Creamy Green Chiles Soup

Jared and I receive a lot of food gifts, and this soup was one of them! We decided to try one before the soups take over our food cabinet. The soup mix is from Darby Creek Gourmet Soups and the mix contained it all, except for the milk and cream cheese!

Ingredients:
Creamy Green Chile soup mix
4 cups of milk
4 cups water
7 oz can of chopped green chiles (we used a 4.5oz can)
8 oz package of cream cheese
If using low fat or skim milk, use 8 cups of milk and no water.

Directions:
1) Boil 8 cups of milk and bring to a boil.
2) Add contents of soup package, can of green chiles, and cream cheese.
3) Simmer 30-35 minutes, stirring often.
4) Salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

Husband Rating: A
Jared loves a soup that is perfect for a cold day, and this is definitely one of them. He even finished my bowl!

Wife Rating: A
The soup is definitely creamy...and perfect for a cold day. I think if we added more green chiles it would have had more of a kick!

We are looking forward to the leftovers!

Potato Soup

Today was a perfect day to make potato soup in the crock pot. The weather reached a high of 20 degrees today and it snowed on and off all day. I borrowed this recipe from another Jknottie, Kristi, who posted the recipe on the JKnottie Cookbook blog -- http://jknottiecookbook.blogspot.com/ We started cooking the soup at 11am so it was ready for dinner.

Ingredients:
8 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 tsp garlic
4 cubes chicken bouillon
2 tablespoons dried parsley
6 cups water
2 cups milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour


Directions:
1) Place the potatoes, onion, butter, chicken bouillon cubes, parsley and water into a slow cooker. Set on low and let cook for 6 to 8 hours.
2) At least half an hour before serving, stir together the milk and flour until no lumps remain, and mix into the soup.
3) Cook for 30 minutes or until the soup is thickened. Add real bacon bits and shredded cheese on top.

Husband Rating: A-
Jared thought this was a hearty soup for a cold day like today. He finished my bowl for me!

Wife Rating: A-
The soup was good, although I think it needed less flour (it was too thick for me) and some salt and pepper.

Crockpot Beef Stew

Beef stew was perfect on a cold, cloudy day like today. We modified the recipe from the book, "Where's Mom Now That I Need Her?" (Yes, I still have that book since college) to cook in the crockpot. The recipe makes enough for leftovers!

Ingredients:
1 pound stewing beef
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons cooking oil
1 1/2 cups water
2 onions, sliced and separated
3 potatoes, cubed
3 carrots, sliced
3 stalks celery, sliced

We added:
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

Directions:
1) Cut meat into bite-sized pieces. In bag, combine flour, salt, and pepper. Put pieces of meat, and shake to coat.
2) Brown meat until browned on all sides.
3) In crockpot add potatoes, carrots, onions, celery, and mushrooms.
4) Add meat and water.
5) Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. (We only had 4 hours, so we cooked it on high all day).
6) Add flour (by tablespoonful at a time) for desired thickness. (We only added 1 tablespoon).

Husband Rating: A-
Jared thought the stew was good, but that the water could be replaced with beef broth for more flavor.

Wife Rating: A-
I definitely agree with Jared...more beef flavor would have been perfect. Although, I would eat the stew with all the vegetables and no meat!

We'll make this again... and probably will alter the recipe a bit.

Homemade Chili

With little time to prepare dinner on Thursday, I defrosted Jared's homemade chili. We do not follow a recipe for the chili, so the following ingredients are mostly added to taste.

Ingredients:
1 pound turkey meat (or ground beef)
1 can of crushed tomatoes
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
cumin to taste
salt/pepper to taste
Worcestershire Sauce
Ketchup
Hot Sauce
Jalapeños (optional)

Directions:
1) Ground turkey meat, drain.
2) Combine all ingredients in a sauce pot or crock pot (depending on how much time you have).
3) Stir together and simmer for 1 hour.
4) Serve with shredded cheese & tortilla chips


Husband Rating: A
Jared loves making chili, especially on a cold day. He likes to change up the recipe a little bit each time.

Wife Rating: A
I love it! Jared's chili reminds me of growing up when my dad made chili -- the one dinner dish he would make. ;)

Of course we are making this again -- probably as fall ends and winter arrives.