Creamy Tortellini Soup

1 lb sausage

1 brick cream cheese

1/2 sweet onion
1 garlic minced 
1 pkg tortellini 
1/3 bag spinach 
1 can tomato sauce (or diced tomatoes)
1 box chicken stock
Mozzarella cheese shredded
Pepper

Cook sausage with onion and garlic
Pour chicken stock in crock pot. Add cream cheese, tomato sauce, and cooked sausage. Cook on low for 4 hours. Add spinach and tortellini for 30 min. Serve with mozzarella cheese and pepper on top. 

Don’t skip the spinach. My husband and kids hate all things green. They still love it. 

Pasta e Fagioli Soup

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, diced (1 cup)
3 stalks celery, chopped (1 cup)
1 large carrot, julienned (1 cup)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 14.5 oz. cans petite diced tomatoes
1 15 oz. can pinto beans (Original recipe uses red kidney beans.  I don't like them personally, but you can use them if you like)
1 15 oz. can great northern beans
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
12 oz V8 juice
1 Tablespoon white or red wine vinegar
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon thyme
½ pound ditali pasta (little round circles)

Brown the beef, drain. Add onion, carrots, celery & garlic. Saute for 10 min. Add remaining ingredients except pasta and let simmer 1 hour. Cook the pasta until al dente (a little firm) and then add to soup 5-10 min. before serving. Can also add pasta to each individual bowl to preserve leftovers (pasta sucks up all the liquid if sits too long).
Serves about 8.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

1 lb. chicken breasts
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 c. chicken broth
1 c. masa harina (corn flour, by flour on baking aisle)
3 c. water
1 c. red enchilada sauce (mild/medium)
2 c. extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin

Cube chicken into small pieces. In large pot, cook onion, garlic, and chicken in a little olive oil until chicken is no longer pink and onions are translucent. Take off heat and allow to cool a second; add chicken broth. Return to heat. Whisk together masa harina and 2 c. water. Pour into pot and add the remaining 1 c. water, the enchilada sauce, and spices. Bring to boil. Add cheese and stir till melted. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Serve with crushed tortilla chips and shredded cheese.

Chicken Taco Soup - Crock Pot

My neighbor gave me this recipe. She said they loved it. I was a little skeptical, well because it has canned cream of potato soup and canned corn. I don't love cream of anything soups. And canned corn should be banned. But I made it, and we LOVED it. Seriously really good. You must try it! And of course I used a rotisserie chicken. Smith's had them on sale, and I had a coupon making it a really good deal, plus it's easy!

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2-3 cups cooked, chopped/or shredded chicken
1 can mexicorn (corn with red and green bell peppers) don't drain.
2 cans cream of potato soup
1 small can (4 oz) diced green chilies
3 cups chicken broth
1/2 packet taco seasoning
8 oz sour cream

Add all ingredients except sour cream into crock pot and cook on low 4-6 hours. Before serving, pour 2-3 cups of soup into a bowl and mix with the sour cream. Add back into the soup, and serve with grated cheese and tortilla chips.

(Note: I told my kids the red and green peppers/chilies in the soup were "just part of the corn" and told them it was the cool indian corn. They ate it without further questions! Had they known it was peppers, they would not have tried!!)

Fruit Soup

We made this for Becky's shower and it was the perfect shower food! It's from The Sisters' Cafe and they say it's the epitome of chick food. Perfectly put!

This really is like a cold soup full of berries and fruit with just a little bit of a syrupy feel to it. Serve in small cups with spoons!

3/4 c. sugar

1 c. water
1 c. peach juice (or another cup of water)
3 Tb tapioca (“minute brand” quick cooking tapioca)
6 oz orange juice concentrate
1 ½ c. water
2 cans mandarin oranges (with or without juice)
1 quart sliced peaches , cut into bite-size pieces (you can use 1 large can of peach slices, without the syrup)
2 c. fresh strawberries, sliced, just before serving
2 bananas, sliced, just before serving
1 bag frozen raspberries, thawed but still cool and firm (or an equivalent amount of fresh) or other berry mix

Bring sugar, water, peach juice and tapioca to a boil. Continue boiling on medium high for about 10 minutes, stirring often. Some tapioca will be clear and other granules will have a white center. Take off heat. Let sit for 30 minutes. (This is when the tapioca will become more clear.) Add 6 oz orange juice concentrate and 1 ½ c. water. Chill overnight. Add mandarin oranges and peaches. Before serving add strawberries, bananas, and raspberries.

Cream Cheese Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Another one from Mel's Kitchen Cafe! I swear all of the recipes I post come from her site. I love her stuff! This soup was so good. I actually didn't have chicken and decided to make it anyway, and it was still divine. Creamy and rich and yummy! Make sure you read my notes in bold:

*Serves 4

2 tablespoons butter
1 yellow onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 stalks celery, diced
1/2 cup diced carrots
3 cups chicken broth (I always use hot water and chicken granules)
2-3 potatoes, peeled and finely diced (I used about 4 since I wasn't using chicken)
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons flour
1 (8 oz. package) cream cheese (I only added 6 oz. and thought it was fine)
2-3 (about 1 pound) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and diced

In a large pot, melt the butter and add the onion, garlic, celery and carrots. Saute, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes, until the veggies are slightly tender and the onions are translucent. Add the chicken broth and potatoes. Bring the soup to a simmer and cook, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. In a liquid measuring cup, vigorously whisk the flour and milk together until smooth. Whisk the mixture into the soup, stirring quickly, and cook over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, until the soup begins to thicken slightly. Stir often to ensure the soup doesn’t burn. Soften the cream cheese in the microwave until it is very soft/melty. I usually place the unwrapped cream cheese on a plate and microwave it for one minute at 30% power. I like it really, really soft so it doesn’t leave lumps in the soup. Add the cream cheese to the soup in small tablespoon-size pieces. Let the pieces sit in the soup and warm through then whisk or stir the soup until the cream cheese melts and mixes in well. Add the cooked chicken and heat through. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Cheesy Vegetable Soup

There aren't many more soup days left with spring here, but today was one! I followed a recipe from a ward cookbook and we loved it. Even with Cheez Whiz, which I normally discriminate against. It's one of the few recipes where it is ok to lower your standards. Here you go:

8-10 small potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 1/2 c. carrots, diced
1 small onion, chopped
2 c. chopped broccoli
1 can cream of celery
16 oz. cheez whiz (or velveeta, but velveeta grosses me out more than Cheez Whiz)
salt and pepper to taste


Put potatoes, carrots, and onion in large pot and fill with enough water to just barely cover veggies. Boil until tender. Drain off a little of the water in case you'll need it later. Add broccoli, cream of celery, cheez whiz, and salt and pepper. Cook on low to medium heat for another 10 minutes or so, until broccoli is cooked. Add reserved water if needed.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I saw this recipe on the My Kitchen Cafe blog. (Click here) The picture is hers, it looked so much better than any picture I could have taken :) I would definitely double this, unless you are cooking for 2! I 1.5 times the recipe and it fed my family of 5 with none left over. 2 adults, and 3 kids that didn't each much! It was yummy, and one of the first soups I have had that used fresh- grated cheese that didn't taste gritty and rough. Very smooth, creamy sauce! I also didn't have any swiss cheese, so I just did all cheddar.

1 can chicken broth (about 1 3/4 cups of broth)
1 small onion, diced (I only used 1/2 onion and felt it was plenty)

1/3 c. flour
1/4 c. butter
Pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon)

2 c. milk
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (the sharper the better for flavor - I used sharp cheddar and hopefully next time will have extra sharp cheddar on hand)
1/2 c. shredded swiss cheese
steamed chopped broccoli (the amount of broccoli really boils down to preference - I wanted a lot of broccoli in my soup, so I chopped and steamed approximately 2 1/2 to 3 cups of broccoli florets)

Simmer chicken broth and chopped onion for 15-20 minutes in a covered small saucepan, until onions are soft. Heat milk in microwave for 1-2 minutes. In a separate medium-sized stockpot, melt butter then add flour and pepper. Cook together for a couple of minutes, then whisk in warmed milk. Stir and heat together on medium-high heat until soup starts to thicken. Next add chicken broth and continue to stir until well blended. Add cheeses and stir until smooth. Add steamed broccoli. Serve immediately.

Chicken Noodle Soup w/ Dumplings

Mom has a recipe that is really similar to this soup- it's here on the blog. And I love it.

But the other night I didn't have all of the ingredients (namely, heavy cream) and tried a soup that was very close. And very yummy! We've had it for leftovers and loved it just as much as the first time.

I found the recipe here at My Kitchen Cafe. My picture is not as good as hers!

Chicken and Broth:
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
2-3 chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)

Vegetables:
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 large carrots (6-7 baby carrots), chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup frozen peas

Dumplings:
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme or sage
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil

In a large pot, boil the chicken broth, water and chicken breasts until the chicken is cooked through and tender (about 15 minutes). Remove the chicken from the pot, reserving the broth in the pot, and shred the chicken with two forks. Set the chicken aside and keep the broth warm on the stove.

While the chicken is boiling, in a large skillet, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the celery, carrots and onions. Saute for about 6-7 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add the vegetables to the hot broth in the pot after the chicken has been removed. Add salt, thyme and pepper to the vegetable/broth mixture and stir to combine. Heat the soup to a simmer.

In a small bowl, blend ½ cup cold water and 1/4 cup flour with a wire whisk until smooth. Whisking vigorously, slowly add the flour mixture into the hot vegetables and broth and whisk until well combined. Add ½ cup frozen peas and the reserved chicken and cook, stirring gently for one minute.

For the dumplings, in a medium bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine sour cream, milk and oil. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined (don't overmix, it is ok if there are a few dry spots of flour here and there).

Heat the soup to boiling and drop teaspoonful amounts (the dumplings should be fairly small, they'll expand while cooking) of dumpling dough into the boiling soup, covering the entire surface of the soup (don't make more than one layer of dumplings). Reduce the heat to simmering, cover and let the dumplings cook for 15 minutes. Do not lift the lid of the pot while the dumplings cook. When the dumplings have cooked fully, remove the lid and gently stir the dumplings to break them apart. Serve.

*Note: I had extra shredded chicken from another meal in my freezer. I just used chicken bouillon cubes to make the broth/water mixture and went from there.

Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

32 oz box of chicken broth*
2 cups water
1 chicken bouillon cube
1.5 cups chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can evaporated milk
8-10 oz egg noodles

Combine chicken broth, bouillon cube, carrots, celery, and onion into large pot. Bring to boil and boil for about 20 min. While boiling, cook your noodles in a separate pan, add a bouillon cube for flavoring, if desired. Add noodles to the veggies. Add 2 cups of water. Let cook about 10 min together. Add shredded chicken, cream of chicken, and canned milk. Stir all together, add salt and pepper to taste, and let it simmer until ready to serve.

This is a thick, creamy chicken noodle soup. *You can add more broth if you want it thinner. I also use the rotisserie chicken from Costco for this. It is cheap, and has great flavor, and mostly it is easy. This soup is delicious!

Mexican Chicken Soup

1-2 Tablespoons oil (EVOO if you have it)
1 small onion, diced/chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
garlic
1/2 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
6 cups chicken broth
1 small can diced green chiles
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans, drained
frozen corn, as much as you'd like!
1 cup skinless chicken breast, cooked and shredded
Juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, celery, garlic, chili powder, and cumin. Cook until the onion softens, about 5 min. Add the chicken broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat slightly and simmer uncovered for 10 min. Add the green chiles, tomatoes, corn,
black beans and cook for 5 more min. Remove from heat and add chicken and lime juice. Serve with diced avocados and chips on top!

Serves 4-6

Grandma’s Cheesy Potato Soup

Clay’s Grandma Virgo’s recipe

3 medium potatoes
4 little carrots diced
1 green onion diced (optional)
1 chicken bouillon cube
3 Tablespoons butter
4 Tablespoons of flour
2 Cups milk
4 oz Velveeta Cheese

Put potatoes, carrots, onion, and bouillon cube into small pot, add water to top off veggies. Boil until tender but firm. Do not drain.

In large pot melt 3 tablespoons of butter mix with 4 rounded tablespoons of flour. Stir until mixed thoroughly. Add 2 cups of milk slowly and heat to a simmer. Stirring constantly until it thickens. Add 4 oz of Velveeta cheese, stirring constantly. When melted add contents of small pot, stir until well blended

Grandma’s Soup

Clay’s Grandma Virgo’s Recipe

1 lb ground beef
2 potatoes diced
½ bag of small carrots diced
1 small can each (do not drain)
Peas
Beans (cut)
Corn (yellow)
3 beef bouillon cubes
½ bottle of ketchup to taste

In large pot –
Boil potatoes and carrots in 3 cups of water with 3 bouillon cubes. While that’s boiling brown ground beef. When potatoes and carrots are tender add ground beef to large pot. (Do not drain potatoes and carrots) Add canned vegetables and ketchup. Bring to a boil, then turn to lowest heat and simmer for up to 1 hour. Can be served after 15 minutes if needed. Flavors blend better at 1 hour.

You can add fresh cherry tomatoes or diced tomatoes, celery, and/or onions.

Chicken Stew with Dumplings

2 C. sliced carrots
1 C. shopped onion
1 Lg. Green bell pepper, sliced
½ C. sliced celery
1 lg. Potato peeled and cut into pieces
¾ C. frozen peas
1 lb boneless chicken, and cut up (Can use already cooked chicken. Add it after cooking time)
2 cans (14 oz) chicken broth
2/3 C. flour
1 t. dried basil
¾ t. dried rosemary
¾ t. dried tarragon
1 t. salt
¼ t. pepper
¼ C heavy cream

Put all stew ingredients together in large pot except 1 Cup chicken broth, the flour, and the cream. Cook in crock-pot on low for 4 hours or on stovetop until veggies are tender. Stir flour into 1 C. broth and pour into pot to thicken stew. Add the cream.

Spoon dumplings onto stew and cook uncovered for 30 minutes until dumplings are firm.

Dumplings:
1 C. biscuit mix (Bisquick)
¼ t. basil
¼ t. rosemary
1/8 t. tarragon
1/3 C milk.
Mix together to form a soft dough.

Stew (Crock Pot)

1 pkg. stew meat
Carrots (two regular or 6 baby per person)
Potatoes (1 med. per person)
½ -1 onion
1-2 cans V8 juice (11.5 oz)
1-2 beef bouillon cubes
Water
2 Tbsp. Flour
1 tsp. Steak seasoning
½ tsp. Salt
Oil

Place the flour, seasoning and salt in a zip lock bag. Add the stew meat and shake till coated, reserve excess flour mixture. Heat a small amount of oil in a pan and add the seasoned meat. Cook just till browned on all sides. Remove from pan and put meat and drippings in a crock-pot. Mix the V8 and water together and add the excess seasoned flour and bouillon and mix well. Put everything in the crock-pot and turn to High for 4-6 hours or Low for 8-10. You want the liquids to be about ¾ of the way to the top of veggies and meat but not to the top. You can substitute tomatoes with their juice for the V8 or use both.

Potato Soup

White sauce (recipe follows)
2-3 C diced or cubed potatoes
1 C shredded carrots
1 C chopped onion
½ C chopped celery
12 oz chicken broth

Put vegetables and chicken broth in pan and add water just to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil and cook for 20-30 minutes until vegetables are soft. Make white sauce and add to cooked vegetables. Keep hot but do not boil.

White Sauce
¾ C butter
¾ C flour
1 quart half-n-half
2 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
Melt butter and add flour, salt and sugar. Slowly stir in half-n-half and cook stirring constantly until thick.

Hamburger Soup (Primary Soup)

Grandma Molyneaux used to make this on Primary day when Primary was held during the week after school. She was president at the time and had presidency meeting first and then Primary. She would put it together and leave it on simmer when she left and when she got home, dinner was ready!

1 C cubed potatoes
1 C chopped carrots
1 C chopped onion
2 C chopped cabbage
1 C chopped celery
1 Can tomato soup
5 cans water
1 lb hamburger, browned and drained
¼ tsp. thyme
Salt and pepper to taste

Put everything in large pot and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until vegetables are cooked. You can put it in a crockpot and cook on low for 4 hours.

Clam Chowder (Market Street)

1 C potatoes, diced
1 C celery, diced
1 C onion, diced
1 C green pepper, diced
1 C leeks, diced (wash thoroughly!)
2 cans clams, drained, reserve juice
¾ Tbsp coarse ground pepper
1 ½ Tbsp. salt
¾ Tbsp whole thyme
6 bay leaves
1 tsp Tabasco
¾ C cooking sherry
2 C water
Juice from drained clams
¾ C butter, melted
1 C flour
2 quarts half-n-half

Combine melted butter and flour in oven-proof container and bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. (You can skip this step or combine them in a fry pan and cook over med. heat, stirring for a few minutes.) Combine remaining ingredients EXCEPT half-n-half. Simmer until potatoes are thoroughly cooked. Stir butter-flour mixture into chowder and stir until thick. Mixture will be slightly less thick than cookie dough. Remove chowder from heat and stir in half-n-half until blended. Heat to serving temp and serve.

Clam Chowder (Bratten’s)

2 cans minced or chopped clams
1 C chopped onion
1 C celery
2 C diced potatoes
White sauce (recipe follows)

Put vegetables in large pan and pour juice from clams and enough water to cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Meanwhile, make white sauce in a separate pan. Add the white sauce to the vegetables and heat through. Do not boil and serve hot with bread or crackers.

White Sauce for Chowder
¾ C butter
¾ C flour
1 quart Half-n-Half
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp sugar
Melt butter and add flour, salt and sugar. Slowly stir in half-n-half and bring to a boil and cook until thick.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
2 T vegetable oil
4 C chicken broth
¼ C red bell pepper, chopped
1 t ground red chilies
¾ t dried basil leaves
2 t salt
¼ t pepper
1 (15 oz) can of stewed tomatoes, un-drained

2 C vegetable oil
10 corn or flour tortillas cut in 2" strips

2 C cut up cooked chicken breast
Shredded cheese
Avocado slices

Cook and stir onion and garlic in 2 T of oil in a big pot until the onion is tender. Stir in broth and bell pepper, ground chilies, basil, salt, pepper, and tomatoes. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Heat oil in skillet and cook tortilla strips until crispy. Divide strips and chicken and avocado in a bowl, add soup, then top with cheese. Serves 4