Crock Pot Potato Soup

Crock Pot Potato Soup

 Crock pot Potato Soup

Ingredients:
1 (30 ounce) package of frozen hash-browns
2 (14 ounce) cans chicken broth
2 (10.75 oz.) cans cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. parsley
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese

For garnish:
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 package cooked and crumbled bacon (I cooked mine in the oven.)

Combine all ingredients except garnish in a crock pot.  Cook for five hours.  Stir occasionally to get the cream cheese combining with the rest of the ingredients.

Garnish with green onion and bacon.  Enjoy!

Minestrone Soup

 I found some fun noodles at the store the other day and decided to make a minestrone soup with them in an effort to get my kids to eat vegetables.  My kids were so distracted by seahorses and octopus they didn't complain!

Minestrone Soup

Ingredients:

4 cups vegetable or beef broth
1 cup minced onion
1/2 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup cut green beans
1/2 cup diced carrots
4 tsp. minced garlic
1 can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. dried thyme
1 cup noodle of your choice

       Put all the ingredients except the noodles in a large saucepan and cook simmer for 20 minutes.  Add the noodles and cook as long as the box says.  Enjoy!

Chicken, Kale, Quinoa Soup

One day we had people coming over I had completely forgotten about.  It was a Sunday and I don't go to the store on Sunday so I had to come up with something I already had.  We had chicken, kale, carrots from our garden, and some home made chicken broth.  I looked around and found a recipe with a of the things I had and we created magic.

Chicken, Kale, Quinoa Soup

Adapted from here

1 chicken breast (cooked any way you want but shredded or cut up small)
4 carrots (diced)
1 medium chopped onion
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 Tbsp. crushed garlic
6 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
2/3 cup quinoa (uncooked and rinsed)
1 tsp. thyme
a bunch of kale cut up small (about a cup)

    First cook the chicken breast then shred it or cut it up small.  Then in a saucepan heat up a couple of tbsp of olive oil.  When hot, add carrots and onions.  Season with salt and pepper.  When they are almost done add the garlic and cook for one more minute.  Place all of this in a large pot.  Add the chicken broth, bay leaves, and quinoa.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and cook for 15 minutes on medium or medium low.  Add the kale and the thyme and cook for 5 more minutes.  Add the chicken to the pot.  Discard the bay leaves or make it a game to find them.  We always thought we got a wish if we found one.

     We ate our soup with fresh, hot rolls.  I also think that Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top could be amazing.

Alphabet Vegetable Soup

I've been wanting to make my own Alphabet Vegetable Soup so I kind of made one up the other night and I thought it turned out really well.

Alphabet Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

1 onion chopped

1/2 cup chopped carrots

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. minced garlic

2 cups Vegetable Cocktail juice (V8 or whatever)

2 cups beef broth

1 package frozen mixed vegetables

1 1/2 tsp. parsley (I used fresh)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. thyme

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/2 cup alphabet noodles or pasta of choice

    Saute Onion and carrots in olive oil until tender.  Then add broth and vegetable juice.  Bring to a boil.  Add the frozen vegetables and spices.  Depending on cooking time on vegetables and pasta add them so they will all finish at the same time.  My vegetables cooked in about five minutes and the pasta took one.  They were very small noodles.

Serve immediately and enjoy the amount of vegetables you get from it.

Other ideas for vegetables:  spinach, cabbage, etc. 

Two Recipes- Wild Rice Potato Soup and Linguine with Garlic Sauce

Potato Wild Rice Soup

Adapted from Taste of Home cookbook Simple & Delicious

Ingredients:

1 package long grain and wild rice mix

2 cups diced potatoes (I used Yukon Gold)

½ cup diced onion

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups milk

1 can cream of mushroom soup

8 ounces Velveeta, cubed

½ pound bacon cooked and diced

In a large saucepan cook potatoes, onion, and rice mix in the chicken broth for as long as the instructions on the rice say and until the potatoes are tender.

Add milk, cream of mushroom soup, and Velveeta.  Stir until smooth.  Serve with bacon as a garnish.

I also added cooked corn to mine, but you don’t have to.

Linguine with Garlic Sauce

Adapted from Taste of Home cookbook Simple & Delicious

Ingredients:

Small box of uncooked linguine

½ pound cooked bacon, diced

5 cups fresh baby spinach

½ cup chopped ion

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 1-4 cups milk

1 package of cream cheese, cubed

2 Tbsp. butter

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

¼ tsp pepper

1 small jar artichoke hearts (optional)

Cook linguine according to package directions. 

Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbsp. of olive oil in a small pan.  Sauté the spinach, onion, and garlic until tender.  About 2 minutes.  Add the milk, cream cheese, butter, salt, nutmeg, and pepper.  Stir until smooth.  Stir in the bacon and the artichoke hearts. 

Drain pasta and toss with sauce.

Chicken and Rice Soup

Chicken, Rice, Veggie Soup

This is one of my favorite soups my mom would make.

You need:

4 cups chicken broth
1 small onion chopped (about 1/3 cup)
2 medium carrots, shredded (about 1 c.) (I put mine in the food processor so they were super small.)
2 medium celery stalks, sliced (about 1 c.) (same as above)
½ c. uncooked instant long-grain and wild rice mix
1 c. diced cooked skinless chicken breast (about 6 ounces)
1 can (10 ¾ oz.) Campbell’s Healthy Request Cream of Mushroom Soup

In a large saucepan, combine broth, onion, carrots, celery and rice. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium and add chicken. Cover and continue cooking until vegetables are tender and rice is done, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in mushroom soup. Serve immediately.

You can also do this in a crockpot easily. Just cook the veggies first and then add rice a few hours later and then the chicken a few hours after that. Add the Cream of Mushroom Soup very last.

Cheesy Vegetable Soup

This is my favorite soup ever.  My four-year-old even loves it.

Cheesy Vegetable Soup

1 ½ Quarts water (enough to cover veggies)

4 chicken bullion cubes

5 stalks celery- diced (1 ½ c.)

5 carrots- sliced (1 ½ c.)

4 potatoes- cubed

1 onion- diced

          Cook for 15 minutes.  Then add:

1 10 oz. Broccoli

          Cook for 10-15 minutes more.  Then add:

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

1 lb. Velveeta Cheese- cubed

          Heat.  Melt Velveeta in soup.  Then serve.