Crockpot Cafe Rio Chicken Tortilla Soup

Today I was going to make this soup, and realized I couldn't find my recipe anywhere. When I finally found it stuffed inside a cookbook, I decided I needed to post it on the blog so I'll have easier access to it.

So, here's my own version of Cafe Rio chicken tortilla soup (it's also a good food storage recipe):

2 14oz cans of chicken or vegetable stock
1 undrained 10 or 12oz can chicken (or one chicken breast)
1/2 can rinsed black beans
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic (or 1/4 tsp dried minced garlic)
1/2 minced onion (or sprinkle of dried minced onion)
1/2 cup prepared green salsa
1 lime (or 4 TBSP lime juice)

mix it all in the crockpot and cook for several hours (or if you are using raw chicken, until the chicken can be pulled apart and mixed into the soup).

When ready to serve, top each bowl with a sprinkle of cheese, tortilla chips, and stir in a spoonful of guacamole (for a quick guacamole, just mash up one or two ripe avocados with a bit of salsa).

Potato Soup

■6 slices Thin Bacon, Cut Into 1-inch Pieces


■1 whole Medium Onion, Diced

■3 whole Carrots, Scrubbed Clean And Diced

■3 stalks Celery, Diced

■6 whole Small Russet Potatoes, Peeled And Diced

■8 cups Low Sodium Chicken Or Vegetable Broth

■3 Tablespoons All-purpose Flour

■1 cup Milk

■1/2 cup Heavy Cream

■1/2 teaspoon Salt, More To Taste

■Black Pepper To Taste

■1/2 teaspoon Cajun Spice Mix

■1 teaspoon Minced Fresh Parsley

■1 cup Grated Cheese Of Your Choice

Preparation Instructions

Add bacon pieces to a soup pot over medium heat and cook bacon until crisp and fat is rendered. Remove the bacon from the pot and set it aside. Pour off most of the grease, but do not clean the pot.

Return the hot to medium-high heat and add the onions, carrots, and celery. Stir and cook for 2 minutes or so, then add the diced potatoes. Cook for 5 minutes, seasoning with salt, pepper, and Cajun spice.

Pour in the broth and bring it to a gentle boil. Cook for 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are starting to get tender. Whisk together the flour and the milk, then pour into the soup and allow the soup to cook for another 5 minutes.

Remove half to 2/3 the soup and blend in a blender/food process until completely smooth. Pour it back into the soup pot and stir to combine. Let it heat back up as you taste for seasonings, adding more of what it needs. Stir in cream, then stir in parsley, reserving a little for garnish.

Serve in bowls garnished with parsley, grated cheese and crisp bacon pieces.

Chili - Wendy's Style

Chili {Wendy's Style} Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef, browned and drained

1 large yellow (sweet) onions, chopped

2 large green bell peppers, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic (I use jarred)

2 cans dark red kidney beans, drained (15 ounce cans)

1 cans Original Rotel Diced Tomatoes & Green Chili (10 ounce cans)

1 cans stewed tomatoes (15 ounce cans)

2 cans plain tomato sauce (15 ounce cans)

1 packages McCormick Mild Chili Seasoning (1.25 ounce packages)

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large stock pot.*

Simmer for at least three hours (I let mine cook all day long).

Tomato Basil Soup

This is Jeremy's favorite meal.


3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 - 14 oz. cans of crushed tomatoes

1 - 14 oz. can of whole tomatoes

2 cups of stock (chicken or vegetable)

1 tsp of sea salt

1 tsp of sugar

1/2 tsp of fresh ground black pepper

1/4 cup of heavy cream

3 tablespoons of fresh basil, julienned

parmesan cheese
In a saucepan, saute garlic in olive oil on medium heat for 1 minute - being careful not to burn the garlic. Add the crushed tomatoes. Add the whole tomatoes one at a time, squeezing them into the pan to break them up. Add the juice from the whole tomatoes, as well. Add chicken stock, salt, pepper and sugar. Cook the soup on medium at a simmer for 10 minutes.
To finish, reduce the heat to low and stir in heavy cream and basil and top with parmesan cheese.

Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes, with juice


1 cup finely diced celery

1 cup finely diced carrots

1 cup finely diced onions

1 tsp dried oregano or 1 T fresh oregano

1 T dried basil or 1/4 cup fresh basil

4 cups chicken broth

½ bay leaf

½ cup flour

1 cup Parmesan cheese

½ cup butter

2 cups half and half, warmed (or skim milk if you’re trying to cut some calories)

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper



1. Add tomatoes, celery, carrots, chicken broth, onions, oregano, basil, and bay leaf to a large slow cooker.

2. Cover and cook on LOW for 5-7 hours, until flavors are blended and vegetables are soft.

3. About 30 minutes before serving prepare a roux. Melt butter over low heat in a skillet and add flour. Stir constantly with a whisk for 5-7 minutes. Slowly stir in 1 cup hot soup. Add another 3 cups and stir until smooth. Add all back into the slow cooker. Stir and add the Parmesan cheese, warmed half and half, salt and pepper. Add additional basil and oregano if needed (the slow cooker does a number on spices and they get bland over time, so don’t be afraid to always season to taste at the end).

4. Cover and cook on LOW for another 30 minutes or so until ready to serve.

Lasagna in a Stew Pot

A long time ago my mom bought one of those recipe booklets from Quilted Bear.  This recipe comes from one titled "Soup from a Can" by Jackie Gannaway.  If you don't feel like making lasagna, whip up this lasagna stew instead.  You get all the flavors of lasagna without all the layers! :)

1 lb. ground beef

1 medium onion, diced

1 (28 oz.) jar Spaghetti sauce

1 (28 oz.) jar of water (fill the sauce jar with water)

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 ½ tsp. Italian seasoning

1 (8 oz.) pkg. grated mozzarella cheese, divided

1 (15 oz.) carton cottage or ricotta cheese (I use cottage cheese)

1 (8 oz.) package extra wide egg noodles, uncooked

Cook ground beef and chopped onion in large sprayed nonstick soup pan 4 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Drain off fat.  Add spaghetti sauce, water, tomato sauce and Italian seasoning.  Mix well.  Bring to a boil.  Lower heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes.  Add half the mozzarella and all the cottage or ricotta cheese.  Stir until well blended.  Add uncooked noodles.  Bring to a boil.  Lower heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes (until noodles are done to your liking), stirring often.  Sprinkle remaining mozzarella on top of servings.  Makes 7, 1 ½ cup servings.

Lion House Chili

I think just about everything from the Lion House recipe collections is worth trying out.  This is no exception.  I also call this recipe "Lori's Award Winning Chili" because my friend has won our ward chili cook-off for three years in a row with this recipe.  My sister won her ward's chili cook-off in New Orleans with it too!  I think it is a keeper for sure.

1 lb. diced lean beef (use ground beef if you want to make it easier - it is still great)

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (use less if you don't want it very spicy)

1 ½ Tbs. chili powder (again, use less if you are concerned with spice level)

1 tsp. powdered garlic, or 2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. crushed black pepper

1 ½ tsp. Kosher salt

½ tsp. cayenne pepper (you can use less here too if you want)

1 Tbs. canola oil

2 cans (8 oz. each) diced tomatoes

1 can (4 oz.) diced green chilies

4 cups canned kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups tomato soup

1 cup tomato juice

1 cup brown sugar

Sour cream

Cheese, grated

Onion, finely chopped

Preheat large heavy skillet or Dutch oven. Brown beef, bell peppers, onion, and spices together in canola oil. When beef is browned, add remaining ingredients and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occassionally. Garnish with dollop of sour cream, grated cheese, and finely chopped onion. Serves 8 -10.

Cauliflower Soup

This soup is one of my favorites (and the rest of my family really likes it too).  It comes together pretty quickly so it can be ready if I only have an hour before dinner.  I love to make cheddar and garlic biscuits to go with it (like the ones from Red Lobster - see my other post from today).  So when cauliflower is on sale, pick one up and make this yummy soup!

4 Tbs. margarine

2 med. onions, chopped

2 med. carrots, grated

2 celery ribs, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 lg. head cauliflower, chopped (I chop mine really fine so it is similar in size to the other veggie chunks)

6 cups chicken broth

¼ cup dried parsley

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

½ tsp. dried basil

½ tsp. dried tarragon (I never have this so I leave it out)

6 Tbs. Butter

½ cup flour

1 cup milk

¼ cup sour cream (optional)

Sauté onions, carrots, celery and garlic in 4 Tbs. margarine (I saute in the pot I will be using for the whole thing).  In a 4-quart Dutch oven or stockpot, simmer chopped cauliflower, sautéed vegetables, chicken broth, parsley, salt, pepper, basil and tarragon for 20 minutes, covered.  Make a medium white sauce by melting 6 tablespoons butter in a small pan and stirring flour into butter.  Gradually add milk.  Cook until thickened.  Add to soup.  Right before serving, stir in ¼ cup sour cream, if desired.  Do not boil.  Makes 4 quarts soup.

**Notes:  For a lower calorie version, omit the white sauce part of the recipe.

pasta and bean soup

This soup was really good, even though it was a little too hot in my tiny kitchen as I cooked it. It will be great in the winter! I adapted this from a Family Fun recipe.

Ingredients:
3 14-oz cans reduced-sodium broth (I used two veggi, and one chicken, since that's what I had)
6 cloves of garlic, peeled
4 4-inch sprigs fresh rosemary, or 1 Tbsp dried (I only had dried, but wished I had fresh because it was hard fishing the rosemary out later)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
1 15-oz can white beans, rinsed
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup medium pasta shells (I only had spirals, and it worked fine)
2 C individually quick-frozen spinach (I only had fresh baby spinach, so that's what i used)
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Combine broth, garlic, rosemary and crushed red pepper in a 4 to 6 quart soup pot, bring to a simmer. Partially cover and simmer over medium low-heat for 20 minutes to intensify flavor. Meanwhile, mash 1 cup beans in a small bowl (I was going to skip this step, then decided "what the heck" and just did it. I'm glad I did, it made the soup a little creamier)
2.Scoop garlic cloves and rosemary from the broth with a slotted spoon (I had a mesh scoop that worked great). Add mashed and whole beans to the broth, along with tomatoes; return to a simmer. Stir in Pasta, cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until pasta is just tender, about 10-12 minutes (I actually put my spinach in here, too, but whatever).
3. Stir in spinach, cover and cook just until spinach has thawed, 2-3 minutes. Ladle soup into bowls and serve with a sprinkle of parmesan.

We all liked this soup a lot, and it was great as leftovers for lunch today!

Beef and Black Bean Chili

8 oz. extra-lean ground beef
1 onion chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes with juice
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
11/2 cups low-sodium beef broth
2T Worcestershire sauce
1T chili powder
11/2 t. dried oregano
1/8 t ground black pepper
3 T fresh cilantro

1.Cook the beef in a large soup pot over medium heat until browned all over, about 5 minutes
2. Remove the beef to a bowl and add the onion, carrots, bell pepper, jalapeno peppers, and garlic to the pot. Cook until the vegetables are soft, about 8 minutes
3.Add the tomatoes(with juice), beans, broth, Worcestershire, chili powder, cumin, oregano, black pepper, and reserved beef.
4.Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until thickened and flavorful, about 45 minutes. Garnish with the chopped cilantro.

Potato, Broccoli and Cheese Soup

2 cups chopped onion (i had around 1 cup)

2 tablespoons margarine (used butter instead)

2 1/2 pounds peeled and cubed potatoes

5 cups boiling water

4 cubes chicken bouillon (used canned stock instead)

3 cups fresh broccoli, cooked and drained

salt and pepper to taste

3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

In a large stock pot sauté onion in butter. Add potatoes, water and bouillon cubes. Cover, bring to boil and then reduce heat to medium and cook until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Remove tough outer skin of broccoli stems and add to the veggies for the last 5-7 minutes of cooking.

In a blender or food processor puree half of the soup and return to stock pot. Season with salt and pepper. (I just pureed the whole soup)

Add cheese and heat soup through until cheese is melted. Serve warm. I also put some croûtons on top.

Tortellini Sausage Soup

3 links Italian sausage
4 cloves pressed garlic
1 onion, diced
½ c. water
2 cans chicken broth
½ c. apple cider
1 16-oz. can diced tomatoes
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 c. sliced carrots
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 medium zucchini, grated
8-10 oz. package cheese tortellini
2 Tbsp. dried parsley

If you're using link sausage, remove the casings and crumble into a large soup pot. Begin cooking sausage over medium heat, stirring frequently. If your sausage is pretty fatty, you'll want to drain it when it's about halfway cooked. Meanwhile, chop onions and garlic and add to the sausage. Continue cooking until onions are translucent and your sausage is cooked. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, juice, water, chicken broth, carrots, oregano, and basil. Cover and simmer for 1/2 hour. Add parsley and zucchini and simmer for another 15 minutes or so.
Add the tortellini and cook until tender, and then serve with bread and freshly-grated Parmesan.

Zuppa Toscana

Another on I saw on the Pleasant and Plump blog - looks just like the Olive Garden soup!

INGREDIENTS
1 lb ground Italian sausage (You can use the spicy Italian sausage and omit the red peppers)
1½ tsp crushed red peppers (or can use a fresh hot pepper)
1 large diced white onion
4 Tbsp bacon pieces (Can use Turkey bacon)
2 tsp garlic puree/ finely chopped
10 cups water
5 cubes of chicken bouillon
1 cup heavy cream
1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
¼ of a bunch of kale (or spinach)


Saute Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients.
In the same pan, saute bacon, onions and garlic for approximately 15 mins. or until the onions are soft.
Mix together the chicken bouillon and water, then add it to the onions, bacon and garlic. Cook until boiling.
Add potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.
Add heavy cream and cook until thoroughly heated.
Stir in the sausage.
Add kale just before serving. Delicious!

Candy Corn Chowder

This is so good, everytime I make it I love it all over again

Ingredients:
5 slices bacon
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 medium potatoes, pared and diced
Water
1 box frozen honey-glazed carrots
1 pkg. white sauce mix ( I make my own white sauce from Betty Crocker or Better Homes)
1 17 oz can Cream-style corn
1 t. salt
dash pepper

1. In a large frying pan, cook bacon until crisp. Crumble and set aside. Reserve 3 T. bacon drippings in pan

2. Add onion and cook until light brown. Add potatoes and carrots . Add enough water to cover

3. Cook over medium heat 10-15 minutes until potatoes and carrots are cooked

4. Cook white sauce, following pkg. Stir in cream style corn salt and pepper. Add to potato and carrot mixture and heat through about 10 minutes.

5. top each serving with crumbled bacon

makes 6 servings