Three Little Pigs Soup

As the name suggests, this soup has three types of pork in it. Of course, you can eliminate one or two of them but I think you'd loose some of the depth this soup has. Its everything a soup should be: hearty, earthy, thick, and bursting with layers of flavor.

I had my sister and her main squeeze over for dinner and they agreed by helping themselves to seconds. This was a great way to use up the leftover christmas ham (check the blog because that recipe was FANTASTIC and blows the national ham chain out of the water) and get in some fiber and warm up on a cold Ohio December day.

I served this with a very delicious homemade cornbread (recipe on the blog also). This particular cornbread is a bit sweet (but not overly sweet) to balance the smokiness of the soup.

You're welcome in advance!

Three Little Piggies Soup

6 slices of bacon, coursely chopped

3 links of mild italian sausage, cut into bite size pieces (casing removed)

Ham, chopped into small pieces (I used leftover, equivalent of about 4-6 spiral slices)

1 small white onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 28oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes

2 cans chicken broth (the normal size cans) I always use low sodium/low fat

1 chipotle pepper (with adobe sauce), chopped small

2 teaspoons cumin

3/4 teaspoons dried oregano

few dashes of smoked paprika

dash of dried minced onion

salt and pepper to taste

1) In a frying pan, cook the chopped bacon until it is crispy. Remove from the pan and put on a paper towel lined plate to remove excess grease. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the grease, discard the rest. 

2) In the reserved grease, add onion, garlic and italian sausage and cook until the sausage is done and the onions are not burnt.

3) Combine all the other ingredients into a stock pot and bring to a boil. Add in sausage/onion mixture and bacon.

4) Allow to boil for a short period of time, then reduce heat to medium low and allow soup to cook for 3-4 hours. Stir occasionally and adjust flavors as you see fit. I liked the smokiness that the adobe paste brought to the soup so I added a bit more while it was cooking. If you like less heat, remove the seeds from the pepper before adding it to the pot.

Read More

Lightened Up Chicken Pot Pie Soup

I live in Ohio. And its Winter. Enough said?! LOL!

Without fail, every year when winter hits, I end up telling myself and those within ear shot that I "can't wait to get out of here". Yet each year, I find myself still here, suffering through the dreary winter days. Aside from it being cold and having the occasional blizzard, the drearyness is the worst part of it. Today broke a 14 day stretch of having no sun. YUCK.

I wanted to make something like a chicken pot pie but Shawn is on his yearly lenten diet and I don't tend to lean towards heavy, calorie-laden dinners (unless it involves hot sauce and fried chicken). And I didn't feel like devoting a large chunk of my time in the kitchen this weekend.

I ended up landing on the idea of making a soup inspired by the flavors and goodness of chicken pot pie but without all of the unwanted heavy ingredients and time.

You can make substitutions on the vegetables to fit your family's tastes. I'd love to hear what you think about this!!

Lightened Up Chicken Pot Pie Soup

(photo courtesy of  www.noblepig.com)

1/3  C. flour

3 C. Chicken Stock

5 C. 2% milk

1/2 medium sized onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, sliced

2 medium carrots, sliced and quartered

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 bag frozen green bean

1 bag frozen corn

2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes

Ground Black Pepper

Sea Salt, to taste

2 tsp. Herbs De Provence

2 medium to large sized chicken breasts, cooked and chopped into bite size pieces

2 medium to large sized potatoes, cut in small cubes

1) In a bowl, combine 1 cup chicken stock with the flour and whisk until the flour is incorporate. Set Aside.

2) Pour remaining chicken stock and milk into your soup pot. Slowly bring to a boil.

3) Add onion, celery, carrots, garlic, frozen vegetables, chicken buillons, herbs and salt and pepper and bring to a boil. 

4) Partially cover and reduce to simmer on low to medium low until vegetables are tender. 

5) Add potatoes and chicken and simmer on a low boil until potatoes are cooked through and tender. 

6) Slowly whisk in the stock/flour mixture that you set aside in step 1. You may need to add more depending on how thick you like your soup. 

7) Make sure to adjust seasonings to taste prior to serving.

Read More

Stuffed Pepper Soup

One of Shawn's all-time favorite meals is stuffed peppers. And its specific to who makes them. They have to be Cheryl's stuffed peppers. I will side with him that they are pretty darn good. Ok...they are awesome. There!

So I was cruising through the food section on the app that I am addicted to these days (you know the one) and saw a recipe for stuffed pepper soup from The Country Cook's blog. I was inspired but knew that I could make a few changes to it to make it my own and more in line with the stuffed pepper flavor that our family loves.

I got all the ingredients ready and started making it and could tell that by the smell of the kitchen, that it was going to be darn tasty. And it was!!! I even took some over to my dad for dinner that night (because he hadn't' eaten and he wanted to see the new car Shawn and I bought). He was very hesitant of a soup inspired by a meal but yesterday I got a text that said "Soup was TASTY! Share the recipe please". Well Dad, you got it!!!

I hope you enjoy this recipe. As written below, it is for a stove top, but can easily be adapted into a crock pot method. At the end of the recipe will be how to do it in the crock pot.

Stuffed Pepper Soup

1 lb. Ground Beef

1 small red onion, finely diced

1 medium green bell pepper, diced

1 medium red bell pepper, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can (29 oz) fire roasted diced tomatoes, preferably seasoned with garlic and oregano

1 can (14oz) tomato sauce (or Italian Sauce)

1 - 14oz can beef broth

2 cups cooked rice

1 T. white sugar

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp dried oregano

1 T. dried minced onion

salt and pepper, to taste

shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream for garnish (optional but strongly suggested!!)

1) In your large stock pot, brown your beef for 4-5 minutes. Add your peppers, onion, and garlic and continue to cook until cooked through.

2) Drain off grease and put back into the pot.

3) Add in garlic powder, oregano and minced onion.

4) Stir in canned tomatoes, beef brother and tomato sauce.

5) Add sugar and salt and pepper and bring to a light boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and allow to cook for two hours.

6) Add in your rice during the last 15 minutes and serve.

You can choose to cut the cooking time down but I believe that a good flavorful soup comes from allowing it to cook on low for a few hours. If you choose to make this a quick soup, add in your rice with the tomatoes and cook for 15 minutes and serve.

*To make this in a crock pot, follow the directions as written through step 5. You'll put all the ingredients into the crock pot set on low and cook for 4-6 hours. When you come home, add in the cooked rice and turn on high for 30 minutes or so. Then serve.

I garnish mine with a good pinch of cheddar cheese and a dollop of sour cream.

Dinner is served!

*recipe adapted from www.thecountrycook.net, photo courtesy of www.ziplist.com)

Read More

Sausage and Tortellini Soup

If I had to pick one soup and designate it as my absolute favorite, I think it would be a tie between this soup and French Onion Soup. But because my boyfriend is not a fan of French Onion Soup, I make this soup a lot. More than any other soup. As I build my blog, you'll notice that my soups are broth based. I believe that you can get a great soup without all the extra fat and calories and I love that wine is so easily used in soups and the flavor it adds is unbeatable. What I love most about this soup, besides its incredible flavor, is how easy it is.

I like a little bite to this soup so I use Italian hot sausage and sweet sausage. Feel free to use whichever fits your taste buds the best though.

Sausage and Tortellini Soup

(photo courtesy of all recipes.com)

1 lb. Italian sausage (sweet, mild or hot), casings removed (or you can use ground)

1 medium Vidalia Onion, roughly chopped

3 cloves Garlic, minced

6 cups beef broth

1 cup dry red wine (I use a dry Cab or shiraz)

4 cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes (I like to get ones seasoned with garlic or basil for more flavor)

(if you want to use fresh tomatoes, you'll need about 4 large tomatoes, seeded peeled and chopped)

1 cup sliced carrots

3-4 large basil leaves

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1 - 8 ounce can tomato sauce

2 cups sliced zucchini

8-10 ounces of fresh tortellini (frozen or bagged work also)

1) In a stock pot, brown the sausage until cooked through. Remove sausage and reserve 2 tablespoons of grease from the sausage. Sauté onions and garlic in the drippings from the sausage.

2) Add beef stock, wine, tomatoes, carrots, basil (I make it look like confetti), oregano, tomato sauce and sausage to the onion mixture. Bring to a boil for about 20 minutes, then reduce to a simmer and allow it to simmer for 3-4 hours. (you can do less cooking time, I prefer my soups that get to sit in the pan for a while and get happy)

3) Stir in the zucchini and cook for another 30 minutes. Add tortellini during the last ten minutes. Garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese

4) ENJOY!

Read More