Broccoli Cheese Soup

I posted this previously, but it was smushed in with other recipes in the same post. I made this the other day and remember how delicious it was so I thought I'd post it again by itself. And since winter is coming, soups are so good and warm to serve!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

2 cans chicken broth
1 small onion, chopped (I'm not a big onion fan, so I just used 1-2 tbsp. of dried onion flakes)
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 tsp pepper
4 cups milk
3 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup swiss cheese, shredded
Broccoli florets, steamed & chopped (I used 4 broccoli crowns, steamed them until they were tender but not too soft, then chopped them into bite sized piece)

Directions: Simmer chicken broth and chopped onion for 15 minutes in a covered saucepan, until onions are soft. (Because I just used dehydrated onions, it didn't have to heat so long) Heat the milk in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes. In a large stockpot, melt the butter. Add the flour and pepper, whisk and cook together for a couple of minutes - it will be thick but just keep stirring. Whisk in warmed milk. Continue to stir and cook until the soup starts to thicken. Next add the chicken broth and continue to stir until well blended. Add the cheeses and steamed broccoli.

*This is really yummy served in bread bowls, but is good with crackers or just plain as well.

St. Patricks Day Recipe Ideas

I found these on one of the blogs I read and thought I'd share in honor of St. Patricks Day. Find the original posts here, here and here (they have pictures).

Broccoli Cheese Soup

2 cans chicken broth
1 small onion, chopped (I'm not a big onion fan, so I just used about a tbsp. of dried onion flakes)
2/3 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 tsp pepper
4 cups milk
3 cups extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup swiss cheese, shredded
Broccoli florets, steamed & chopped (I used 4 broccoli crowns, steamed them until they were tender but not too soft, then cut them into bite sized piece)

Directions: Simmer chicken broth and chopped onion for 15 minutes in a covered saucepan, until onions are soft. (Because I just used dehydrated onions, it didn't have to heat so long) Heat the milk in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes. In a large stockpot, melt the butter. Add the flour and pepper, whisk and cook together for a couple of minutes - it will be thick but just keep stirring. Whisk in warmed milk. Continue to stir and cook until the soup starts to thicken. Next add the chicken broth and continue to stir until well blended. Add the cheeses and steamed broccoli.

**This soup is SUPER good, and I'm not really a fan of soups. I served mine in bread bowls - so yummy! Also, I tend to be a salty person, but next time I make this I will probably add some salt to the soup before serving, maybe 1/2 to 1 tsp. salt.


Rainbow Cupcakes

Mix a white or Vanilla cake mix as directed (I used the egg white only version to save a couple calories). Divide the batter into separate bowls (I used 6 bowls for all the colors of the rainbow). I used food coloring to color the batter, it took about 10 drops each color. Then layer each of the colors into every cupcake liner. You can try to perfectly push each color to the edge of the liner, but bare in mind that you can only fill the cups 2/3 of the way full or they overflow when baked. Bake and frost.

**This was a really fun activity for my daughter, she enjoyed frosting them and decorating them and of course also eating them.

Key Lime Pie

Crust:
1 pkg. graham cracker crumbs
3 TBS sugar
1 stick melted butter
¼ tsp. sea salt

Filling:
4 egg yolks
1 can (14 oz.) Key Lime juice
1 lime, grated zest
*green food coloring if you want the pie to be actually green.

Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Crush graham cracker crumbs with pastry roller. Add the sugar and melted butter. Work together and then press in the bottom and sides of a pie dish. Bake for 10 min. Allow the crust to cool. While the crust is resting, use a mixer with whisk attachment to whip the egg yolks and lime zest at high speed until fluffy, 5 minutes. Gradually add the condensed milk and continue to whip until thick, 4 minutes longer. Lower the mixer speed and slowly add the lime juice until incorporated. Pour the mixture into the crust and bake for 15 minutes, or until the filling has set. Cool on a wire rack and then chill for 30 minutes, plus.

Soft Pretzels
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
2 TBS. brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup bread flour
3 cups flour
2 cups water
2 TBS. baking soda
(Any toppings you want or dips)

Directions: Dissolve yeast in 1 1/2 cups warm water. Add sugar, salt and stir to dissolve. Add the flours and knead the dough for a few minutes. Cover the dough and let it rise for at least a half hour. After it has risen, break of pieces and roll into thin ropes. Shape into pretzels (or any other shape). Dip it into a bath of 2 cups warm water and 2 TBS. baking soda. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Cover the dough pretzels and let rise another half hour or more. Bake at 450 degrees from 7 to 10 minutes until slightly golden on top. Brush with melted butter and add toppings (salt, parmesan, cinnamon & sugar, etc.)

**These were AWESOME!! My dough took longer to rise so I just let it keep rising until it doubled in size. I also let them rise on the cookie sheet longer as well. Needless to say they are a bit time consuming. I coated mine in cinnamon and sugar and they were so SO good, Bo ate most of them as soon as they were done.

White Chicken Chili

Sauté in Pan:

3 Chicken Breasts (or 12 chicken tenders) cooked w/ salt & pepper, then cubed. (I prefer less chicken)
1 Tb. Vegetable oil
½ tsp. Garlic powder
1 can of chopped green chiles
½ small yellow onion, chopped

Whisk together in a crock pot:
1 can chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can of evaporated milk
1 cup water
1 tsp. Ground Cumin
1 tsp. Dried or ground oregano
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ cup sour cream

Add to crock pot mixture:
1-2 cans of corn, drained
2 cans of northern beans, rinsed & drained (I usually add a third can of beans.)

Add the sauteed mixture to the crock pot & stir well.

Heat in crock pot on low for as long as you need to. I usually leave it for 5 or 6 hours. Remove the lid ½ hour before serving. This will thicken it up a bit. This recipe can also be warmed on the stove to serve immediately.

Serving suggestions: grated cheese, crushed saltine crackers, Fritos. (I prefer saltines, John prefers Fritos)

Note: To make this spicier you can add more green chiles, cumin and cayenne.

Corn Chowder

This has become one of my very favorite soups. Especially in cold winter months.

1/2 cup chopped onion (I use dried onion and add a little water while it's cooking)
1/2 cup green bell pepper
1 Tb cooking oil

Cook onion and bell pepper in hot oil until onion is tender but not brown.

1 can chicken broth (I use chicken bouillon and water)
1 cup cubed, peeled potato

Stir in chicken broth and potato. Bring to boiling, reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

3 cups frozen corn (I've also used drained canned corn)

Stir in corn. Cook, uncovered, about 10 minutes more or till potato and corn are tender. Stir occasionally.

1 cup milk
1 Tb salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt

Combine in a small bowl, then stir into the corn mixture.

2 slices bacon

Crisp-cook, drain and crumble bacon. Add to soup, and stir.

1 cup of soup has: 180 calories, 6 grams fat, and 4 grams of fiber

Options:

• before adding the corn, blenderize half of it to make a thicker soup.
  
• add 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese with the bacon.
• add several slices of cut-up ham instead of, or in addition to, the bacon. It makes it a heartier, and more filling meal.
  

Baked Potato Soup

Baked Potato Soup

4 large baking potatoes (2 ¾ pounds)
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
¾ tsp. Salt
¼ tsp. White pepper or ½ tsp. Black pepper
6 cups Milk
1 cup Sour Cream
¼ cup thinly sliced green onions
10 bacon strips crumbled
1 cup shredded cheese

Bake potatoes until tender, cool completely. Peel and cube potatoes. In a large saucepan, melt butter, stir in flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Gradually add milk into pan. Bring to a boil, cook and stir 2 minutes until thick. Remove from heat, whisk in sour cream. Add potatoes, green onions, bacon and cheese.

Chicken Noodle Soup

I searched and searched the Internet for a recipe that I thought looked good. A lot of them failed because I wasn't going to be making homemade noodles. So I read about 5 of them and then just made up my own recipe. It may not be perfect, certainly worth trying, but I liked it!

Chicken Noodle Soup

3 chicken breasts
2-3 stalks of celery
3 carrots
2 can chicken broth
7-8 cups water
1-2 tsp. Chicken bouillon
1 tbsp. Dehydrated onions
Sprinkle of garlic
Sprinkle of onion salt
Sprinkle of dried parsley
Salt & Pepper to taste
8 or 12 oz. Bag of wide egg noodles (any noodles would work)

Trim fat from chicken. Slice up celery & carrots. Place all ingredients (except noodles) in large pot. Bring to boil, simmer until chicken is very tender (about 45 minutes to an hour). Remove chicken breast; allow cooling, cut in small pieces, and return to pot.

Cook noodles (in another pot) until done, and combine with soup.

*I actually moved my soup into a crock pot and then used the same pot to cook my noodles in, that way the soup stayed warm in the crock pot while the noodles cooked and even all the way until I served dinner without over cooking.

**A lot of these directions are just estimates because after making this soup I discovered that it could be made a lot of different ways. This is the way I made it, maybe next time I’ll make it a little different!

***This made a LOT of soup. It filled my big crock pot up, so fix it when you have more than 3 people to serve. Needless to say, we'll be eating chicken noodle soup leftovers for about a week!

****Does anyone know the cook times for doing this solely in the crock pot?