Becky’s Baked Potato Soup

I am looking out the window at the beautiful Pine trees laden with snow—our first for this year in Delaware. This is, of course, the perfect weather for soup.

Last year when my daughter Becky came to visit in the winter she made a scrumptious soup called Baked Potato Soup. I have made potato soup many times, but never as good as hers.

Trying to think of something different for dinner I remembered that soup. I looked online and found a similar soup but it wasn’t quite the same. Then I found it in one of my favorite recipe files on a card under ‘soups’—just where it should be. Now copy this down and don’t loose it!

    Ingredients:

    6 medium potatoes baked or boiled

    8-10 slices fried crumbled bacon

    5 cups milk

    1 stick butter

    3 sticks chopped celery with leaves

     1 medium onion peeled and chopped

     1 cup chicken broth

     ½ cup flour

     1 cup sour cream

     1½ cups grated cheddar cheese

      salt and pepper to taste

    Directions:

1.      Bake potatoes or boil in water, drain, peel, and cool. Then cut into cubes and set aside.

2.      Fry bacon, drain on paper towel and crumble. Set aside.

3.      Saute' chopped onion and celery in melted butter until tender.

4.      Add flour to butter and veggies. Stir until light brown.

5.      Add broth and milk and stir until thickened.

6.      Add chopped potatoes and combine with sauce.

7.      Add sour cream and season to taste with salt and pepper.

8.      Add cheese and stir until the perfect thickness. Check seasoning.

9.      Serve topped with more shredded cheddar, chopped green onions, bacon bits, and chopped parsley if desired.

Check this out! Hope you will like this as much as we do. Thanks Becky. You are a fabulous cook.  

Turkey and Sausage Gumbo

How many different dishes do you make with your Thanksgiving turkey leftovers? Of course you always have turkey sandwiches and sliced breast meat with mashed potatoes and leftover gravy, but have you tried making soup?

One of my favorite turkey recipes is turkey and sausage gumbo. My son Chris first introduced me to gumbo and I must say it is one of my favorite soup recipes. Try this before you decide to toss the turkey.

Ingredients:

1 pound of Polish sausage or Andouille (spicy Cajun sausage) cut into bite size pieces

3-4 cups of skinned chopped turkey from leftovers or roasted chicken

½ cup vegetable oil

¾ cup flour

½ cup chopped sweet pepper

1 medium chopped onion

2 cups chopped celery with leaves

4 pints turkey or chicken broth

3-4 cloves minced garlic

2-3 bay leaves

2 teaspoons Creole seasoning

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 pinch of thyme

6 drops of hot sauce or to taste

¼ cup chopped green onion (for garnish)

1 cup brown rice cooked according to package directions

Directions:

When your turkey dinner is finished prepare the leftovers by removing skin and bones and separate meat into packages appropriate for your family meals. Freeze all that won’t be used within a couple of days.

1, Prepare turkey for soup by chopping it into bite size pieces and set it aside.

2. Place hot water in medium pot with turkey bones and scraps, some onion and celery.

This will make a flavorful broth. Cook until veggies are tender.

3. Sauté the sausage in a large skillet until brown. Remove most of fat using a paper towel then remove sausage from skillet and set aside.

4. Pour vegetable oil into skillet with remainder of fat. Add the flour and stir constantly on medium heat until roux is the color of chocolate (about 25-30 minutes).

5. Add chopped peppers, onion, and celery to skillet and cook until vegetables are tender (about ten minutes).

6. Pour broth from turkey bones and contents of skillet into soup kettle. Add more water and chicken bullion if needed to make about two quarts of liquid. Stir until soup is slightly thickened.

7. Add sausage, turkey or chicken, garlic and rest of ingredients through hot sauce. Simmer about an hour.

8. While soup simmers prepare brown rice according to package directions. This will take about 40 minutes.

9. Remove bay leaves and sprinkle soup with chopped green onions.

10. Serve this delectable gumbo over the rice. What a wonderful way to serve leftover turkey.

Send your recipes for leftovers to our blog. We’d love to share some of your favorites!

Shrimp Pad Thai with Brown Rice

I love Pad Thai and took a craving for some the other day. I looked through the cupboard but couldn’t find any rice noodles. I assessed the ingredients on hand and came up with a new dish. After trying it the family all agreed we should definitely make it again. Try it yourself and see what you think.

                                            

Ingredients for brown rice:

1 cup brown rice

2 ½ cups water

1 teaspoon salt

In medium pot combine rice, water, and salt then bring to a boil. Stir once, lower temperature to simmer and cover. Continue cooking for 40 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. If you prefer, use rice noodles instead of brown rice. Set aside.

Shrimp and vegetable ingredients:

3 cups precooked shrimp pealed with tails removed

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 cup chopped celery with leaves

 ½ cup chopped red or yellow sweet peppers

1 can drained sliced water chestnuts

 ½ cup Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki Sauce or more to taste

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 cup frozen peas

½ cup chopped cucumbers

½ cup peanut butter or chopped peanuts

3 cup chopped lettuce

While rice cooks, thaw shrimp in colander placed in large bowl. Allow shrimp to stand in cold water until thawed.

In a large skillet sauté celery and red peppers in the coconut oil for about five minutes.

Add (drained) water chestnuts and cook for five minutes more. Add drained shrimp, soy sauce, Teriyaki sauce, and peanut butter. Allow to simmer for a few minutes more then add frozen peas. When peas are thawed and warm add the lettuce and cover. Turn off skillet and let set for few minutes more. Serve over brown rice or rice noodles prepared according to package directions. This should serve six. Enjoy!

Wheels: Peanut Butter Banana Honey Roll-ups

My youngest grandson's first word was "car." He loves wheels--cars, trains, planes.

He's not quite as particular about his food looking like a work of art, as his sister is, but this is one lunch that he loves, "Peanut Butter Banana Honey Roll-ups".

Use a large whole wheat tortilla and spread it with peanut butter. Peel a banana and place it on the tortilla then drizzle it with honey. Roll it up and slice it into wheels.

This makes enough wheels for two children or you might want to share the wheels or do a counting game with them. How much are two wheels plus three wheels?

Then, use a second tortilla to cut out train cars, add wheels, and load it with carrot sticks (logs), raisins (coal), or apple slices (grain). Use celery strips for the track.

If you deal with peanut allergies, try hummus, grape tomatoes, or cucumber sticks on your tortilla. Serve with either a cup of milk or yogurt and you have a healthy lunch.

Do you have any kid-friendly lunch ideas? Can you turn it into a work of art? Tell me about it!

Russian Potato Chicken Soup

Hardy soups are for Winter. Maybe that's why Russia is famous for their soups--they have long winters.
My daughter-in-law is Russian and makes the best borsch imaginable.

My mother-in-law, Shirley's family came from Russia around a hundred years ago and her family recipe for chicken soup with matzo balls is great. It is just what the doctor ordered when you have a case of the sniffles.Today is cold and dreary and the forcast calls for snow--soup time!

This Russian Potato Chicken Soup recipe came from Ladies Home Journal about 20 or 30 years ago. My daughter-in-law says she had never eaten it in Russia before, but she thought it was delicious all the same. I'll just put my southern twist on it and say, "Ya'll stay for supper now. Ya' hear?"

Ingredients:

1) 1 1/2 pound chicken breast meat-chopped and sauteed with 2 tablespoons butter, or leftover meat from a broasted chicken

5 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped   
4 cups chicken broth or 2 bullion cubes and 4 cups water

Prepare above ingredients and put in crock pot on high.

2) 1 medium chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery with leaves
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
Chopped green onions, fresh parsley, shredded cheddar (optional) as garnish

Saute onion, celery, parsley, and butter. Add to chicken mixture in crock pot. Let cook for three or four hours.

3) Just before time is up make rue in skillet by combining the following:
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup cooking oil

Allow to brown lightly. Dip one cup of broth from crock pot and add to skillet. Stir until smooth then dump the contents of the skillet in.the crock pot and stir.

4) Add 1 can of evaporated milk and correct seasoning with salt and pepper. If not thick enough you may add paste of flour and water and stir until soup is of the right consistency. Chop 2 green onions or 2 tablespoons parsley for topping. May serve with shredded cheddar.

This might turn in to one of your comfort foods. I hope you like it as much as we do. Have you got a soup recipe you would like to share? Send it to us or make a comment. I would love to hear from you.