Potato Cream Cheese Soup

So, one of the hardest things about moving Southwest for me, outside leaving my sweet babies behind, is the Panera Potato Cream Cheese soup!  Anybody with me on LOVING their soup!?  NO MORE do I have to miss this soup.  I have FINALLY mastered this soup at home and I even get an entire HUGE batch for the price of my ONE bowl purchased at Panera!  Now, the next thing to work on mastering are their sourdough bread bowls! :)  I'll let you know when I get there! :)

Until then, here is the soup recipe.  ENJOY! :)

3 - 14.5 cans chicken broth
2 - 8 oz pkg cream cheese, cubed
1 package (30 ounces) frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
1-1/2 c. fully cooked ham, cubed or ground
1/2 c onion, finely chopped
1 t garlic powder or salt
3/4 t dill weed

In your large kettle, bring your chicken broth to a boil. Add cream cheese; cook and stir until cheese is melted. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 18-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

TIP:  Best served in a sour dough bread bowl!!!

Chicken Chili

3 c chicken, cooked & diced

2 cans Northern Beans, drained

1 t cumin

2 c salsa

1 c chicken broth

3 c Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded
Throw everything in a crock pot on LOW for 4 hours!  Very yummy served in a bread bowl!  Mmm!

Turkey Black Bean Chili

This is a really yummy chili.  Easier and not so heavy on the tummy! :)  I first had this when my sister (another amazing chef) cooked it for me when I was back a few Octobers' ago with my boys.  IT HIT THE SPOT!

1 T. olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. turkey breast
3 (15 oz) cans black beans
1 (14 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 T chili powder
1 T dried oregano
1 T dried basil
1 T red wine vinegar

Saute onion and garlic in oil; add turkey. Cook through. Add beans, tomatoes and spices. Bring to boil, stir, reduce heat to low and simmer.
 
Note:  This can also be done in a crockpot.  Only change is to throw all of the cooked turkey and beans and spices into the crockpot and let simmer on low all day.  Can also be frozen and thawed later to eat.

Wisconsin Cheese Soup

OH MY!  About all I have to say about this soup!  DEFINITELY going to be a regular on our menu!  LET FALL EATING BEGIN!!! :)

1 1/2 cups diced carrots

1 1/2 cups diced onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 t hot pepper sauce

1/2 t salt

4 c chicken broth

12 oz beer

1/2 c butter

1/2 c flour

4 c half and half

8 c SHARP Cheddar Cheese, shredded

1 T Dijon mustard

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1/4 c cornstarch

1/2 c half and half

bread bowls, optional

Shred carrots and cook in microwave for 5 minutes with a little water.  Drain water and add to a medium saucepan.  Add onions, garlic, hot pepper sauce and salt. Mix so everything is coated with hot pepper sauce.  Saute just slightly.  Add chicken broth and beer to the vegetable mixture and boil for 15 minutes.  In a large stock pot, melt butter.  Add flour all at once and whisk into the butter until it gets a little thick, this is making "roo" if you've heard this and wondered what that meant! :)  SLOWLY add the half and half, about 1 c at a time and the flour mixture will be come very thick and pasty.  This is what you want it to do.  By the last cup of half and half, it will be a bit thinner, but still thick.  Add the shredded SHARP (has to be sharp for this recipe to turn out right) 1 cup at a time until melted over medium heat.  Once it's all melted, add the Dijon and worcestershire sauce and mix.  Add the already boiled chicken broth mixture then into the cheese mixture and stir continuously over medium heat.  Don't leave for long as it will start to scorch on the bottom.  In a small bowl mix 1/4 c cornstarch with 1/2 c half and half until it's smooth and pour into the soup quickly continuing to stir.  This will thicken your soup!

While I didn't have bread bowls, this soup would be heavenly served in a bread bowl!

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

COMFORT FOOD!  Started loving this soup at Panera Bread back in the day!  Couldn't get enough of it!  Finally figured I'd probably save myself SO MUCH MONEY if I stopped buying it at Panera and made it for myself at home! :)  Have made it ever since! 

1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 c butter
broccoli (they usually have three in one rubberband), chopped
2 (14 oz) cans chicken broth
1 lb cheddar cheese, shredded
1 c milk
1 1/2 t garlic powder
1/3 c cornstarch
1/2 c water

Melt butter.  Cook onion in butter til soft. Stir in broccoli and cover with chicken broth.  Simmer until broccoli is tender, 10-15 minutes.  Reduce heat, stir in cheese until melted.  Mix in milk & garlic powder.  In small bowl, stir cornstarch into water until dissolved.  Mix into soup.  Cook & stir until thick.  Serve.

FREEZER: Mismatches

Here is the beef stroganoff ready to throw into the crock pot.

Here is the cous cous all ready to throw into the crock pot.

I wanted to throw this post in real quick as a few of the freezer meals I actually did were recipes I've already previously posted, but I wanted to make sure you understood how you could also freeze for future meals. The two I'm "reposting" are the Beef Stroganoff and the Cous Cous. I've posted the freezer pictures here, but will also add them to the original post as option to freeze for later.

Chili

2 lbs ground beef
1 lb ground sausage
4 (15 ounce) cans chili beans
4 cans Rotel tomatoes
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon bacon bits
4 cubes beef bouillon
1/2 cup beer
1/4 cup chili powder
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T minced garlic
1 T dried oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp white sugar
1 (10.5 ounce) bag corn chips such as Fritos®
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese
sour cream

Cook ground chuck and sausage in a pan with chopped onions and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease. Pour into crock pot. Pour all remaining ingredients in the crock pot all at once. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer on low for at least 4 hours, stirring occasionally. The longer this sits in a crock pot on low THE BETTER! The flavors will blend so well together and knock your socks off! Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day. I have also frozen this as a "make ahead" meal and it's super. To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with corn chips, shredded Cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

A very DEAR DEAR friend of mine brought this soup to us in the hospital after we had just had Grace Priscilla! I had been in the hospital already several weeks and hadn't eaten "HOME FOOD" in TOO LONG, and I was CRAVING something hot and yummy from someone else's kitchen than the hospital or my own! Ever have that feeling? :) This soup has ALWAYS hit the spot for our family. I tweaked the original recipe as I usually tend to do, but it's SO YUMMY! Have had several requests for this specific recipe, so here it is! :)

Soup:

1 stick butter
onion, diced
6 T flour
4 c whole milk
4 c half & half
4 chicken bouillon cubes
2 c shredded cheddar cheese
3-4 pounds potato (peeled, cubed & cooked)
1 c heavy whipping cream

Toppings:

1 lb bacon (cooked)
green onion
extra cheese
sour cream

Peel, cube and cook potatoes, then set aside. I usually microwave them on high for about 10 minutes. Melt butter and saute onion until softened. Add flour to make roo. Slowly add the milk & H&H. Heat the milk and bouillon cubes til very hot (don't boil), then add cheese until melted. Add potatoes and heavy whipping cream, still stirring, making sure nothing is sticking to the bottom. The remaining ingredients will be to garnish and are not added into the soup directly until in your own bowl. Cook bacon up until crispy, let cool, then make into bits. Cut green onion to garnish. Can also add sour cream, but it's up to you!

Won Ton Soup

1/2 lb fresh hamburger
2 green onions
1 pkg won ton wraps (usually found in produce or health food area)
10 c chicken broth

Mix together raw hamburger and onions. Spread several won ton wraps out on the counter at once and put 1 tsp hamburger mix in the center of each wrap. With a small bowl of water, wet your fingertip and get two edges wet. You can usually do about 4-5 at a time without it drying out too fast on you. bring the opposite corner to the other corner and seal where wet. It should now look like a triangle. Flip one corner in and dab water on its' edge, then flip other corner in and it will seal. Once all won tons are made, bring some chicken broth to a boil and once boiling, throw 10-15 of them in at a time for about 4 minutes. Garnish the soup with fresh green onions when ready to serve.

Note: If you've used FRESH hamburger and you can't eat the whole batch in one sitting, the prepared won tons can be frozen for later used. Cook them in the boiling chicken broth from frozen, only cook them 5-6 minutes instead of the 3-4 minutes in the original recipe. I typically make a double batch for this purpose!

Cous Cous

(The picture above is how you would prepare for a FREEZER meal.)

This is a special recipe in my family. My dad grew up in Africa as a boy and this was something his mom made for he and his family. Cous Cous is a very popular African grown grain, in the same family as rice, that is really yummy! My mom made this for our family all growing up as well. Quick funny story. Shortly after I met my sweetie, my parents invited us over to their house for Sunday dinner so they could meet him and get to know him a little better for themselves. We all sat down around the table, prayed and started dishing out helpings to each person. Benjamin took one bite of the Cous Cous and said, "does this have peanut butter in it?" The original "Cowley Family Recipe" has peanut butter in it, unbeknownst to us, Benjamin is allergic to peanut butter!!!! So, we will never forget the meal my mom served the first time they met!

Stew to put over cooked Cous Cous:

1 - 46 oz can Tomato Juice
2 c carrots, chopped or sliced
1 green pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 lbs stew meat, cubed
2 cans green beans, drained
2 cans garbanzo beans, drained
5 tsp beef bouillon

Brown stew meat with chopped onion until cooked. Pour into the crock pot and add all remaining ingredients. Let cook in the crock pot on low for at least 8 hours. It can be cooked longer than that, but at least 8 hours. Serve over cooked Cous Cous.

Cous Cous:

2 1/2 c Cous Cous
2 1/2 c chicken broth
4 T butter
1 t Italian Seasoning
1 t dried basil
1 t dried oregano

In a medium saucepan bring broth, butter and seasonings to a boil. Once boiling, take off the stove and add the Cous Cous, stir, then cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Use a fork to break it a part and fluff it up!

NOTE: This can also be made ahead and frozen for a future day of serving. The only thing you'll do different is that after cooking the stew meat with the onion, you'll add ALL OTHER INGREDIENTS listed under stew to a large Ziploc bag, MINUS the tomato juice. Freeze all ingredients and thaw the day before you plan on serving. Once thawed, put entire bag of contents, PLUS the tomato juice then into the crock pot, simmer on low in the crock pot for 8 hours and cook the cous cous as indicated above.)

Italian Beef Stew

1 lb ground beef or sausage
1 small onion
1 c celery
2 c carrots
2 cloves minced garlic
15 oz tomato sauce
2 - 15 oz can kidney/chili beans
2 - 15 oz can green beans
2 c water
5 tsp beef bouillon
1 T parsley
1 t salt
1 t oregano
1 t basil
1/2 c macaroni

Boil water and beef bouillon until dissolved, then turn off burner. Brown meat with onion and drain. Add remaining ingredients and let simmer on low for 30 minutes or until pasta is cooked. Serve with a little grated Parmesan Cheese on top. We serve this with any kind of muffin! Blueberry is our favorite with this.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 pkg boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 c olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
32 ounce (1 quart) chicken broth
2 T lemon juice
1 bag or 2 c. frozen corn (C&W is my favorite)
2 c salsa

Toppings:

sour cream
tortilla chips
cheddar cheese

Boil and chop chicken. I've also thrown my chicken onto my Foreman to get an even better flavor. Put the chopped chicken into a kettle along with olive oil and spices and saute for about a minute. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add lemon juice, corn and salsa. Let simmer on medium for about 20 minutes. Serve. We put our toppings on, then dip our chips instead of spoons! Towards the end you'll need spoons, but it's so thick and hearty it's great to use the chips to scoop most of it!