Baked Potato Soup

I have this fear of cooking with sour cream. Every time I've done so, it comes out curdled and it just grosses me out. I found this recipe for Baked Potato Soup that used cream cheese in it's base so right away I was interested. Although I'm not a HUGE soup eater, I found this to be very good although I do believe the recipe needs some more salt. I'll let you be the judge so I won't alter the base recipe to include more. Overall this is a keeper!

Baked Potato Soup

5lbs Russet Potatoes, washed but NOT peeled. Diced into 1/2 inch(ish) cubes
1 large yellow onion, diced
10 cloves of garlic, whole
8 cups chicken stock
16 oz cream cheese softened (I used 8oz regular and 8oz low fat)
1 TBS seasoned salt or all-purpose seasoning

Garnishes:

Crumbled bacon
Shredded cheddar cheese
Green onions

Add potatoes, onion, garlic, seasoning and chicken stock to slow cooker.
Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours.
Remove and puree the garlic cloves and cream cheese along with 1/2 to 1/3rd of the soup, and then reintroduce to the remainder in the crock pot.
Stir until soup is well blended.
Top with your choice of garnishes & serve!

photo courtesy of rachelraydotcom

Tuscan Tortellini soup

I made this soup "as written" and it was quite delicious. In the future, I'll omit the bacon (and grease) for olive oil to lighten the calories/fat content and include some italian spices to make up for the flavor loss of the bacon. This would be fabulous with some warm crusty bread with a slathering of butter. Mmmmmmmm.

Tuscan Tortellini Soup

1/4 lb bacon cut in small pieces

2 cloves of garlic

4 cups of fresh spinach, chopped

16 oz. of crushed tomatoes

1 red pepper, diced

1 can of white beans

4 cups chicken broth

8 oz. cheese tortellini

Saute bacon and garlic until bacon is brown. Remove from pan. Cook spinach in pan drippings until wilted. Stir in broth, beans, tomatoes, and pepper and bring to a boil. Stir in pasta and simmer until pasta is al dente.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

• Now I'm not a HUGE soup fan and I tend to steer away from soup recipes BUT this looked sooooo good that I felt I just had to try it. I'm so glad I did. This was YUMMY!! Loved how low fat it is and how you can just add whatever you want to this recipe and it'll turn out delicious (think black beans). I think this will be even BETTER the next day.
• 
  
• Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup
• 
  
• 1 pound shredded, cooked chicken
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed
• 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups water
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 7 corn tortillas
• vegetable oil

Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn and cilantro. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.

Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup.

Wendy's Famous Chili

I've been making this for YEARS. My Mom thought it was the best chili she'd ever had. My husband still agrees with that! It's even BETTER the next day. Enjoy!

Wendy's Chili recipe

2 pounds ground beef

one 29-ounce can tomato sauce

one 29-ounce can kidney beans (with liquid)

one 29-ounce can pinto beans (with liquid)

1 cup diced onion (1 medium onion)

1/2 cup diced green chili (one can)

1/4 cup diced celery (1 stalk)

3 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 teaspoons cumin powder

3 tablespoons chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups water

Brown the ground beef in a skillet over medium heat; drain off the fat.

Using a fork, crumble the cooked beef into pea-size pieces.

In a large pot, combine the beef plus all the remaining ingredients, and bring to a simmer over low heat. Cook, stirring every 15 minutes, for 2 to 3 hours.

Makes about 12 servings.

Tidbits: For spicier chili, add 1/2 teaspoon more black pepper. For much spicier chili, add 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and a tablespoon of cayenne pepper. And for a real stomach stinger, add 5 or 6 sliced jalapeno peppers to the pot. Leftovers can be frozen for several months.

Classic Chicken and Dumplings

Scratch...it's not just for chicken pox.

This was delicious. It tastes like Memaw was cooking at your house all Sunday. A bit time consuming but delicious. Note that the dough recipe makes a TON of dumplings. I actually didn't use all of the dough.

Classic Chicken and Dumplings

• 1 (3 3/4-lb.) whole chicken
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper, divided
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
• 3 cups self-rising flour
• 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 2 teaspoons bacon drippings*
• 1 cup milk

Bring chicken, water to cover, garlic powder, thyme, 1 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper to a boil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 1 hour. Remove chicken; reserve broth.

Cool chicken 30 minutes; skin, bone, and shred chicken. Skim fat from broth. Add chicken, bouillon, and remaining 1 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper to broth. Return to a simmer.

Combine flour and poultry seasoning in a bowl. Cut in shortening and bacon drippings with a pastry blender until crumbly. Stir in milk. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll to 1/8-inch thickness; cut into 1-inch pieces.

Drop dumplings, a few at a time, into simmering broth, stirring gently. Cover and simmer, stirring often, 25 minutes. Garnish, if desired.

*2 tsp. butter plus 1/4 tsp. salt may be substituted.

Garnish: chopped fresh parsley

One Pot Chili

This was OK. I mean, it honestly reminds me of a healthy version of a chili inspired hamburger helper. It was tasty but need more salt in my opinion but that's easy to add. I did note that the pasta soaked up most of the liquid so it did lose that "chili" type consistency if you catch my drift. It was tasty but I'm on the fence as to whether or not I'd make this again.

One Pot chili

1 pound lean ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 teaspoon Crisco® Light Olive Oil or Canola Oil
2 cups water
1 can (15 ounces) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium beef broth
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes with mild green chilies, undrained
1 can (8 ounces) no-salt-added tomato sauce
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups uncooked multigrain penne pasta
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

In a large saucepan coated with cooking spray, cook the turkey, onion and pepper in oil over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain.
Stir in the water, beans, broth, tomatoes, tomato sauce, chili powder, cumin and oregano. Bring to a boil. Add pasta; cook for 15-20 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Serve with sour cream; sprinkle with cilantro. Yield: 6 servings (2 quarts).


Nutrition Facts: 1-1/3 cups with 2 teaspoons sour cream equals 384 calories, 10 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 64 mg cholesterol, 598 mg sodium, 47 g carbohydrate, 8 g fiber, 25 g protein

Tex-mex Chili

I made this for my annual Christmas party and people loved it! It was mildly spicey. Just perfect.

Tex-mex chili

3 pounds beef stew meat
1 tablespoon canola oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cans (16 ounces each) kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3 cans (15 ounces each) tomato sauce
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup water
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
3/4 cup salsa verde
1 envelope chili seasoning
2 teaspoons dried minced onion
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Shredded cheddar cheese and minced fresh cilantro

Directions
In a large skillet, brown beef in oil in batches. Add garlic to the pan; cook and stir for 1 minute. Transfer to a 6-qt. slow cooker.
Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender. Garnish each serving with cheese and cilantro. Yield: 12 servings (1-1/3 cups each).

Turkey Chili

OH this was sooo good! I think it was the unconventional taco seasoning, salsa and spices that made this so different yet traditional chili. Sound confusing? Try it, it's low fat and YUMMY!

Turkey Chili

3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
1 (1 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (14.5 ounce) can beef broth
1 (7 ounce) can salsa
1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes, or coarsely chopped tomatoes packed in puree
1 (7 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced ( I used yellow)
1 can pinto beans, undrained
1 can kidney beans, undrained

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble turkey into the pot, stirring with a wooden spoon to break apart as much as possible. Season with taco seasoning mix, coriander, oregano, chili flakes, and tomato paste, and mix until meat is evenly coated with seasonings. Continue cooking, reducing heat if necessary, until turkey is well browned.
Pour in beef broth, and simmer to reduce liquid slightly, about 5 minutes. Add salsa, tomatoes, and green chilies, and continue cooking at a moderate simmer for ten minutes. Adjust the thickness at any time you feel necessary by adding water.
While chili is still cooking, heat one tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onion and green bell pepper, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes, or until onion is translucent and bell pepper is lightly browned. Add onion and bell pepper to the chili, and continue cooking at a very low simmer for at least 3 hours.
Ladle chili into serving bowls. Top with sour cream, green onion, and cheddar cheese, and serve.