Turkey & Wild Rice Soup

Have you found ways to use up your Thanksgiving Turkey yet?  I had about 2 cups in my fridge, so I decided to make some Turkey & Wild Rice Soup tonight.  Avery proclaimed it to be the BEST SOUP EVAH.    {She has a cute accent!}  We all thought it was really flavorful and good. The original recipe for this soup, can be found in the December/January 2013 Taste of Home Magazine, page 85. 

{click title for easy printable}

Ingredients

• ¼ cups Butter
• 1-½ cup Finely Chopped Carrots
• 2 stalks Celery Finely Chopped
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Chopped
• ½ cups Flour
• 4 cups Chicken Broth
• 3 cups Cooked Wild Rice {1 Box Uncle Bens Is Perfect}
• 2 cups Half-and-half
• 2 cups Cubed Turkey
• 1 teaspoon Dried Parsley
• Salt And Pepper, to taste

Cook Wild Rice according to package directions. In a large pot on the stove, melt butter, then add carrots, celery, and onion. Cook until tender, then stir in flour. Whisk in broth, and bring to a boil. Stir until nice and thick, about 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and reduce heat, simmering until serving time to allow flavors to meld.

~T

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Smoky Potato & White Cheddar Cheese Soup

   Butter sauteed Leeks give this soup incredible flavor, coupled with the smoky paprika and you have achieved Soup Heaven!!!

(adapted from a Pampered Chef recipe emailed to me)

Ingredients

• 2 whole Leeks, White And Light Green Parts Only
• 1 whole Onion, Roughly Chopped
• 5 whole Cloves Of Garlic, Pressed
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 teaspoons Smoky Paprika
• 3 pounds Yukon Gold Potatoes, Washed And Cubed
• 4 cups Chicken Broth
• 2 cans Great Northern Beans, Drained And Rinsed
• 2 cups Milk
• 8 ounces, weight Extra Sharp White Cheddar Cheese, Cubed
• Salt, Pepper And Garlic Powder, To Taste
• Chives, Smoked Paprika And Sour Cream For Garnish

1. Wash and cut leeks in half lengthwise and thinly slice crosswise.
2. In a large stock pot, melt butter and saute leeks, onion, and garlic until tender. Add cubed potatoes, cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Add chicken broth and cover, cooking for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check to see if potatoes are fork tender. If so, proceed by adding drained beans and cooking a few minutes more.
3. Using your immersion blender, puree soup until few chunks remain.
4. Add milk and cheese cubes, stir and heat carefully through. You don’t want the soup to scorch or curdle, so keep your heat pretty low until soup is just simmering. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.
5. Serve soup piping hot. Garnish with sour cream, chives and paprika.

Would be great served with some crusty french bread!

I am SO excited it’s SOUP season!!!!  🙂

~T

Cook Once, Eat Twice: Tilapia Edition

  I was raised in a “Waste Not, Want Not” Home.  We ate leftovers until they were gone, like it or not.

   The kids and I usually eat supper leftovers for lunch, or if there is a lot leftover, we have it for supper again a few days later.  Something I am always on a look out for, are recipes whose leftovers can be repurposed.

  Like the time I cooked 1 Pot roast and made 2 different dinners with it:

  You can head over to my friend, Mrs. Bakers site today, to find these yummy recipes.  She has allowed me to guest post over there and that is what I am sharing: Philly Cheese Steak Pizza & Texas Cowboy Pie! YUM!

 We will be doing this SAME CONCEPT over here, except with Tilapia. 

Yes, Tilapia is fish.

Don’t say Ew, it’s really good! 

  Tilapia is very light and buttery, not fishy at all, and you will be delighted to know, we will be smothering it in butter and cheese today. 

YUM! 

  This recipe got 6, 5 star ratings after I shared it on Tasty Kitchen, so don’t be scared, lots of people have gone before you and liked it!  🙂

Parmesan Tilapia

(Click title to be taken to TK to print)

Ingredients

• ½ cups Grated Parmesan Cheese
• ¼ cups Butter
• 3 Tablespoons Mayonnaise Or Miracle Whip
• 2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
• ¼ teaspoons Basil
• ¼ teaspoons Black Pepper
• ⅛ teaspoons Onion Salt
• 2 pounds Tilapia

Mix ingredients (except fish) together; set aside.

Grease pan and evenly space the fish. Broil on the top rack for 2-3 minutes. Flip, repeat, and broil 2-3 minutes. Remove from the oven.

Spread the top side of fish with the butter mixture. Broil 2 more minutes or until golden brown. Serve fish with pan drippings.

   We like to serve this with Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice and steamed broccoli.

  Now for us, there was not enough left for day two, but remember, we have 6 hungry mouths to feed.  This is why I will always double the above recipe.  The kids devour this so why not make a bunch!?

  Here is what I have planned for day 2:

Tilapia Corn & Potato Chowder

{this recipe adapted from Mother Thyme}

Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons Butter
• 4 Garlic Cloves, Pressed
• 1 small Red Onion, Diced
• 1 Red Pepper, Diced
• ¼ cups All-purpose Flour
• 2 cups Half-and-half
• 2 cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth
• 2 cans (15 Ounces each) of Corn
• 3 cups cubed Potatoes, Skins On
• 3 oz package of Pre-cooked Real Bacon Bits
• 1 teaspoons Salt
• ½ teaspoons Pepper
• 1/2 tsp. Garlic powder
• 2 cups Shredded Cheese, like Cheddar or Colby Jack
• Leftover Parmesan Tilapia, warmed

  Melt butter in your soup pot over medium heat. Add in garlic, onion and pepper and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Add in flour and stir until combined. Slowly add in half and half, stirring well after each addition, making sure it’s thick before adding more.  Then gradually add in chicken broth. Stir in corn, potatoes, bacon, and seasonings.  Cook, stirring occasionally until potatoes are tender, about 45 minutes.

When potatoes are tender, add cheddar cheese into the soup and stir until cheese is melted.  Pour desired amount of soup into bowls and top with shredded tilapia.

  Enjoy! 

Be brave, try the fish!

You can thank me later….. tee-hee.  🙂

Head on over to see Mrs. Baker’s site, and check out the original Cook Once, Eat Twice: Pot Roast Edition…..

~T

 

Amish Cheeseburger Soup

I am guest posting at Marathon Mom again today, and I will be sharing this delicious Amish Cheeseburger Soup recipe plus several more, come see me!

~T

(Click recipe title for easy printable)

Ingredients

• 1 pound Ground Beef
• 8 Tablespoons Butter, Divided
• 1-½ cup Carrots, Sliced or Roughly Chopped
• 1-½ cup Celery, Sliced
• 1 whole Small Onion Chopped
• Fresh Parsley, Snipped
• Basil, To Taste
• 6 cups Chicken Broth
• 8 cups Peeled And Cubed Potatoes
• ½ cups Flour
• 3 cups Milk
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 16 ounces Velveeta or a more real cheese like 16 ounces extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated is lovely
• 16 ounces, weight Sour Cream

In a skillet, cook ground beef and set aside. In a large stockpot, melt 2 tablespoons butter and saute carrots, celery, onion, parsley and basil. After 10 minutes, add the chicken broth and potatoes, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender.

In a saucepan, make your roux by melting the remaining butter. Add flour, salt and pepper to taste, and cook until bubbly, about a minute. Slowly, add milk and cook on medium, stirring constantly until thickened. Add to the broth and veggies. Turn the heat to low and add the cheese and beef. When the cheese is melted, stir in the sour cream. Taste and add more seasonings according to your liking.

Delicious!

A Soup-A-Thon At Marathon Mom

Hi everyone,

  Brandy, from Marathon Mom, just had her 8th baby boy, so I am guest posting today & tomorrow!

Come see me!!!!  🙂 

http://themarathonmom.com/3-hearty-soups.htm

~T

 

Cheap Eats: Ham Bone Soup

  Everyone and their dog has a favorite Ham and Beans recipe it seems, so who am I to put ONE more nearly identical recipe out there in the www.

  {SIGH}

  Selfishly, it needs to be done so I have a pretty copy with photo for my recipe binders.  Forgive me and read on anyhow?!

Thanks. 

  So, I HATED Ham and Bean soup when I was a kid. H-A-T-E-D it!  Now? I love it and I am so proud of my 4 little Ferguson’s, who gobbled it right up.  Well, except Avery.  She hemmed and hawed and sighed and flopped around on her chair, until threatened with no cornbread.  That got her moving and her bowl was empty in NO time!

  I saved my ham bone from Christmas (they freeze wonderfully in ziplock, btw) knowing that I’d be able to make this soup when the craving hit.  If you don’t have a ham bone, I guess you are outta luck.  (anyone have a recipe that DOESN’T need the bone?)

  Unless you want to go get a Cooks Butt Cut bone-in ham and stick it in your crock pot, flat side down.  Add 1 can of coke for every 7 pounds of Ham. Cook on low 8 hours. Eat it, marvel at it’s deliciousness, then save your ham bone with some meat left on it for this:

(Click title to be taken to TK for an easy printable format)

Ingredients

• 1 pound Dried White Beans
• 6 cups Water
• 1 whole Ham Bone
• Additional Leftover Ham Chunks (if Available)
• 4 stalks Celery With Leaves, Finely Chopped
• 1 whole Onion, finely chopped
• 6 cloves Garlic, Pressed
• 1 whole Bay Leaf
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
• 1 pinch Pepper
• ½ teaspoons Salt, More To Taste
• 1 teaspoon Onion Powder

Soak beans overnight in 6-8 cups hot water. Drain in the morning.
Place soaked beans, 6 fresh cups of water, chopped veggies, seasonings and ham bone in your slow cooker. (I did a big pot on the stove since I doubled it)
Cook on low for 8 hours, or until you can’t take the suspense any longer!  Remove bay leaf and ham bone. Taste and re-season as necessary.

Serve with Nana’s Perfect Cornbread, found HERE.

BONE appetite!

{Oh my goodness, I totally just cracked myself up right there….}

~T

 

Shared with the Ultimate Beans and Rice Linky Party

Madly In Love, plus Brats & Tots Soup with Homemade Crescents

Ahh! Sorry this is late posting today! I was up until midnight wrapping gifts with Dale and I guess I didn’t hit “schedule”.  Here it is, better late than never! Happy Monday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  Dale and I had the privilege of investing in our marriage this weekend at a Madly In Love seminar we went to with my best friend, Kasey and her husband, Monty.

In the Madly In Love marriage seminar you will learn:

• What is at the core of conflict
• Why she keeps bringing things up from the past and what to do when she does
• Why he doesn’t talk much, and what you can do to help
• The best time to work through conflict – and it’s not when you think
• How to actually benefit from conflict – not bury it or just resolve it
• A tried and true process for working through conflict
• What to do when no amount of talking seems to work
• A required shift in thinking to becoming madly in love once again
• A gift to give your children
• Laughter, tears, hope and much more!

We had so much fun, the interaction between speaker and audience was fantastic!

Here are some of the highlights from my notes:

We all have a story to tell, one that makes us who we are today.  One that makes us respond the way we do to certain situations, if you keep this story in mind, it will help you better understand your spouse.

Ephesians 4:1-3 “….lead a life worthy of your calling…Always be humble and gentle.  Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because off your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.”

 Make a habit to read I Corinthians 13:4, but put in your first name in the place of LOVE.  This is a good check point:

Tonya is patient, Tonya is kind, Tonya keeps no record of wrong, Tonya endures through every circumstance, Tonya never gives up.

Proverbs 10:19 “When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tounge is wise.”  Keep the peace in arguments by limiting “Word Vomit” and pushing the pause button to think and pray before discussing said argument. 

  “What if God designed marriage to make us HOLY, more than make us HAPPY?”

Wherever there is conflict, there is a STORY to be heard…..

Seek to discover your spouse…  Proverbs 20:5 “A man of understanding draws out his deep thoughts from inside.”

The glass is half empty AND half full, what you choose to see is your right and opinion, but both must be recognized as truth.

“Understand this:
In marriage, if I choose to live for self, my marriage will die.
If instead I choose to live for my wife/husband, I must die to self.
Make no mistake about it: in marriage, death is always involved.  Either we both die to ourselves, or the marriage itself WILL die.”

“Seek first to understand, and then be understood.” Steven Convey
Choosing to deny the part of you demanding to be heard, allows grace, understanding and disarming of the conflict.  This begins the healing process.

How to be a Gracious Giver:
1) Be honest
2) Understand my spouses story: past and present, to soften my heart and give me understanding.
3) We, as wives, call our husbands to their best, even when they are at their worst. We can do this with soft words and a gentle touch.

When we learn to appreciate each other’s story, it helps us to be gracious and loving to each other.

Satan loves nothing more than to turn couples against each other so that they are in a Tug of War against each other rather than united in a Tug of War against him for their marriage.  He knows he can’t win when 2 are united with Christ, a cord of 3 strands is not easily broken!

In a world of divorce and hurt, we can have HOPE.  Our hope is in Jesus and the strength He brings to a marriage when we totally wrap ourselves around Him.  We must do things to win our spouses heart, we must invest in each other and date each other! 

 We MUST find DAILY “Together Time” to talk and interact face to face, not staring at the tv, but having fun, connecting and seeking God together.

The whole purpose of this seminar was learning to “Fight Fair” and doing everything in Love.  They had it broken down really nicely into an acronym for the word PLEDGE.  I am not going to share it with you because I am scared it’s copyrighted and I don’t want to get into trouble!  It was REALLY well stated and simple really as long as you stick to the steps during a disagreement.

These marriage conferences are such a good way to invest in your marriage!  We learned a lot, but also, it felt good to know, that we had been “fighting fair” in our marriage and hadn’t even realized we were doing something right.  Those pats on the back are nice too. 🙂

If Madly In Love ever comes to your town, make sure you go, it is GREAT!  Check out the website:

http://madlyinlove.org/

  On to the recipe part of this post:

This unusual soup was delicious!  I especially like where you take your immersion blender and puree all the veggies;  makes for a nice thick soup!

Brats & Tots Soup

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 2 whole Small Onions, Chopped
• 5 whole Garlic Cloves, Pressed
• 4 cans Chicken Broth (14 Oz Total)
• 6 whole Potatoes, Peeled And Diced
• 3 cups Chopped Carrots
• 2 packages (14 Oz Each) Johnsonville Cooked Brats, Sliced
• Generous Amounts Of Salt And Pepper

Melt the butter in a large soup pot. Sautee onions, garlic and carrots with some salt and pepper. Cook until tender. Add broth and potatoes, then cover and simmer for 25-20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Use your immersion blender to create a puree, leaving a few chunks of potatoes. Add in sliced brats and simmer for another 15-20 minutes.  Season to taste.

This tasted GREAT with buttery homemade crescents! You can totally make these, even if you are scared of yeast like I am!

I got my recipe for crescents HERE.

I had lots of good “help” that day, and we all pretty much were wearing flour by the time it was all said and done, thanks to Paxton.

These tasted SOOOO good with the soup!!!!  Try your hand at them, you will be amazed how simple they really are to make….

Especially if you don’t have too much um, “help”.

Enjoy your supper, invest in your marriage daily, and STAY WARM!  It’s supposed to get COLD this week!

~T

This post shared with:
Melt In Your Mouth Monday

Tasty Tuesday

Wonka Wednesday

This Chick Cooks

Artisan Bread Bowls

Welcome to Post 2 for today, head back one post to see Mini Makeover: Part II. 

These bread bowls are SO cool!  And yummy too.  They could house your favorite Beef Stew or Broccoli Cheese soup.  They come together easily, even if you hate yeast like I do!!!!!

Ingredients

• 3-¾ cups All-purpose Flour
• ½ cups Whole Wheat Flour
• ¼ cups Nonfat Dry Milk
• 2 teaspoons Yeast
• 2 teaspoons Salt
• 2 Tablespoons Oil
• 1-½ cup Lukewarm Water (more As Needed To Make A Smooth, Soft Dough)

Let yeast dissolve in warm water until creamy, about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients—by hand, mixer or bread machine— and knead till you’ve created a smooth dough.
Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 45 minutes; it should become puffy. Divide the dough into 5-6 pieces, depending on how large you want your bread bowl to be. Roll each piece into a ball. Place on a lightly greased or parchment covered baking sheet.

Cover the bread bowls with greased plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours (or up to 24 hours); this step will give the bread bowls extra flavor, and a delightfully crisp-chewy texture. Two or more hours before serving, remove the bread bowls from the refrigerator. Uncover, and let them sit for about one hour while you preheat the oven to 425°F.
Just before baking, slash the top surface of the bowls several times with a sharp razor/knife to allow them to expand. Bake for 22 to 28 minutes, until the bowls are deep brown, and sound hollow when thumped on the bottom. Remove from the oven, and cool on a rack.
 Before serving cut off “lid” and carefully hollow out bread bowl, reserving pieces to be used as toasted seasoned croutons for your soup, or tuck away for a later use like fresh bread crumbs.

Delicious!!!!

We filled these bread bowls with a recipe called “Broccoli Cheese Soup (Just like Panera Bread).”  It was NOT just like Panera Bread, and it was NOT our favorite soup.  Next time I will fill it with THIS soup, our favorite Broccoli and Cauliflower soup from Drea, its WAAAY better!  Sorry I don’t have a photo of it yet, I will come back and add one soon after we make it……just trust me, its creamy and GOOD!

Broccoli & Cauliflower Cheese Soup

• 2 packages Frozen Broccoli/Cauliflower Mix
  (12-24 Ounce Packages Each, depending on how chunky you want your soup)
• Generous amounts of garlic powder, and fresh pepper.  Salt, to Taste
• 12 ounces, weight Velveeta, Cubed
• 2 cans Cream Of Chicken Soup (10.75 Ounce Cans)
• 1-½ cup Boiling Water
• 1 quart Half-and-half

Steam veggies according to directions on the package. Add seasonings to taste – garlic salt and pepper are our favorites.

While your veggies cook, heat cheese until melted in a large soup pot over medium heat. Once cheese is melted, add soups, boiling water and half-and-half. Carefully stir in steamed broccoli and cauliflower. Heat through – but make sure that you do not boil it! YUM!

Enjoy!

~T

This post shared with:

Tasty Tuesday

Melt In Your Mouth Monday

On the Menu Monday

This Chick Cooks

Wonka Wednesday

Full Plate Thursday