Chicken Veggie and Kale Soup~Paleo friendly

Ive been thinking about making this for a couple of days now, but I just got around to it today!! I love when you have a thought of something in your mind and it comes to life in a bowl!! There are different varieties you can make of this soup but it is certainly tasty and is a Paleo friendly recipe!!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did and its also great because you can make it and snack on it for a couple  days!!! And a side note for this recipe, I made it with basil chicken meatballs that I had, but you can just used chicken breasts and it will be just as delicious!!

1 1/2 lbs of chicken (I used basil chicken meatballs but boneless breasts are fine or ground chicken or turkey. Whatever you have available
3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1 inch cubes
1 med onion, diced
3 small carrots, diced
1 small bell pepper, diced
6 cloves of garlic, minced (or less if your scerd)
3 cups of fresh kale, chopped
8 cups of chicken stock, or you could use water and salt it but stock adds more flavor

In a large stock pot saute sweet potatoes, onion, carrots, garlic, and bell pepper  with coconut oil or olive oil for about 10 min. Add stock and chicken and cook until chicken is cooked all the way through. Add kale and simmer for 5 minutes. Drizzle with fresh squeezed lemon juice and 700 dashes of hot sauce....cuz that's what I did!!

Now if you were not following a paleo lifestyle you could add rice to this soup if you wanted, you would just add it at the same time as the chicken!!

Zuppa Toscana (Olive Garden Style)

Who needs to go to Olive Garden and pay for their soup, when you can make it at home and it tastes better and you know its fresh?? Right?? I could literally make a pot of this and eat it for lunch for as long as it will last!!

• 1 lb ground Italian sausage
• 1½ tsp crushed red peppers
• 1 large diced white onion
• 4 Tbsp bacon pieces
• 4 cloves garlic, grated on micro plane
• 10 cups chicken stock or broth
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
• 1/2 of a bunch of kale

1. Sauté Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in a large pot. Drain excess fat, and set aside while you cook next ingredients.
2. In the same pan, sauté bacon, onions and garlic over low-medium heat for approximately 15 mins. or until the onions are soft.
3. Add chicken stock/broth and sausage to the pot and heat until it starts to boil.
4. Add the sliced potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour.
5. Add the heavy cream and just cook until thoroughly heated.
6. Stir in the kale, let all heat through and serve. Delicious!

Egg Flower Soup.....who knew it was so easy!!

Man I had no idea that it was sooooooo easy to make egg flower soup!! This is souper....get it??? Souper tasty soup!!! Very easy, and pretty darn good for you!! Tonight I made stir fry, this soup and brown rice!!! It was an awesome dinner!!

4 cans chicken stock
1 can corn or cream corn
4 eggs, beaten
1 T soy sauce
1 T sesame oil
1 tsp white pepper
3 green onions, diced
3 T cornstarch
1/3 cup water


In a saucepan put stock, corn, soy sauce, pepper and sesame oil over medium heat. When broth begins to boil add beaten eggs. Once the mixture comes back to a boil combine water and cornstarch and pour into boiling soup. Stir over heat for one minute then remove from heat, add onions and serve.

Potato Broccoli Cheddar Soup...makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside!!

As Winnie the Pooh once said......"It's a blustery day." With blustery days comes......can you guess?? Come on you can do it......HONEY.....oops....sorry that would be Winnie the Pooh's answer....I meant SOUP!!!!

Then the next question was....what kind of soup?? Something think and creamy and rich and tasty but yet filling. That's when I decided potato, broccoli and cheddar cheese. I also made quesadilla's to go along with it, they make great dippers!! This soup is souper easy.....get it 'souper' ooohh...maybe I should change the title to 'Souper Easy Potato Broccoli Cheddar Soup' I think that's a catchy title, don't you think??

Anyways, it really is easy to make. There are very few ingredients and they are mostly ones you would have on hand!! Good luck and happy soup!!

3 peeled and diced potatoes
4 cups of chopped broccoli
4-10 cloves or garlic depending on your liking of garlic ( I might of put 11)
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
8 cups of chicken stock/broth
1/2-1 cup heavy cream or 1/2 and 1/2

In a large stock pot place potatoes, broccoli, garlic and cover with stock/broth. Bring to a boil and let cook for about 20 min until veggies are pretty much mush. I used my emulsion blender, but if you don't have one place in food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Add cheese and cream or 1/2 and 1/2 until cheese is melted, stirring often. Serve

Clam Chowder for those cold winter nights......

I LOVE clam chowder!! There are so many varieties. Some people like it thin and runny, some people like more liquid. I like mine thick and filled with veggies and clams....and when I'm feeling sassy....I'll make it a seafood chowder and add shrimp and scallops too.

I made a huge pot of this last night cause its just so cold outside and nothing warms the soul like clam chowder and sourdough bread that's been heated in the oven....right???? I cant wait for leftovers tonight!!

3 large potatoes, cut into chunks
2 large carrots
1 medium onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, diced
1 lb bacon, diced
2 tall cans clams
1 bottle clam juice
flour or cornstarch for thickening
1 quart half and half
4 cups water or stock such as fish stock or chicken stock

In a large stock pot cook diced bacon and cook completely. Add potatoes, carrots, onions and celery cook for 10 minutes, stirring often. Deglaze pan by adding bottled clam juice, plus juice only from canned clams, and stock. Simmer approximately 20 min until potatoes and carrots are cooked. Add half and half and clams and bring to a boil. Add either cornstarch or flour and water mixture to thicken chowder to desired consistency. I used cornstarch and I used 3 Tbl and 3 Tbl of water, mixed together and added to boiling soup, stir until thickened. Serve hot with sourdough bread.

Feel better chicken soup

Ok....so I know that there is probably really not healing qualities in chicken soup.....its still fun to make when there are sick people in the house!! Besides....with the amount of garlic I put in this bad boy......there's no way it couln't be good for you!! There must me hundreds of varieties of chicken soup and I enjoy hearing what people like to put in theirs!!
Here's mine:
2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 stalks of celery, halved + 2 more, diced
2 carrots, halved, + 2 more, diced
1/2 an onion
4 large cloves of garlic + 5 more
4 T rice
dash of red chili flakes
chicken bouillon

Put first 5 ingredients in a pot and boil until chicken is cooked through. Then remove everything, reserving chicken, but throwing out carrots, celery and onion. Dice chicken in bite size pieces. Add diced chicken, diced celery, rice and carrots. Boil until rice is cooked, about 20 min, then using a microplane grate remaining garlic into soup. Chop a hand ful of cilantro and stir it in. Serve right away after adding garlic and cilantro. That way the garlic stays as fresh and raw as possible. It has a nice spicyness to it from the fresh garlic.

Holy Mole Chili......an invention......I think....

Ok....I could be mistaken....but I think I came up with something today. If there are recipes out there Ive never heard of them......but......I really haven't checked either. Ok....ok....maybe its because I want to take credit for the creation of Holy Mole Chili and possibly because of my fear of rejection....but that is a whole other topic of discussion!!

Anyways back to the subject......Holy Mole Chili......so I was talking with a co-worker today and she mentioned that her husband won a chili cook off at a local casino here in my town not too long ago. That got me thinking.....it's cold out side and chili sounds soooooo good and it screams warm comfort food. But I have never been able to make a chili that blows my hair back....until today!!

AND.....the best part is I did it with things that I had in the pantry and fridge!! Granted not everyone probably has a tub of homemade salsa from last Thursdays Christmas party......but....well that is not for me to worry about now!! ;)

Ok ok I'll shut up now and tell you the recipe!! Oh...by the way, instead of serving this with corn bread (which you can totally do) I served it with corn tortilla quesadillas which was super yummy to dunk in my chili!!

Holy Mole Chile

2 cans of your favorite beans, drained (I used white)

1 lb ground beef, or any other ground meat you'd like

2 chipotle peppers chopped until pretty much mush

1 large onion, diced

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp cinnamon

dash of cloves

5 gloves garlic, grated on micro plane

2 Tbls Mole paste (I used the jarred kind)

2 cups homemade salsa (tomatoes, cilantro, onions, garlic, jalapenos, salt and lime)

1 small can tomato sauce

1 -2 tsp salt depending on taste

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 Tbls chili powder

1 heaping Tbls agave nectar (or 1 Tbls sugar)

Saute ground beef and onion until cooked thoroughly, then add all the other ingredients and simmer for about a half an hour or more. Top with cheese and sour cream and serve with corn bread or quesadillas like I did!!

Caribbean Spicy Sausage and Sweet Potato Chowder

Ok first off I must say, I only subscribe to 2 magazines!! Cooking Light and Food Network....and I love them both!! So every month I get my magazines in the mail and I sit down and go through all the recipes and cut out the ones I am pretty sure I will use. When I was going through Cooking Lights Jan/Feb issue I came across this little gem!!

This soup......or chowder as they call it has an absolutely lovely flavor to it. It is packed with healthy things and even looks beautiful. I made a few changes to adapt to what I had on hand. It came out so good and even my teenage boys loved it. That is a hard enough task to accomplish!!

Caribbean Spicy Sausage and Sweet Potato Chowder

2 tsp olive oil

3 peeled and cubed sweet potatoes

1 chopped red bell pepper

1 onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, diced

4 cloves garlic, grated on micro plane

2 tsp peeled fresh ginger, grated on micro plane

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground curry

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbls brown sugar (I used agave, because I don't use sugar)

4 cups chicken broth

2 tsp dried thyme

2 bay leaves

1 cup frozen corn

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 packages Turkey Italian Sausage, chopped

Heat oil in dutch oven over medium heat. Add sausage and cook for 5 minutes until cooked almost completely. Add next next 6 ingredients through ginger. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in next 4 ingredients through cinnamon and cook for 30 seconds. Add broth and agave or sugar. Add thyme and bay leaves. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 12 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender. Stir in tomatoes and corn and simmer for 5 minutes. Add cilantro and stir. Discard bay leaves. Yield six servings

My take on a Chicken Corn Stoup....mmmmm!!

Ok the first thing I would like to say is.....this is a basic recipe of NOT exact measurements!! I make this stuff up as I go depending on what sounds good!! So I'm gonna give it my best shot trying to remember everything I put in there!! Good luck and may the force be with you.
On a side note....even my kids liked this soup!! That's always a bonus!! ;o)
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or chopped(depending on how many you are feeding)
1 container chicken broth
3/4 cup salsa (I used homemade that I had already)
2 cans corn
1 cup heavy cream, milk or sour cream
1/2 onion diced
1 can diced green chile's
1 cup grated cheese of your choice (cheddar, pepper jack, monterey jack)
cilantro
corn tortillas fried until crispy, then broken into pieces
Just cook the chicken and shred or chopped it. In a saucepan cook onions until translucent, I think I threw in a little butter! Add chicken broth, and corn. Now use your fabulous immulsion blender and blend it up a little. Next add in all the rest of the ingredients except the tortillas and cilantro. When cheese is melted serve. Top with broken tortillas and cilantro!! Yummy!!

Homemade Tomato Soup

 

So my neighbor comes over with this bowl of tomatoes the size of Texas from her garden and says she cant look at another tomato ever again!! Well, what does any noble neighbor do to help out another neighbor? They take the bowl of tomatoes and help out a friend!! ;o)

Then....... make salsa and tomato soup!! This recipe for tomato soup is so fabulously delicious, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. I also made homemade wheat bread that day and made grilled cheese sandwiches out of it to dunk into our tomato soup!!

12 cups ripe tomatoes, chopped (approx)
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (Salt to taste basically this is just a guideline)
2 teaspoons white sugar (I used agave)
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 clove garlic mashed and made into garlic paste

Directions:

Place tomatoes, onion, celery, parsley and bay leaf in a large pot and cook, covered, on low heat for 1 to 2 hours, until forms tomato mush. ;o) Remove bay leaf and blend tomato mixture in batches in a food processor or blender, or you can use your hand blender, which is what I did. Then run through a sieve or strainer and return to pot. Stir in salt, sugar, seasoning salt, pepper and garlic salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cook, uncovered, 1 to 2 hours, until thickened. If you would like to turn this into a creamy tomato basil soup, during the cooking process add basil leaves as well. Then about 5 minutes before you serve your soup add in about a cup of heavy cream!!