Chicken & Lentil Soup

I am sooo ready for summer and warm weather. It has been in the 80's one day and the next day was in the 30's and rainy. My allergies and sinus infections are going nuts. Well needless to say, we had a cold day last week so I wanted to make a soup.

I love Lentil's, but I just never cook with them a lot. The recipe sure made a huge batch, but I was able to freeze some, which is perfect!!

Sorry, no picture :/  Thanks to SkinnyTaste for this wonderful recipe!!!

Ingredients:

1 lb. dried lentils

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

8 cups water

1 tbsp. chicken Better than Bouillon

1 small onion

2 scallions

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

3 cloves garlic

1 medium ripe tomato

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. cumin

1/4 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. paprika

salt to taste

*I added in some chili powder as well along with a little bit more of the seasonings above

What To Do:

• In a large pot, combine the lentils, water and chicken bouillon
• Bring to a boil then cover and cook over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes
• Once chicken is cooked. Remove the chicken and shred. Return back to pot.
• Meanwhile, chop up the onions, scallions, cilantro, garlic and tomato
• Add to the lentils along with garlic powder, cumin, oregano and paprika
• Continue to cook covered for another 25 minutes
• If soup is too thick for you, add more water as needed
• Adjust salt to taste

Tomato Basil Soup

It has been a very long time since I last made homemade tomato basil soup, so long that my husband hasn't had mine yet. It is a longer process since I hand crush all the tomatoes, etc. (I will have to make that one soon and put it on here.) Until I can do that, I came up with this simple version that will tide me over.

What goes best with Tomato Basil Soup, yup that's right, grilled cheese sandwiches!!! (A craving with this 2nd baby)

Ingredients:

1/2 onion; diced

3 cloves of garlic; diced

Container of fresh basil leaves

2 large cans of crushed tomatoes

32 oz. tomato juice

1/2 stick of butter

1 cup Half and Half

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

What To Do:

• In a sauce pan, cook onion and garlic until translucent and soft
• Add in tomatoes and tomato juice and let simmer for about 15 minutes
• In a blender, add your sauce from the sauce pan along with the basil and puree until smooth (Unless you like chunky tomato soup)
• Pour back in sauce pan and add in your butter along with half and half
• Cook over low heat until butter is melted and soup is hot
• Garnish with fresh basil leaves
• ENJOY!!! 

Lentil & Sausage Soup

My neighbor one day asked if I had ever tried Lentils. I had no clue what Lentils were and had never heard of them. After looking at some things and then trying them once she made them, they were very good and plus they are healthy :)

Thanks to BestCooking.net, I found a recipe for Lentil and Sausage Soup. Although I forgot to add the pasta into the mix, it was still very good. I also made this into a crock pot meal instead of cooking it on the stove top!

This recipe made way to much for 3 of us so I would defintely cut it down unless you are feeding lots of people because you get full fast.

Use your best judgement on seasonings because I always just put on here what the recipe calls for, but of course, I don't measure seasonings out.

The picture doesn't look that appealing, but I promise it is good!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. sweet Italian sausage

1 large onion; chopped

1 stalk celery; finely chopped

1 tbsp. Garlic; chopped

1 (16 oz.) package dry Lentils; rinsed

1 cup shredded carrot (I just chopped mine)

2 cups water

2 cans chicken broth

1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes

1 tbsp. garlic powder

1 tbsp. fresh parsley; chopped

2 bay leaves

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. dried thyme

1/4 tsp. dried basil

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 lb. ditalini pasta

 

What To Do (Stove Top Directions):

1. Place sausage in a large pot & cook until brown
2. Add onion, celery and garlic to pot and saute until tender
3. Stir in Lentils, carrot, chicken broth, water and tomatoes
4. Season with garlic powder, parsley, bay leaves, oregano, thyme, basil, salt and pepper
5. Bring to a boil then reduce heat
6. Cover and simmer for 2 1/2 to 3 hours
7. Remove bay leaves before adding pasta
8. 15-20 minutes before it's done, stir in pasta and cook until tender

 

What To Do (Crock Pot Directions):

1. In a pot, cook sausage over medium heat until browned
2. Add onion, celery and garlic to pot and saute until tender
3. Once meat is browned and vegetables are tender, add to crock pot
4. Next stir in the remaining ingredients except for the bay leaves
5. Place the bay leaves on top and cover crock pot
6. Cook on low for 8 hours
7. *If you want the pasta, I would cook it in a pot and then drain and add to the soup
 

 

 



Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup has been sounding really good lately so I thought that I would try out my own recipe. I decided to have it cook in the crock pot because the chicken shreds so easily after cooking for awhile.

I have to admit, it was pretty good, but I could have added more of the seasonings and not so much water because I think the water made it a little bland. I used a cup of water so in the ingredients below, I am going to adjust the water, seasonings, and chicken broth.

*Getting ready to start cooking!!

Ingredients:

2 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

6 ounces Enchilada Sauce

7 ounces Whole Peeled Tomatoes; mashed

1/2 of Red Onion; chopped

2 ounces chopped Green Chilies

2 cloves Garlic; minced

5 ounces Frozen Corn

1/2 can Black Beans

2 Tbsp. Cilantro; chopped

2 tsp. Chili Powder

1 Tbsp. Cayenne Pepper

1-1/2 tsp. Cumin

8 ounces Chicken Broth

1/2 cup Water

Salt & Pepper

Optional, but Necessary Ingredients:

Avocados

Tortilla Strips

What To Do:

• In a crock pot, combine all ingredients and mix together
• Cook on High for 4 hours (or I am sure it would work on low for 8 hours if you want to put it in before work)
• Take out Chicken and shred
• Mix Chicken back into the crock pot
• Serve with fresh avocado slices and tortilla strips

Chicken Pot "Not Pie" Soup

I am not a huge fan of Chicken Pot Pie, but Kyle loves it. After making those mini Pot Pies, I decided this soup would probably be better. This recipe will make a lot so I would cut the recipe in half if it's just 2 or 3 of you eating it.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Flour

2 cups Water

4 cups Milk

1 large Celery stalk (I used 4 pieces from a container)

1/2 medium Onion

2 Chicken bouillons

1 tsp. Thyme

1 can of Corn

1 can of Peas

3 large Carrots; peeled and sliced

2 Potatoes; peeled and cubed small

1 bunch of Green Onions; chopped

16 oz. cooked Chicken breasts; diced small (I used 3 Chicken breasts)

Salt and Pepper

1 tsp. Cayenne pepper

1 tsp. Chili powder

What To Do:

• Cook your Chicken breasts if you haven't done so already
• Dice Chicken into small pieces (I set some aside for mine and shredded it)
• Pour 1 1/2 cups of water and your milk into a large pot and slowly bring to a boil
• Add celery, onion, carrots, potatoes, chicken bouillons, and thyme and return to a boil
• Partially cover and simmer on low until veggies are tender (About 10 min.)
• While veggies are cooking, in a bowl, combine the rest of your water- 1/2 cup with the flour and whisk until well blended; set aside
• Remove lid and add corn, peas, green onions, salt/pepper, cayenne pepper, and chili powder (cook for another 5 min.)
• Add chicken and slowly whisk in your water and flour mixture
• Cook another 2 minutes until soup thickens

Beef & Vegetable Soup

Fall is here so now that means I am pulling out warm soup recipes as well as looking for some new ones! Since I am wanting beef all the time, why not make a beef vegetable soup. I decided to just throw in ingredients like a stew and just go with it.

After cooking all day in the crock pot, it turned out good, but I could have used just a little bit more of a kick of spice! Feel free to take out or add any other ingredients that you think would be good!

Make sure you brown your beef, so you may want to brown it the night before you plan to make the soup.

The beginning when I had just mixed everything together!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. cubed Steak (for stew)

1/4 cup Flour

1/2 medium Red Onion; chopped

2 large Carrots; peeled and cut

2 large Potatoes; peeled and cut

2 cans of Diced Tomatoes w/ garlic; undrained

2 cans of low-sodium Beef Broth

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 Tbsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1/2 Tbsp. Cayenne Pepper

1/2 Tbsp. Oregano

1/2 Tbsp. Thyme

1/2 Tbsp. Basil

1/2 Tbsp. Parsley

What To Do:

• Place flour and cubed steak in a Ziploc bag and shake so that the flour coats the steak
• Put oil in skillet and heat oil over medium-high heat
• Add steak and brown all sides; set aside once browned
• Peel and cut up potatoes, carrots, onion and garlic
• In the crock pot, add all the ingredients together, mix together and cover/cook on high for an hour
• Reduce heat to low and cook for 6-7 hours (depending on how soft you like your veggies)

Vegetable Soup (Cabbage Soup Diet)

Good Morning Everyone!! Sorry that it has been awhile since I last did a post.

A neighbor of ours was telling me about this really good soup, but that it was part of a diet/cleanse. She has completed it twice now and has maintained her weight in the past 6 months. After seeing the recipe, I decided...why not try it! I had a picture, but I accidently deleted it. Sorry, no picture for this post. This soup is definitely going to be a keeper for me just to make when soup sounds good! Below is the receipe, but then I also posted what the 7 Day Diet/Cleanse consisted of.

Ingredients:

6 large green onions

2 green peppers

 2 cans of tomatoes (diced or whole) or 2 cans of Rotel

3 carrots

1 container (10 oz. or so) mushrooms

1 bunch of celery

half a head of cabbage

1 package spice only soup mix (It said it was okay if I used a different spice mix so I bought a beef stew season mix-made it taste so good!)

2 cubes of bouillon

1 48oz can Low Sodium V8 juice 

Season to taste with pepper, parsley, curry, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, etc. (Little to NO SALT!)

Directions:

1. Slice green onions, put in a pot on medium heat and start to sauté with cooking spray. Do this until the onions are whiter/clearer in color (about 4-6 minutes).
2. Cut green pepper stem end off, then cut pepper in half to take out the seeds and membrane. Cut the green pepper into bite size pieces and add to pot.
3. Take the outer leafs layers off the cabbage, cut into bite size pieces, add to pot.
4. Clean carrots, mushrooms, and celery, cut into bite size pieces and toss them in. Add tomatoes now, too.
5. If you would like a spicy soup, add a small amount of curry or cayenne pepper now.
6. For seasonings, you can use a spice packet of your choice and use beef  bouillon cubes (make sure not to add much salt, if any at all).
7. Use about 8 cups of water and the 48 oz of Low Sodium V8 juice, cover and put heat on low. Let soup simmer for a long time – about 2 hours or until vegetables are tender. **(I didn't let mine simmer for 2 hours because I still like my veggies with a little bit of crunch to them!)

*Helpful Hints*

• Make sure to take a multi-vitamin every day
• Drink plenty of water
• The more soup you eat, the more you will lose

7 Day Diet/Cleanse

Day One:

Fruit: Eat all of the fruit you want (except bananas). Eat only your soup and the fruit for the first day. For drinks- unsweetened teas, cranberry juice and water.

Day Two:

Vegetables: Eat until you are stuffed will all fresh, raw or cooked vegetables of your choice. Try to eat leafy green vegetables and stay away from dry beans, peas and corn. Eat all the vegetables you want along with your soup. At dinner, reward yourself with a big baked potato with butter. Do not eat fruit today.

Day Three:

Mix Days One and Two: Eat all the soup, fruits and vegetables you want. No Baked Potato.

Day Four:

Bananas and Skim Milk: Eat as many as eight bananas and drink as many glasses of skim milk as you would like on this day, along with your soup. This day is supposed to lessen your desire for sweets.

Day Five:

Beef And Tomatoes: Ten to twenty ounces of beef and up to six fresh tomatoes. Drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of water this day to wash the uric acid from your body. Eat your soup at least once this day. You may eat broiled or baked chicken instead of beef (but absolutely no skin-on chicken). If you prefer, you can substitute broiled fish for beef on one of the beef days (but not both).

Day Six:

Beef and Vegetables: Eat to your heart’s content of beef and vegetables this day. You can even have 2 or 3 steaks if you like, with leafy green vegetables. No Baked Potato. Eat your soup at least once.

Day Seven:

Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices and vegetables: Again stuff, stuff, stuff yourself. Be sure to eat your soup at least once this day.

Brooke's Chili

My Pop makes the best chili and we know at some point when we go to the lake or have a family get together, we are going to have Pop's Chili. This chili actually comes really close to the taste of his. I call it Brooke's Chili because it came from Tim's side of the family! Of course, in our family, chili is not complete without our peanut butter crackers :)

*Kyle and I like our Chili spicy and sometimes extra spicy...I will give the original recipe and then our additions underneath!

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

2 cans Ranch Style Beans*

1 can Rotel

1 packet of McCormick Chili seasoning

2-3 MINI cans of V8 juice* (depending on how juicy you like it)

*For the Ranch style beans, I use the ones with Jalapenos mixed in

*Sometimes we use the Hot & Spicy V8 juice

What to do:

1. In a skillet, brown and drain your ground beef
2. Put the beef back into the skillet & add the remaining ingredients
3. Cook on low until warmed through (about 5 min)

ENJOY!! AND...don't forget your peanut butter crackers :)