Spiced Fava Bean Soup with Rice and Tomato

I am beginning to get a complex thanks to Pinterest. Apparently every woman except me has a recipe binder, feeds a family of 4 for 100 dollars a month, and keeps their house clean with only 15 minutes of work a day. I am lucky if I can find the recipe I am following for the day,  I don't even want to talk about my grocery budget (how much milk can two boys possibly drink!), and I laugh at the idea of cleaning only 15 minutes a day. That's hilarious, I clean pretty much from the time I get up until I go to bed, no joke. Most days I feel pretty good about myself, until I step foot on the internet, then it all comes quickly crumbling down. I am so jealous of people that can keep their house clean and keep their food budget down. I do reasonably well for a family of four with our food budget. However, we don't buy anything pre-packaged and gluten free flours are crazy expensive. Plus I really need to get my two boys to stop eating all day, that would save a ton of money (obviously I'm kidding, mostly). At least my food normally looks half way decent and no one complains that it tastes bad, that counts for something right?

While most people stop making soups in the summer, I'm a little abnormal. I make soup year round, I love warm soup in warm weather. I blame my grandmother who was determined hot coffee in the summer made you cool down (don't worry I know this isn't actually true). Last week I tried a new recipe for Spiced Fava Bean Soup with Rice and Tomato from the April 2014 of Bon Appetit Magazine.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes an hour of total time, all of which is active, and makes 6 servings. I made a number of changes to the original recipe. First, I used long grain brown rice. It was what I had in the cupboard and I didn't want to have to buy more rice. I have never actually seen dried fava bean in my area, so I used lima beans instead. I allowed the lima beans to soak overnight in order for them to be soft enough cooked in the recipe, I hate half cooked beans. Finally, for the broth I used homemade veggie broth. I love making homemade vegetable stock, you can literally throw in whatever old veggies you have in the fridge and let them simmer for a couple of hours. Much, much, cheaper than store bought.

My soup came out thicker than the magazine recipe. It was more of a stew than a soup. However, the flavor was delicious and it was a nice way to get my family to eat a vegetarian meal. Best of all there were enough leftover for two lunches for my husband for the week so it was economical. He's slowly coming around to eating more vegetarian meals, slowly.

For the recipe go to Spiced Fava Bean Soup.

Slow Cooker Chicken Nacho Soup

I went grocery shopping last night with my two kids. We didn't get to the store until 9 and I was worried that the store would be crowded and my kids would be wild. Turns out I love Friday nights at the store. It was dead, no cranky women (like there always are on Saturday afternoons), very friendly cashiers, and my kids were perfect. It helped that they were tired and too sleepy to run around acting crazy. All I know is that it was the best grocery shopping trip I have had with my kids in years. I told my husband this morning that I am switching my shopping to late on Fridays, if nothing else it will help to keep my sanity the rest of the weekend.

It's been soup season in my house. Our spring weather has been all over the place. One minute it's 90 and the next we have snow. My oldest told me that the weather is drunk this year, it definitely has been a little off. Since I love soup year round (even when it's hot, weird I know), I tried a new recipe for Chicken Nacho Soup from the April issue of the Food Network Magazine.

This recipe has 17 ingredients. It takes 8 hours and 20 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active, and makes 4 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First, I used homemade chicken broth. This is the method I use for most recipes, it saves money and cuts down on the amount of sodium. For the cheese sauce I allowed it to sit for approximately five minutes. This allowed it to thicken and made it easier to pour over the soup. Finally, I added the chicken at the beginning of the recipe. I prefer to cook my chicken in the soup adding flavor. The meat came out very tender, so there was no problem with toughness.

We are big soup fans in my house and this recipe went over well. It was mild enough for my kids to enjoy, but with enough flavor for my husband and I. You can adjust the amount of heat by removing (or not) the amount of jalapeno seeds. The recipe states that this dish makes 4 servings, but it was more than enough for my family of four with leftovers for the next day.

For the recipe go to Chicken Nacho Soup.

Cabbage, White Bean, and Potato Soup

Cabbage, White Bean, and Potato Soup

Somehow my two kids just ate six bananas. I don't even understand how it's possible for two boys to eat six bananas in ten minutes. When I went to the grocery store today I bought myself a bunch of fruit for smoothies. Apparently that was not a great idea. I bought two big banana bunches and my kids have already eaten an entire bunch. Now I get to go back to the store tomorrow to buy more. They also ate the entire can of smoked almonds I bought myself for snacks. My husband and I joke that we need to get our own cupboard and put a lock on it, I'm beginning to think it's not such a bad idea. I dread the thought of having two teenage boys, I think I throw in the towel already.

With it being the middle of winter I have been making a lot of soups and stews. I love having a hot meal when the weather is cold outside. Last week I tried a new recipe for Cabbage, White Bean, and Potato Soup from the January 2014 issue of Southern Living magazine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 10 cups. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First, I used small red potatoes cut into fourths instead of fingerling potatoes. Fingerling potatoes were overpriced at my local grocery store and would have cost 2 1/2 times as much as the red potatoes I bought. For the chicken broth, I used homemade. I have discussed many times about the benefits of homemade stock, it's cheaper, tastes better, and you can control the amount of sodium. I chose not to add Parmesan cheese as a topping for my serving, but my husband and two boys did.

If you are serving this soup for dinner it needs a sandwich served with it in order to be filling. Alone it doesn't have enough protein or fat to be filling for most adults. It would be great with grilled cheese or a grilled (or not) turkey sandwich. The flavors are great and with a sandwich it would be a quick evening meal.

For the recipe go to Cabbage, White Bean, and Potato Soup.

Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup

Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup

I have a ton of cookbooks. The bad thing is I never really use them. That's right I am horrible about using my vast supply of cookbooks. Most of them were either gifts or belonged to my mother. I love looking through them and finding ideas, but I really if ever actually follow a recipe from one. A great deal of it has to do with the fact that I find so many recipes on the Internet. Finding a recipe in a cookbook can involve looking through an index and flipping through multiple books. Most of the time I just want to find something quickly. That's where online recipes are great, I can type in the ingredients or recipe I am thinking of and thousands of recipes appear instantly. There are a few things that I prefer with cookbooks. My mother's handwritten notes and modifications being the biggest. Both my mother and grandmother loved their cookbooks and wrote in the margins with the changes that they made. There is such a sense of history and connection to these notes that they are a big part of the reason I love my cookbook collection. An online recipe can have reviews, but it has far less tangible history linking it to the past. Plus I still love the feel and smell of books. There is something so romantic about standing in the middle of a very old library, it feels perfect to me.

During the winter I make a large number of soups and stews. I am always cold in the winter and soups does a great job of warming me up. Last week I tried a new recipe for Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup from the January 2014 issue of Southern Living magazine.

Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 45 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 10 cups. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First, I make my own chicken broth. As I have stated numerous times before I prefer homemade stock since its inexpensive, lower in sodium and tastes better than store bought. Plus it is so easy to make! For the toppings I did not add chicken or tortilla chips. Instead I used cheese and served corn tortillas on the side.

The only thing I would change in this recipe would be to use a sweet or yellow onion instead of a red one. The red onion was a little strong, a sweet onion would be perfect. That aside my family liked this recipe. My husband thought it would be better with black beans instead of the squash, he isn't a fan of the current food trend of putting butternut squash in every soup recipe. The soup reheated very well the next day and made enough servings for two meals, which is always nice when following a food budget.

For the recipe go to Butternut Squash Tortilla Soup. 

Slow Cooker Zesty Bean Posole

Slow Cooker Zesty Bean Posole Better Homes and Gardens December 2013

I have a least favorite chore, laundry. Our washer and dryer is in the basement and with two boys I literally do laundry everyday. Before kids I never though that laundry was that bad, we had maybe 3-4 loads a week tops. Then my youngest arrived and the laundry started to pile up, and up, and up. After the arrival of my second son I decided that laundry was my arch enemy. Every time I washed something it just ended up being dirty again. Now part of the reason that we go through so much laundry is that I don't use paper towels. Instead I use cleaning rags and I clean my kitchen and bathroom top to bottom everyday. While that might seem extreme with three males in the house the bathroom would smell less than pleasant within two days, it's a must to have a full cleaning daily. The kitchen gets scrubbed since I cook and bake so frequently. If I don't stay on top of things in the kitchen it would turn into chaos. I also use separate washcloths and dish clothes when I do dishes each time (that's right no dishwasher in our house) so that adds to the mountain of laundry as well. Eventually my kids can start helping with the folding and putting away part of the mess, I am awaiting that day with glee.

There is a theme in my kitchen this week - the slow cooker. Right before holidays I tend to make a lot of crock-pot meals. They save me time and money and I love them. Plus I can eat the leftovers again in a couple of weeks making less work for me after the stress of the holidays. This week I tried a new recipe for Slow Cooker Zesty Bean Posole from the December 2013 issue of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 3 hours and 40 minutes of total time, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First, since my kids were going to eat the recipe I used mild salsa. For the chicken broth I used homemade, which I don't salt, I salt at the table or in the recipe instead. I can't eat all-purpose flour so I substituted corn starch, which is a great gluten free alternative in soup and stew recipes calling for regular flour. I allowed the soup to cook or 8 hours on low in the crock-pot since I could start it in the morning and be done until dinner.

For a dump recipe (most ingredients are canned) this recipe turned out very well. It was delicious and the flavors worked really well together. My husband and two boys really liked this soup. It was mild due to using mild salsa, which made the recipe very kid friendly. If you like your posole on the spicy side I would recommend using spicier salsa.

For the recipe go to Slow Cooker Zesty Bean Posole.

Slow Cooker Zesty Posole

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A easy slow cooker recipe for posole, only 9 ingredients. Can be modified to be vegetarian by using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.

Preparation Time: 0h, 10m

Cooking Time: 3h, 30m

Total Time: 3h, 40m

Yield: Serves 6

40 Minute Vegetarian Butternut Squash Posole

Butternut Squash Posole

I would love a weekend just to relax. It never seems to happen in my household. With two very active boys, grocery shopping and household needs my weekends seem to be more hectic than weekdays. Mondays end up being the day I recover from my weekend and start the craziness of my normal weekday routine.

The weekend also seems to be the time that my kids start acting a little crazy. They are decent during the week, but come Friday night everything goes south. By Saturday they are sick of each other and want their space. Last weekend my husband and I tried to enjoy a rare Saturday night out, which ended with a wild Sunday morning. Plus my youngest managed to shut his finger in a hotel door and his finger was more than a little swollen and purple. I'm hoping as they get older that things start to settle down.

Since it's winter squash season I have been using a lot of butternut and acorn squash in recipes. I love butternut squash since it's versatile and adds great flavor to dishes. Last week I tried a new recipe for Butternut Squash Posole from the September 2013 issue of the Food Network Magazine.

Butternut Squash Posole Food Network Magazine September 2013 

This recipe has 13 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. First my grocery store can be hit or miss with the types of peppers that they carry. There were no poblanos the week I made this recipe, so I substituted an Aneheim pepper since they were available. I bought regular tomato puree, not no salt added, I just added less salt to the recipe. Topping the posole with avocado is a necessary step. It takes the soup from being average to delicious. I really recommend adding it as a topping.

With 9 grams of protein per serving this is a nice vegetarian dinner recipe. My two kids fell in love with this recipe. They ate almost all 4 servings by themselves. I liked that it was easy to put together, while having enough flavor to satisfy everyone in my family. The only change I would make would be to buy 2 avocados since 1 is not enough for 4 servings.

For the recipe go to Butternut Squash Posole.

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40 Minute Vegetarian Butternut Squash Posole

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

Easy vegetarian soup recipe. Kid friendly and easy to prep.

Preparation Time: 0h, 30m

Total Time: 0h, 40m

Yield: Serves 4

Csulkos Bableves - Hungarian Bean and Ham Soup from Saveur Magazine

Hungarian Bean and Ham Soup from Saveur Magazine

I have a talent for breaking appliances. While most people have the same vacuum, washer, garbage disposal for years, I don't. This week reminded me of my ability to have appliances wither and die when around me. I have gone through two washers and dryers in the last 10 years. This week my washer stopped working. When I break my appliances they break, break. The last time I called to have my dryer fixed the repairman tried fixing it and told me that it was beyond repair. This happens all the time to me. I use my appliances a lot. While most people use their vacuums a couple of times a week, I use mine 2-3 times a day. The same goes for my washer and dryer. They seem to always be in use. So this week my washer, dryer and vacuum all decided to break. It has been one of those weeks. Since events in my house have been busy I haven't been cooking as much as normal. I'm also playing a bit of blog post catch up. Last week I tried a new recipe for Hungarian Bean and Ham Soup from Saveur Magazine.

Downtown Huntington, WV from Harris Riverfront Park

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 3 hours of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 8 to 10 servings. I only made a few changes to the original recipe. I used canola oil and an extra parsnip. My kids love parsnips, so I try to add extra in recipes that use them. I found that I had to also add extra water to the beans. They ended up a little drier than I prefer so I added an additional cup and a half of water. When I served the beans I added additional paprika to the individual servings.

Rotary Park Lookout Huntington, WV

My boys really loved this recipe. It was a nice blend of beans and soup, with lots of flavor. I was surprised that it only lasted a little over a day due to my two boys going back and eating more and more bowls. It was a nice way to use pinto beans, which are a favorite in my household.

For the recipe go to Hungarian Bean and Ham Soup (Saveur does not have the recipe online, so this is a link to a site with a very similar recipe).

Hungarian Bean and Ham Soup

Recipe Type: Soup

Summary:

A recipe for Hungarian Bean and Ham Soup. A filling dish for fall and winter.

Preparation Time: 0h, 30m

Total Time: 3h, 0m

Yield: Serves 8 to 10

Easy Homemade Tomato Soup

Homemade Tomato Soup

I love comfort food. There is something so great about a home cooked meal that can completely turn my mood around or make me feel better after I have been sick. Everyone has their favorite comfort food. My two boys prefer macaroni and cheese, while my husband loves pinto beans and cornbread. I love a number of different comfort foods, but my favorite combination is grilled cheese and tomato soup. There is something so delicious about a great bowl of tomato soup and a perfectly cooked grilled cheese sandwich. Canned soup just doesn't do it for me, for tasty tomato soup I must have homemade. Fresh tomatoes made into a simple tomato soup are easy and perfect. The taste of the tomatoes shines through and just makes me feel great. Last week I tried a new recipe for Tomato Soup from the February issue of All You magazine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 60 minutes of total time, 30 minutes of which is active. I did make a number of changes to this recipe. First I just made the soup and not the cheddar croutons. Second I pureed the some while it was still warm. Just make sure that the lid is firmly attached and place a rag over the top to ensure that you do not get burned. I did allow the soup to cook for an additional 10 minutes after it was pureed to ensure it was the proper thickness.

If you want to make the soup a cream of tomato soup you can add half and half or heavy cream instead of the water. You could also add the half and half or heavy cream at the end of the recipe before serving and allow it to cook for an additional five minutes. I like that this soup is simple and lets the flavor of the tomatoes shine through. Make sure to adequately salt the soup, it will need it. Overall, a great recipe that worked well as a side for grilled cheese sandwiches and I would definitely make again.

For the recipe go to Tomato Soup. 

Healthy and Low-Fat Southwestern Vegetable and Chicken Soup

I have a horrible habit of trying to eat healthy and then falling off the wagon. Don't get me wrong the majority of the time I eat very healthy, but making big changes in my diet always seem to take a number of failures before they are successful. In college I ate a ton of restaurant food. There were always cheap places to eat and I rarely made food at home. Eventually it caught up with me when I realized that I never seemed to have any energy and I generally felt run down. I vowed to change my habits and I did until I started graduate school and then I was back to my old habits. After getting married I vowed again to start eating healthier, then I got pregnant and the smell of meat made me sick. To compensate I ate a ton of ice cream and peanut butter. After my first son was born I reformed and gave up pretty much any bad food while I breastfed. Then I became pregnant again and my bad food habits quickly came back. So over the years I have started and stopped a lot of healthy eating plans. Luckily since having my youngest and starting this blog my eating habits have leveled off. 99 percent of the time I eat healthy and the other 1 percent I remind myself that I'm human. Since my husband's dad had heart surgery last year I have been determined to make my husband healthier. He has lost 30 pounds in the last year and a lot of it has had to do with dietary changes. This week I made a new healthy recipe for Southwestern Vegetable and Chicken Soup from the February 2013 issue of Eating Well magazine.

This recipe has 16 ingredients. It takes 1 1/2 hours of total time, 1 hour of which is active and makes 8 servings. I did make a few changes to the recipe. First I made my own chicken stock from scratch. It really does taste better and is a great way to save money. Second, instead of diced canned tomatoes I used one fresh tomato. I am trying to use more fresh ingredients and rely less on canned goods. Plus the price of fresh tomatoes is lower than canned currently. Finally, I also used fresh spinach and I cooked my own beans.

I love that this recipe is high in vitamin C and only has 5 grams of fat and 199 calories. It has great flavor and the lime juice makes the soup delicious. I tasted the soup before adding the lime and the lime makes a tremendous difference. Make sure to salt at the end, especially if you are making your own stock or using low sodium store bought. This recipe could easily be modified to being vegetarian by omitting the chicken and using vegetable stock instead of chickens stock.

For the recipe go to Southwestern Vegetable and Chicken Soup.

Flavorful Low Fat Moroccan Lentil Soup

My youngest son went the dentist today and for the first time he had a cavity free appointment. While this is routine for my oldest son, my poor youngest son has had serious problems with his teeth since they came in. He never drank cows milk and still had to have two dental surgeries before his third birthday. Since then he has had fillings every six months. My dentist was determined that it was the food that he was drinking, but has finally been convinced that is has to mostly be genetics. My youngest eats healthier than any other child his age that I know and drinks a ton of water, very little carbs and a high protein diet. Luckily our pediatrician agrees with me and thinks it's 100 percent genetic and not my fault. I still hate the mommy guilt when he has to have another filling. I decided to make one of my son's favorite meals this week in order to calm him down before the dentist. My youngest absolutely loves soup, chicken noodle, vegetable you name it. This week I tried a new recipe for Moroccan Lentil Soup from the February 2013 issue of Eating Well magazine.

This recipe has 18 ingredients. It takes 1 1/2 hours of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 12 servings. Since vegetable stock is so expensive pre-made I made my own. It costs a lot less money and tastes so much better. I used fresh spinach since the taste of frozen spinach always seems off to me. Thanks to my forgetfulness I failed to add the lemon and cilantro to the finished soup. I did add it to the leftovers and the flavor was delicious. I added a little more time to my overall cooking time to ensure that the lentils were fully soft. For soup I prefer my beans very soft, I find the texture more pleasing when eaten. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I love that this soup is only 152 calories and 1 gram of fat per serving. Since it is full of vegetables and lentils it is filling and can either be used as a side or a main dish. I served it as a main dish and it was a perfect option for our vegetarian meal night. My youngest loved the cauliflower and ate all the pieces out first. This soup also makes a large batch so their are plenty of leftovers.

For the recipe go to Moroccan Lentil Soup.

Sweet Potato Soup

This is soup and stew season in my house. During the fall and winter I make some sort of soup at least once a week. I love soup since it keeps you warm even when the weather is chilly outside. On the other hand I hate the cold. I am not one of those people that loves cold weather. While I find snow beautiful, I enjoy it inside with the heat cranked up. I am also always in huge wool socks and a sweatshirt all fall and winter. My husband always complains that our house is way too hot, to me it's still a little on the cold side. I think I must run on a different body temp than most people since I always seem to be the coldest person in a room. In order to combat my constant cold streak I love making hot meals. Soup is one of my favorite meals since it has so many variations and is so warm and filling. Last night I made a new recipe for Sweet Potato Soup from the December issue of Southern Living magazine, which looked simple and flavorful.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 1 hour of total time, 35 minutes of which is active and makes 8 cups. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. Instead of buying store-bought stock I used homemade stock made from the leftover Cornish game hen bones from Thanksgiving. I never salt my stock, but instead salt the recipe. This way I can control the amount of sodium that my family consumes. My local grocery store didn't have straight apple cider, so I bought apple cider and spice juice instead. I used my immersion blender to liquify the soup. I find this method much easier than pouring the soup into a blender and hoping not to get burned. I allowed the soup to cook for an additional 10 minutes after the soup was blended, instead of the 5 minutes suggested by the recipe. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I was surprised by how well this recipe turned out. It is always hard to tell how sweet potato soup recipes will taste. Oftentimes they are bland or lack any type of flavor other than sweet potato. This soup was the exception. The chipotle pepper provided a great deal of flavor and the use of apple cider for the base was delicious. Even my two boys thought this soup was great and they can be hit or miss with soup.

For the recipe go to Sweet Potato Soup.

Creamy Turnip Soup

I love soup. There is something very comforting about sitting down with a nice hot bowl of great homemade soup. Growing-up my mother made a ton of soup. As I have talked about before we never had a lot of money so my mother did the most with what we had. We were always getting garden vegetables from friends and my mother would make delicious soup from them. While most kids would turn up their noises at turnips and parsnips, I feel in love with these root vegetables. My mother could turn a hated vegetable into something spectacular. A basic great soup is something to be savored. I am lucky that my two boys will pretty much try any type of food I put in front of them. I started giving them all the foods that my husband and I eat when they were still toddlers so they have never had a fear of new foods. I think this is an important way to teach your kids not to be afraid of trying new foods and new experiences in general. Recently I tried a new recipe for Creamy Turnip Soup from the December issue of Eating Well magazine, which looked like a great winter soup.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes a total time of 45 minutes, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. The turnips sold at my grocery store don't have the greens attached so I followed the suggestion in the recipe and used spinach. I found that when I tried to use my immersion blender on this soup the turnips were not soft enough. They needed to either by sliced much thinner or cooked longer than the time suggested. I let my turnips cook ten minutes more and then used my blender to puree the soup fully. This methods worked much better. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I loved how creamy this soup turned out. The salad topping was the best part of the recipe. It allowed the soup to be less bitter and bring out the flavor of the turnips. Make sure to fully salt the soup at the end. It needed a good amount of salt to taste correct. If you want to make this soup vegetarian you could substitute the chicken stock for vegetable stock. I frequently substitute broths in recipes especially if I am cooking for vegetarian/vegan friends and family.

For the recipe go to Creamy Turnip Soup.

Slow Cooker Ham and Navy Bean Soup

My freezer is currently full of soup. In the last couple of months I have made numerous soup recipes and frozen a great deal of them. I freeze in single serving containers in order that all I have to do for a great lunch is pull one out and reheat. It's a great time saver and so much better than canned. I'm also lucky that both of my kids are huge fans of soup and stew. They actually get excited when they discover soup on the stove for dinner. It might be genetic since I seem to always reach for soup when I need some good old fashioned comfort food. There are few things better than a great bowl of soup, a warm blanket and a great book on a cold fall/winter afternoon. Since I also love my slow cooker this time of year I am always looking for new soup recipes that utilize the crock-pot. Recently, I tried a new recipe for Slow Cooker Ham and Navy Bean Soup from the holiday recipes magazine from Better Homes and Gardens, which looked easy and perfect for a cold winter afternoon.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 5 1/2 hours of cooking, 40 minutes of prep and makes 6 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. I chose to use navy beans instead of Lima beans for this recipe. I would love to say that I love Lima beans, but I don't. They are the one bean that I just can't learn to love. My husband loves kale, so that is what I used in this recipe. As I've stated numerous times before I make my own chicken broth and this recipe was no exception. Instead of quick soaking my beans I chose to let the beans soak overnight. I find overnight soaking much easier and less time consuming. Make sure to adequately salt this soup once it's done. I found that I had to add a substantial amount of salt. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

If your looking for an easy slow cooker soup recipe, this dish fits the bill. It is very easy to put together and the flavor was perfect. My whole family really liked the flavor and I love that it uses kale which is very healthy. This recipe would also work well with a variety of dried beans, so don't be afraid to experiment.

For the recipe go to Slow Cooker Ham and Lima Soup.

Slow Cooker Corn Chowder with Shrimp

My family enjoyed the last of our Thanksgiving leftovers tonight. Right now I am eating the remainder of the sweet potato pie with a big helping of whipped cream. I survived all the chaos of the Thanksgiving cooking and was able to get a few great deals shopping this weekend. Now the craziness of December starts with my youngest son's birthday next weekend. I can't believe that my youngest is turning four! Since the holidays always mean crazy schedules and a press for time, I love using my slow-cooker to make dinner just a little bit easier. Eventually I will also learn to use the pressure cooker that I have in my pantry. So far I have used it to can veggies and soups, but I seem to never use it as an actual pressure cooker. Maybe that will be my New Year's resolution this year. Then again I am horrible at keeping resolutions, so maybe not. Either way I fall back on my crock-pot extensively during the holidays. Last week before the massive cooking endeavor of Thanksgiving I tried a new recipe for Slow Cooker Corn Chowder with Shrimp from All You magazine, which looked perfect for the full house of company I had for the week.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes a total time of 6 hours and 15 minutes, 15 minutes of which is active and makes six servings. I always have to go to multiple stores in my area when making seafood recipes. For whatever reason my local superstore insists on only carrying farm raised fish and shrimp. Having grown-up in the Northwest I shudder at the idea of eating farm raised seafood. I had too many friends that worked in the fisheries dept. and instilled in my head never to eat anything farm raised. So in order to find wild caught U.S. shrimp I have to drive to the grocery store in the suburbs. I had no problem finding any of the ingredients. I made my own chicken stock and as I always do I bought Italian flat leaf parsley. I am not a fan of curly parsley, the texture isn't something that either my husband or I enjoy. Make sure to fully salt this dish. I had to add a decent amount of salt after this recipe was done since the potatoes had soaked up any of the salt added to the soup in the slow-cooker. Finally I did add the heavy cream, without this step it is more of a soup than a chowder. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I served this recipe while my in-laws were at my house and everyone enjoyed it. My oldest son thought the shrimp was the best part, but he always eats more shrimp than anyone else in the house. Make sure that your potatoes are diced small or they won't fully cook in the slow-cooker. My potatoes were a little larger than I would prefer so I would change it if I made this recipe again. For an extra flavor I would suggest adding crushed red pepper. It really would make this dish better since the spices weren't noticeable the way that the recipe is written.

For the recipe go to Slow Cooker Corn Chowder with Shrimp.

Mexican White Bean Soup

I grew-up in a working class family. Both of my parents worked very hard to provide the small amount of things that we had. We were lucky that my parents had lived in the same very small two bedroom cottage in Seattle since the early 1970's and the rent had never been raised. When they finally moved out in 1998 they were still only paying 300 dollars a month rent (which is unheard of in Seattle). Both of my parents barely graduated high-school and they worked jobs that most people would turn down. There were many months when my poor mother took me to the food bank line at the local church holding back tears. I was oblivious to most of the problems. I thought the fact that my mom was a great Tupperware dealer and got us a brand new television was neat. I didn't know that that the only way that my parents could afford anything when my dad was working at less than great nursing home was for my mother to sell Tupperware at night. I also didn't realize that the bean soups that my mother made so frequently were because beans were the stable that came from the food bank. I do know that my mother was a great cook. She could take three common ingredients and make food that I would pay money for at a great restaurant. I wish that I had half the cooking skills that she had in one hand. She is also the reason that I love to cook. I never learned to cook from my mother, I learned to love food. Cooking was an experience, there were no cookbooks just tasting, pinching and perfecting. She owned her kitchen. So when I go through my magazine recipes the ones that always catch my attention tend to be simple and make something great out of minimal ingredients. Last month I tried a new recipe for Mexican White Bean Soup from the November issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine, which looked like a recipe that would have fit perfectly in my mother's kitchen.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 1 hour and 10 minutes of cooking time, 30 minutes of prep and makes 6 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. As I normally do I made my own vegetable stock. I decided to make vegetable stock instead of chicken since I make at least one vegetarian dinner a week and this was a perfect fit. I used the whole 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, my family likes food with a little kick. Instead of doing a quick soak on the navy beans, I let mine soak overnight. I find the overnight soaking method less time consuming and is the method I almost always follow. Finally, I let my beans cook for slightly longer than the 1 1/2 hours suggested. I cooked the beans for 1 1/2 hours then blended with an immersion blender (a blender would also work just as well) and then cooked for an additional 1/2 hour. I like my bean soup to be very tender and the additional time helped to accomplish the right consistency. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My husband and I really liked this soup. If I wasn't making this for my kids I probably would have increased the cayenne pepper even more, maybe up to a full teaspoon. I did top the soup with sour cream and cilantro and added additional cayenne to my husband and mine's servings. This recipe is great for the colder months to come and would be perfect served alongside a crunchy and crusty bread.

For the recipe go to Mexican White Bean Soup. (registration required)

Hearty Quinoa and Corn Chowder

For the last couple of weeks it seemed that fall had by-passed my area. Trick-or-treat was postponed due to snow and power outages, which I never remember having happened before. My oldest son remarked that it looked like Christmas outside....in October. Luckily this weekend the weather was in the 60's and it actually felt like fall. I am someone that absolutely loves fall. The leaves changing and the start of the holidays puts me in a great mood. All the baking and cooking remind me of growing-up in a very large family (my mom was the oldest of twelve). There is something so relaxing about baking an apple or pumpkin pie and a meal with lots of sides. One of my favorite fall dishes is soup. I love pretty much any type of soup that can be thought up and I make soup or stew at least once a week in the colder months. Recently, I tried a new recipe for Hearty Quinoa and Corn Chowder from the October/November issue of Taste of Home magazine, which looked perfect for the crisp fall weather.

This recipe has 15 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of prep and 15 minutes of cooking and makes 14 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store, even the super store in my area now stocks quinoa, which is a welcome change. Since I am now eating gluten-free I substituted the all-purpose flour used in the recipe for gluten-free cornstarch. I use cornstarch in recipes frequently, especially soups and stews, it thickens just as well as flour and can be found gluten-free. Since corn isn't in season I used frozen corn and as I normally do I made my own vegetable stock. If you have never made your own veggie stock, you really should try it. Vegetable stock can literally be made with any leftover fridge veggies, onions, carrots and a few bay leaves and let it simmer for a couple of hours. I do not salt my homemade stock since I like to add salt to the recipe directly instead. The recipe stirs in the last ingredients and serves the chowder immediately. I let my chowder cook for another 15 minutes on a low temp in order for all the flavors to blend. With soup I prefer a little longer on the cook time in order for the soup to be just right. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

If you are looking for a recipe to feed a crowd this is the one to pick. This recipe made enough for two meals for my family of four plus a bunch of freezer leftovers. My two boys really like this soup. They both thought that it was corn soup and didn't notice the quinoa at all. I liked that it has quinoa and pinto beans for protein with the traditional chowder consistency and feel. If you are trying to watch your calories and fat the heavy whipping cream could be substituted for milk. I do this frequently in recipes. Just make sure that you add enough flour for the chowder to thicken adequetely. Overall, a great fall recipe that is very kid friendly.

For the link go to Hearty Quinoa and Corn Chowder. (registration required)

Senate Bean Soup

We eat a lot of beans in our house. My oldest son absolutely loves any type of bean and will pick them out of dishes. He is the only child I know that loves beans more than basically any other type of food. Luckily for him we live in a state that also loves beans and dried beans are available everywhere. My husband is on a diet where he eats beans at every meal, so I prepare beans very frequently. Of all the members of my family I am the one that gets bored with food the easiest. I like to change up my menu plans and recipes as frequently as possible. A few weeks back I tried a new recipe for Senate Bean Soup from Savuer magazine, which looked different than my usual bean routine and perfect for my bean loving family.

This recipe has 6 ingredients. It takes a total of an hour and twenty minutes and makes 4-6 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store and I made no ingredient modifications. The ham hocks that I ended up purchasing were slim on meat, so my soup had less meat than it would if I had used meatier ham hock. I let my beans cook for an additional ten minutes after mashing a portion of them in order for them to fully thicken. Make sure to adequately salt, it takes a lot to taste fully flavorful. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two sons really enjoyed this recipe. It was very easy to follow and took little effort to prepare. The leftovers re-heated well the next day and it made more than enough for two meals. Bean soup is a great way to save money and takes only a few dollars to make. I love making large batches of bean soup and freezing the leftovers for future meals. This recipe would be perfect for this purpose.

For the recipe go to Senate Bean Soup.

Slowcooker Lemony Lentil Soup

I love fall. The leaves, the weather and most importantly the food. I have never been a warm weather person and I pretty much am miserable all summer with the humidity and the heat. No amount of air conditioning ever seems to cool me down enough. When fall rolls around the the temps start to drop, I love it. The weather hasn't gotten bitterly cold, but is just cool enough to start to enjoy great dishes like soups and stew. Beans are one of my favorite ingredients in the fall. There is something very comforting and delicious about all varieties of beans. Luckily my two boys share my love of beans, with one of their favorite fall dishes being bean soup. They absolutely love it and will eat multiple servings. Last week I tried a new recipe for Lemony Lentil Soup from the September issue of Parents magazine, which looked like a perfect fall dish.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 6 hours of total time, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients and made no substitutions. I know from previous experience that my local grocery and super stores don't carry red lentils. However, the farmer's market in Charleston does, so I always buy a few pounds and keep it in my cupboard. I love that they have bulk beans, they are a great way to save money. Make sure to mince the carrots and onion. The recipe states to chop both of the ingredients, but my husband and I weren't fans of the texture after being in the crockpot. I would suggest dicing both of the ingredients and then sauteing them in a little bit of butter until they are soft and then adding to the crockpot. This would eliminate the texture problem. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I love lentil soup. The lemon flavor in this soup was delicious and really brought out the flavor of the lentils. The one thing that I was not a fan of was the texture of the carrots and onion. They tasted almost not all the way cooked and they definitely would be better diced and then sauteed instead of chopped. The leftovers of this soup re-heated well and my two boys ate the leftovers happily.

For the recipe go to Lemony Lentil Soup. 

Corn Chowder with Zucchini and Orzo

I love summer for so many reasons. One of my favorite summer things is fresh vegetables. Garden vegetables are absolutely delicious and I love cooking and baking with every single one of the them. In our area zucchini and summer squash seem to grow easier than anything else and I am always swimming in both of them for a good part of the summer months. I have learned to make great tasting brownies, cakes, bread and muffins that my kids love and they have never guessed that they contain garden vegetables. However, as much as I love baked goods I am trying to reduce the amount that my family consumes. So this time when I had a number of zucchini I decided to look for new savory and healthy options. I found a recipe from Everyday Food magazine for Corn Chowder with Zucchini and Orzo, which looked simple, low in fat and delicious.

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. All the ingredients were easy to find at my local grocery store and I made no substitutions. I did find that I had to let my chowder cook for slightly longer than the 8 minutes suggested by the recipe. At 8 minutes it hadn't thickened well so I allowed it to cook an additional 5 minutes. Be very careful when using the blender with the hot soup. I always place a towel over the top opening in addition to the plastic lid insert. I have had soup splatter more than once and the towel prevents anything from leaking out the top. Another option would be to use an immersion blender. It would work just as well and you wouldn't have to worry about pouring hot liquids. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

With 8 grams of fat and 9 grams of protein per serving this recipe is a great, light summer dinner option. I loved how sweet the chowder was and the zucchini and orzo on top was not only pretty on the plate, but created a nice texture difference. My husband wasn't as big of a fan of this recipe. He thought that the chowder would be great as a breakfast porridge, but not as a dinner option. My two kids loved it though, so he was the odd one out. Overall, this recipe was a great way to use garden veggies and I would use it again next summer.

Everyday Food currently does not have this recipe online. However, it can be found in the July/August issue or here is a link to a modified version.

Corn Soup

I love this time of the year. The grocery stores and farmer's markets are full of fresh fruits and vegetables and there are so many delicious recipes to try using fresh ingredients. When I was little my mother had a yard full of beautiful tomatoes and our neighbor had wonderful raspberries that grew into our yard. I always loved summer since it meant fresh salads, soups and desserts. My two boys love fresh ingredients as much as I do. I have never met two kids that love going to the farmer's market and picking fruits and vegetables for recipes as much as they do. They have also become quite adept at naming all the things that they see and love to impress people with their knowledge. One of my favorite fresh vegetables to use in the summer is corn, and I was pleased to see a recipe for Corn Soup in a recent issue of Martha Stewart Living.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 1 hour and 40 minutes of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients and made no ingredient modifications. I used the whole 2 cups of corn kernels, my family loves a lot of corn in their soup. I chose to leave off the sliced scallions as a garnish since I was serving this recipe to my kids. Additionally, I did not follow the final step and puree half the soup. My husband isn't a fan of pureed soups, so I kept all the kernels whole. Finally, make sure to not be afraid of adding salt. This soup needs a decent amount of salt to bring out the flavor. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I really liked the creamy taste of this soup. My husband normally doesn't like cream soups, but he thought the taste of this soup was pleasant. This made way more than the 4 servings suggested by the recipe. I'm not sure if I ended up making more stock than the recipe or what, but I ended up with enough leftovers for another meal for my family of four. This recipe is a great way to use fresh corn and very easy to prepare.

For the recipe go to Corn Soup.