Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup

Hey everyone! Hope you're making it through the cold weather months and staying warm. The recipe I have to share with you today will help keep you warm! Who doesn't like soup when it's cold outside?! Anyway, this "recipe" comes from my Mother-in-Law and I put the word recipe in quotation marks because it's one of the recipes that can be adapted and put together pretty much anyway you want but it makes one awesome soup! There will be a lot of commentary with the instructions and ingredient list so you can see what I mean about adapting it. I definitely give this recipe a 5!

Ingredients

-Fresh broccoli chopped up (you can also use frozen) use as much or as little as you want

-Chicken Broth/vegetable broth (again use as much or as little as you want, we like to make a big batch at once because this soup gets better as the days go by, it's great for leftovers!) I used about 58 oz. or 4 cans of broth

-potatoes cut up small (again as much or as little as you want and it can be cut up as big or as little as you want)

-chopped carrots (as big or as little, as much or as little as you want)*
-chopped onions (ditto)*-cornstarch (for thickening use as much or as little depending on desired thickness)
-shredded cheddar cheese (as much as you want, the more the better!, I used about 3-4 handfulls)
-salt and pepper to taste

*as a side note to the onions and carrots, if you have little kids who don't like this kind of thing, then put them in a food blender and get them as finely chopped as you can so they kind of blend into the soup.

Directions
Put all ingredients except for the cornstarch and cheese into a pot and bring to a boil. Then simmer until the potatoes and other vegetables are tender.

Add the cornstarch to desired thickness, then add in the cheese until melted. Salt and pepper to taste.

Variations: there are many! Use other vegetables if you want. Also if you don't have potatoes on hand (like I didn't tonight) use instant potato flakes instead and then you can skip the cornstarch because the potato flakes will thicken up the soup themselves.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Stew

One of the many free magazines I receive is called Ready Made. I'm not sure how to describe it but it's kind of a "green" magazine where they make stuff out of the stuff you already have. It's pretty interesting. Anyway I found this recipe and I had a lot of sweet potatoes from the farm co-op we're getting vegetables from so I thought I'd try it. It reminds me of tortilla soup. So this is a different way to make tortilla soup. I'll write in my changes in bold. Since we have little kids, I omitted a few things so it wouldn't be spicy. I give this recipe a 5!

Ingredients

1 Tbsp canola oil (I used cooking spray)
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1-inch cubes (I actually used 3)
1 onion, peeled and roughly diced
1 red pepper, seeds removed and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 jalapeno, diced (I didn't use this)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper (I didn't use this)
3 cups vegetable broth (I used chicken broth)
1 (14.5oz)can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5 oz)can diced tomatoes with juices (you could use tomatoes with diced chiles)
1 cup frozen corn (I used 1 can corn)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup lime juice
shredded cheese to serve
I added some chicken as well


Directions

1. Heat canola oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add sweet potatoes, onion, red pepper, jalapeno, and garlic, stirring to coat. Saute until onion and peppers are soft, about 4 minutes.


2. Add chili powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper and stir well. Reduce heat to medium, cover pot, and allow sweet potatoes to soften, about 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.


3. After sweet potatoes are fork tender, add broth, black beans, and tomatoes. Bring stew to a boil, stirring well and scraping the bottom of pot to incorporate all of the spices. Add corn, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for an additional 15 minutes.


4. Before serving, stir in cilantro and lime juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve stew with cheese and additional cilantro if desired.

Black Bean Spinach Pizza

I found this recipe at Allrecipes.com because I was looking for a recipe that specifically had both spinach and cilantro in it. My in laws gave us a bunch of both from their garden and I didn't want it to go to waste! It was supposed to be a vegetarian pizza but I added chicken to it as well. It turned out so good! Tim said it was his favorite pizza I've ever made. So I definitely had to share! I of course give it a 5!

INGREDIENTS

1 (10 ounce) package prebaked Italian bread shell crust (I used Pillsbury's pizza dough)
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed, drained, and mashed
1/3 cup chopped onion (I used green onion)
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup salsa (I used salsa verde)
1/2 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry (I used fresh spinach)
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 chicken breast cut up

DIRECTIONS

Place the crust on an ungreased 12-in. pizza pan (I prebaked the pizza dough I used). Combine the beans, onion, chili powder, cumin and garlic; spread over crust. Layer with salsa, spinach and cilantro. Sprinkle with hot pepper sauce and cheeses. Bake at 450 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown (I baked it at 400 degrees for 8 minutes according to the dough package).

Pesto Lasagna Rolls

This is a Taste of Home recipe I used in conjunction with the White Puree recipe. It turned out great and no one could tell there was zucchini and cauliflower in it. The recipe actually did call for some zucchini in it which is why I thought this puree would work well mixed in with the cheese mixture. So instead of the zucchini I added 1 cup of White Puree. Instead of the first 4 ingredients I just used already made pesto sauce. One other thing I added was some chicken to the cheese mixture...just to give us some meat :) Oh and I give this recipe 4.5 stars (I needed more pesto sauce).

Ingredients

2 cups Fresh basil leaves
2 cloves Garlic
1 cup(3oz) shredded Parmesan Cheese, divided
3/4 cup Olive oil
15 oz Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 Egg, beaten
1 cup Diced zucchini
16 Lasagna noodles, cooked drained and cooled

Preparation

Prepare pesto sauce in covered blender or food processor by processing basil with garlic until chopped. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese; process until well mixed. With machine running, slowly add oil and coninue processing until smooth. Set aside. In medium bowl, combine ricotta and mozzarella cheese, remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and egg; blend well. Fold in zucchini (or fold in White Puree).

Spread 2 heaping Tablespoons cheese mixture on each lasagna noodle.
Roll up each noodle length wise and stand vertically in greased 11x7-inch baking
dish. Pour pesto sauce over lasagna rolls; cover and bake in preheated 350* F.
oven 40 minutes or until bubbly and heated through.

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Black Beans and Cheese Enchiladas

So it's been forever since I posted a new recipe, but after I made this really easy recipe I knew I had to post it. I found this recipe on the Betty Crocker website. I was looking for a recipe to use the rest of a steak that I had already cooked up. This recipe doesn't call for meat but I added the steak and also a can of green chiles before putting the bean mixture into the tortillas. This was so easy I'm sure without adding those 2 things it would be even easier for those of you who don't want to add any meat to it. I give this recipe a 4.5!

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped (1/2 cup)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 can (15 oz) Progress® black beans, drained, rinsed
1 package (11.5 oz) Old El Paso® flour tortillas for burritos (8 tortillas), heated
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (8 oz)
1 can (10 oz) Old El Paso® enchilada sauce
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (2 oz)Old El Paso® Thick 'n Chunky salsa, if desired

1.Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray 11x7-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cumin; cook and stir until onion is tender. Stir in beans.

2.Place about 3 tablespoons bean mixture in center of each warm tortilla. Top each with 1/4 cup Monterey Jack cheese. Roll up tightly; place, seam side down, in baking dish. Spoon enchilada sauce over tortillas. Spray sheet of foil with cooking spray; cover baking dish with foil, sprayed side down.

3.Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese. Serve enchiladas with salsa.

Pineapple-Black Bean Enchiladas

Last night I made a dish from a recipe I got on the Pillsbury website. It won the prize for the America's Favorite Recipe at the Pillsbury Bake off so I thought I'd try it out. It was awesome! You hardly even noticed that it was a vegetarian dish. It called for red enchilada sauce so I went to the All Recipes website for a recipe on that since that was the one ingredient I didn't have. So I made my first vegetarian dish and my first try at enchilada sauce. I'll post both recipes here. I think it turned out great! We had some people over for dinner that night and when I told them it didn't have any meat in it, they were like "are you serious?". It was pretty funny. Anyway I give both of these recipes a 5!

Pineapple-Black Bean Enchiladas

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 can (20 oz) pineapple tidbits in juice, drained, 1/3 cup juice reserved
1 can (15 oz) Progresso® black beans, drained, rinsed
1 can (4.5 oz) Old El Paso® chopped green chiles
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 cups shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese (12 oz)
1 can (10 oz) Old El Paso® mild enchilada sauce
8 whole wheat flour tortillas (8 or 9 inch)
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
8 teaspoons chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook 4 to 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in pineapple, beans, green chiles and salt. Cook and stir until thoroughly heated. Remove skillet from heat. Stir in 1/2 cup cilantro and 2 cups of the cheese.
2. Spoon and spread 1 tablespoon enchilada sauce onto each tortilla. Spoon about 3/4 cup vegetable mixture over sauce on each. Roll up tortillas; place seam side down in baking dish.
3. In small bowl, mix reserved 1/3 cup pineapple juice and remaining enchilada sauce; pour over entire surface of enchiladas in dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese. Spray sheet of foil large enough to cover baking dish with cooking spray; place sprayed side down over baking dish and seal tightly.
4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, removing foil during last 5 to 10 minutes of baking, until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbly. Top each baked enchilada with 1 tablespoon sour cream and 1 teaspoon cilantro.

Ten Minute Enchilada Sauce

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons self-rising flour
1/4 cup New Mexico or California chili powder
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion salt
salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in flour and chili powder, reduce heat to medium, and cook until lightly brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning flour.

Gradually stir in tomato sauce, water, cumin, garlic powder, and onion salt into the flour and chili powder until smooth, and continue cooking over medium heat approximately 10 minutes, or until thickened slightly. Season to taste with salt.

Broccoli-Cheese Soup

And for tonight.....broccoli-cheese soup on pg 41 of the "101 things to do with a slow cooker" cook book. This recipe called for 2 packages of frozen chopped broccoli but I used fresh broccoli instead that I cut up myself. Since there wouldn't be any water coming from the non frozen broccoli, I added just a little bit of water. This recipe turned out pretty good, it did need a little more salt than called for but maybe that's just my taste. Also it called to cook it on 2-3 hours on high....I would make sure you turn it off at 2 hours. I let mine go a little bit longer and it started to look like it was going to burn on one side. I give this recipe a 4, Tim seemed to like it a lot, he'll be taking it for lunch tomorrow while he's at school so that must mean it was pretty good!

Ingredients

2 packages (16 oz each) frozen chopped broccoli
2 cans (10 3/4 oz each) cheddar cheese soup, condensed
2 can (12 oz each) evaporated milk
1/4 cup dried minced onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions

Combine all ingredients in greased slow cooker. Cover and cook on
high heat 2-3 hours or on low heat 4-5 hours. Makes 4-6 servings

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