Souper Saturday

Today I'm posting a soup I haven't tried yet, but I think it sounds yum-diddly-scrumptious!! (I know I heard that word somewhere...) It's a timely post too, since you can use your leftover Thansgiving turkey to make it :)  The credit for this one goes to allrecipes.com (as posted by Valorie Walker)

After- Thanksgiving Turkey Soup

Ingredients

1 leftover turkey carcass ( carcass is such a yucky word, I'd just say leftover bird , and meat if you wanna)
3 medium onions, chopped
2 large carrots, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
1 cup butter, cubed
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups half-and-half cream
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
3/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Place turkey carcass in a soup kettle or Dutch oven and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour. Remove carcass; cool. Set aside 3 qt. broth. Remove turkey from bones and cut into bite-size pieces; set aside.

In a soup kettle or Dutch oven, saute the onions, carrots and celery in butter until tender. Reduce heat; stir in flour until blended. Gradually add 1 qt. of reserved broth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Add cream, rice, salt, bouillon, pepper, remaining broth and reserved turkey. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30-35 minutes or until rice is tender.

**** Here's what I might change when I make mine. The rice sounds great, but if you want to "southern it up" some more, throw some dumplings in there instead. If you like the strips kind, I can't help you. But I LOVE me some biscuity fluffy dumplings... mmm-mmm. So here's how I make my dumplings.

1 heaping tablespoon of Crisco
2 to 3 cups of self rising flour, sifted
2 cups of milk or buttermilk

Mix the crisco and flour, using a fork or pastry blender. Add milk/buttermilk a little at a time mixing until you get a moist dough. Place spoon size dollops into the boiling soup, DO NOT STIR. Make sure you do not place dumplings in on top of each other. You can use a wooden or plastic spoon to gently push the dumplings out of the way to make sure the next dumpling hits liquid :) If it appears that your dumplings aren't cooking thoroughly, you can gently roll them over in the soup to make sure all sides are cooked evenly. After all of the dumplings are in the soup, close the lid and remove the soup from heat. It's important not to let the dumplings cook too long, or they disappear and your soup turns to a thick stew. Let it stand for 20-25 minutes, and ENJOY!!!

(and if you are afraid of making your own dumplings, use Bisquick and follow the directions on the box, or you can just cut uncooked canned biscuits into fourths and add to the soup)

Souper Saturday

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Since it's Halloween, here's a recipe I'm gonna try for a goulash, it sounds like something my kids will definitely eat!!

Cheesy Goulash

1 10 oz package of egg noodles, cooked, rinsed and drained
1 lb ground beef
3 tbsp of vegetable oil
5 medium potatoes, cubed
1 medium onion, minced
1 (10 oz) can of tomato sauce
16 oz processed cheese (like Velveeta) cubed

1. Bring large pot of slightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook 8-10 minutes, or until al dente, then drain and set aside.
2. Brown ground beef in a medium skillet over medium high heat, stirring to crumble, drain and set aside. Heat oil in a seperate skillet over medium high heat. Cook potatoes for 2 minutes. then add onion. Continue cooking until potatoes are well browned, then carefully drain excess oil.
3. Combine potatoes with ground beef mixture, and stir in tomato sauce and cubed cheese. When cheese is melted, stir in noodles and cook 15 minutes more. Serve immediately.

** When I make this, I'm either going to use pre-seasoned tomato sauce (basil. oregano, garlic), or I'm gonna throw in a little more seasoning of some kind.... just a thought.

Souper Saturday

Okay I realize I am the latest blogger on blogspot today, everybody posts in the morning, but I was TIRED this morning. I spent yesterday evening in the emergency room. Funny how I had to go to one since I blogged about one the other day... thankfully, I didn't go to the one mentioned in that blog. I started having mild chest pains yesterday afternoon, just kinda felt like I needed to burp. The pains started getting worse and more intense, so I took some Gas-X and started doing the arm windmills my mom always told me to do when I was little. No relief, so I tried lying down with my butt up in the air like doctors tell you to do post surgery when you are terribly bloated. No relief. I laid on my left side, left leg straight, right leg bent, trying to get relief, and it only kept getting worse. Then I started getting super duper hot, and sweaty, then in about 10 minutes, chilled and clammy. I was at my mom's house, so she was ready to call an ambulance, but I refused. I called my DH Boss who left work to haul me to the ER. After about four hours, lots of bloodwork and a full chest CTA, the doctor determined I have pleurisy. Not really sure how I have that since I don't have TB or pneumonia, but whatever. At first I was sticking to the trapped air idea, until the pain started to come back today,  around the time the anti-inflammatories they loaded me up with were probably leaving my system. So as if the head stuff wasn't enough, I got some inflammation junk. YAHOO!!

Anyway, on to today's recipe. I haven't tried this one yet, but I will be tomorrow, so try it with me :) It's too late to start today, but tomorrow will work out fine...

Mexican Chicken Stew

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut bite size
1 1/2 Tbsp flour
2 tsp EVOO
1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled, cut bite size
1 yellow pepper, cut bite size
1 cup chopped onion
2 cups water
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
2 1/2 Tbsp salt-free chili powder blend
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
1 cup frozen corn
1 can (16 oz) kidney beans, rinsed
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1. Sprinkle chicken with flour; toss to coat. Heat 1 1/2 tsp of EVOO in nonstick Dutch oven. Add chicken; saute 5 minutes until cooked through. Remove.

2. Heat remaining 1/2 tsp oil. Add sweet potatoes, pepper, and onion; cover and cook 7 minutes, stirring often, until lightly colored.

3. Add water, tomatoes, chili powder, garlic, and oregano. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 10 minutes until vegetables are almost tender.

4. Add corn and beans; simmer 2 minutes until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat; mix chicken back in, then stir in cilantro.

Souper Saturday

I've decided to try a new weekly topic, for Saturdays. Since cold weather is coming, what better idea could I come up with except for Souper Saturday? Each week I'm going to post either a new recipe that I love, or one that I'm going to be trying as well....

This week, I'm doing one that I've recently tried, and LOVE!! It was first published in Woman's World magazine, not sure which issue, but it's delicious and VERY filling....give it a try, let me know what you think!!


Extreme Diet Soup (I just call it extreme soup, forget the diet part)

2 tbsp EVOO
2 lrg white onions, very thinly sliced
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
1 lrg carrot, shredded
2 lrg garlic cloves, minced
1 large jalapeno pepper (I actually like it better with 2), chopped (include seeds)
2 tsp of fresh thyme or oregano (or 1 tsp of dried)
8 cups of fat free natural chicken broth
1 15 oz can black beans, drained
6 packed cups of baby spinach leaves
1 lrg tomato, finely diced
salt & pepper to taste


Heat EVOO over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add onions, stir occasionally, cook for 10 minutes. Add chicken, stirring occasionally, for 5 more minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and the onions are browning. Add carrot, garlic, jalapeno, thyme/oregano. Cook another 2 minutes. Stir in broth and increase heat to high. Bring to a boil. Add beans, spinach & tomato. Return to a boil, then turn off heat. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Can also add parmesan cheese and lemon juice if desired.