Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup

For years, I only bought baby carrots from the grocery store.  I like them better for snacking than whole carrots.  Recently, I started buying whole carrots for cooking.  I still buy baby carrots for snacks, but if I know I'm planning to make soup or stew, I'll buy the whole carrots. 

Now that I'm hooked on making my own veggie broth from scraps and peels, the whole carrots really come in handy!  For some crazy reason, I thought it would be a good idea to buy a 5lb bag of carrots! 

When I wasn't using them as quick as I thought I would, I started to get worried that they would go bad and I'd have to throw them away, so I searched for recipes for carrots.  I found a few recipes for carrot soup and decided to attempt to create my own recipe in my Crock-Pot. 

Carrot & Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. carrots, peeled & sliced into coins
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled & cut into chunks
• 2 onions, sliced thin
• 2 cans (14.5 oz. each) chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. ground thyme
• dash of cloves
• Sour cream (optional)

Add all ingredients to Crock-Pot, cover and cook on low until vegetables are tender. 

Blend with stick blender to desired texture.  Top with sour cream and serve. 

I served the soup along with grilled cheese sandwiches for a Lenten Friday (meatless) meal.  Both of us agreed that the soup would have been better with some meat (maybe ham) added.  Or if left as a meatless soup, it would make a delicious first course to a nice steak dinner. 

I'll be sharing this recipe with the following carnivals:

• What's Cooking Wednesday
• Crock-Pot Wednesday

Chicken Rice Soup ~ Easy, Fast and Frugal

Last week, I made some homemade chicken broth.  I had a quart left in the fridge that needed to get used, so I threw together a quick soup. 

I'm posting this, at the request of my friend Lisa.  Although, it's a pretty easy recipe, I thought I'd share! 

Chicken Rice Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 quart homemade chicken broth
• 1-2 cups water (or additional broth) *
• 1 cup carrots, carrots
• 1  medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup celery, diced
• 2 cups cooked chicken, diced
• 1-2 cups cooked rice

Directions:

• bring homemade broth to a boil in soup pot on stove, medium-high heat.
• add water (or additional broth) if needed
• add vegetables, cover and reduce heat to low
• simmer until vegetables are tender
• stir in chicken and rice
• heat through

Notes:

* I made the homemade broth (more about that in a future post) using the cooking juices and bones/carcass from a whole chicken cooked in the crock pot (recipe on my other blog).  The spices on the chicken made this a very dark, spicy broth.  I needed about 1 1/2 cups of water to dilute it enough to be a light flavored broth for a light soup. 

This soup turned out great!  It was a really quick, easy and frugal meal!  I really just cleaned out the fridge of some veggies that needed to get used and the homemade broth I had made the week before!  Joe picked up a loaf of crusty bread on his way home from work! 

There is just one small bowl left and I'm eating that for lunch today! 

Roasted Garlic and Potato Soup ~ Crock-Pot

If you read my recipe post for Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic, then you know I added some potatoes and onions under the chicken to cook at the same time. 

When the Chicken with 40 Garlic Cloves was finished cooking, I removed the chicken to one bowl and the potatoes, onions and some of the garlic to another bowl.  I reserved those potatoes for this recipe: 

Roasted Garlic and Potato Soup

Ingredients: 

• Roasted Potatoes, Onions, Garlic*
• 1 quart homemade chicken broth**
• 2 additional cups potatoes, peeled & diced
• 1 cup carrots, chopped
• 1/2 cup celery, diced
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 Tbsp. Kosher salt
• 1 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions:

• Place previously roasted potatoes, onions and garlic in crock-pot with chicken broth, cover and cook on high for one hour.
• Using a stick blender,*** puree the potatoes and onions to your desired consistency and texture. 
• Stir in the additional potatoes along with the carrots, celery, water, salt and pepper.
• Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours, or until vegetables are tender. 

Potatoes and onions in chicken broth.

Pureed potatoes and onions in chicken broth.

Finished product! 

Mmmmm! 

  *I really love how easy it was to make this soup using the previously roasted vegetables.  I added extra veggies since I planned on pureeing the roasted veggies, but still wanted a chunkier soup. 

 **I made homemade broth using the bones and the cooking juices from the Chicken with 40 Garlic Cloves.  Store bought broth or stock can also be used. 

***If you don't have a stick blender, a food processor or standard kitchen blender will work.

I really enjoyed this soup.  It was very hearty and had lots of flavor.  We each had two bowls along with sliced French Bread for dipping! 

Even after our hearty portions, there was still about a quart of soup leftover.  I put that in the fridge for leftover night (probably Saturday)!

I'll be sharing this recipe with the following blog carnivals: 

• Food on Friday
• Ultimate Recipe Swap 

Easy Potato Soup

I love potatoes. I'm not sure I've ever had a potato that I didn't like. Except for maybe, potatoes with cheese but even they are starting to grow on me a bit!

I love potatoes so much, that I've been known to just eat mashed potatoes for a meal when I'm home alone or in a cafeteria. McDonald's French Fries fix everything as far as I'm concerned...when I'm sick, I crave French Fries.

So, it made sense to pair up my love for potatoes with my new-found love for soup. The recipe I am posting today is a recipe that I found online last winter. I don't remember where I found it though. I've only made it once and pretty much stuck to the recipe 100%...rare for me. It's a simple recipe, which surprised me. For some reason, I thought potato soup would be more complicated.

Easy Potato Soup

Ingredients:

• 6 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 ribs celery, sliced
• 2 qts. water
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 Tbs. butter
• 6 Tbs. flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 1 1/2 cup milk

Directions:

• In a large soup pot, cook potatoes, carrots and celery in water until tender. (about 20 minutes)
• Drain, reserving liquid.
• Set vegetable aside.
• In same pot, saute onion in butter until soft.
• In a bowl, mix together flour, salt and pepper. Gradually add milk, stirring until smooth.
• Add flour mixture to onions.
• Heat, stirring constantly until thickened.
• Gently stir in the cooked vegetables.
• Add 1 cup or more of the reserved cooking liquid, until soup is to desired consistency.
• Cook until heated through.

YUM!

I'm guessing that this soup would be awesome with some crisp bacon crumbled into it. Or some canned or frozen corn if you want to stretch the soup a little. Topped with shredded cheese would be good too, if you like that sort of thing!

Chicken Corn Chowder

I love love love creamed corn. As much as I'd like to, I'd never just eat creamed corn as my entire meal. That is why I like Chicken Corn Chowder so much! It's like a big bowl of creamed corn!

I make my chowder a couple of different ways depending on how much time I have and what ingredients I have at the moment the craving for it hits!

Corn Chowder

Ingredients:

• 1/2 - 3/4 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast
• olive oil
• 3-4 cups frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 1/2 cup sweet red pepper, diced
• 1/4 celery, chopped
• 1/4 carrots, diced
• 1-2 cans (14.5 oz each) chicken broth (fat free, low sodium)
• 1 1/2 cups potato, peeled and diced
• 1 cup milk
• 1 Tbs. flour
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 real bacon crumbles
• crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

• In a dutch oven or soup pot, saute chicken in hot oil until slightly browned.
• Add onions, peppers, celery, carrots and sautee until onion is tender but not browned.
• Add chicken broth and potatoes and stir.
• Bring to boil; reduce heat.
• Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
• Stir in the corn and cook uncovered for another 10 minutes (or until potatoes are tender). Be sure to stir occasionally.
• In a small bowl, combine the milk, flour, salt and pepper. Add to soup mixture. Cook until thick and bubbly, while stirring. Cook a minute or two more.
• Add bacon crumbles and a couple of shakes of the crushed red pepper flakes.
• Cook for another 3 minutes to heat the bacon.

Note: To make a thicker chowder, run about 1/2 of the corn through the food processor before adding to the soup.

For an even easier and quicker Corn Chowder, use some canned chicken shredded with a fork (or pulse in the food processor with half of the corn), use frozen potatoes O'brien in place of the potatoes, onions, peppers and skip the carrots and celery.

I'll be sharing this recipe on Hooked On Fridays, since lately I've been hooked on soup! Check my sidebar to find more of my soup recipes!

Chicken Noodle Soup

I didn't always like soup. I didn't particularly hate soup. It just wasn't a favorite. As a kid, when I saw mom and dad getting the big soup pot out, I usually rolled my eyes and groaned. Knowing that it was going to be chicken noodle soup and that we were going to eat it for a week....at least.

Years later, when my husband and I were first living together, I was sick. Had a pretty bad cold or the flu (I can't remember which). I left work early and called him at work to let him know I was home already.

When he came home from work, he lugged a bunch of grocery bags up to our second floor apartment. Can you guess what he had planned? Yep, you got it! He was making me chicken noodle soup! It was such a sweet gesture and I couldn't dare do the groaning and eye rolling! I just smiled as sweet as I could and thought to myself that I'd have to eat it. I couldn't hurt his feelings, I'd eat the soup.

Imagine my surprise when I actually liked it! I really, really liked it! My tastes have changed so much since I was a kid. So many foods that I hated as a child are now foods that I really enjoy.

I can never get my chicken noodle soup to turn out quite the way he makes it, but the one I make is pretty good too!

Here's the recipe I use:

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced
• olive oil
• 2 cups celery, chopped
• 2 cups carrots, choppped
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 2 tsp. garlic, minced
• 3-4 cans (14.5 oz. each) chicken broth or stock (fat free, low sodium)
• 1/2 tsp. dried marjoram
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves (3 if they are small)
• 1/2 - 1 lb. dry egg noodles

Directions:

• In your favorite soup pot or dutch oven, saute chicken in hot oil until about 1/2 browned.
• Add garlic and vegetables and saute until onions are just about turning translucent (not browned, just to the point of slightly soft).
• Add broth and spices and bring to boil.
• Cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 20-30 mintues.
• Turn heat to medium and add egg noodles and cook until noodles are tender.

This recipe has been adapted from a recipe I received years ago in an email file of several crock pot recipes that were Weight Watcher's friendly. I've made a few changes, one being that I don't use the crock pot for this recipe. To me, chicken soup is one recipe that shouldn't be crock potted. I don't know why, maybe because it's such a traditional meal and should be cooked the good ol' old fashioned way!

I'll be sharing this recipe with the October Fest Carnival of Super Foods at Kitchen Stewardship. The theme this week is broth/stock recipes. Be sure to check it out!

Check out Food on Fridays with Ann, too!

Beef Barley Soup

Beef Barley Soup is one of our favorites. I like to make a big (Crock-pot) of it on a nice, chilly day. If I serve this with sandwiches, I can get 3 nights' dinners from the one pot. If I skip the sandwiches and serve with biscuits, then we get 2 nights' from the one pot.

This soup freezes nicely, too. One of these days, I'm going to make a double batch of this soup and freeze in 4-6 portions. Combined with other soups I plan to serve this fall/winter, I should only have to make this particular soup once (maybe twice) during this soup season.

Here's the recipe....

Beef Barley Soup

Ingredients

• 1 lb. London Broil, diced into small pieces
• splash of Olive Oil (enough to coat bottom of skillet
• 5 - 6 cans (14 oz each) beef broth
• 1 1/4 cups chopped onion
• 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 1 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• heaping Tbs. minced garlic
• 1 bay leaf (2 if they are small)
• 1 1/2 cups mixed frozen veggies(peas, carrots, corn, lima beans, green beans)
• 14 1/2 oz. can diced or stewed tomatoes, undrained
• 1 1/2 cups diced potatoes
• 2/3 cup barley*

Directions

• In a skillet, brown meat in hot oil. Drain.
• Add all ingredients to slow cooker.
• Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

* Do not use quick-cooking barley, it's not meant for the long hours of cooking in the slow cooker.

I originally found this recipe in an email from Better Homes and Gardens. I adapted it to our tastes (i.e. I use more potatoes and veggies than the original recipe calls for, plus add more broth to accommodate the extra veggies).

For more great soup recipes, be sure to check out Life As Mom's Ultimate Recipe Swap. This week's theme is Soup! MMmmm! MMmmm! Good!
I am also sharing this recipe with the October Fest Carnival of Super Foods hosted by Katie at Kitchen Stewardship. The theme on October 8th will be recipes that call for broth/stock. Be sure to check out her blog for more great recipes!

Crock Pot Kielbasa Soup

I am really starting to look forward to soup season. That's funny coming from me, since up until about 6 years ago, I hated soup. I was not a fan at all. But over the past 6 or so years, I've really been enjoying soup a lot!

Kielbasa Soup is one of our favorites and it's excellent paired with Corn Bread Casserole.

Here's the recipe for the soup:

Kielbasa Soup

58 oz. fat-free chicken broth (four 14.5 oz cans)
16 oz. reduced-fat kielbasa, cut in half lengthwise and then slice
15 oz. canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained
15 oz. canned black beans, rinsed and drained
4 medium carrots, chopped
3 medium celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 tsp. thyme
14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes, with juice

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients, except tomatoes*, in crock pot. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for at least 6 hours or until beans are tender.

Stir in tomatoes*; cover and cook on high-heat setting until heated through, about 15 minutes more.

8 servings (heaping cup)

* I add the tomatoes at the beginning when all of the other ingredients are added to the crock pot.

I found this recipe when I was a member of Weight Watchers online.

3 points (be careful though, I sometimes use regular kielbasa and the points value jumped to 7.)

For more great recipes, go to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, or Tasty Tuesday, or Tuesdays at the Table.

And for more tasty crock pot recipes, go to Crock Pot Wednesday, hosted by Dining with Debbie.

Also, be sure to check out the October Fest Carnival of Super Foods hosted by Katie at Kitchen Stewardship. October 1st will be all about beans!