Meal Monday: German Soup

It just keeps snowing and snowing and snowing.

When the weather looks like this outside, all I want is a yummy, warm soup.

Today, I give you German Soup!  This recipe came from an authentic German at one of our Lutheran Church potlucks, so you know it's going to be good.

Ingredients:

5 cups chicken broth

1 can (16oz) sauerkraut, rinsed and drained

2 medium carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 tsp dried dill

8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 medium potato, cubed

1 medium onion, chopped

3/4 lbs fresh kielbasa, removed from casing and crumbled (I actually use the Hillshire Farm kielbasa and just slice it)

1-2 tbsp vinegar

1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and simmer until sausage and vegetables are cooked.  The hardest part of this recipe is chopping all the vegetables.  You can also make this in a crock pot if you have more time.  This recipe serves about 8 people and the leftovers heat up very well.

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Meal Monday: Broccoli Beer Cheese Soup

I found this recipe on Ziplist and it was incredible. I went with a Michigan Beer - Bellaire Brown from Shorts Brewing and I recommend any local brown ale when you try it. I'd avoid any hoppy beer, like an IPA, because it will be too bitter and overpower the soup.


The recipe came from Taste of Home according to Ziplist, so I'm not going to duplicate it here.  Go to this link on Ziplist for the recipe.

I did make one small change when I made the soup.  I cut the recipe in half and used a little bit more chicken broth than called for and only about 3 or 4 ounces of beer.  It was perfect.  I think I still ended up with 6 or 7 servings and it was great for lunches for a couple days.  The original recipe has some tips for freezing the soup, which you could definitely do if you made a full batch.


Now that fall has arrived in Michigan, I'm sure many more soups will be making it into the rotation. Do you have a favorite fall soup?

Meal Monday: best soup #recipe ever!

I saw a recipe for Turkey Sausage, Kale and Cannellini Bean soup on Liz's blog a couple months ago. Finally made it on Sunday and WOW. It only took about 30 minutes to make and I had to stop eating at 2 bowls.  It's THAT good.


You can find the recipe here. I think you should also add her blog to your reader because this isn't the first recipe from The Lemon Bowl I've tried - they've all been winners. Go send Liz some bloggy love.

Do you have a favorite healthy recipe blogger you think I should add to my list?

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Menu Monday: Easy White Chili

It's definitely becoming fall up here in West Michigan & one of my favorite fall foods is chili. The possibilities are endless. This is probably the easiest chili recipe EVER and can be made on the stovetop or in a crockpot. The bonus? Only 5 ingredients!

• 2 large or 4 small chicken breasts, diced up & cooked.
• 1 large jar of great northern beans, liquid included.
• 16 oz jar of your favorite salsa (this jar is too big but I didn't use it all). The hotter the salsa, the more heat your chili will have.
• 1-2 tsp cumin
• 8 oz shredded monterey jack cheese

Dump everything into a big sauce pan and heat it on low, stirring occasionally, until the cheese is all melted and the chili is hot.
You need to watch it so it doesn't burn to the bottom of the pan.  Trust me. I've learned this one the hard way and nothing sucks more than burnt cheese.  If you cook this in a crock pot, you could probably start with the chicken raw but I've never done this.  You might need more liquid, too.  When I crockpot it, I still cook the chicken first and then just heat it on low for a few hours.

Serve with some tortilla chips and maybe a salad if you're feeling the need for some greens.  You can add more cheese on top, sour cream, whatever floats your boat.

Enjoy!  Do you have a favorite 1 pot, minimal ingredient recipe you want to share?

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Menu Monday: Crock Pot Beef Soup

The original recipe for this soup was titled: Easy Slow Cooker Beef Stew and I found the recipe in the sale flier for our local grocery store.  It called for frozen stirfry peppers and onions, which sounded a bit strange to me, so I tweaked the recipe to suit our tastes.

Here's "my" version of what I'm calling Crock Pot Beef Soup

Ingredients:
4-5 medium red potatoes
2 large carrots
2 stalks celery
1/2 onion diced
1-1/2 lbs beef stew meat cut into chunks
1/3 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
14 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup water
1 cup beef broth

1. Scrub potatoes and veggies.  Cut potatoes into quarters and veggies into chunks.  Place in bottom of a 4 quart slow cooker.

2.  Mix flour, salt and pepper and toss with beef to coat.  Add to slow cooker.

3.  Add undrained tomatoes, broth and water and stir.

4.  Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours until beef and veggies are tender.  Serve with a nice salad and some biscuits.

This turned out very well!  I think it was a little light on seasoning.  Next time I might throw in a few other spices, maybe a bay leaf.  Also, it reminded me of a beef barley soup my dad makes, so I might try adding some barley at the end of cooking and see how that works.  If you want to make it like the "original" recipe, omit the carrots, onions and celery and add 3 cups frozen stirfry peppers and onions in the last 30-40 minutes of cooking.

Do you have a favorite (code for EASY) soup or stew recipe you like to throw together when the weather turns colder? Please share!