Dressed-Up Tomato Basil Soup

Everyone loves a good hearty soup, right?

We do in our house.

 This soup is almost as good as the Chorizo Rice Bean Soup

we made last September. 

Not quite, but almost.

This one is a dressed-up Tomato Basil Soup.

I need to get this on into print for you before I forget 

how I threw it together.

This is what I did:

Dressed-Up Tomato Basil Soup

1 container Schwan's Tomato Basil Soup

3 c. leftover beef broth from a roast

1 lb. fresh ground sausage (browned), seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper

2 frozen basil cubes, cooked with the sausage (the basil cubes I get at Trader Joe's)

1 can diced tomatoes with basil/oregano flavors

1 1/2 c. frozen corn (Schwan's)

2 c. bow tie pasta (cooked al'dente)

In a medium size soup pot I added my liquids (Schwan's soup, beef broth, and tomatoes).

In a skillet I browned the sausage and spices. There wasn't much grease so I didn't drain. I added the sausage to the liquids. Added the corn and simmered for about 30 minutes. I cooked the pasta separately in boiling water, drained and added to the soup. We ate this with Ritz crackers smeared with peanut butter. 

The New Year & Sauerkraut Soup

We hope your New Year celebrations were safe,

and you remain faithful to your New Year resolutions.

I don't commit to resolutions because I ALWAYS break them.

I would rather set little tiny (baby steps) goals for myself throughout the year.

Some of my goals this year are to focus on home improvements.

Buy less food.

(And Johnie knows I have a serious problem with this)

Create a vacation account.

And continue to live life in the moment.

 I do believe Johnie is enjoying his Christmas gift.

That clock got here just in time.

It was delivered on Christmas Eve.

Nothing like waiting till the very last minute.

 Did you all eat your pork, black eyed peas, and sauerkraut on New Years day?

We did!!

We can definitely use some luck to be thrown our way.

This is what I did for our good luck meal:

I purchased a family pack of boneless western style ribs.

(which I created three different meals with)

I grabbed my stoneware bean pot,

I drained half the liquid off of a jar of sauerkraut.

Drained and rinsed 1 can of black eyed peas.

I placed 1/4 of the sauerkraut on the bottom of the pot.

Threw in half of the black eyed peas.

Placed 4 of the ribs on top.

Then I continued another layer of kraut and peas.

4 more of the ribs.

Then topped it off with the rest of the kraut.

I sprinkled in a little celery salt.

Placed the lid on top of the pot and put it in a 250 degree F. oven

for about 5 hours. 

That was our New Year meal.

 But there is no way two people can eat a whole pot of kraut and pork.

We each ate a serving, 

and then look what I did with the leftovers.

I made SOUP!

I have to get this recipe in type before I forget what I did.

 I had about a cup of tri-mixed fresh mushrooms (oyster, steak, and button)

I chopped the mushrooms

8 cloves garlic, minced

2 large carrots, peeled and diced

1 small white onion, diced

Place 2 TBS olive oil in dutch oven.

Cook the mushrooms, carrot, onion, and garlic over med. heat until crisp tender.

(onion and garlic will be translucent)
Drop in 1 tsp. shredded creamy horseradish

Chop leftover pork into bite sized pieces.

Add the pork to veggie mixture.

Pour in 4 c. water

3 TBS chicken soup base

and leftover kraut and peas.

Bring this to a slow boil and add
2 TBS Sweet Hot Stone Ground Mustard

1 (10.5 oz.) can Campbell's Cream of Chicken with Herbs.

Turn temp down to simmer.

Cover dutch oven with lid and allow it simmer for about 45 minutes.

A perfect soup!

I served Schwan's coconut shrimp with our soup.

We hope you like this as much as we did.

We also hope you find success and wellness in 2015.

See Ya'all Soon!

Chicken Noodle Soup & The Weekend

 Johnie and I went to a Halloween party on Saturday.

One of the best parties I've ever been to.

 Everyone was very friendly and EVERYONE showed up

in costume.

 Johnie and I went as King Kong and Jane.

You should have seen us Saturday afternoon frantically running all

over Marion to put these costumes together.

Johnie already had his costume, but he was in search of gorilla feet.

My costume was totally Goodwill.

I found a long sleeve white blouse that we ripped the sleeves off of

and tore holes in it.

Johnie used the grill to smear the shirt with black.

"I hope they don't have dogs. I'm going to totally smell like steak."

The skirt was brown and we shredded the bottom of it.

We went to three different places to try and find a blond color

spray-in dye for my hair.

Which didn't turn out as I planned.

The spray turned my hair copper instead of blond.

But we had a great time.

I think it was the party that lead to chicken noodle soup.

You know how parties go.....

The shot glass was passed freely.

 By Monday at noon I had the symptoms of flu.

I spent the whole entire day wrapped up in a big fuzzy blanket.

I was shivering and couldn't get warm.

And yes, 

Although I hate to do it I had to miss work.

I didn't want to take my germs and spread them to everyone else.

Tuesday morning I woke up like I had just stepped out of the shower.

Sweat it out!

That's a good sign.

But I felt like every single rib on my left side was broke.

So I made myself some comfort food and spent the day on the couch again.

 I kind of cheated with this soup.

I used canned chicken instead of the real thing.

But it was super good and hit the spot.

This is what I did in a quickness.

Chicken Noodle Soup

6 c. water

4 TBS chicken soup base

2 large carrots, sliced

3 celery heart stalks, sliced

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tsp - 1 TBS dried Thyme

salt and pepper to taste

Bring to a boil. Boil for 8-10 minutes or until veggies are tender.

Add:

2-10 oz. cans chicken, undrained

Bring back to a boil.

Add:

1 1/2 c. uncooked Priano Pipe Rigate (found at Aldi's)

Boil for 9-11 minutes.

See Ya'all Soon

Italian Tortellini Soup

 Every morning when I get up, I look out the bathroom window

that frames the scene of our back yard.

Every morning there are more leaves on the ground.

For some reason this view makes me all warm and fuzzy.

Tell me I'm crazy.....It's okay.

Because I know what is coming after all the leaves are off the trees.

But the warm and fuzzy feeling directs me to soup.

This Italian Tortellini Soup is one of the best.

Sure did warm my soul.

And Johnie loved it too.

 I didn't really get a chance this week to touch on our last weekend.

Me working second shift hours has really been tough on us.

We never see each other during the week.

So when the weekends get here they are all about us.

Last Friday while I was at work Johnie sent me a text that read:

"I hope you love what I got for us."

Really?

I'm stuck at work and he sends a text like that?

I couldn't wait for my shift to end.

But the hours drug on, and on, and on.....

So by the time I made it home at 3:00 a.m. Johnie was fast asleep.

Which meant I would have to wait longer for the surprise he had planned.

Saturday morning he presented this gorgeous (picture above) hand painted

portrait of us standing beside his Harley.

This picture is huge and takes up one whole wall in our game room.

Johnie is definitely a man that thinks outside the box.

I am so lucky to have him in my life.

 Shall we get back to the soup?

Give me a minute to dry my eyes.....

This soup doesn't take long to throw together.

This is what I did:

Italian Tortellini Soup

In a large mixing bowl mix together:

5 c. hot water

4 TBS chicken soup base

1-7 oz. envelope dry Italian salad dressing mix

1-14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained

3/4 tsp. dried basil

a lite shake of red pepper flakes

In a dutch oven I squeezed and crumbled 7 chicken breakfast sausage links. 

Add:

1 medium chopped onion

4 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped fine

Brown the sausage, onion, and garlic

When this is browned add the liquid mixture

Bring to a boil

Add 1 package refrigerated cheese tortellini (9 oz)

Chop 1-10 oz. package fresh baby spinach

Add the spinach just before tortellini is done

Allow the spinach to wilt

And there you have it! Italian Tortellini Soup

See Ya'all Soon

Chorizo Rice Bean Soup & The Weekend

We had a very busy weekend.

A very spiritual weekend.

Johnie's son was baptized on Sunday.

We spent the whole entire day with him.

And we are very proud of him.

We started the day with lunch on the grill.

We found these great big thick pork loin chops 

at our local Kroger.

Johnie seasoned them all up,

grilled them slowly,

and kept them moist with BBQ sauce.

And we ended the day with ice cream at a
local ice cream shack.
Perfect day!


I'm stuck on soup.

One of my very favorite comfort foods.

This is some of the best soup I have ever had.

No LIE!!

The flavors are just awesome.

If you like a little spice in your life you will love this soup.

And when the snow is flying this winter.....

SSHHHHHHH!!!

You can read that very quietly if you want to.

This soup will for sure warm you up.

My kitchen smelled just like a Mexican restaurant while I was making it.

One of those aromas that keeps you going,

 "OOOOO, AHHHHH, MMMMM"

This recipe came through my Pages Feed on Facebook.

I am so glad I pinned it.

The inspiration came from the Web Site, Diethood.

I made a few changes, 

and like always if you want the original give Diethood a visit.

Yesterday Johnie worked a 13 hour shift.

So he was not here for dinner.

I packed his soup in his lunch today.

I can't wait to hear how he liked it.

Chorizo Rice Bean Soup

1 TBS butter

5 green onions, sliced, tops included

4 small cloves garlic

1 lb. ground chorizo

a little salt and pepper

1-15 oz. can diced tomatoes (mine were flavored with fennel)

1-15 oz. can great northern beans

1-15 oz. can black beans (drain and rinse both beans)

2 tsp. dried parsley

4 c. hot water

3 TBS beef soup base

1/2 c. uncooked rice

Melt butter in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes. Turn heat up to med/high and add chorizo, salt and pepper, and parsley. Cook for 5-8 minutes.

When chorizo is browned add tomatoes and beans.

Add water and beef soup base. Bring to a boil stirring occasionally.

Add rice and turn down to a simmer. Cover and let simmer for 18-20 minutes.

See Ya'all Soon

Crock Pot Cheesy Sausage Corn Chowder

 When the temperatures turn chilly,

and you have to retrieve your 

hoodies

jeans

slippers

and scarves to stay warm in the house,

that means it's time for soup.

 Johnie and I were raised in the same generation era.

We were raised on soup.

Soup was always a comfort food for us.

When I make soups I go

recipeless

non-recipe

eyes closed

all in with no recipe to aid me.

Johnie loved this soup!

It is for sure a rib-sticking,

warming the soul

kind of soup.

To thicken this soup I made a rue.

Is it illegal to add a rue to soup?

I hope not because I did it.

Please don't call the "using rue wrong" police.

It was wonderful!

And making it in the crock pot.....

sure does save time,

makes the house smell wonderful,

and frees you up for other responsibilities.

This is what I did:

Crock Pot Cheesy Corn Chowder

4 c. hot water

3 TBS chicken soup base

3 red potatoes, chopped small

6 breakfast sausage patties (crumbled with fingers and browned in skillet)

4 green onions, sliced thin, including green tops (threw these in when browning sausage)

2 c. frozen corn

salt and pepper to taste (I did not salt)

A couple shakes of white pepper

Add all the ingredients to crock pot. Cook on high for 4 hours.

Rue:

3 TBS butter

1/4 c. flour

pepper

2 c. milk

1/2 c. shredded cheese (I used the Mexican blend)

Melt butter on med/high in skillet. Add flour, pepper, and whisk. Slowly add milk while whisking. Once the rue is thickened add the cheese. Let cheese melt and then add to the crock pot ingredients.

Turn crock pot to low for one more hour.

Serve in soup bowls and top with fresh sliced green onion.

See Ya'all Soon

Beef & Bean Rival Soup

 First off, let us say 

Happy National Lasagna Day!

I panicked when I found out it was National Lasagna Day.

Johnie is working a double and I was concentrating on

using the leftovers from yesterday's roast.

I heard about lasagna and almost stopped everything I was doing.

But my thoughts went to, 

"There is no way I have time to put lasagna together." 

So I headed to the freezer where we have a huge Schwan's stash.

The Schwan man saved the day.

But I celebrated alone.

The demands of a Corrections Officer are never ending.....

 So while Johnie is at work, I will share this wonderful recipe with you.

I took our leftover roast and potatoes and turned it into soup.

Since the weather here has been like fall I felt soup would be okay.

What I'm going to do is go straight to my notes.

Yes, I write down everything when I'm free-style cooking.

Place in pan:

4 c. leftover broth with chopped beef

I removed the potatoes so they wouldn't turn to mush.

They get added in later.

I added 4 more cups water to the broth

2 TBS beef soup base

I always soak too many beans. 

But that's okay. I will drain and freeze what I don't use.

1 1/2 c. soaked (overnight) great northern beans

A couple shakes of white pepper

Bring to a boil. Turn down to simmer. Cover and simmer until beans

are tender (45 minutes to an hour).

Add potatoes after beans are cooked.

 Now for the rivals:

1 c. flour

salt and pepper to taste (I like a lot of black pepper in mine)

3 large eggs

Mix until flour and egg come together.

 You don't want it too wet.

Bring the soup back to a boil and drop in small amounts

of rival mixture.

I just drop them in by using the fork I mixed them with.

I have known some people to use their fingers and pinch off the 

size they want.

But that can get kind of messy.

Let the rivals cook for a few minutes.

This is the ending result.

A small lite lunch for Angie, and yet hearty enough for Johnie when he 

eats his dinner. Which may be tomorrow......

See ya'all soon.....