Winter weather makes me feel like eating soup for dinner. Unfortunately, there is no winter weather where I live in Florida, so I’m going to pretend it is snowing outside while I enjoy my favorite soup recipes.
Crock Pot Potato Soup
6 potatoes
2 leeks
2 onions
1 carrot
1 stalk celery
4 c. water
1 1/2 tsp. salt
4 chicken bouillon cubes
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 Tbsp. parsley flakes
2 Tbsp. butter
13 oz. can evaporated milk
Cut all to bite size. Put all ingredients except milk and chives, in the crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 10 to 12 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Stir in evaporated milk during the last hour.
This was a big hit with 3 members of our family. The Ant Bug asked for seconds, ate more for a bedtime snack, then happily ate it for dinner again the next night. The Sweet Bee took one bite and spit it out again, so she filled up on homemade rolls (you can’t please everyone, right?!).
Minestrone Soup
Cook for five minutes:
2 Tb. olive oil or other oil
2 cups chopped onions (1 large onion)
5 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 or 2 tsp. salt
Add and cook for 10 minutes, stir occasionally:
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 medium carrots sliced or dices
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil
Black pepper to taste
Add, cover and simmer for 15 minutes:
1 medium bell pepper, sliced or diced
1 medium zucchini, sliceed
1 cup diced eggplant, optional
5-6 cups water
1 (14 oz.) can tomato sauce
Add and simmer five minutes more:
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
Add and cook until tender:
1 cup pasta (uncooked shells, bows, or macaroni)
Add:
1 or 2 diced tomatoes (or 1 can chopped tomatoes)
Sprinkle chopped parsley and Parmesan cheese on each bowl or soup before serving.
White Chicken Chili
1 small onion, peeled and chopped fine
2-3 medium garlic cloves, peeled/chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
1- 4oz can chopped green chilies
30 ounces (2 cans) white bean undrained (great northern, cannellini, or garbonzo)
1 can chicken broth
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. salt and a couple shakes of pepper
2-3 chicken breasts cooked and shredded or cubed
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1/2 cup monterey jack cheese, shredded
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
juice from 1 lime
Saute onions and garlic in 1 Tb. olive oil until cooked. Then add the tomatoes, chilies, white beans, chicken broth, cumin, chili powder, and cayenne pepper. Salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Then slowly stir in the cheese and sour cream until well-blended. Add chopped cilantro and the lime juice. Stir after each addition. Simmer slowly so flavors can work their magic (1-2 hours), stirring frequently.
Crock pot variation: Combine all ingredients in pot except for sour cream and cheese. Let simmer for 4-6 hours. Add the sour cream and cheese for the last hour. May use frozen chicken breasts.
I always cook this in the crock pot. The cilantro is the key to greatness in this recipe!
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Note: There will be no Friday Nature Walk this week. We’ll be enjoying the day off from school and putting up our Christmas tree.
One Christmas tradition I enjoy is making an ornament, usually with the help of my children (is it a tradition if this is only the second time I’ve done it?). This years version was inspired by an idea I saw here, but I got creative in using mostly supplies that I already had on hand.
Paint the wood discs and allow to dry (both sides). Cut slightly smaller circles out of decorative scrapbook paper, and mod podge the paper to the painted discs. Once the glue was dry I threaded white ribbon through a shiny bell, tied a bow and used a hot glue gun to attach the ribbon to the disc. The last step is to use the glue gun again to attach a string to the back for hanging on the tree.
The possibilities for the focal part of the ornament itself are pretty endless. You can use photos, old Christmas cards, berries, flowers, or whatever strikes your fancy. I made a version for my piano students using a small picture of a piano I printed from the computer (in the photo above).
