oz is good. And let it heat through.

Serve topped with some Parmesan or Romano cheese and enjoy!

Click here for the printer friendly version (it includes directions for both slow cooker and stove top, plus a fun variation).

What's on your top 3 soup list?

Slow Cooker Broccoli Cheese Soup and Tasty Tuesday Linkup

Who doesn't like their broccoli smothered in cheese? When I was younger, I thought cheese was the only possible way to muscle through broccoli. My tastes have grown up since then, but I still love the combination.
As I was looking to try my own version of broccoli cheese soup, I wanted to stick with ingredients that I normally buy and not force myself to get a processed log of velveeta. Not that I'm completely against the cheese, I just prefer less processed varieties.

 

Estimated cost: $6-7
Ingredients:
2 C skim or low fat milk
4 C chicken broth
1/2 onion, petite diced
24 oz frozen broccoli
3/4 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 C shredded mozzarella cheese

Stir together milk, broth, onion, broccoli, pepper, and nutmeg in a 6 QT slow cooker. Heat on low 5-7 hours until onions are transparent and soft.
Add cheese and allow to melt. The cheese will stick to the broccoli and not absorb into the broth. Carefully wisk (avoid scrapping the bottom of the stoneware with metal wisk) or use immersion blender to break up and distribute the cheese throughout soup.
Serve with rolls or biscuits and enjoy!

Note: This is a thinner (skinnier) version of broccoli cheese soup, the texture is different but the taste is delicious!

This recipe originally appeared on oneincomefamilyliving.blogspot.com on 12/12/11. I wrote, updated, and transferred it here.

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