Pumpkin Soup

This recipe is from my sweet friend Aprille.  This is a perfect soup for the fall time!!

1T chili powder
1T chopped fresh garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
4 C chicken broth
1 can black beans with the liquid
1 15oz can pumpkin
1 C frozen corn
3/4 C salsa
4 or 5 chicken breast or a rotisserie chicken

You can cook this two ways.  Simmer frozen chicken in the chicken broth for a few hours, then shredded it,and add the rest of the ingredients and heat on low for a few hours to let the spices sink in. Or just add a rotisserie chicken with all the ingredients and let simmer for a few hours. 

Serve with chips, sour cream, cheese, avocado, cilantro

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

1 16-oz can black beans
1 16-oz can kidney beans
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
10 oz package frozen corn kernels
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies
1 packet taco seasoning
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts  
chili peppers, chopped (optional)

Combine beans, corn, tomato sauce, tomatoes, and
taco seasoning in a slow cooker. Place chicken on top
and cover.  Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours.
Half hour before serving,  remove chicken and shred.
Return chicken  to slow cooker and stir in.  You can
also try it with sour cream and cheese. 

Tortellini Vegetable Soup

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 small zucchini, diced

1 medium carrot, peeled and diced

5 1/2 cups chicken stock

1 teaspoon dried basil (more if fresh)

1/2 cup canned crushed tomatoes

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 to 9 ounces fresh or frozen tortellini (cheese or meat filled)

Black pepper, to taste

Heat the olive oil in a medium soup pot or large saucepan. Add onion,

zucchini, and carrot. Saute over moderate heat for 5 minutes,

stirring often, until the onion is soft and translucent.Add the stock,
basil,tomatoes, and salt to the pot. Increase the heat and bring the
mixture to a low boil. Add the tortellini and bring the soup back
to a low boil. Cook it for 2 minutes, then reduce the heat and let
it simmer for 5 to 6 minutes longer.  Makes about 5 servings

Southwest Chicken Soup

2 boxes chicken broth
4 chicken breasts
1 can black beans
1 clove garlic chopped
1 can organza beans
1 can corn, drained
1 bunch green onions chopped
3/4 cup diced carrots
2 cans Mexican style stewed tomatoes

Brown chicken in skillet with olive oil. Season with
salt and add chopped garlic. Cover and cook thoroughly.
Once chicken is cooked chop chicken and add remaining
ingredients into a large pot. Simmer 1 1/2 hours.
Serve with shredded Mexican cheese.

Printable recipe

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Recipe from Jamie Cooks it up

1 large pot full of water
4 chicken breasts (you can start with frozen

10 bullion cubes
1 t salt
1/4 t freshly ground pepper
2 boxes Rice a Roni wild rice flavor
1 onion chopped
1 1/2 C carrots chopped
3/4 C celery chopped
2 small cans mushrooms
4 cans cream of chicken soup

Fill a large pot with hot water add the chicken, onion, bullion,

salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium

and simmer about 25 minutes.
Take chicken breast out of the pot, and shred it up. Put shredded

chicken back in the pot. The chicken should be cooked through.
Add the carrots, celery, mushrooms and boxes of rice (pour in the

rice and the seasoning packets that come along in the box). Cover

and let simmer about 15 minutes more, until the veggies and rice

are cooked. Add the cream of chicken, turn up the heat and let it

come to a boil. Once the soup is thickened just a bit it is ready to eat.

Printable recipe

Clam and Potato Chowder

1/2 pint shucked clams (8 oz) or 6 1/2 oz can minced clams
Water if needed
1 medium potato, peeled and finely chopped
1 medium turnip, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped shallots or onion (about 4 medium shallots or 1 medium onion)
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/8 tsp pepper
2 12-oz cans evaporated milk
2 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons oregano or marjoram
1 teaspoon thyme

Chop shucked clams, reserving juice.  Set clams aside.  Strain clam juice to remove bits of shell.  (Or drain canned clams, reserving juice.)  If necessary, add water to clam juice to equal 1 cup.

In a medium saucepan, combine clam juice, potato, turnip, shallots, bouillon cube, and pepper.  Bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

Stir in 2 1/2 cups of mild.  Increase heat to medium.  Combine remaining milk and flour.  Whisk until smooth.  Add to potato mixture in saucepan.  Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly, about 5 minutes.

Stir in clams.  Cook and stir for 1 minute.  Stir in herbs just before serving.

Delicious Ham and Potato Soup

This is the perfect soup for a cold winter day!

3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup diced cooked ham
3 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk


Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.

In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes.

Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.

Recipe from allrecipes.com.

Southwestern Turkey Soup

1/2 cups shredded, cooked turkey
4 cups vegetable broth
1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chili peppers
2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro

In a large pot over medium heat, combine turkey, broth,
canned tomatoes, green chiles, fresh tomatoes, onion,
garlic, lime juice, cayenne, cumin, salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 15 to 20
minutes. Stir in avocado and cilantro and simmer
15 to 20 minutes more, until slightly thickened.

Hearty Stew

1 pound beef stew cubes
4 carrots, sliced
4 medium potatoes, cut in large chunks
1 bay leaf
1 (1 ounce) pkg. dry onion soup mix
2 (10 ounce) cans cream of mushroom soup
1 (8ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (10 ounce) pkg. frozen green peas

Grease a heavy pan. Place beef cutes on bottom.
Layer carrots, potatoes, placing bay leaf on top. In a
separate bowl mix remaining ingredients and pour over
beef and vegetables. Cover with tight fitting lid. Bake at
250 degrees for 6 hours. You can also cook this in your
slow cooker and cook on low for 12 hours. For a holiday
touch you can serve this in a hollowed out pumpkin.

Lemon Artichoke Soup

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup minced onion
1/2 cup minced celery
1/2 cup minced carrots
1 clove garlic, minced
3 cups chicken broth
2 cups chopped artichoke hearts
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 lemon, halved
3 cups half and half

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic; cook until the onion and garlic are translucent. Stir in the chicken broth, artichoke hearts, salt, and pepper and simmer 10 minutes. Transfer mixture to a blender and puree until smooth; return the mixture to the saucepan. Squeeze one lemon half into the pan. Place the other lemon half into the saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer another 10 minutes. Remove the lemon half from the pan and pour in the half and half; stir. Continue to simmer until thoroughly heated, about 10 minutes.

Recipe via allrecipes.com.

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

I tried this recipe the other day and it was so delicious! The entire family had seconds. This soup is perfect for a cold day....or any day!

4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
2 cooked, boneless chicken breast halves, shredded
1 (4.5 ounce) package quick cooking long grain and wild rice with seasoning packet
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
2 cups heavy cream

In a large pot over medium heat, combine broth, water and chicken. Bring just to boiling, then stir in rice, reserving seasoning packet. Cover and remove from heat.

In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and flour. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in contents of seasoning packet until mixture is bubbly. Reduce heat to low, then stir in flour mixture by tablespoons, to form a roux. Whisk in cream, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened, 5 minutes.

Stir cream mixture into broth and rice. Cook over medium heat until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Allrecipes.

Potato Soup

2 lbs of diced hash brown potatoes- ( I like the one with onions)

(I've used the frozen and the fresh one, but I prefer the brand Simply Potato, they can be found with the eggs. They are in a green package.)
2 cans of chicken broth

1 package of pepper gravy or country gravy mix


Mix broth and gravy mix
add potatoes, bring to a boil and then simmer until desired tenderness. I usually have to add extra water during the cooking process.

Serve with Bacon, Cheese, Chives, Sour Cream

Creamy Herbed Chicken Stew

Add the following ingredients to your large crockpot in this order:
4 c. chopped carrots
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 stalks of celery, diced
4 Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken
Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and 1 t. thyme
Top with 3 c. chicken broth

Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours or high 4-5 hours. In the last 10 minutes of cooking, add 2 c. snap pea pods and 1 c. cream.

Corn Chowder

I got this recipe from my blogging buddy Meichelle

2lbs potatoes-peeled and cubed
1 lb. bacon
1 onion chopped
1/2 c. flour
8 c. milk
Cube and a 1/2 of butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 (15-oz.) cans creamed corn
1/4 c. shredded cheddar cheese
Dash paprika

Boil potatoes in salted water until soft. Drain. Mash half of the
potatoes and set aside. Fry the bacon until very crisp. Crumble
the bacon and set aside. Fry the onion in the butter until
translucent and soft. Dump the cooked onions into a large
stock pot. Add the flour and heat until the mixture is bubbly
and the flour is well dissolved. Add the milk and bring to a boil
over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Once boiling add
the salt, pepper, bacon, corn and all the potatoes.
(If desired reserve some of the bacon for the garnish.)
Heat soup until hot. Serve with a dash of paprika,
a sprinkling of cheddar cheese and some crumbled bacon.

Tomato Basil Soup

This is an AWESOME soup recipe given to me by my friend Trisha Brady. I had it at a dinner I went to last night and couldn't stop eating it! It is so good.

4 cups canned whole tomatoes crushed(or one large 28 oz. can is what I used)
4 cups tomato juice
14 fresh washed basil leaves
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 lb(1 stick) sweet unsalted butter
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper

Combine tomatoes and tomato juice in sauce pan. Simmer for 30 minutes. Puree along with basil leaves in small batches in blender or food processor. Return to sauce pan and add cream and butter while stirring over low heat. Add pepper. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese before serving. Yields 8 servings.

Note: To save time, I just put the basil, tomato juice and crushed tomatoes in the blender first(separated in two batches since not all of it will fit in a blender), then poured into the sauce pan and stirred over low heat. Then I followed the rest of the recipe. I found it hard to cook the tomatoes/juice and then transfer the hot tomato mixture to the blender and then back to the pan.

Ultimate Potato Soup

This is an amazingly delicious soup recipe I tried tonight from Allrecipes.com. Perfect for the chilly weather!

6 cups diced potatoes
3 stalks celery, diced
1 cup chopped onion
3 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth, divided
4 cups half-and-half cream
6 tablespoons butter, melted
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cubes chicken bouillon
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper


In a large pot, bring potatoes, celery and onion to a boil in 2 cups of broth. Cook until potatoes are tender, 15 minutes. Drain and reserve liquid.

Combine reserved broth and half-and-half in pot. In a bowl, combine melted butter and flour. Stir into half-and-half mixture over medium heat. Stir until thickened. Stir in reserved vegetables, remaining broth, bouillon and pepper. Heat through and serve.

Egg Drop Soup

Egg Drop Soup is one of our favorites-especially on a cold day or during illness. It is said to have "healing" power and oftentimes I know it has made me feel better. Try this delicious and easy recipe from Allrecipes.com. It tastes just like the kind from the restaurants!

4 cups chicken broth, divided
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 eggs
1 egg yolk


Reserve 3/4 cup of chicken broth, and pour the rest into a large saucepan. Stir the salt, ginger and chives into the saucepan, and bring to a rolling boil. In a cup or small bowl, stir together the remaining broth and cornstarch until smooth. Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk together using a fork. Drizzle egg a little at a time from the fork into the boiling broth mixture. Egg should cook immediately. Once the eggs have been dropped, stir in the cornstarch mixture gradually until the soup is the desired consistency.

Macaroni Beef Soup

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 onion

2 cans tomato soup

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni

1 (32 oz.) carton beef broth

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Brown ground beef and onion. Mix all ingredients in a pot.
Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.

Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup

My mother in law gave me this recipe recently-thanks Cyndi! This soup is awesome! It is one of our families new favorites. Easy and delicious-only hard part is finding Canyon Foods Tortilla Soup. For those of you that have an HEB grocery store nearby, you're in luck. If anyone finds it anywhere else(besides ordering it online or HEB), let me know!

1 (32 oz.) jar Canyon Foods Tortilla Soup
16 oz. heavy whipping cream
8 oz. Velveeta cheese(cut up into small pieces-makes it melt faster)
2 boneless chicken breasts, cooked and cut up OR 2 cans boneless chicken breasts(I use canned-its easier and tastes just as good)

Combine ingredients in heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low/medium and let simmer for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

I love to serve it with a dollop of sour cream and crushed tortilla chips on top. Yummmm.

Turkey Noodle Soup

INGREDIENTS:
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced carrots
1 onion, diced
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup egg noodles
1 1/2 cups diced cooked turkey

PREPARATION: Place all ingredients in a large saucepan
and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.
Remove from heat and spoon into soup bowls.
Serves 4 to 6. Both of my boys enjoyed the soup, which surprised
me because it had lots of vegetables.