Cheesy Potato Soup

This is a perfect soup for the cooler days that are coming up. I love making a big batch of this on Football Sunday and eating it for lunch and dinner. I make mine vegetarian, but it'd also be good with some ham or bacon in it!! GO PACK GO!!

Ingredients:
* 2 T Butter
* 2 T Olive Oil
* 1 small sweet onion- chopped
* 2 leeks- cut in 1/2 rounds only using white and light green parts
* 3 large carrots- diced
* 2-3 fresh garlic cloves- minced (Or garlic powder would do too)
* Seasonings (Kosher salt, Black pepper, nature seasonings)
* 10 potatoes (around 5-6 lbs) I used half red potatoes and half golden-Take most skin off. Diced
* 32 oz box of chicken STOCK (I used Kitchen Basic brand)
* 1 bouillon cute (I have the granules so I used 1 T)
* 1/2-1 cup water (enough so all potatoes are covered with liquid)
* 2-4 oz velveeta cheese- diced (more or less depending on how cheesy you like it)
* 1-2 cups of half n half

Other Optional ingredients:
*1 T flour plus 1 T melted butter if needs thickening
*Crusty bread (Sour dough round cut into chunks)
*Shredded cheddar cheese for topping soup
*green onion diced for topping
*any other toppings you like on a baked potato would go good!

1. Use a large stock pot.  Put the oil and butter in the bottom of pan on medium heat. Add onions, carrots and leeks. Cook on medium till onions are translucent (around 10-15 minutes).  
2. Add some seasonings (I used lots of pepper and nature seasonings and a little salt.. you can always add more later). And add your garlic or garlic powder. Stir well.
3. Add diced potatoes, chicken stock, bouillon and stir well. Add your water till it covers the potatoes completely. Cook on medium uncovered for about 20 minutes. Stir well and cover and continue simmering for another 20-30 minutes until potatoes are fork tender (not mushy).
4. Take half the soup (veggies and broth) out and put in blender. (Or if you have a hand blender like me, i just put half the soup into a bowl and use my hand blender to mix well.). Blend well and pour the blended mixture back into the soup. Mix well.
5. If you like your soup a little thicker you can melt some butter and mix with flour. Add a little at a time of this mixture until it reaches the consistency you want. (I only used 1/2 of the mixture I made)
6. Add your diced up velveeta cheese and mix. Cook on medium stirring every so often until cheese has completely melted and mixed into the soup.
7. Add your cream. The amount you use depends on how creamy you like your soup. I used about a cups worth. 
8. Serve in a bowl (or a bread bowl would be yummy!). Top with shredded cheese and any other toppings that sound good to you! Enjoy!

Not a great picture, but here I'm sauteing all my veggies. 

Adding my diced potatoes

I didn't get great pictures on making it this time around. Here is after I added the blended portion back to soup and just added the velveeta. 

Add your favorite toppings and serve with some crusty bread. DeLISH!

Chicken Tortellini Soup with Kale

My friend was always talking about this tortellini soup she would make. I always wanted to try it, but I'm just not a huge soup person. I'll eat it for a day but I tend to throw out leftovers. I decided to try her recipe anyway, changing a few things and adding Kale to it. I served it for dinner along side crusty bread and the whole family really loved it and we even ate the leftovers along side sandwiches the next day for lunch!!


Ingredients:

• *1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• *1.5 cups diced carrot
• *1 cup diced celery
• *1 cup diced sweet onion
• *2 garlic cloves minced
• *32 oz low sodium chicken broth
• *1 cup water
• *2 cups cooked shredded chicken (I use Rotisserie Chicken)
• *Package of Buitoni Brand Mixed Cheese Tortellini (I get the one that has both white and green noodles) 
• *Bunch Kale Shredded
• *Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions: 

• 1. In large sauce pan (6 quart), heat up your olive oil and add your garlic, onion, carrots and celery. Saute on medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring well. Add seasonings.
• 2. Add chicken broth, water, and shredded chicken. Bring to a boil. Cover, turn down heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes.
• 3. Uncover and turn heat back up to medium. Add your kale and tortellini and cook for another 5 minutes, or until all the tortellini float to the top and are cooked through.
• 4. Season more if needed. Feel free to grate some fresh parmesan cheese over the top:)

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is a two part meal. I first make Shredded Chicken Tacos. Then, within the next few days, I use the remaining chicken for this soup. If you don't want to make the shredded chicken in the crock pot, you can probably still use this recipe by shredding a rotisserie chicken or cooked chicken breasts and season with taco seasonings on the stove top as well as the rotel before adding the other ingredients. I haven't tried it this way so I can't confirm taste.

I didn't get great pictures of it... It tasted much better than it looked:)

Ingredients:

* Aprox 1 1/2 cups of chicken mixture (Use left over chicken from the Shredded Chicken Tacos)

* 32 oz box low sodium chicken broth

* 1 can of corn

* 1 can of rotel (I like the original or the cilantro lime flavor best)

* juice from half a lime

* spices (whatever you have on hand... black pepper, pinch of garlic powder...) I add a little and taste every 10-15 minutes and keep adding more spices little by little till I get it to my liking)

* handful of chopped fresh cilantro

* 1 avocado, diced 

* tortilla strips (I thinly sliced some corn tortillas I had and pan fried them till crispy in a little canola oil)

* optional toppings (shredded mexican cheese, lime slices, extra cilantro...)

1. In a pot, combine chicken broth, shredded chicken, corn, rotel (juices and all), juice from lime and any spices. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20+ minutes. (I think i did mine for about 45 minutes.)

2. 10 minutes before serving, add your fresh cilantro to the pan. Continue to simmer

3. Ladle out soup into bowls. Add small handful of diced avocado to bowl and top with your favorite toppings.

Here is the chicken I made in the crock pot the day before. 

This is after simmering for around 35 minutes. I've just added cilantro and put back on to simmer another 10 minutes. I also added a bunch more black pepper here. 

Served with avocado and cheese

Here i've also topped with my homemade tortilla strips.

Slow Cooker Stout & Chicken Stew

A friend got this out of a magazine... I'm not sure of the author or magazine, so I am sorry for not giving them credit. It was a simple, yet delicious dish. I will definitely have this on my winter rotation. Nothing like a hearty stew, made simply in a crock pot, on a cool night! I was a little hesitant to make this since many times I make chicken in a crock pot it doesn't come out that great. The chicken was super tender and flavorful. We served with kale salad and crusty Rosemary and Olive Oil bread. This would also be good served over jasmine or sticky rice!

Slow Cooker Stout & Chicken Stew

The recipe asks for chicken thighs but I just used 3 breast and cut them up into bite size pieces.

Ingredients

* 6 tbs plus 1/2c all-purpose flour, divided (I used 4T since I cut down the chicken)
* 1 tsp salt, divided plus more to taste
* 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper, plus more to taste
* OPTIONAL- a few dashes of ground cayenne red pepper* 2 1/2lbs of chicken ( your choice) (I think I used just under 2 lbs)
* 4 tsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
* 3 pieces bacon, chopped (I used 4 pieces... I know, rebel!)
* 14oz of stout beer ( i used 1 bottle of guiness- I think the bottle was 11.5 oz)
* 1lb of whole baby carrots (Cut stems off)
* 1 8oz pkg cremini or button mushroom, halved if large (I used reg white whole mushrooms and cut them in half)
* 2 c of chopped onion (I used one medium sweet onion)
* 4 cloves of garlic, minced 
* 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme ( i just used whatever i had) (I used fresh thyme, about 1 tsp)
* 1 c reduced-sodium chicken broth
* 2 c frozen baby peas, thawed (I'm not a big pea fan so I used 3/4 c of frozen baby peas)

1.) Combine 6 tbs flour with 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper in shallow bowl. Dredge chicken in mixture to coat completely; transfer to plate. (I added a few dashes of ground Cayenne Red Pepper to flour mixture to give a bit of a kick)

2.) Heat 2 tsp oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook all the chicken till browned and then transfer to slow cooker.

3.) Add bacon to the pan and cook, stirring often then sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup flour over the bacon and cook, stirring constantly for 2 min or more. Add beer and use a wooden spoon to scrape up andy browned its from the bottom of the pan. Pour the mixture over the chicken. Add carrots, mushrooms, onion, garlic, thyme, spreading in even layers over the chicken. Pour broth over the top.

4.) Cover and cook until the chicken is falling apart tender, 4 hours on high or 7 to 8 hours on low. (I cooked mine on medium for 6 1/2 hours, then added peas and cooked on low another 30 mins)

5.) Stir in peas, cover and cook until the peas are heated through, 5 to 10 min more. Season the rest with salt and pepper to taste. If you want the stew thicker and flour or corn starch towards the end.

I cut up 3 chicken breasts into bite size pieces. Mix flour with seasonings)

Coat chicken in flour mixture

Brown chicken in a bit of olive oil (just enough to coat bottom of pan) Once browned, remove chicken and put into slow cooker.

Add chopped up bacon to same pan you used to fry up chicken

Once bacon is done and crispy, but not burnt, add the extra flour

Stir well mixing that yummy bacon grease with the flour

Add your beer...

Stir well, scraping sides. Add mixture to slow cooker and stir in with the chicken.

Chicken and beer/bacon mixture in slow cooker

Baby carrots, chopped onion and mushrooms cut in half

Place veggies on top of chicken in slow cooker along with garlic, thyme and more seasoning if you wish.

Add chicken broth. Cover and cook on medium-low for 6-8 hours

hour left to cook...

added defrosted baby peas with 30 minutes left

Tender and flavorful. 

ENJOY!

Potato Poblano Soup with Cheese

We learned this recipe in cooking class and made it again during a play date for us moms to eat. I like this soup because it's simple, healthy and I love the spice kick!! It's great for the cooler weather! This recipe is out of the cookbook Cowgirl Cuisine.


Ingredients:
*2 T unsalted butter
*1 T olive oil
*2 large leeks, thinly sliced
*kosher salt
*3 lbs (about 6 medium) Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
*4-6 poblano chiles, as desired (we used 5)
*1/4 tsp nutmeg
*1/8 tsp white pepper
*1 1/2 cups flat-leaf parsley leaves (I chop but you don't have to)
*Asadero, cubed into 1/4 inch dice (We used Cotija. You can also use feta)
*1 cup low sodium chicken broth (or 1 tsp better than boublion added with the water) Optional

1) Heat butter and olive oil in large soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leeks and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cover the leeks for a few minutes to allow them to steam (about 5 minutes). Remove lid and cook a few minutes, stirring. The leeks should not brown.

2) Add the potatoes, stirring briefly to coat with the oil, then add 8 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 20-25 minutes.

3) Meanwhile, roast the peppers. For gas ranges, place the chiles directly on the burner and char over medium flam. Do this in batches if necessary. Alternately, you can broil pepper, turning once, until they are blistered and evenly charred. (we did ours over the grill... they took longer, but we got that char flavor). Once charred, place peppers in a plastic (grocery store) bag. Tie bag tight and place in fridge until cooled. (this will help make it easier to remove skin) Remove charred skin, stem, seeds. Coarsely chop peppers.

4) When potatoes are tender, add the poblanos, nutmeg, and pepper and simmer for an additional 5 minutes. Add parsley and take off burner to cool slightly. We added some chicken broth at this point because it was a little thick. Puree soup in blender (we used a Cuisinart hand blender that puree's food.) Blend till smooth. Return soup to pot (if you did it in a blender) and season with salt and pepper.

To serve, scatter the cheese cubes into bowls and ladle the soup over the top.
ENJOY!!

Cube potatoes and thinly slice leeks 

parsley

melt butter and oil in bottom of pot

Saute leeks

We grilled peppers until charred

Add potatoes and water and boil/simmer until potatoes are tender

Cotija cheese

cut cheese into cubes to serve with soup

Peel off skin of peppers, cut off stems and de-seed. 

Add chopped peppers to soup (along with nutmeg and pepper)

And parsley 

Blend till smooth

It was a tad too thick so we added a little chicken broth and blended in well.

Put a little cheese in bottom of bowl

Ladle soup over the cheese and serve.