Slow Cooker Fresh Tomato Soup

It is true, I consider myself simpatico with all things tomato. I love fresh tomatoes straight from the garden and I love things made with fresh tomatoes. However, I have never loved tomato soup. Ever! Until this week, that is.

My poor husband loves tomato soup but I never make it since my kids and I have never been fans. I decided I had deprived the poor guy long enough and so I promised to make up some tomato soup and freeze the leftovers for him for late-night snacks and sick days. I thought there would be lots of leftovers because I have never liked tomato soup.

Turns out I can change. At least when the recipe calls for fresh tomatoes. I loved this soup and it was so easy to make. Double tomato soup bonus points. I came up with this recipe by combining bits and pieces of several other recipes.

And that is how a new recipe is born. There were fewer leftovers than planned.

Slow Cooker Tomato Soup

 6 -8 servings

7 to 8 fresh garden tomatoes (I used a combination of San Marzano paste tomatoes and other slicing tomatoes.)

1 medium white onion chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 celery rib chopped
1 TB brown sugar
1 Tsp dried basil
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
2 TB tomato paste
1 1/2 cans or appx. 2 cups of chicken stock.

shredded Parmesan cheese
milk

Chop and quarter tomatoes. I also removed most of the seeds.
Add all ingredients except milk and Parmesan cheese to slow cooker.
Cook on low for 4 hours.
After done cooking, use an immersion blender or blender to blend tomato mixture until smooth and frothy.
To create a creamier soup add about 2 TB of milk to each bowl of soup and top with shredded Parmesan cheese.

7 Soups

photo by Karynn Jorgensen

Pantry Recipe
Once a month I post a link to the Taste section on my Alive! Utah magazine. This month we featured 7 soups recipes from Southern Utah cooks. I have tasted most of these soups and they are fantastic. But one of my favorites is the sausage tortellini soup that is amazing and easy and very pantry friendly. 

I just made it last week for our friends who watched our kids while the hubby and I ran away to Vegas for our Anniversary. No we didn't get our vows renewed. We just wanted to go somewhere warm where we could eat tasty food, visit Trader Joe's and see the Blue Man Group.

Look at that tasty soup. All my favorite Italian flavors rolled into one soup.
 
Go get the recipe for this soup and others including the cream of asparagus by a local chef. See picture at top of article. 7 Soups

You won't be disappointed. 

Kielbasa Cabbage Stew W/ Latkes

Sweet potatoes and cabbage usually get a bad rap at my house. There are naysayers; people (certain family members) that won't eat these foods on most occasions. This soup (chock full of cabbage) however gets eaten every time I make it and the Latkes or potato pancakes are one of my favorite sides, especially with this hearty stew. Serve on top or as a side dish with a dollop of sour cream.

Both of these recipes have a pretty simple ingredient list and are easy to make although they do require some chopping and shredding.

I used my Bosch shredder to shred all the potatoes and onions for the latkes and that process went pretty quickly.

Potato Latkes

2 russet potatoes -- shredded
1 sweet potato -- shredded
1/2 small onion -- shredded
1 egg. beaten
1/4 cup of flour
salt and pepper to taste
Canola oil

Combine all ingredients except oil in bowl. Heat 1/ 4 inch of oil in a frying pan until hot. Add dollops of potato mixture. Press down slightly with the back of spatula.

Fry until golden brown on each side. About 3 minutes.



Kielbasa Cabbage Stew

4 Carrots chopped
2 celery ribs chopped
1 small onion chopped
1 keilbasa, sliced in 1/4 inch slices. I have also used 5 bratwursts in this stew )
3 Cups chopped cabbage
3 cans of chicken broth
1 can of Northern white beans
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil

Heat a large saucepan over med heat. Saute onions and celery for about 3 minutes until onion starts to get tender. Add chicken broth, carrots and herbs and salt and pepper.

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.

Add chopped cabbage and cover and cook additional 10 minutes

Stir in kielbasa and beans and heat through about 5 more minutes.

Serve with Latkes or hearty bread

Easy Clam Chowder with Shirley J

I have issues with white sauces or cream based soups or sauce. Maybe, I am just a snob. I like a cream sauce to be perfect and I so rarely can get it to be perfect. So, I was pretty excited to try Shirley J's Universal Cream Sauce. They sent me a huge bag of the stuff to review, enough to try and use with several meals. I decided to try cooking a meal that has me just a tad frightened. CLAM CHOWDER. My husband loves a good clam chowder. And I have been just a little squeamish at rejection. So here comes Shirley J, an easy recipe and easy solution.

Shirley J carries a signature line of bulk foods like Universal Sauce (that can be used in literally hundreds of recipes), universal biscuit and baking mix, bullion, seasonings, dessert and bread mixes. They can be bought online or through various stores, like Bosch. The cool part is that they have already developed dozens of recipes so you know how to use their products.

OK on with the review of the clam chowder. It turned out pretty good. However their particular recipe was a little heavy on the cumin and although I am a self avowed cumin lover my next batch of clam chowder will have less cumin. It was just too strong. I have reduced the cumin in the recipe below. Feel free to season with this spice to your own personal taste. Other than that I will say that a totally from scratch chowder (made by some people other than myself) may taste better but this was easy and pretty tasty. In fact the most dissapointing part of the chowder was the clams I used. But we only have one choice for canned clams where I live. One lousy choice. I will be adding Shirley J to my food storage. It is competively priced and so versatile.

1 Cup Shirley J Universal Sauce
3 Cups Water
1 Cup clam juice
3 Cups potatoes (diced and cooked with skin on)
1 Cup celery chopped
1 Cup carrots (diced small)
1 Cup yellow onion (diced small)
1/2 t black pepper
1/2 t chicken bullion (I had to use my beef bullion because that is what I had)
1/2 tsp of cumin
1 can of clams drained
pinch of cayenne
1 tb of butter or margarine

Saute onions, carrots and celery in butter in a saucepan until onions are brown. Add water, clam juice, and Universal Sauce to sauteed veggies. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes.

Corn and Smoked Sausage Chowder

I now have two favorite corn chowder recipes. The first is meant to be used with fresh corn and so I call that my summer corn chowder. This chowder is definitely my winter chowder. It is creamy and satisfying and uses ingredients easily stored or found in the pantry. I love smoked sausage and keilbasa. It is one of my favorite go to foods. It stores for quite a while and it adds richness to every dish. Once again I went to my favorite source for kielbasa recipes: gomeat.com Once again they gave me a tasty dish that will now become a staple in my house.

A few notes:

This dish uses potatoes, canned corn and onions, all good pantry staples.

I used fresh milk but in a pinch you could reconstitute powdered milk making this a real food storage meal.

I have a lactose intolerant child in my house. I did not serve her this soup. She had the princess Campbells Chicken Noodle. I just did not think Soy Milk was going to cut it in this recipe. Plus the butter was not going to do her any good either. Feel free to try soy milk if you want. Just let me know how it turns out.

1 pkg  of smoked sausage, cubed

1/4 Cup butter or margarine

1 medium onion, chopped

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

4 Cups milk

1 can whole kernel corn, drained

2 Cups cubed potatoes (cooked and drained)

Shredded cheese

1. Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat

2. Add onion and cook and stir for 4 minutes or until tender

3. Add flour, salt and pepper and cook stirring constantly for 1 minute

4. Add milk. Increase heat to medium high and bring to a boil stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute

5. Add corn and sausage. Return to boil.

6. Reduce heat to medium lown and simmer for 10 minutes.

7. Add potatoes and heat through. Top each serving with cheese.

Chicken Noodle Soup on Pantry Shelf - -A Review

We are soup people in the fall and winter and my family especially loves chicken noodle soup. I have a great homemade recipe they love but while it is soup season, it is also cold season. Sometimes we are too tired, too sick and too busy to do a full blown homemade soup. Now my kids and husband love Campbells chicken noodle soup. I am not a fan, unless you count how easy it is.

So, I found this dehydrated soup mix in a small can -- Not one of those huge #10 cans that feeds an army and needs to be used within a certain amount of time once it is opened. Nope, it was a smaller version of Auguson Farms chicken noodle soup. And it was MSG free. And it had eight servings -- perfect for my family of five.  We take big soup servings. And it only cost $3.50 a can at Fresh Market. Umm that was a review waiting to happen. So, it was soup night and I was busy and tired and a little sick. Perfect.

So here is the verdict. I definitely like it better than Campbells. It is heartier and more filling. It is not as good as the homemade stuff. Of course not. But it is so simple to make and it has some nice thick noodles. It does need a thick slice of bread or a roll to create a meal. It's not that hearty that it can stand on its own. I think it is a good meal for $3.50 and my son said. "Yep it is pretty good." I went out and bought two more cans for my food storage.

Now just for fun I also bought these cute soup bowls for a $1.25 a piece at Fresh Market. We are desperately low on soup bowls in this house and we eat soup every Tuesday. I could not resist.

To make the soup.
Simply whisk soup into 8 1/2 cups of boiling water. Reduce to low and simmer for 12 to 15 minutes.

Pasta Fagioli Soup

sorry for the worst pic ever.

I am sitting here freezing and I don't feel so well. Therefore, I think a little homemade soup sounds perfect right now. I love pasta in all its playful shapes and sizes. I definitely think that every pantry or food storage should have a variety of pasta shapes. As soon as the specialty pasta boxes go on sale I am swooping them into my basket.  Ditalini is one of my new favorites. Such adorable little cylinders. You can use any small past shape for this soup, even maccaroni would be fun and a good use of all that extra macaroni you have stored. However, make it fun and try the Ditalini if you can find it. The other reason I love this soup is  because it is a great use of my canned smoked ham and cannelini beans. It's pantry friendly!

Ingredients
1 Cup Ditalini or small pasta shape
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion minced
1 celery stalk minced
1 carrot minced (You could also use about a 1/4 cup of deyhdrated carrots here)
2 Cans (15 oz) cannelini beans drained and rinsed.
4 cups beef stock
1 Tb fresh thyme, minced or 1 tsp dried
1 bay leaf
Dash ground black pepper
Rind from a piece of parmesan cheese (optional)
Salt to taste
Basil, minced
Parmesan cheese

In a large stockpot, heat oil and add onion, celery and carrot.. Saute for 5 minutes. Add ham and garlic and cook stirring for 1 minute. Add tomatoes beans beef stock, thyme, bay leaf and parmesan rind.

Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 30 minitues. Transfer 1/2 cup of soup from pot to a small processor or blender and puree.

Return to pot and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring liquid to a boil and add pasta. Simmer until pasta in tender, about 10 minutes.

Remove bay leaf and top with basil and parmesan cheese.

Creamy Hamburger Stew

It snowed in Southern Utah today, it snowed last week and the week before that. We are all a little ticked off here. We are cold and we want our sun back. Hey, I will even take the wind if it would just warm up and be Spring. So, that is my preface to a blog post on a creamy hearty stew recipe being offered up in May. Sometimes when you are feeling a little put out by the weather you just need warm comfort food, And this stew hits the spot. You should have seen the dissapointment when I announced that weekly soup day was a thing of the past for the next few months last week when I served up this family (and mommy favorite). WHAT? WHY? "Because it is just going to be too hot," I told my loyal soup  lovers. And then it went and snowed again today and I realized there will be a few cold blustery days ahead of us (and they better be just a few) and we,and maybe you, will need a good comforting soup to warm yourself up.


I have been making this easy soup that relies on basic veggies and pantry staples for years. You can also make substitutions and this soup still works. Substitutions below.

1 lb hamburger
1 tbsp of montreal steak seasoning.
1 tbsp of steak sauce (a.k.a A1)
3 Tb of dehydrated onions or 1/2 Cup onion chopped
1 tsp of garlic powder.

2 Cups of tomato juice or 1 1/2 Cups tomato sauce plus 1/2 cup to 1 Cup of water.
1 C. Potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 C. Carrots, sliced thin or shredded
1 C. or 1 Can of corn, drained. or 1 C. Lima beans
1 to 1  1/2 tsp salt
1 cup fresh swiss chard leaves or spinach leaves (optional)

White Sauce
2 T. butter
2 T. flour
2 C milk

Brown hamburger in large skillet with seasonings and onions.

Add tomato juice or sauce/water, vegetables and salt. Cover and simmer until veggies are soft. Add more water if you feel it is too thick for your taste. But remember we are adding a white sauce later.

In a small saucepan melt butter and stir in flour. Add milk and simmer until just thickened. Stir into hot stew and serve.

TIP: The key to a really flavorful hamburger stew is seasoning your hamburger well in the beginning. Bland hamburger equals bland stew.

Coconut Thai Chicken Soup -- Cure For A Wintry Day

Featured Food Storage: Chicken Broth and Rice
Suggested Pantry Item: Canned Coconut Milk. This week's suggested pantry item is coconut milk. This tasty little pantry item brings a whole new international flavor to plain old rice or other Asian or Thai dishes. I always keep at least one can on hand for those days I need a little Thai flavor.

My family is seriously weird. They don't really enjoy Thai food or coconut milk flavored dishes. Seriously, I could drink coconut milk straight from the can or the coconut. Sometimes I crave a good Thai dish. This soup is my new favorite. Mostly because I can whip it up pretty quickly and freeze the leftovers just for me, just for those blah lunch days. This soup is not really hip friendly but it is the best cure for snowy day blues. This creamy white stuff is warm, bright, and comforting. As opposed to the other white stuff which is cold wet and sometimes a little dreary.

Whip some up for your family or take a day this week to make some for your lunch and then save the rest for yourself. Sometimes you need a little something exotic to keep you going.

TIP:My Thai cooking, loving expert Australian sister -in-law liked the soup as well but she did offer a few tips like adding a little lime juice, extra chili or lime kaffir leaves. She knows her Thai stuff and so next time I am going to add one of her suggestions

One of my favorite things about the library is the opportunity to check out cookbooks. This recipe comes from the cookbook Lunch Boxes and Snacks by Annabel Karmel. I may have to buy this book. It is only $6.15 at Amazon.com

RECIPE:
1 TB olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic crushed
1/2 to 1 red chili pepper (finely chopped)
1 small boneless, skinless chicken breast or 3 chicken tenders (cut into strips)
1 cup broccoli crowns
3 cups chicken broth
1 1/4 cups coconut milk (1 can)
1 cup rice (cooked)

Heat oil in large sauce pan and saute onion, garlic and chili for 2 minutes. Add strips of chicken and saute for 2 more minutes. Add broccoli, chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add coconut milk, reduce and simmer for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Get Well Soon Taco Soup

I was still a young mom when my sweet friend and neighbor Karynn brought me this soup. I was sick with a nasty cold and she had the cure. No, not chicken noodle soup but a make your eyes water and your sinuses clear out taco soup. It was not the last time she brought me this cure for a cold. I love this soup on so many levels. It is delicious, it is easy, it is extremely pantry friendly and most of all it always reminds me of Karynn. Everything but the cheese and sour cream can come straight out of your food storage. And if you get it spicy enough it really does clear out a stuffy head. I make it milder for my non spicy loving kids but when I am trying to kick a cold, like I am this week, I spice it up with more chili powder.

Karynn's Get Well Soon Taco Soup (With a very few changes)

2 or 3 cups shredded chicken (You can use canned chicken for this or a preroasted chicken)
1 can Corn with liquid
1 can Kidney beans with liquid
1 - 4 oz can Green chilies or add a jalapeno with its seeds for more heat
1/3 to 1/2 Cup salsa
1 can Stewed tomatoes chopped with liquid
1 to 2 Cans of Water
3 tsp chili powder for mild soup. Add more chili powder for more heat
1 Dash garlic powder
1 dash salt
1 or 2 squirts of lime juice (optional)

Toppings
Baked corn chips (we love the Chili lime chips by Tostitos) they add a little kick to the soup. If you don't have the lime flavored chips, add a little lime juice.
Sour Cream
Grated Cheese

Directions: Combine all soup ingredients in a large pot and simmer until heated through, about 15 minutes.
Top with chips, cheese and sour cream.

Tip:
If you want a thinner soup add more water.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

I have sickies in my house and so I decided it was time for my favorite chicken noodle soup recipe. Pure Comfort Food for tight chests, sore throats and an exhausted Mom. I have tried several recipes for chicken noodle soup over the years. This very simple version is my favorite. I had it at a food group night and I have very slightly altered the recipe to fit my food storage cooking. I did, however, splurge on the frozen wide egg noodles found in the freezer section. For me they just make the soup perfect. Feel free to use any noodles you have on hand.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

3 Cups cooked chicken, cubed or shredded. I used a quart of my canned chicken (a post for another day)

2 Cans chicken broth

5 to 6 chicken bullion cubes

1/2 cup dehydrated carrots or chopped fresh carrots

2 stalks of celery sliced

1 onion sliced

1 Cup frozen peas

1 Pkg frozen Grandma's brand wide egg, homestyle noodles

2 dashes of garlic powder

Allow frozen noodles to thaw while everything else is cooking. Cook chicken breasts and bullion in one gallon water, if using raw chicken.

I start with this step because I used the canned chicken: Add vegetables to water and bullion. Cook until sligtly tender. Add cans of chicken broth. Add noodles one at a time to pot. Cook for 10 minutes or until noodles are al dente, stirring often. Add garlic powder. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serving Tip: Serve with a dollop of homemade sour cream or a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.