Tag Archives: celery

Sophia’s Ground Beef and Rice Soup

28 Jun

I have been making different combinations with ground beef lately, but my youngest really wanted a soup with ground beef and rice. I will admit, I was a little stumped at first with how to proceed, so I asked some friends and got some great ideas. In the end, what she really wanted was a soup similar to Chicken & Rice Soup, so that’s the route I went. It turned out really good, and she was happy to eat it!

Sophia's Ground Beef and Rice Soup

Sophia’s Ground Beef and Rice Soup

What you need:

1 pound 93/7 lean ground beef
1 small red onion, diced
1 medium carrot, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
6 cups beef broth
2 cups cooked rice

How to make it:

In a large pot, brown ground beef over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, and celery, and cook for a few minutes until vegetables have softened. Add Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt, thyme, and marjoram; mix in well. Cook for a few more minutes.

Pour in the beef broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low to simmer for 15-20 minutes. Stir in cooked rice. Cook for another 5-10 minutes, making sure the vegetables have softened.

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Jollof Rice

25 Apr

I wish I had thought to take a picture of this, but maybe next time I make it. For our American Heritage Girls troop, we have been working on a World Heritage badge, and we talked about countries in western Africa. I found this recipe, and decided to make it to bring to share with my unit (Tenderhearts, ages 6-9). I turned back the heat somewhat, but this still turned out fairly spicy. Some loved it, some took one bite and were done. My family ate the leftovers, and they all really enjoyed it, so I’m sure I will be making it again soon. I’m sharing how I made it so I remember and also to share with the parents of the girls who requested that I give their moms the recipe!

Jollof Rice

What you need:

1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup diced chicken breast, cooked or uncooked (optional) (I omitted)
1 small onion, diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
2-3 cloves minced garlic or 1 teaspoon
1 Tablespoon ground paprika
1-2 Tablespoons ground cayenne pepper (I used 1 Tbsp)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 15oz can diced tomatoes, run through food processor for a few pulses
1/4 teaspoon curry powder (optional) (I omitted)
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
1 10-12 oz package frozen peas
2 cups long grain rice
3 cups chicken stock

How to make it:

Add oil to a large stock pot. Next, add the diced chicken breast, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, paprika, cayenne pepper, ginger, and salt. Stir continuously, and cook until chicken is no longer pink inside and vegetables have softened.

Add the tomato paste, diced tomatoes, curry powder (if using), thyme, and bay leaf. Cook another 3-5 minutes. Add frozen peas and rice. Pour in the chicken stock, bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 30-35 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed and rice is soft.

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Slow Cooker Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

8 Apr

This past weekend, we had a turkey breast for our Easter lunch. We had some of the meat left, and I decided to make broth with the bones. Knowing that Chicken, Spinach, and Wild Rice Soup is always a hit in our house, I figured that a version with turkey would be good as well. Since this week is busy for us, I wanted to try this out in the slow cooker since I would time to work on it in the morning, but not in the evening at dinner time. It was so easy to throw it all together and just let it sit and cook all day. Although, I ended up picking a day I was actually home all day, so I had to smell it cooking!

This could be done with cooked chicken and chicken broth if you don’t have turkey. You could also use 4 uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts. They will cook as the rest of the soup cooks, and then you would shred the chicken when you add the milk and flour.

Turkey and Wild Rice SoupSlow Cooker Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

What you need:

1 small onion, diced
2 carrots, chopped into thin rounds
2 stalks celery, diced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 cups cooked turkey or chicken, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning blend OR 1 teaspoon dried thyme and 1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup uncooked wild rice
8 cups turkey or chicken broth
1 cup milk
2 Tablespoons flour or cornstarch

How to make it:

Add all ingredients except milk and flour to a large slow cooker. Cover and cook on low heat for 6 hours or high heat for 3 hours.

Whisk together the milk and flour in a small bowl. Pour into slow cooker. Cover and cook for another 30 minutes until soup is thickened.

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Chicken & Spinach Tortellini Soup

2 Mar

We have had a lot of  Chicken & Wild Rice Soup lately, which we love. I recently got a coupon from Safeway for a free bag of refrigerated tortellini, so I figured that I could do a similar soup with the tortellini instead of rice. It turned out really well, and while I don’t get tortellini often, it’s a recipe to keep on hand in case I do.

Chicken & Spinach Tortellini Soup

Chicken & Spinach Tortellini Soup

What you need:

2 tablespoons butter
2 medium carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon seasoning blend, like Tastefully Simple Rustic Herb blend or Mrs. Dash
1 8 oz package mushrooms, sliced
6 cups chicken broth
1 12 oz package refrigerated tortellini
2 cups cooked chicken
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped

How to make it:

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic. Cook until tender.

Add mushrooms and seasoning blend. Cook a few minutes.

Pour in chicken broth and bring to a boil.

Add chicken and tortellini. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until pasta is cooked.

Add spinach, and cook until it is wilted.

Garnish with fresh grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.

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Meatball Soup

16 Feb

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of this soup, but there is a good reason – it got eaten too quickly! This is an easy soup to put together, and ready in about a 1/2 hour.

Meatball Soup

What you need:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 medium carrots, sliced into rounds
2 stalks of celery, diced
6 cups beef broth
1 14-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained (or, if you are like me and are out of canned tomatoes, use 1 8-oz can of tomato sauce and 1/2 lb diced fresh tomatoes)
1 15-oz package frozen fully cooked meatballs
1 cup uncooked pasta, such as rotini, penne, small shells, or small elbows
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

How to make it:

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery, and cook until softened. Pour in the beef broth and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil for about 5 minutes. Add meatballs and boil another 10 minutes. Stir in uncooked pasta, garlic salt, and ground black pepper, and cook for 6 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and cook another 10 minutes, or until pasta is tender. Stir in parsley. Serve hot. Makes 4 servings.

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Potato Soup

2 Dec

This past weekend, we visited our favorite German restaurant, Angelika’s German Imports Market & Deli. My younger daughter had potato soup with her sandwich, which was so good. She wanted more of it, so I tried to come up with something close. It tasted similar, but not quite as good as Angelika’s did. I also added in cabbage to ours, since I had some that needed to be used and felt it would fit in well. I would probably add some bacon or ham next time, but as is, it was very good.

Note: This picture shows it a little thicker than it originally was because it is the leftover soup. I forgot to snap a picture the night we had it!

Potato Soup

Potato Soup

How to make it:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 large stalk celery, diced
1 large onion, diced
3 cups shredded cabbage
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1-1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 cups beef broth
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add carrots, celery, onions, cabbage, parsley and marjoram. Cook until transparent. Stir in potatoes.

In a small bowl, whisk flour into 1 cup of the beef broth. Pour into pot. Add remaining beef broth, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

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Chicken Salad

13 Oct

There really are a LOT of different ways that chicken salad is made. So, when my husband wanted Chicken Salad, I wasn’t sure where to start. Sure, I could just do chicken, mayo, maybe some onion. I have played around with it a couple of times, and finally found the combination that he, my older daughter, and I can all agree on…and here it is!

Chicken Salad

Chicken Salad

What you need:

4 cups cooked chicken, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 bunch green onions, diced
1 1/2 cups mayo
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
1 tablespoon fresh dill, minced or 1 teaspoon dried dill

How to make it:

Add all ingredients to a large bowl. Mix well. Chill for several hours or overnight.

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Katie’s Chili

4 Oct

Katie has been asking me to make chili for the longest time, but I kept putting it off. It’s still warm here in AZ, and hot meals just don’t always sound appealing. But, I have never made it before, so it was time. I know there are a ton of different ways to make it, all based on personal preference. So, we found 5 different versions in the cookbooks that we have, and came up with a combination of our own. It was really, really good! Now, I won’t wait so long the next time she asks.

Katie's Chili

Katie’s Chili

What you need:

1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped (optional)
1 15-oz can dark red kidney beans
1 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes
1 10-oz can tomatoes and green chiles (Ro-Tel)
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 cup beef broth
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Juice of one lime
Salt and ground black pepper

How to make it:

In a large pot, brown the ground beef. Add garlic, onion, green pepper, celery, carrot, and jalapeno, and continue to cook until vegetables have softened. Next, add kidney beans (undrained), diced tomatoes (undrained), tomatoes and green chiles (undrained), tomato sauce, and beef broth. Stir well, adding more beef broth or water if it seems too thick. Next, stir in chili powder, cumin, oregano, lime juice, and salt and ground black pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer about 20-25 minutes.

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Chicken, Spinach, and Wild Rice Soup

6 May

A few months back, my younger daughter insisted we get a soup cookbook at the grocery store checkout. I’m sure you’ve all seen them, and sometimes I will flip through one while we wait if something looks appealing. Well, for whatever reason, we HAD to get this one, and since cooking is something I enjoy with both my girls and want to teach them as much as I can, I agreed. It actually has a nice variety of soups, and this was one we’ve had marked for a while to try. Tonight we finally had a chance to try it, and it was perfect. It was actually pretty easy to put together, even with my changes, and the longest part was cooking the wild rice. It worked out nice that I could put the rice in my rice/vegetable steamer while we went to a swim lesson. Then, it was a matter of putting together the rest of the ingredients, which took about 30 minutes.

Chicken, Spinach, and Wild Rice Soup

 

Chicken, Spinach, and Wild Rice Soup

What you need:

6 tablespoons butter
1 /2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 clove minced garlic
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken broth, divided
1 1/2 cups milk or half and half, divided
2 cups cooked wild rice
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups chopped spinach
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken

How to make it:

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion, carrots, and celery, and garlic, and cook until all are soft. Mix in flour and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in 1 cup of the chicken broth and 1 cup of the milk. Cook for 5-10 minutes to allow to thicken.

Next, add in remaining chicken broth, rice, thyme, sage, and black pepper. Bring to a boil. Stir in spinach, chicken, and remaining milk. Cook, while stirring frequently, about 2-3 minutes, or until all ingredients heated through.

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Chicken and Gnocchi Soup

31 Mar

This has been on my list of things to try making for a while.  Our main Olive Garden favorite is Zuppa Toscana, which I still make regularly, but I still wanted to give this one a try.  It is actually really easy to make and doesn’t take too long to make.  For the gnocchi, you have the option of buying at the store (usually in the pasta, refrigerated, or frozen section) or making your own.  I had a leftover baked potato in the fridge, so I decided I would try making my own.  It’s not too hard either, just a little time-consuming.  I’ll give the recipes for both.

Potato GnocchiPotato Gnocchi

What you need:

1 large russet potato, weighing about 1 pound
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup flour, plus more for work area
Pinch of salt

How to make it:

First, bake potatoes. I used a potato that I had baked in the slow cooker earlier in the week.  If you don’t have an already baked potato, preheat oven to 350 F.  Pierce potato with a fork all around potato.  Bake for about 1 hour, or until potato is very soft.  Remove potato to a rack and cut open to allow to cool.

Scoop out the insides of the potato and discard skins (or save skins for some other use).  Pass the potato through a potato ricer or run along a small grater.  Add the egg yolk, flour, and salt, and mix by hand until you get a ball of dough.

Flour your work area.  Take a small ball of the dough and gently roll on your work surface until you have a long roll about 3/4″ in diameter.  Cut off 1″ sections.  Roll each along the back of a fork to get small indentations in each piece.  Place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.

Potato Gnocchi waiting to be cookedAt this point, if you will not be using right away, place the cookie sheet in the freezer.  Once frozen, place gnocchi in a freezer safe bag or container until you will use.

To cook, bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  Gently add gnocchi, a few at a time, to the boiling water.  When they rise to the surface, use a slotted spoon to remove gnocchi.  Repeat for remaining gnocchi.  Serve with sauce or pesto, or set aside to add to soup below.

 

Chicken and Gnocchi SoupChicken & Gnocchi Soup

What you need:

1 lb chicken, cut into 1″ cubes (or 2 cups cooked chicken)
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped celery
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups half and half (I just use 1% milk in all my soups, and it comes out fine)
1 pound potato gnocchi, made as above or cooked according to the package directions
3 cups coarsely chopped spinach leaves
Salt and black pepper to taste

How to make it:

Heat a little olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add chicken, and cook until no longer pink inside and slightly browned outside.  Remove from pot and set aside.

Heat the 3 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic.  Cook until vegetables become tender, about 10 minutes.  Mix in the flour, basil, salt and pepper.  Stir continuously for about 5 minutes.

Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and half and half to prevent any lumps from forming.  Bring to a light boil, then reduce heat to low to simmer for 20 minutes, until soup thickens.

Add the cooked gnocchi and spinach to the soup.  Gently stir and cook until spinach wilts.  Serve immediately.

 

 

 

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