Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

This soup is amazing! So flavorful and delicious! It's even better served in a bread bowl. Thanks Dawn!

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

1 6 oz. box Uncle Ben's long grain and wild rice, prepared according to package
2 Tbs. olive oil
3 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
2 c. sliced mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 1/2 c. water
4 chicken bouillon cubes
1/4 tsp dried tarragon
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 c. evaporated milk
2 Tbs. cornstarch

Heat oil in a large stock pot, add chicken, mushrooms, onion, and garlic; saute for 5-8 minutes.

Add rice, water, bouillon, tarragon, and thyme to chicken mixture in pot. Bring to a boil. Whisk together cornstarch and evaporated milk in a small bowl, add to soup. Reduce heat to low and let simmer until thickened. Serves 5-6 adults.

Tortilla Soup in the Slow Cooker

I love this recipe because it is so good and so easy! I usually have most of these ingredients on hand. Serve with avocados, sour cream, shredded cheese, and tortilla chips! Thanks Stefany for the corn and bean idea!

2 cans diced tomatoes (plain or with garlic and onion)
2 cans chicken broth
1 c. salsa (I use Pace, medium heat)
4 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Tbs. cumin
2 Tbs butter
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 tsp garlic powder if you're in a hurry!)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c. chopped cilantro
1 can drained sweet corn
1 can rinsed and drained black beans

Add tomatoes through salt and pepper to the slow cooker. Cook on low 6 hours or on high 4 hours, remove chicken and shred, add back into soup. Add cilantro, corn, and beans and ready to serve!

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

This recipe and picture came from my sister Becky, who is a great cook! She told me about it and it sounded so yummy I asked her if I could put it on my blog. I have had roasted red pepper soup before, and it is delicious! This would be a great soup to serve in a bread bowl, and it looks so pretty with the swirled sour cream on top.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup

3 Tbs. olive oil
1 small sweet onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 36 oz. jar Roasted Red Peppers, rinsed and drained

2 14 oz. cans Hunts fired roasted tomatoes
1 Tbs. brown sugar

3 cups water
1Tbs. balsamic vinegar

5 Tbs. sour cream

Saute the onions in the olive oil until soft, then add the garlic and cook 5 more minutes. Add the peppers, tomatoes, sugar, and water and simmer for about 25 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the vinegar then transfer to a blender and puree. Pour back into pot and season with salt and pepper.

Ladle into 6 bowls and combine the sour cream and about 2 T. water in a Ziploc bag. Snip off one corner and "draw" and swirl on top of each serving!

If you don't want to buy the roasted red peppers you can make your own by rubbing 4 red bell peppers with olive oil and placing under your broiler till blackened on all sides. Then you take them out and place them in a covered container for about 15 minutes and peel and de-seed them. The blacker the skin is the better it comes off!

Chicken Bell Pepper Chowder

This recipe came from Paula Deen and it is soooooo good! It's silky smooth and packed with chunky vegetables and chicken. I served this with sourdough bread slices brushed with olive oil and put under the broiler until they were lightly browned, so yummy! (Sourdough bread makes anything good though!) I know there are lots of ingredients, but is really worth the effort, from start to finish it took me about an hour to make this and it made lots of soup, a whole large stock pot full. I would say it would serve 6-7 adults. (My husband loves pepper, that's why the soup in the pic has pepper all over it!)

Chicken and Bell Pepper Chowder

1/4 c. olive oil
3 large carrots, cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 sweet onions, cut into 1/2 inch dice
5 stalks celery, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 green bell peppers, sliced into strips
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp dried Thyme
1 Tbs. chicken bouillon granules
4 cans chicken broth
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
3 cups diced grilled chicken
1/2 c. butter
1 c. flour
1/2 tsp hot sauce, or more to taste
1 c. heavy cream

Heat the oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the carrots onions, celery, garlic, peppers, salt, white pepper, cumin, and thyme. Saute for 7-8 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to soften. Stir in the the chicken bouillon. Add the chicken broth and cilantro, and cook for 10-12 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. Stir in the chicken and cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken is heated through. In a skillet melt the butter and add the flour, stir for about 3 minutes, do not let brown! Ladle one cup of the soup mixture into the flour mixture, whisk to combine. Gradually add two more ladles full of soup. Pour back into soup pot and stir to combine, let cook for approximately 3-4 minutes until thickened. Remove from heat and add hot sauce and heavy cream, serve hot with some good bread!

Minestrone Soup

Can you tell I love soups? :) This minestrone soup has tons of veggies in it! You put in a lot, and then you let them cook and remove half of them with a slotted spoon, puree, and then add back into the soup. This is great because it makes the consistency more "chunky" like chili, and you can sneak in lots of veggies for the kids without them knowing it! (and me too, since I don't like a lot of veggies, sad, but true) I fed it to my 4 year old tonight and told him it was vegetable Macaroni and Cheese and he gobbled it up and even said, "This is good Mom!"

Minestrone Soup

4 Tbs. butter
3/4 c. chopped onion
32 oz. chicken broth (about 3 1/2 c.)
30 oz. frozen or canned mixed veggies
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 14.5oz. can stewed tomatoes, with liquid
2 Tbs. tomato paste
2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley (or 2 tsp dried) + 2 Tbs. for garnish
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 Tbs. chopped fresh basil (or 1 tsp dried)
1 c. uncooked small shell pasta
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Place butter in large stock pot over medium heat, let melt, and then add onion. Saute for approximately 5 minutes, until onion is soft, stirring occasionally.
Add next five ingredients. Let come to a boil, and then turn heat down and cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove half (or more) of veggies with slotted spoon to a blender, puree, and then return to stock pot.
Add garlic powder, parsley, salt, pepper, and basil, let come to boil and then turn heat down again and simmer for 15 minutes. Add pasta and let cook 8-10 minutes or until pasta is done. Garnish with fresh parsley and parmesan cheese.

Slow Cooker Southwest Chili

I have been making this chili recipe for years, it's the best! It is so easy to put together, the taste is very mild so kids (and adults that don't like hot food) will love it too.

Southwest Chili

1 1/2 lb. ground beef, cooked and drained
2 cans tomato soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 can stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 pkg. Chili Seasoning (McCormick)
1 regular size can pinto beans
1/2 c. sliced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can corn, drained

Combine hamburger meat, soups, tomatoes, chili seasoning, and pinto beans. Turn slow cooker on low and let cook for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally if possible. 1 hour before serving add the onion, garlic, and corn. Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, and corn chips. Makes enough for about 6-7 people. If you want it a little spicier, you can add 1/2 a bell pepper, sliced, when you add the onion, garlic, and corn.

Corn Chowder

I love, love, love, this soup! It tastes just like Mimi's Cafe Corn Chowder, it is so good, especially on a cold day. You can use potato flakes or pearls in place of the cubed potato, tonight I added potato pearls from my food storage and it worked out great. This recipe is pretty quick and easy, there are only a few ingredients to prep. I would highly recommend making my breadstick recipe (posted earlier this year) to go along with this, they are so good dipped in the soup!

Corn Chowder

4 Tbs. butter
3/4 c. onion, chopped
1 c. celery, diced
2 1/2 c. hot water
2 c. potatoes, peeled and cubed OR 2 c. potato flakes/pearls and an additional 2 c. water
4 c. frozen corn
2 Tbs. sugar
2 tsp. salt
pepper to taste (I like lots of pepper!)
3 Tbs. flour
1 quart 1/2 and 1/2

In large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and celery, saute for 5 minutes.
Add hot water, potatoes, corn, sugar, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for approximately 30 minutes, only 15 minutes if using potato flakes.

Whisk the flour into 1 c. of the half and half. Add to soup. Add remaining half and half. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes. I like mine pretty thick, you can correct the consistency with more potato flakes, or more water if it is too thick.

This soup freezes well, just add more water when reheating it.