Meaty Chili

This chili is chock-full of veggies, and had a secret ingredient that takes it over the edge.
It really hits the spot on a cold day!

Meaty Chili

2 lbs hamburger or ground turkey

small onion diced.

2 (15 oz) cans petite diced tomatoes

2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

3-4 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 cup chicken or beef stock

2 cups vegetables

(I used a mix of green beans, diced bell peppers, and carrots)

salt and pepper, to taste

Brown meat with diced onion. Drain any fat. Place all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low 4 hours or Place all ingredients in a pressure cooker and cook on low pressure for 30 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Recipe from @wholemeg

1 cup diced celery

1 cup diced peeled carrots

1 cup diced yellow onion

4 cups chicken or veggie broth

2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes

2 teaspoons arrowroot powder (optional to thicken)

3/4 cup full-fat coconut milk

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

salt and pepper to taste

Add celery, carrots, onion, broth, tomatoes, bay leaf, and seasonings to a crock-pot. Cook low 6-8 hours or High 4-5.  Remove bay leaf. Add coconut milk.  Mix arrowroot powder with 2 tablespoons water to make a slur.  Mix into soup.  Add more seasonings if needed. If you like a smoother soup, blend with an immersion blender and add a little more broth.

Broccoli Soup (Healthified)

The temperatures in my neck of the woods have dropped this past week.  Things are starting to look and feel like Fall around here.  SO, this past Sunday I decided it was time to reinstate "Souper Sundays", a little tradition I started last winter of serving soup for Sunday dinner.  One of my family's favorite soup is Broccoli Cheese .  It's is chock full of broccoli which is super healthy and good for you.  However, it is also full of butter, white flour, and cheese.  Last week, I decided to try to makeover my original recipe into a healthier version. I substituted clarified butter for regular, arrowroot powder (sometimes called arrowroot starch or arrowroot flour) for the white flour, and coconut milk for the whole milk. I'm happy to report that I succeeded.  In fact this version tastes identical to the original - really.  Go ahead try it and see for yourself. 

This recipe yields 6 large servings.

Broccoli Soup 

(made-over)

2 (10 oz.) packages frozen chopped broccoli

3 tablespoons clarified butter

1/4 cup chopped onion

3 tablespoons arrowroot powder

2 cups chicken broth

1 can full-fat coconut milk

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Fill medium pot with one inch of water.  Over high heat, bring water to a boil.  Add broccoli. Cover pot and steam broccoli  5-6 minutes or until tender.  Strain to remove excess water. Set aside. In a large soup pot, melt clarified butter over medium-high heat.  Add onion and cook until clear.  Stir in arrowroot powder.  Let cook for 1 minute before slowly add broth and coconut milk.  Stir until slightly thickened.  Add salt, ground nutmeg, and cooked broccoli and nutritional yeast, and stir to combine.  Let simmer an additional 3-5 minutes. 

STEP-BY-STEP DIRECTIONS

1. Fill medium pot with one inch of water.  Over high heat, bring water to a boil.  Add broccoli. Cover pot and steam broccoli  5-6 minutes or until tender.  Strain to remove excess water. Set this aside.

 2. In a large soup pot, melt clarified butter over medium-high heat.  Add onion and cook until clear.

 3.  Stir in arrowroot powder and let it cook for 1 minute.

(This greatly improves the flavor.)

4.  After the 1 minute is up, slowly stir in the chicken broth and 

 can of full-fat coconut milk.

4.  Now it's time to add in the rest of the ingredients - the salt, nutmeg 

 nutritional yeast,

 and broccoli.

5.  Let the soup simmer 3-5 minutes to help incorporate all the flavors.

6.  Ladle it up and enjoy!

Sausage Potato and Kale Soup

This is my take on the infamous Zuppa Toscana Soup.    I think you'll really like it.

 I've cleaned it up to make it healthy, and I've changed some ingredients to fit the tastes of my family.

 Just a note:  If you have bones left-over from a turkey breast or chicken you had for dinner last night- SAVE THEM and make your own broth.  Bone broth is so beneficial and good for you.

Sausage Potato and Kale Soup

1 lb. Sausage (Italian or smoked- I usually use Aidell's Chicken Apple Sausage from Costco)

4 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4" slices

1 large onion, diced

1 cup mushrooms, chopped (your favorite kind- I use button)

2 large russet potatoes, chopped in thin pieces.

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 cups kale (or spinach if you're not a kale fan), chopped

3 cups (24 oz.) chicken broth

6 cups water

salt and pepper, to taste

1-1/2 cups milk (I use coconut milk, but regular would work too)

Slice sausage into small pieces.  Brown sausage in large soup pot. Add broth and water to pot and stir.  Place carrots, onions, mushrooms, potatoes, and garlic to pot.  Simmer over medium heat until vegetables are tender.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Turn heat to low.  Add kale and milk.  Stir together. Simmer another 10 minutes before serving.

Bone Broth- Basics

Did you know making your own broth is really easy?

You can make vegetable broth using just the veggies, or if you want something super healthy, make broth using bones - chicken, beef, pork.  

Bone broth helps heal the gut and contains super-charge nutrients that promote health and healing throughout the entire body. Don't let the lengthy simmer time scare you.  It takes only minutes to throw all the ingredients into a pot.  Then you're done.  

I like to store my broth in 2 cup increments poured into canning jars in the freezer.

BONE BROTH

2-3 lbs of bones (chicken, beef, etc)

3 celery stalks, halved

3 carrots halved

3 onions, peeled and quartered

Handful of fresh parsley (optional)

filtered water

Place bones, celery, carrots, and onion,  into a large stock pot.  Fill pot with water until everything is covered and water is about an inch above the bones and vegetables.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover, and allow to simmer 24-72 hours.*  The longer the better.   The last 10 minutes of cooking, add parsley.  Remove from heat, and cool.  Once broth has cooled, strain the broth, removing all bones, veggies, and any little pieces of meat that might be floating around. 

Store in the fridge 5-7 days or in the freezer up to 6 months.

*You can also make this in a slow cooker on low heat.  If you do this on the stove top, turn off the heat before you go to bed and turn it back on in the morning -Safety first.

Tomato Parmesan Soup

Sundays during the Autumn and Winter months are SOUP-er Sundays at our house.   We always have soup for dinner, mostly because it's easy.  Tomato Parmesan Soup is one of my favorites.  I like to serve each bowl of soup with a crispy grilled cheese sandwich or a slice of Focaccia bread.

Tomato Parmesan Soup

2 cans (10.75 oz) condensed tomato soup

2 cups chicken broth

4 cups milk (or substitute 2 cups of the milk for half and half)

1/2 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes 

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (plus extra for garnish if deired)

In a large pot, combine the soup, broth, milk, tomatoes and seasonings.  Heat through, over medium heat, stirring frequently.  Right before serving, stir in cheese.  Sprinkle each serving with additional cheese if desired.  

This recipe also cooks up well in a slow cooker.  Just combine the soup, broth, milk, tomatoes, and seasonings.  Stir to combine. Cook on low heat 3-4 hours.  An hour before serving, stir in shredded cheese.  

Step-By-Step 

In a large pot, combine the condensed tomato soup

 4 cups of milk (or you can use 2 cups milk and 2 cups half and half)

1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (you can find these near the canned tomatoes in most grocery stores)

 and the spices- onion powder, garlic, basil, and salt.  Stir well to combine.

Heat through over medium heat, stirring frequently.

Stir in Parmesan cheese.

Garnish with more Parmesan cheese.

Corn Chowder

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!!!!

It's that time of year again. -- Autumn.  Here at my house, the leaves are beginning to change and the temperature is starting to finally cool, which means it's time to bust out the soup bowls and cuddle up with a nice warm steamy bowl of soup.  This chowder recipe is sure to be a big hit.

Corn Chowder

8 slices bacon

1 large yellow onion

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup four

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

6 cups chicken broth

3 cups diced potatoes (about 1 pound)

4-5 cups corn, fresh or frozen

1 cup whole milk

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

In a large pot, cook the bacon until crisp.  Remove bacon, and set aside.  Over medium heat, add the butter and onion to the bacon grease.  Cook until onions are translucent; about 10 minutes.

Stir in flour, salt, and pepper.  Cook for 3 minutes.  Slowly add the chicken broth and potatoes.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer uncovered 15 minutes, until potatoes are tender.  Add corn, milk, and cheese.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Serve hot, garnished with crumbled bacon.

STEP- BY- STEP

 Cook bacon in a large pot (I like to cut mine into pieces- it cooks faster) until nice and crispy.  Using a slotted spoon, remove the pieces of bacon and set them aside.  These will be used to garnish.

Over medium heat, to the bacon grease add 2 tablespoons of butter.  I like to let the butter melt then add

 1 diced yellow onion.  Cook until the onion is translucent (about 8 minutes or so).

 Now add 1/4 cup of flour

 1 teaspoon of salt

 and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper.  Let this cook and brown for 3 minutes.

 Now Slowly stir in 6 cups of chicken broth.

 Once you have the broth all mixed in add 3 cups of diced potatoes.  Any kind will work.  I'm using red potatoes.  Once the potatoes are all in the pot, bring it to a boil, then turn down heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for about 15 minutes to cook the potatoes.  Once they are tender,

 add 6 cups of corn (I'm using frozen straight from the freezer),

1 cup of whole milk

 and 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.

 Your mouth should be watering by now.  Good think you're almost done.

Once the cheese has melted and the corn is warm.  Ladle into soup bowls, garnish with crumbled bacon and serve.

 You can't get any better than this!  Well maybe if you had a nice fat piece of corn bread to go with it. . .

From Scratch Cream of Chicken Soup

A lot of the recipe my family loves contain some kind of cream of something soup.  My neighbor hates creamed soups and calls them "Cream of Poison" soup.  If you feel the same way, just make your own.   This way you can control what ingredients is in them.   It's really easy and takes less than 10 minutes.  Here's the recipe for cream of chicken soup.

Cream of Chicken Soup

3/4 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon instant chicken bouillon granules

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup finely chopped chicken (optional)

Mix onion powder and bouillon into milk.  In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat.  Add flour, stirring with whisk.  Allow to brown (about 2 minutes).  Gradually add milk, stirring until smooth and thickened.  Stir in chicken pieces (optional).

STEP-BY-STEP 

Mix onion powder and bouillon with the milk

 In a saucepan over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter.

 Add 2 tablespoons of flour

 Stir using a whisk.

 Keep stirring until the mixture browns

 Now slowly add the milk

 stirring until nice and smooth and thickened.

If you are adding finely chopped chicken pieces, stir them in now.

You can make this ahead of time and store it in a jar in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it.