I've been hiding out with some Chicken Tortilla Soup

Well helloooo there!

Nice to see you again.

Maybe you've been wondering where I've been,

Maybe you haven't even noticed. 

Either way.... I'm gonna tell you.

But first, I cannot ignore the fact that it's Valentines day! 

In honor of that, I thought I would share a quote from one of my bestest friends.  I think she hits the nail on the head and I believe everyone can benefit from mulling this over:

"For some, today could be a painful reminder of love lost...and so for you I pray a distinct awareness of our God's presence....for others, what if we choose to celebrate the love we DO know today with friends and loved ones and choose not to despise love unfulfilled and allow yourself to receive the gift of Love and Goodness around you, in whatever form that may be!"

I really love that! 



So, back to my hiding away.....

I had surgery.... on my jaw

I also had my wisdom teeth out ("since they were already in there".....lol)

So, I've been recovering for the last week.  

I may need a little time still because, you see, my mouth is full of stitches

FULL of stitches

And stitches are not condusive to eating... so I'm not really eating OR cooking either.

My poor family you say......

No.

My Mom and my friends are awesome.

They have brought me food.

Casseroles and soups

Muffins and smoothies

Chili and breads

Talk about LOVE!

And, you might be wondering why I think you care....

Well, I wrote all of this just to tell you that ONE of those soups is from another pretty cool blog/website

So I thought I'd share the recipe with you because, well... it's pretty great.

My wonderful thoughtful sweet friend Merran is a big fan of the Pioneer Woman

She makes a lot of her recipes. 

She made me her Chicken Tortilla soup

It was pretty easy to eat after a few days because everything is so soft.

It's still one of the only things I've been eating besides the smoothies one of my other friends made me.

( I hope I can get THAT recipe.... it's pretty yummy too)

Anyway, if you want to check out the Pioneer Woman's Soup click here!

Otherwise, I hope you receive LOVE today.....

Ham & Bean Soup

This recipe is an old family recipe.

It's from the hub's grandfather, who I hear was a great cook.

It's too bad the hubs didn't inherit that gene...lol 

But... he taught him lots of other great stuff.. so I can't complain!

I finally got the recipe for this yummy soup and now I make it at least once a year.

There is only one problem.....

There has to be a little forethought with this dish.

It takes a little bit of time...and

Because it requires a ham bone, you need to have one handy.

And, well... if you haven't cooked a ham recently, it's not likely you have a ham bone just hanging around.

I am not sure if you can buy one from a butcher... I've never tried.

I just usually freeze the ham bone from Chirstmas or Easter dinner and use that.

Anway, I love this recipe... please don't freak out that there's bacon grease in it.

Remember it's an OLD recipe and bacon fat was a pretty common ingredient.

It also happens to be the key ingredient and makes it taste AWESOME!

You can try to cut it out of the recipe, but I promise that the bacon grease is what really makes the flavor POP!

I didn't take near as many pictures as I normally do... I have no excuse except that I forgot.  It happens!

Anyway, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 Ham bone, with some ham still on it
8 C Potatoes, diced ( I use redskin)
3 C Carrots, diced
1 1/2 C Celery, diced
1 Jar (48oz) Northern beans
1 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
Reserve bacon grease for later use
1 packet Lipton dry onion soup mix
2-4 Tbs flour
*Balsamic vinegar (optional topping)

Directions:
Place ham bone in large stock pot
Fill with water, just covering top of bone
Boil until meat falls off bone (aprox. 2-hours)
Add water when necessary so that bone is always covered with water
When meat has fallen off the bone, take bone out of water to cool
Pull any remaining meat off bone and place back in broth
(after this step you can place the pot of "broth" in the fridge so the fat solidifies and you can skim it off later, or you can keep going)

This is the fat the solidified on top after refridgerating overnight... ewww!

Dice up all your veggies

Add potatoes & carrots
After about 10 minutes, add celery
Cook until veggies are tender (about 30 min)

Add Onion soup mix
Add northern beans
In a seperate pan, fry bacon until crisp
When bacon is done set aside to cool
While bacon grease is still quite hot, add 2 Tbs flour to it mixing quickly with a whisk to make a paste.

 
If it's too runny, slowly add more flour unitl it's a paste.
This is what will make your soup thick.
Make sure soup is boiling and slowly add the bacon grease paste to the soup, mixing as you pour
Add bacon crumbles
Cook for 10 minutes and soup is done. 
Adding a splash of balsamic on top of each bowl  is great... but optional.

***Review:
Because this is a family recipe we've been eating for years, it's easy to guess that we love this.  I fully expected the kids to hate it though (even though they love ham).  Only one child refused to eat it.  It happens to be the same child that never eats any of my meals...lol  So, I'm not too worried.  Otherwise the kids liked it.... but they didn't love it. 
However, to even out our bias, I sent a bowl over to my taste tester/neighbor and she loved it.  So, I guess that means it's good!

**Tips:
I make this recipe in 2 parts (meaning 2 days) I place the ham broth in the fridge after it's done boiling so I can skim off the fat.  I mean, if I'm already eating bacon grease, the least I can do do is take out what fat I can right?  So, I cook the bone one day, place the pot in the fridge overnight, skim the fat and then start the rest of it.  I also let it cook a while too (after it's "done")... I prefer it being cooked longer.  And honestly, it's the best on the second day. 
I know it's not the easiest recipe in the world and there are a ton of steps...I don't usually cook this way... but it's totally worth it.
 Also, you can add less or more of the veggies too.  I used what I already had on hand but you can put in as much or as little as you like.
One last tip... this is great to freeze.  This recipe makes a lot... so we eat it for a few days and then freeze it in individual servings so we can eat it for lunch here and there.  It tastes great re heated!

Serving it:
Adding a splash of balsamic vinegar to each bowl is awesome. It gives it a little bit of a different flavor and I absoultely love it. 
We serve this with saltine crackers and maybe some good italian or french bread! MMMMM!
Can't wait to go have another bowl!


Printer Friendly Recipe:

Ham & Bean Soup

Ingredients:
1 Ham bone, with some ham still on it
8 C Potatoes, diced ( I use redskin)
3 C Carrots, diced
1 1/2 C Celery, diced
1 Jar (48oz) Northern beans
1 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
Reserve bacon grease for later use
1 packet Lipton dry onion soup mix
2-4 Tbs flour
*Balsamic vinegar (optional topping)

Directions:
Ingredients:
1 Ham bone, with some ham still on it
8 C Potatoes, diced ( I use redskin)
3 C Carrots, diced
1 1/2 C Celery, diced
1 Jar (48oz) Northern beans
1 lb bacon, cooked and crumbled
Reserve bacon grease for later use
1 packet Lipton dry onion soup mix
2-4 Tbs flour
*Balsamic vinegar (optional topping)

Directions:
Place ham bone in large stock pot
Fill with water, just covering top of bone
Boil until meat falls off bone (aprox.2-hours)
Add water when necessary so that bone is always covered with water
When meat has fallen off  the bone, take bone out of water to cool
Pull any remaining meat off bone and place back in broth
(after this step you can place the pot of "broth" in the fridge so the fat solidifies and you can skim it off later, or you can keep going)
Dice up all your veggies
Add potatoes & carrots
After about 10 minutes, add celery
Cook until veggies are tender (about 30 min)
Add Onion soup mix
Add northern beans
In a seperate pan, fry bacon until crisp
When bacon is done set aside to cool
While bacon grease is still quite hot, add 2 Tbs flour to it mixing quickly with a whisk to make a paste. 
If it's too runny, slowly add more flour unitl it's a paste.
This is what will make your soup thick.
Make sure soup is boiling and slowly add the bacon grease paste to the soup, mixing as you pour
Add bacon crumbles
Cook for 10 minutes and soup is done. 
Adding a splash of balsamic on top of each bowl  is great... but optional.

Apple Pumpkin Bisque

Well, in the spirit of "All things Pumpkin" I tried to make a dinner that incorporated pumpkin

I mean, this is a dinner site after all

I know a lot of desserts have pumpkin... so that part is easy

But dinner?  Well, not so much

Soup is about the closest thing I can find

I tried an apple squash bisque a few weeks ago and I liked it

So, since squash and pumpkin are related, I figured I'd search for a similar recipe

I found a few

Most of them call for the same ingredients, so it was easy to just pick one

Since I already had the pumpkin ready, it was very easy to make.

I didn't take long at all.
I did change the recipe up slightly from the original and the recipe reflects my changes

Here we go

Ingredients: 

1 tablespoon unsalted butter ( I used salted, because that's what I had on hand)
1/2  small onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger root ( I used 1/2 tsp ground ginger)
2 1/2 C pumpkin purée
1 1/2 C  unsweetened applesauce
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) chicken broth
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon apple-cider vinegar

1 cinnamon stick

1 small, dried chile pepper ( I didn't use this)

Pinch ground nutmeg

Salt and ground white pepper, to taste

1/2 cup heavy cream or sour cream ( I used the heavy cream)

Directions:

Melt butter over medium heat in a large, heavy saucepan.

Sauté the onion and ginger until onion is tender, about 4 minutes.

Add all other ingredients (except the cream), and simmer about 15 minutes until flavors are blended.
 Stir in cream just before serving.

This is what the soup looked like after I stirred the cream in

***Review:
I am still not sure what I think about this soup.  I have a major cold/sinus infection and can't taste much.  Probably a bad time to be taste testing new foods huh?  I didn't like it at all until I added the cream at the end, and then I liked it.  (But I can't be trusted since I couldn't even taste the bitter stuff the dentist put in my mouth yesterday)
2 Children ran to the sink to spit it out immediately...lol   I am guessing it's a thumbs down in the kid area.  It is kind of a savory soup and not really kid friendly I guess.  As of this posting, Hubs is working late and hasn't tasted it yet.  I am definitely curious to see what he will think!
UPDATE:  Hubs loves the soup... says it could use some cheese. Baby also loves the soup, although his opinion is questionable since he is also walking around eating a raw onion. 


**Tips:
If I were to have the motivation (which my cold has sucked from me) I would put this soup in the food processor to blend up all the onion bits... I think that would add to the texture.  Obvioulsy, it's not necessary, but definitely would be good.  Also, you might think of adding a bit less of the chicken broth until you get the texture you're looking for.  I personally, thought it needed to be thicker, but I added the broth in the beginning .
Do NOT forget the cream in this soup... trust me.
As for serving, I would most definitely not eat this alone... it's a very light soup and just wouldn't cut the "meal" status at my house.  I added a little cream on top before serving and if I'd had any, a sprinkle of chives would have looked awesome!  But, sick people don't grocery shop....so I didn't have any.



Leftover Soup

We're still working on the leftover grilled steak from Tuedsay
Leftovers....... mmmmm!

I didn't always think that way.

My mom doesn't eat them, my grandmother doesn't eat them

I didn't eat them either.

I do not like them Sam I am! (sorry, I couldn't resist)

But... then I met my hubby.

He likes leftovers

At one point, I joked that he would eat boiled paper if you put hot sauce on it.

I was kind of serious though... during the college years he may have even tried that

Since meeting me his standards have gone up.....

and mine have gone down.

In the FOOD area people.... FOOD!

Remember, this blog is about food?

Anyway.... He is much pickier about food these days and as for me?

Well, I eat leftovers now

I actually love them

(here is where I really want to add another Green Eggs & Ham quote... but I am refraining)

I eat them all the time and I love love love to re-use them in another dish

I love to recycle too... and re-use.

Maybe I should call this recycled soup? 

Hmmm.. maybe not!

Anway, I went to a class once on saving money

She taught how to be frugal in grocery shopping and all that

She taught how to re-use food you would normally throw out.

Ok... don't get all grossed out on on me now!

I am talking about that last little tablespoon of corn left in the bowl after dinner

(NOT off someone's plate)

Those few green beans that no one will eat.

Not enough for a serving and so you just throw it away.

STOP!

Now there is a better way.

Get a ziplock freezer bag.

Label it leftover veggies or meat

Everytime you are done with dinner and have a few carrots or some corn,broccoli, green beans.. anything really..

Put it into this bag in the freezer.

You will be shocked at how fast this bag will fill up

I do the same thing with meat too.

Sick of eating pot roast AGAIN? 

Toss the rest in a freezer bag... juice, onions and all.

When the bags are full... it's time to make leftover soup.

You are basically getting a FREE meal.

These are all little bits of things you will toss anyway... but are perfectly good.

And the mixing of all the flavors is awesome! 

It's never really the same soup because there's always something different about it.

Sometimes it has beans, sometimes it doesn't.... and so on.

Anyway.... I love this soup.  I keep the bags in my freezer door and pretty much add to it every night.

E-A-S-Y!

Ingredients:
- 1 pkg McCormick Beef Stew seasoning
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 2 tsp garlic powder (or to taste)
- 1 (32oz) Beef or Chicken broth/stock
- 1 C water
-1 bag of leftover veggies
- bag of leftover beef
- *1 can diced tomatoes (optional)

Directions:
Add everything to a large pot and cook for a few hours

Cook some small noodles and serve them in the soup

See? E-A-S-Y!

***Review:

Hubs and I love this soup! The kids are iffy... sometimes they eat it sometimes not.  All those veggies in one place freak them out....lol   They do like it better if I serve the "ABC" noodles with it.  I love that this is an easy and free dinner.  Easy and Free.... what more could you ask for.

Hubs is not a soup person... so this only goes over for a day or two.  He doesn't think soup is a meal.  Luckily, you can only make this every few months. 

**Tips:

If you don't have enough veggies left or if you want to make this from "fresh" veggies.. you can still do it.  Just add cans or frozen of whatever veggies you want.  It's pretty much a free for all.  I have never mixed chicken and beef but I suppose you could do that too.  I just like mine this way because it's pretty much Beef Vegetable soup... and I like that.  But do whatever you want.  You can't really mess it up.

You can even put it in the crockpot. 

Everything is already cooked, so just toss it in on warm or low and let it heat up...  you might want to add a bit more liquid if you're going to cook it all day.  This is one of those things that is even better on the second day!
As for seasonings... keep tasting as you go... you may need less or more of somethings depending on how seasoned the meat was that you put in.  If it's too salty... just add more water.

Serve it over any kind of noodles you like... or none at all.

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Ingredients:
- 1/2 C Chopped Onion
- 1/4 C Butter
- 1/4 C Flour
- 4 C Broccoli Florets
- 1 C Carrots diced
- 4 C Cheddar Cheese
- 4 C Pepper Jack Cheese
- 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
- 2 C Whole Milk
- 2 C Chicken Broth
*salt and pepper to taste

Directions:Over medium saute onions 5 min or until translucent.
Set aside.
In 5 quart soup pot, melt butter over med heat.
Whisk flour into melted butter and stir for 3 minutes.
Whisk in milk.
Add Chicken stock.
Turn heat down & simmer for 20 minutes.
Add broccoli florets, carrots and onions.
Continue simmering for 20 minutes.
Season with pepper and salt.
Transfer 2 cups of soup to blender or food processor and puree.
Return puree to soup pot.
Add cheeses and nutmeg.
Stir until melted
Serve with Italian bread or crackers.

***Review:
I LOVE this soup! I got the recipe from my friend Cherith this summer and it's awesome! This is the second time I made it and it's definitely going to be a fall/winter staple in this house.
The hubby loved it, 2 of the kids wouldn't eat it (but it's broccoli... I didn't expect much) the other kids ate 3 bowls each. That evens it out right? My family ate the whole pot... every last drop. Guess I will double it next time.
This is a very easy soup to make... it took me about an hour to make it. I was surprised at that. I always thought this was a "fancy" soup to make. Nope! And fresh broccoli is pretty cheap!

**Tips:
I like to improvise when I can... or have to :)
I did not use whole milk, I used 2%
I did not use pepper jack or cheddar... I used colby jack
I didn't need the salt or pepper
If you don't have a food processor or blender you don't HAVE to puree the 2 cups and the end. It will have a different texture... and I would recommend the puree ... but you probably can live without it.
This is a definite must make people! It's comfort food!
My next conquest is to conver this to a crockpot recipe!

White Chicken Chili Crockpot OR Stovetop

Ingredients:
- 2 lbs chicken breast
- 2 48 oz jars of Great northern beans (the white ones)

- 1/2 can chicken broth (~7oz)

- 1 jar of salsa

- 1 8oz bag of colby jack

* Sour cream is optional... but yummy!

Directions:

• Boil, grill or otherwise cook the chicken breast.
• Cut or shred them up into bite sized pieces.
• Add chicken, beans (liquid & all), salsa and broth to crockpot or stock pot on the stove.
• Cook until hot.
• I did it in the crockpot on high for about 4 hours.
• On the stove it doesn't take too long, but it's good to let it simmer maybe 20 minutes and to blend the flavors together.
• Add cheese 15 minutes before serving to let it melt in.

I serve it with sour cream on top and some fresh italian bread. It's also great to eat with scoops tortilla chips!

***Review:
I got this recipe about 7 years ago at a boy scout potluck. It was awesome and I had to have it, so I hunted this lady down and had her write the recipe on a napkin for me. I still use the napkin as my recipe card! Everyone I have made it for loves it... including my dad who was here tonight for dinner.

The kids asked for seconds which kind of shocked me... so I will call this one a HIT!

**Tips:

It does make quite a bit... I think we will be eating this one for a few days. Great thing about it is we can freeze it and eat it for lunch or dinner another day. Or as always you can cut the recipe in half... but I love making extra to freeze.

As always, please let me know if you try this. I would love to hear what you would do different & what you liked and didn't like.