Roasted Vegetable Soup

This is absolutely perfect for Fall! My girls and I created our own holiday years ago. It's on October 1st and we make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, decorate the house for Halloween with Halloween music, go shopping for Halloween costumes, have soup for dinner and watch a Halloween movie with hot chocolate. Since we're in Idaho we get all 4 seasons and it is GORGEOUS here! We soak it up like you would not believe. The girls get more excited for this holiday than Christmas. It's absolutely hilarious.

Anyways, this soup just might be a strong possibility for soup of choice on our holiday! That's saying something, because they take it seriously and everything has to be perfect.

The original recipe doesn't call for tortellini pasta, but my kids have bottomless stomachs so I threw in a little more substance.

Recipe adapted from: Roasted Vegetable Soup- Pioneer Woman

What you will need:

• 1 large zucchini, sliced in half and then cut in half moons
• 1 yellow squash, sliced in half and then cut in half moons
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 1 red and yellow Bell pepper, cut in strips
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 c Olive oil
• 1 T Italian seasoning
• 1/2 T salt
• 1/2 T pepper
• 4 c chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
• 14 oz can stewed tomatoes
• 1 Bay leaf
• 1 c heavy cream

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 475*
• Spray baking sheet with nonstick spray
• Combine all veggies into a large bowl with olive oil and seasonings to toss to chat
• Arrange vegetables on baking sheet in an even layer and roast for 15 minutes
• Add vegetables into crock pot with stewed tomatoes, chicken stock, heavy cream and Bay leaf
• Cook on low for 3 hours
• Remove Bay leaf and blend soup until it's reached desired texture

Turkey Meatballs

We usually make these meatballs to add to minestrone soup, but they are so good you can use them for anything! They're extremely flavorful and the texture is unreal! Very easy to make, too. Just pulse, shape and cook! If you're looking for a gluten-free option, dredging each meatball in flour isn't absolutely necessary (we've done it without and they've turned out just great!).


What you will need:

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 oz. parmesan
• 1/4 C parsley
• 1 yellow onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 egg
• 2 T oil
• Flour for dredging

Directions:

• 
  
• Combine parmesan, parsley, diced onion and diced garlic to food processor.
• Add ground turkey, egg and salt & pepper to combine
• Shape into 1" meatballs
• In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat
• Coat each meatball in the flour and add to the oil in the skillet
• Cook for about 10-15 minutes, turning to brown all sides

Crock Pot Taco Soup

My kids and I made a tradition last year that on the first snow fall of the season we make sugar cookies and have hot chocolate. It's flurried here and there but nothing I would call "the first snow."

Today has been kind of a nail biter! Is it the first snow fall? Really? Is it going to melt in an hour? Can I for sure give it the first snow label? I can't decide, and the clock is ticking!

In the meantime, taco soup. Need I say more? Warm up with this gem. I served it with the Olive Garden Bread Sticks and it was a big hit! Which is extremely rewarding since it was a typical "threw it together" meal. Whew!

What you will need:

• 1 can black beans, rinsed
• 1 can kidney beans, rinsed
• 1 can corn, drained
• 1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles
• 3 cans beef broth
• 1 1/2 pkg. taco seasoning
• 1 1/2 pkg. ranch mix 
• 1 lb. ground beef

Directions

• Dump all the canned ingredients into the crock pot 
• Mix in the taco seasoning and ranch mix
• Brown the ground beef and add it into the crock pot to mix in
• Cook on low 4-6 hours
• Top with grated cheese and a healthy dollop of sour cream if desired!

Sausage and Tortellini Tomato Soup

I'm not exactly sure how to word the name of this soup. Tortellini and sausage? Basil Tortellini.....Sausage, basil and Tortellini soup..I don't know. Also I didn't really know what I was doing when I made this. I had about 3 different recipes swirling around in my head so I combined them all and winged the whole thing.

My whole family scarfed the whole thing up. My daughter who haaaates tomatoes had SECONDS. It has so much flavor! It doesn't just take like a can of tomatoes. Not even close. I was shocked. I served it with some Crack Bread in case you need an idea.

I was extremely surprised at how fast this came together, especially since I started it without really knowing what direction I was going with it!

What you will need:

• 1 lb. ground Italian sausage
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, minced
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 cans petite diced tomatoes
• 1 32 oz. box chicken (or vegetable) broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 c basil, chopped
• 1 pkg. frozen tortellini
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• Crushed red pepper
• 1/2 C heavy cream
• 1/2 C grated Parmesan

Directions:

• Brown the Italian sausage
• While that's browning, mince up your onions and peel your garlic
•  Heat up the olive oil in a large pot 
• Add the onions and saute' for a few minutes
• Add in the garlic and saute' for another minute or so
• While the onions and garlic are being sauted, dump the two cans of tomatoes into a blender
• Add in the onions and garlic to the blender and blend well
• Pour the puree back into the pot and add the box of chicken broth
• Stir to combine and drop the two bay leaves in
• Chop up your basil and add into the soup
• Add in your seasonings
• Add in the heavy cream, stir in
• Add in the sausage, stir in
• Add in the tortellini, stir in
• Add in the parmesan, stir in
• Let simmer for about 10 minutes (this is where I prepped my crack bread and got it into the oven and set the table)

Cheesy Broccoli Potato Soup

So we had a cold and rainy day. Is there anything better than soup when the rain is tapping on your windows? I use to say, "If I had soup every time it was rainy, that's all I'd eat" after living in Portland. 

But now we get to feel like rain is special again ;).

I actually didn't mean to make this on a rainy day. It was just what was on our dinner menu. I had the bread rising for the bread bowls (I tried a new bread bowl recipe and it was only so-so, so I won't be bothering to post the recipe) when I realized it might rain so the girls started getting all excited and sure enough. By the time dinner was served it was raining.

This soup is 100% delightful. Pioneer Woman again. Of course. I wonder when I'll try a new recipe that isn't hers. I'm in no rush for that. She did state not to go crazy with the salt because of the cheese. I used sharp cheddar and I used oooooh probably double what she said in her recipe and I was still adding salt to it at the dinner table so? Just do what she says and you can always add more later if you need to! You can always add more but you can't take it out so better safe than sorry!

I also added cubes of potatoes to mine. I just can't not have them.

Original recipe here!

 

What you will need:

• 1 yellow onion, diced (or minced if you're like me)
• 1 stick butter
• 1/3 C flour
• 4 C whole milk
• 2 C half & half
• 3-4 crowns broccoli, cut into flourets
• salt & pepper to taste
• 2 C grated cheese of your choice

Directions:

• Melt the butter and saute' your onions with it for a couple of minutes
• Add in your flour and mix well until it forms into a roux (like a paste)
• Let it cook for a minute or so, stirring constantly
• Add in the milk and half & half and blend together
• Add in the broccoli flourets
• Let it simmer about 25-30 minutes until the broccoli is tender
• Add in the cheese and stir until it's all melted in
• At this point you can either serve it as is or mashed up the broccoli so it's a bit more chunky. OR you can puree' it, which is what I did.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Never mind how I went on a 7 month hiatus. We got settled into our hometown where my husband opened up his Chiropractic practice aaaand I found out I'm pregnant in the middle of all of that, plus we moved a couple of times. It's been a pretty crazy 7 months, but we're all doing great and just happy happy happy! So here I am, and I wanted to make sure my comeback was with something good, and I tell ya what...it really is.

I am not the biggest fan of homemade chicken noodle soups. I'm just not. Most of the time they get really ..... I don't know the word. I feel like I'm eating puffy odd textured noodles with bland boxed broth.
But this soup is LITERALLY (not figuratively) the best chicken noodle soup in the world. The noodles I use I feel like are the best, but they do take about 25 minutes to cook. So take that into account if you want to use the same noodles as I. I feel bad about this picture. It really does not do it justice. I took it after the first time I made the soup and the chicken wasn't up to my level and it just kind of looks sad. Now, after many times making it and turning it into a masterpiece it looks pretty different than what you see here. I'm making a mental note to change the pic soon!

What you will need:

•  6 chicken tenderloins (or maybe 3-4 chicken breasts)
• 1 C water
• 2 sticks butter
• 1 T garlic salt
• 1 T Salt 
• 5 T pepper (no, that is not a typo)
• 3 T onion powder, divided (not a typo either)
• Carrots (whatever kind you like in your soup. The recipe says a bag of them and you can wait for them to get soft but I don't have time for that so I got a can of carrots that were already soft HA)
• One yellow onion, chopped/minced/diced (however whatever)
• Celery (or no celery if you're like me)
• (2) 49 oz. cans of chicken broth (I had boxes, so I ended up using 2 1/2 boxes)
• Country Pasta-Homemade style egg pasta (clear bag with a red label. At Walmart it sits on the bottom shelf underneath all of the boxed pastas)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Place chicken breasts in a baking dish 
• Add 1/4 C water 
• Coat each breast or tender with 1 T of onion powder (really really coat them. REALLY coat them, don't be scared)
• Sprinkle the 1 T of garlic powder over the chicken as well
• Cut up your butter and place it all randomly in the dish. I put some butter on each piece of chicken and the rest just anywhere.
• Cook chicken for about 30 minutes or until they reach 165 degrees
• Let the chicken cool
• While the chicken cools, you can chop up your vegetables 
• Saute your onions with some butter until they are nice a fragrant (or saute them until they are tender)
• Add the rest of the veggies and give it a good mix with 1 T of pepper
• Pour the chicken broth into the pot and bring to a boil
• Add in the rest of the onion powder and the rest of the pepper
• Add in the noodles (they will take about 25 minutes to cook)
• Turn temperature to low
• When your chicken is done, remove the breasts or tenders to a cutting board and whisk the butter/broth left in the pan together
• Dump that butter broth right into the pot with everything else
• With your remaining stick of butter and 1 T onion powder, just melt the butter in the microwave and whisk in the onion powder. Add to broth as well
• Cut up chicken into chunks or shred and add to the pot
• When the noodles are done, the soup is done!

Cooking Challenge; Sweet Potato, Cinnamon & Chicken

I posted my first Cooking Challenge up on my Facebook page last week (like my page so you can chime in with your ideas, too!). I asked people to choose any 3 ingredients to try and make a meal out of; Chopped style, if you will. I chose at random, and it was Veronica's ingredients I was challenged with!

Sweet potato

Cinnamon

Chicken

My biggest problem with those ingredients? I HATE sweet potatoes! And cinnamon? To me, that belongs in desserts. It is very rare that I would find that to be acceptable spice in a savory dish. However, this wasn't entirely a "savory" meal I'd be putting together, because although it dealt with potatoes, it was a sweet potato. So it was a comforty, savory, sweet meal I'd need to put together.

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

I did take the safe route and tried to come up with a soup. And guess what? I'd honestly give myself a 7 out of 10 for this one. Let me tell you why..

I'll go ahead and take you through my head during this process...
1. I used the cinnamon to flavor the sweet potato as it was boiling. My entire home smelled like cinnamon and sweet potato while it cooked and it was surprisingly heavenly.
2. I felt like a bit of a "nutty" flavor would go well with this, so instead of using olive oil or water to help smooth out my sweet potato in the food processor, I used browned butter instead.
3. I typically like soups to be smooth, so I went ahead and blended the grated garlic and minced onions into the sweet potato puree before mixing it with the broth

What I'd change: 

1. The chicken. I chose to do a soup, so my options for how to incorporate the chicken was a little bit limited for my knowledge, and having it just mixed in didn't fit well. I think croutons would be a better fit to top this off.
2. I am convinced that if I'd blended some roasted red bell peppers into it and kept it thick like a spread for some baguette slices, it would be ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. I will be testing that idea out soon.
3. I feel like I copped out with the cinnamon. I could not taste it at all, so I think I'd try and be a little more bold with it next time around.

Bottom Line:

1. It was pretty darn good for someone that doesn't even like sweet potato. But again, omit the chicken and turn it into a spread with some roasted red peppers and it would be to die for.

What you will need:

• 1 sweet potato, peeled, washed and cubed
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 4 T butter, divided
• 3 cloves garlic, grated
• 1/4 C onions, minced
• 1 T flour
• 1 C Chicken stock or broth (I had broth on hand)
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1/2 C heavy cream
• 1 tsp. thyme
• Shredded chicken to top (but....lesbianest, you don't need it)

Directions:

• Boil the cubes of sweet potato with 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• Using 2 T of butter, make some browned butter and set aside
• When the sweet potatoes are tender, add to a blender, food processor or mixer of some kind and blend, adding in the browned butter until smooth
• Add in garlic and onions and blend again until smooth
• Using the other 2 T of butter, mix with the flour over medium heat with a whisk until it's smooth and has turned to a light caramel shade to make a roux
• Add chicken stock/broth and brown sugar into the roux and bring to a boil
• Turn down heat and let simmer for a couple of minutes, stirring often
• Add the sweet potato puree to the broth and blend well
• Add in heavy cream until it reaches desired consistency
• Add in thyme and simmer until it's blended well and warm
• Top with chicken (but don't)
Powered by eRecipe.com

Rough River Clam Chowder: From The Roof Restaurant in Salt Lake City

If you love Clam Chowder as much as I do, this is a must! I have tried many many many many many clam chowders in my day; seaside and all. This is the best copycat and it is served at The Roof Restaurant in Salt Lake City from Pedro Mauricio, Executive Chef.
It's a bit spicy because it doesn't call for a specific amount of Creole Seasoning. The amount used in this recipe is my personal preference and you're welcome to use more or less.

What you will need:

• 1/2 lb. bacon
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 C carrots
• 1 C Vegetable Stock
• 5 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 3 C Heavy Cream
• 3 6.5 oz. clams (The first time I made this I just used 2 6.5 oz clams and I added more this time around. I liked it better with more but it's up to you)
• green onions, diced
• 1 T Creole seasoning + to taste

Directions:

• In large pan, cook bacon until crispy

• Once it's crispy, crumble and set aside to use later; do not drain the grease out of the pan
• Add minced onions and carrots to the grease

• Let the onions and carrots get tender (once the carrots have softened I use my spatula to cut them in half. I don't like spoon fulls of massive carrots)
• Once they're tender, add in your diced potatoes and 1 C vegetable stock

• Bring to a boil
• Turn heat down and let simmer for about 4 minutes
• Pour in 3 C of Heavy Cream and bring to a boil
• Let simmer until potatoes are soft; about 15 minutes. (You will know the potatoes are soft when you can stab one with a fork and it slides off as you pull the fork up)

• Add your crumbled bacon, clams and 1 T Creole seasoning

• Let it simmer about 3 or 4 more minutes
• Top with green onions and sprinkle some more Creole Seasoning on top

Hearty Beef Stew

Judging by the picture, it might not look that tasty to you. What a mistake that judgment is! I kid you not, if you are cooking this and people walk into your home, they will instantly feel comfy and nostalgic (maybe that's just me since I grew up with it!) with the aroma filling all their senses. It's not your average stew-ee flavor, it's sooo much better! Mmmmm!

Also, that nice roll in the picture is home made as well, and by far my favorite kind ever. If I ever convert my "fill cup with red polka dots on it half way with milk" type recipe into actual measurements, I will post that recipe as well. :)

What you will need:

• Stew meat (often labeled as "street meat" in the meat section, you'll find them pre-cubed. The kind I love to use is the meat that's sliced really thin, usually right next to the cubed. I just cut the strips in half before adding them to the stew
• 2 cans corn
• 2 cans carrots
• 2 cans sliced or chopped potatoes (or use real potatoes chopped into cubes)
• 1 pkg. McCormikcs brand Beef Stew Mix
• 1 can regular Campbells tomato soup

Directions:

• Add 1 can of tomato soup, stir in
• Add 2 cans of corn, stir in
• Add 2 cans of carrots, stir in
• Add potatoes, stir in
• Add meat
• Add water to desired amount
• Add pkg. Beef Stew Mix
• Heat on stove until hot and ready to serve!