Poor Man's Soup

I love this soup. It doesn't look like much but it's so flavorful and filling. Total comfort food in the winter!

1 c lentils
1 c split peas
1 c brown rice
(or any combo of the above to equal 3 cups)
4 quarts water
1/2 c dried veggie soup mix (I buy mine in bulk from a local store but you could substitute Knorr Vegetable Soup Mix or other types of dry soup mix. Just be sure to adjust for the amount of salt to taste in the recipe.)
2 tbsp dried onion
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp dried parsley
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil

If you are really poor you can lower the 3 cups of grains to just 2 cups. Rinse grains. Boil water in large pot adding all of the remaining ingredients. Simmer on the stove for about 2 hours. Serve with bread and butter.

Homemade Croutons

Homemade croutons are easy and yummy. Now that I've been making them my husband doesn't want me to buy store bought ones again. If you want organic croutons, this is the way to go.

A few slices of organic bread (I use cracked wheat sourdough)
Organic extra virgin first cold pressed olive oil
Organic seasonings:
I use at least garlic powder (or minced garlic)
but then you can add other spices as well like:
a sprinkling of Mrs. Dash original
a tsp of dried parsley
a tsp of dried basil
whatever you like!

Cut the bread in cubes (I use the ends of the loaf). Toss in a bowl while drizzling olive oil till well coated. Every piece of bread needs some olive oil on it so keep tossing till it's well coated. Sprinkle garlic while tossing and other optional seasonings.

Spread out on a cookie sheet lined with foil or parchment paper and bake at 400 degrees for about 20 min or until cubes are browned and crunchy.

These are very light croutons with a good crunch to them and are great for not only salads but soups as well. Store in an air tight container for up to five days in pantry.

Potato Leek Soup

I wanted to make yet another healthy soup and since leeks are super good for you and my kids love potatoes I thought I'd make up my own version of potato leek soup in hopes that they would like it with leeks.

6 yukon gold potatoes peeled and cubed
2 leeks washed and sliced (white part and light green only)
2-3 minced garlic cloves
1 box chicken broth
2 c water
1/2 c milk
2 handfuls of grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste (at least 2 tsp of salt)

I made this in the crock-pot by first cooking the potatoes and leeks in the water till tender. You can also use the same method just in a pot on the stove. Once the potatoes and leeks are very tender, scoop them and the water into your blender or food processor and puree them. Pour them back into your pot or crock-pot and add the remaining ingredients. Stir well when adding the cheese so that it doesn't stick in clumps. You can also toss the grated cheese in a few tbsp of flour to coat it and it won't clump when you add it to the soup. Simmer on the stove for about 45 min. or cook on low in crock-pot for a few hours.

Top with croutons or chopped herbs.

My kids absolutely loved this despite my worries.

White Bean Chili

1/2 pound of dry white beans (great northern or navy work well)
1 pound ground turkey cooked (or ground beef or omit it for vegetarian)
2 medium onions diced
1 bell pepper diced (red, yellow, or orange)
1 clove of minced garlic
1 packet of chili seasoning (or your own chili spices)
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1-2 cans diced tomatoes (depending on how much you like tomatoes)
1-2 cans water
salt and pepper

Soak beans overnight in water. Drain water and put beans in slow cooker with remaining ingredients. Cook on low all day till beans are tender.

Serve with grated cheese, sliced avocados, minced fresh onion.

Variations-
-add other types of beans as well
-serve over baked potatoes

Tip-
soaking dry beans overnight does two things- 1. it softens the beans to speed up cooking time, 2. it helps release the content of the beans that causes, well, you know, the music you get the next day from that magical fruit.

Beef Stew

1 chuck roast
1 onion soup mix packet
6 cups water

Cook in crock pot half the day on low (in the morning). Take out and chop into chunks. Return to the crock pot and add:
5-6 chopped carrots
4-5 cubed yukon gold potatoes (at least 2 cups worth)
1 diced onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Cook on low till about 1 hour before serving. Then add:
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn

Then to thicken the stew, melt 2-4 tbsp butter in a skillet and add 1/4 -1/2 cup of flour till melted into a paste and add to the stew and stir till thickened.

Homemade Noodles (fun with kids)

Making noodles with your kids can be a fun and healthy project. By making my own noodles I can also use all organic products and save a bit of money in the process. Noodles can be made for immediate use or frozen in batches for later use. I've had this recipe in my archives for over a year now and finally got around to making it!

You will need:
1 cup flour
1 egg
1 tablespoon of water

Mound flour on a work surface and make a deep "volcano".
Break the egg into the volcano and add water.
Beat the egg and water lightly with a fork, being careful not to break down the volcano walls.
Begin to draw in flour from the inner sides of the volcano.
Continue to blend in flour until the dough becomes stiff. Eventually using your hands, knead the dough until smooth and stiff. You will not use all of the flour most likely so spread the excess flour around on your counter for rolling the dough out.

Refrigerate for about 1 hour to make dough easier to work with.

To shape the dough, either use a pasta maker or roll out with a rolling pin until very thin. Roll the dough out as thin as you can for thin noodles or roll them a little thicker for country style thick noodles. Keep in mind that the dough will thicken upon cooking though. Don't worry about the shape of the rolled out dough unless you are going for perfection. =0) The key to rolling out noodles is to use plenty of flour under the dough and on top of the dough.

I like to roll my dough into a log and then cut with a knife pressing straight down to make little wheels of dough. It's important to keep the top of the dough well floured before rolling so that the dough doesn't stick together when you unroll it.


Then, have kids with floured hands begin unrolling the dough to make long noodles. You can also make short noodles by first cutting the wheels in half. If you prefer to cut the noodles without rolling the dough, you can use a pizza cutter for easy cutting of strips. You can make the noodles as skinny or wide as you like.

I usually make these noodles up fresh while a pot of soup is on the stove simmering. Just add the noodles to the soup and let them cook for a few minute. Excess uncooked pasta dough can be refrigerated in an airtight bag for up to 4 days and frozen for a month.

For extra fun shapes, let your kids use mini cookie cutters to make shaped noodles.

The noodles in the picture were rolled very thin and left very long. We call them "ribbon noodles".

Variations- you can use whole wheat if you'd like to but I do not recommend whole wheat pastry flour as it leaves a grainy texture to the noodle. They work with the whole wheat pastry flour but they just aren't as good as white flour. =0)

The chicken soup pictured was:
1 diced medium onion
2 cooked chopped boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 carrots sliced
2 celery stalks
1 box chicken broth
6 cups water
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of rosemary
1 minced garlic clove
1 tbsp olive oil
1 batch homemade noodles

Saute onion, carrots, celery in olive oil till tender. Add remaining ingredients other than noodles. Simmer for 45 min. Add noodles and cook for 5-10 more minutes. Serve.

NOTE- Yes, you can make the dough in a food processor using these measurements: 3/4 c flour, 1 egg, 1 tsp ice water. Use more flour or water as needed to make a dough ball that you can roll out. =0) This method is quicker and a lot less messy.

Mashpotato Soup

I came up with this easy and healthier potato soup out of leftovers we had on hand. Instead of a creamy potato soup that is high in fat, this one uses no milk or cream at all (other than what is already in the mashed potatoes). And, you can make it in the crock-pot if you want to.

It's a broth based soup with lots of veggies and mashed potatoes to thicken it. My kids loved it and it's a keeper!

2 cups mashed potatoes
3 large carrots sliced
4 celery stalks sliced
1/2 - 1 diced onion
3-4 minced garlic cloves
3 tbsp olive oil
1 box chicken broth
1 diced potato
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
salt and pepper
2 cups water

Saute veggies in olive oil with garlic and onion until all are tender. Add broth, water, and all seasonings. Simmer for about 20 min. Add mashed potatoes and stir till blended and heated through.

Chicken Taco Soup and Corn Chips

I made this chicken version of taco soup the other day with leftover taco chicken... It was really good! I also cut up corn tortillas into triangles with a pizza cutter and then put them in the oven on about 475-500 degrees on a cookie sheet. Turned them over once and kept checking them. Don't leave them in too long or the edges will burn like mine in the picture. =0) But they were SO good with this! I like making my own chips that are so much healthier! No, I didn't put anything on the chips...just laid them on the cookie sheet and into the oven they went.

This taco soup had in it:
shredded taco chicken
can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
beans
frozen corn
2 taco seasoning packets
water
garlic
salt to taste

topped with fresh diced tomatoes, shredded mexi-cheese, chopped avocado, chopped cilantro

Healthy Chicken N Dumplings

I've been trying several new healthy recipes and I'm still working on tweaking them enough to make them great. Meantime, I did a healthy make-over of chicken and dumplings that was quick and easy and delicious.

I cooked 3 chicken breast in the crock pot through the day. When it was time to make dinner I pulled it apart into large chunks like restaurant style chicken n dumplings. In a separate large pot on the stove I sauted in a drizzle of olive oil about:
5-6 chopped carrots
4-5 celery stalks
1/2 a diced onion (or dried minced onion)
2-3 garlic cloves minced

Once that was tender, I added the chicken and 1 quart of chicken broth (plus the broth that was in the crock-pot from cooking the chicken).

Add:
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 tbsp parsley
4 cups of water

Dumplings: (these were quick and easy)
2 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
ice water till moist

Blend dough together until wet and sticky. Drop into pot and cook till dumplings are cooked through. (These dumplings are dense and doughy like some restaurant dumplings-but if you like light and fluffy dumplings, use my Prairie Chicken dumplings instead.)

Getting Creative with Soup

Some good-for-you things I'm putting in my soups lately.....
cabbage
leeks
lentils
beets
kale
spinach
beans (sometimes mashed)
squash
garlic
split peas
tomatoes
brown rice


What are you putting in soups lately?

For tips on starting a base for most soups...click here and read the Soup 101 part.

Lentil Split Pea Stew

I love this kind of soup. My mom makes soups like this all the time and I grew up eating this kind of soup. I created this out of items I needed to use in my fridge but you could substitute several of the items if you'd like to. It was so filling and thick.

1 c lentils
1 c split peas
4 c water
1 box chicken broth
1 chopped leak (or 1 tbsp minced dry onion or 1/4 chopped fresh onion)
2 c chopped kale (stem cut out)
1 tsp italian seasoning
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt (or more to taste)
1/2 c pasta
dash of garlic powder

Mix together everything except the pasta in a large pot. Bring to a bowl and simmer for about 45 min. Add pasta for the last 10 min. OR combine everything except the pasta in crock pot and cook on low from 9am till dinner or on high from noon till dinner. Add pasta for the last hour of cooking.

Serve with bread and butter.

Starting a soup 101:
If you are wanting to make soups and need a basic way to start, you can make most veggie soups or Italian based soups by starting with 1 box of chicken broth/stock, 4 cups water, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp salt (and more to taste), and 1/4 chopped onion. From there you can get creative. You can always add a 1/2-1 cup of pasta or rice to give your soup some stability....I always add something like pasta because I know it's something my kids will like in it. =0)

Kale Soup

My mom has been cooking kale in her soup for quite some time now and I love the flavor of it. Dad grew so much of it in his garden this year that I've been enjoying the benefits of it. I chopped it up and added it to this chicken broth veggie soup I made and it was so good. Going off my other recipe for tortellini soup I figured adding tortellini to it I couldn't go wrong and I was right.

I can't remember the measurements but it went something like this:
1 box of chicken broth
4 c water
diced carrots
diced celery
3 c frozen tortellini
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 tsp Italian herbs
I'm sure there was some garlic in there too
1/4 chopped onion
2 c washed, de-ribbed, chopped fresh kale

We sprinkled a little Parmesan cheese on top of the soup.

Kale has a really mild taste when cooked that is so smooth....it's really not bitter at all. Want to know more about why Kale is so good for you?....here, I dug this up on the net.....

When you mention kale, the majority will look up with raised eyebrows and mumble "What"? "What's that"? An old, hardly spoken of and powerful green food. Kale is a leafy green vegetable with a mild earthy flavor. The season for kale is between mid winter and early spring where it can be found in abundance in most produce sections of the local grocery store. However, one can find kale year round. Thankfully, kale is starting to garner well deserved attention due its nutrient rich phytochemical content which provides unparalleled health promoting benefits.

Kale absolutely rich and abundant in calcium, lutein, iron, and Vitamins A, C, and K. Kale has seven times the beta-carotene of broccoli and ten times more lutein. Kale is rich in Vitamin C not to mention the much needed fiber so lacking in the daily diet of processed food eating Americans. The "Icing on the Kale" are the natural occurring all important phytochemicals sulforaphane and indoles which research suggests may protect against cancer. Let's not forget the all important antioxidant Vitamin E. Rest assured kale spares nothing in providing one with much needed nutrients and associated health benefits.

The naturally rich sulfur content of kale deserves a bit more discussion. Science has discovered that sulforaphane, helps boost the body's detoxification enzymes, possibly by altering gene expression. This is turn is purported to help clear carcinogenic substances in a timely manner. Sulforaphane is formed when cruciferous vegetables like kale are chopped or chewed. This somehow triggers the liver to produce enzymes that detoxify cancer causing chemicals, of which we all are exposed on daily basis. A recently new study in the Journal of Nutrition (2004) demonstrates that sulforaphane helps stop breast cancer cell proliferation.

Taco Soup

Again, I don't really have a recipe for this...tried to find one for awhile and get one from some ladies that have made some good batches of this but I've never gotten a recipe so I decided to try throwing it together myself and this is what I came up with. It turned out quite well and was pretty healthy. Taco soup has never looked appetizing to me so I was quite surprised to discover that I love it.

You can also leave the meat out and make this completely vegetarian if you like. You really have total control over the measurements and ingredients. This is what I used to make mine the other night but you surely could add more ingredients. I've had it with sliced olives and corn in it and all kinds of yummy things.

2 cans pinto or black beans drained and rinsed.
1 can Mexican style stewed tomatoes
1 lb cooked ground turkey
1/2 diced yellow onion
1 taco seasoning packet
2 cloves minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 cans water

Brown meat, garlic, and onion in a large pot with a little olive oil. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a low boil. Simmer for about 10-15 min. Serve with cheese (I use Mexican style cheese), salsa, sour cream, and chips.

Variations:
~omit the meat and make it vegetarian.
~add more ingredients like corn, olives, more tomatoes, etc.
~make it in your crock pot and keep it on low till dinner.
~make it as a freezer meal.
~if your kids don't like beans, try mashing them and stirring them in which will thicken your soup so you may need a little more water. You can make it as liquidy as you like.

Tomato Soup

This recipe is from my friend, Sandi who got it from her friend, Judy Zanders. I don't know Judy but thanks, Judy! It's yummy! You can use this tomato soup as a base for other soups as well such as making veggie soup or minestrone. This recipe is a canning recipe so it makes a LOT of soup. You can also freeze it in a deep freeze instead of canning it and you can also use it fresh for a large group (say a dinner at church or family reunion....etc.).



Ingredients
12 quarts of tomatoes (1/2 bushel or 25 lbs)
7 med. onions
½ bunch of celery
3 bay leaves
1.5 cups of flour
1.5 cups of butter
½ cup sugar
2 tsp pepper
Salt to taste

Cook onion, celery, bay leaves in small portion of chopped tomatoes. Blend the onion/tomato mixture in a blender and then run through a sieve. Add this blended mixture to the remaining chopped tomatoes and cook in large pot until everything is hot and cooked down to a liquid. Pour mixture into a blender and run through a sieve. Cream butter and flour, then whisk 2 cups of the tomato mixture slowly, this will make a rue to thicken the soup. Add sugar, salt & pepper. Whisk flour mixture into soup slowly. After it is thickened ~ fill sterile jars 1 inch from the top, screw on lid with ring. Process the jars in a pressure cooker, 10 lbs of pressure for 10 minutes. Remove from cooker and gently place on cooling board leave over night, do not remove jars from the cooling board until cooled, as it can compromise the seal.

Makes approx 26 pints or 14 quarts.


When I'm serving it just as tomato soup, I add about 1 cup of milk to a pint of the soup to make it creamy.

Breakfast Brown Rice

Brown rice is about the only food (other than green veggies) I can think of that every diet and every nutritionist agree on. I've never heard anyone say "don't eat brown rice". In fact, I keep hearing doctors, nutritionist, and diets say the opposite,,, "you better be eating brown rice!" Why? Cause like most whole grains it helps bind and cleanse you from all the "bad" stuff. Ya know, toxins and all.

It took a long time to get my family switched over. We were a "white" family as Dr. Oz says....white not by our skin but by what we ate. White flour, white bread, white biscuits, white rice, white pancakes, white dinner rolls, etc. You get the idea. So, now we are trying to be a "brown" family. My kids finally LOVE brown rice! Woohoo! Victory. For those of you discouraged by trying to "switch over" your kids or in my case, my most difficult customer, my husband, be encouraged that it can take years of slowly introducing brown foods until they get used to them and develop a taste for them.

Meantime, here are some tips about brown rice.

~buy good quality long grain brown rice. It makes a big difference. Don't buy brand-x at your store, buy a brand like S&W that is "premium" brown rice. I thought I hated brown rice till I tried a good brand.
~introduce it first in other recipes before serving it plain as a side dish. Put it in soups or use it to stuff bell peppers, etc. This helps your family develop a taste for it before having to eat it as a side dish.
~try substituting chicken broth for the water when cooking it as a side dish. It gives it the familiar flavor of chicken. Butter and salt it as well when introducing it.
~it takes longer to cook than white rice so be sure to allow yourself about 45 min. prep time. I often like to pre-cook my rice earlier in the day or the day before because it re-heats well.
~don't use instant rice. It's been processed.
~try it for breakfast if you already like it. Here's a recipe idea that my brother's girlfriend, Holly shared with me and we love it.
~if someone in your house is having tummy trouble try having them eat mainly brown rice through out the day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner). It's easy on the tummy, helps pull toxins out of your body, and is filling.

Dice one apple very tiny and cook it in with your rice. You can also substitute part of the water for apple juice for more apple flavor. When it's done cooking add a dash of salt, cinnamon, and brown sugar. Serve with butter and a bit of milk like you would oatmeal.

Hope you enjoy this whole grain breakfast!

Chicken Noodle Soup in the Crock Pot

2-3 boneless skinless chicken breast
2-3 carrots peeled and sliced
3 celery stalks sliced
1/4 onion diced (or 2 tsp minced dried onion)
4-5 c water
1-2 c chicken broth
2 c egg noodles (I used whole wheat blend)
dash of basel
dash of parsley
dash of pepper
salt to taste

Place chicken, carrots, onion, seasonings, water, broth, and celery in the crock in the morning. About a half hour before dinner, add egg noodles. Cook on low all day. Before serving, remove chicken breasts, chop, and return to soup. Serve with bread and butter.

Featured Product - Whole Grain Pastas

Okay, first one is whole wheat lasagna noodles. Fabulous that they make these. This one happens to be whole wheat blend so it's not 100% whole wheat but it's still a step in the right direction. You can buy them 100% whole wheat.

I have not found whole wheat jumbo shells for making stuffed shells...something I love to make. So recently I tried making those stuffed rolled lasagna noodles so that I could get more whole wheat in.




Next, I found whole wheat egg noodles! I was totally thrilled because pasta just doesn't hold together in soups. It absorbs too much water and starts to swell and fall apart. That's why noodles are in soup and not pasta! Noodles are made with eggs and pasta is made without eggs. I'm so happy to have found whole wheat blend egg noodles. I know this bag says "pasta" on it but they are indeed made with egg. This one happens to be made with just egg whites and not the yoke, which cuts down on the bad cholesterol. I found these at my local Albertsons.


Lastly, my kids love tortellini...especially my son. It's his favorite food believe it or not. So, when I finally found whole wheat tortellini I was again really excited. Costco carried them for awhile here in the fresh deli section. They were fresh which was wonderful but I haven't seen them since. These are frozen which is my second choice. I really don't care for dried boxed stuffed tortellini. Anyway, I found these at my local Albertsons as well.

Corn Chowder

My friend's mom, Kelli, was a wonderful cook and I remember being at her house one time when she made corn chowder. Like my mom she made yummy meals that were usually from scratch. When I say from "scratch" on this one, I mean it. I watched as she cut all the kernels off of each ear of corn. After she had shaved them all down, she began making her corn chowder. I thought it tasted wonderful and so she went out and bought me the 20 something volume cook books that the recipe had come from. She was amazing that way. =0)


So tonight it popped in my head and I couldn't get it out of my mind. I don't have those 20 something volumes anymore but I figured I could come close to something that resembled corn chowder.


I made a base for chowder which is flour cooked in butter making a rue. Once it's cooked (not too long or it looses it's thickening ability) add chicken broth. About 4 cups of broth. Then add about 2 cups of diced potatoes (I used about 4 large Yukon golds). Let this simmer till the potatoes are nice and tender. Add the corn (I used frozen sweet white corn). Then add your seasoning. Sorry I didn't measure...just kept adding seasoning and tasting till I got it right. I can tell you what I did put in though:

minced dried onion (you could dice 1/2 an onion in the beginning though and add it when you added the potatoes

dried parsley

celery seed

salt

pepper

garlic



Let it simmer till everything has cooked and the flavors have melded together.


We had this with bread and butter.


Substitutions:

You could add diced celery when you add the potatoes instead of celery seed.

You could use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth for a truly vegetarian meal.