Spinach Tortellini Soup

I decided to make my one pan chocolate cake for dessert tonight. Have you made it yet? I posted about it on October 16, 2012. It's amazing to me how quickly I forget how much I love to make this cake, as much as flour-less chocolate cake. It's one pan, no greasing, no eggs, just dump, mix all together and bake. Once done, you can sprinkle with confectioners' sugar as I do or frost with your favorite frosting. There you have it, easy, moist & delicious and with only a few measuring cups & utensils to wash. Just the right size for a family of four with a few slices leftover for lunch or snack the next day. Now this post isn't about cake, but about this quick delicious soup. Oh, how I love soup. I could eat it all year. However, I know that with warmer weather soon approaching, chili, stew, soup and those comforting meals that wrap you as a blanket will need to be placed with summer fare. BBQ's, salads, fresh fruits & vegetables, pizza on the grill, clams and yes, ice cream stands! This soup is an easy throw together, once you get the small list of ingredients down, you will be able to throw it together in a snap. Use whatever ground meat you like and you could easily change out the tortellini for small raviolis. It's healthy and so easy, you won't even need to follow the recipe the next time you make it.

According to the calendar it is officially spring. The weather outside says otherwise. So many are just wishing for it to be gone and nice weather here now. There is a time for all things! I have just enjoyed watching what might be some of the last snow flakes falling from the sky. The cold blowing wind against my face, breathing the crisp air and the bright sun on my face. Warm weather is approaching, days at the lake are just around the corner. Bonfire's, roasting marshmallows, splashing the boats, splashing ourselves in a friend's pool, the farmer's market, all on the horizon. It's good for us not to wish the days away, but to awake and enjoy the day ahead. The weather and each moment are part of the day. We should take the time to smell the coffee while it's brewing, the sounds around us. If we spend our days wishing for the next one, we miss out on the beauty that God has blessed us with and the treasures that will be uncovered in it. Take time to look for those spring flowers, to listen for the returning birds and watch the snow melt away. Soon our boys will be able to take their traditional dip in the lake as the ice moves out, but until then, snow needs to be shoveled from the back of the truck!


Ecclesiastes 2:25-There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.


Tomato Soup W/Cheese Tortellini

Ingredients-

1 bag frozen cheese tortellini
1 package baby spinach
1 lb lean ground turkey, chicken, or beef
1 bottle V8 low-sodium juice
4 cups of chicken broth
2 tbsp chopped garlic
1 small onion
1 tbsp oregano
garlic salt or powder
black pepper

Directions-

Add a little butter & a drizzle of olive oil to a pan. Heat and add onion, garlic & seasonings. Light cook until softened about 5 minutes or so. Add the meat and brown. Drain. Return to pan. add the V8 juice & broth. Bring to a boil. Add the spinach and cook for another 10 minutes. Add the tortellini and cook about 5 minutes more. Add extra water if needed.

Cheesy Potato Soup

I can not take any credit for this picture or for the recipe. This is how it unfolds. My husband & I were both sick at the same time. At the same time!!! We have not been sick together in a very long time. I said my good nights to our youngest and went to bed. First thing Sunday morning, he tells me that he stayed up late Saturday night and was going through his Betty Crocker Kid Cookbook and found a great soup recipe that would make me and Dad feel better. He also had some other recipes we should try during the week. Melt my heart....Feeling better with just that!!! Where in the world did he get this from??? Staying up at night reading cookbooks! Hmm.. This is what he choose for us. Cheesy Potato Soup. How could I say no, especially, when I have been asking God to reveal spiritual gifts that our children have, and let me see that they are aware of them as well.  Do you ever stop and ask God to show you how he is working in your children's lives. Do you ever  just observe their gifts in action... He showed me once again that morning, our youngest' s gift of mercy, compassion and thoughtfulness for someone else. I saw this a few years back when he asked if he could make chocolate chip cookies and bring them along with hot coffee to our town plowers. He wanted to thank them for plowing our roads at all hours of the night. He was not prompted by anyone, except the whisper of the Holy Spirit prompting his spiritual gifts at a early age! I was just the vessel God used to accomplish these requests. We shopped for soup ingredients, made this very delicious and quick soup and everyone loved it. He even asked to take a picture for my blog. Yes, this is his photo not mine.

We are commanded by God to encourage each other, including our children. Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. Just by taking him shopping, and making the soup he picked out helped to cultivate that gift of mercy. Helping him make those cookies, picking up the coffee and driving him to the town hall encouraged him to have compassion on others who are up working all night doing something for us. Encouragement should not be limited to your friends, those that attend church with you, co-workers or strangers, but those living with your from youngest to the oldest.

Romans 12:6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man' gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve, if it is teaching, let him teach, if it is encouraging, let him encourage, if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously, if it is leadership, let him govern diligently, if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Spiritual gifts in action!!

This soup is wicked easy, quick, delicious, healing to a body with a cold and balm for the heart. I'll probably never eat potato soup without thinking of  how this came to be.

Cheesy Potato Soup
Betty Crocker Kids Cookbook
6 servings

 
Ingredients-


1 medium stalk celery diced
2 14oz cans chicken broth or vegetable broth
1 bag (32oz) frozen southern style diced hash brown potatoes thawed
1/2 cup frozen chopped onion (from a 12oz bag thawed) I just used one small onion
1 cup water
1 cup milk
3 Tablespoons all purpose flour or cornstarch
1 bag (8oz) shredded cheddar cheese just about 2 cups

Toppings if desired-

4 medium green onions chopped
sour cream
lots of cooked chopped bacon

Directions-

Place the celery, chicken broth, the potatoes, onion and water in a medium stock pot. Cover and cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes.

Put the milk in a small bowl and add the flour or cornstarch and mix well. Pour this mixture into the potato mixture. Turn the heat to high, cook & stir with a wooden spoon for 6-8 minutes or until the mixture thickens. Add the cheese and stir until melted. Turn off heat & remove from burner.

EASY, EASY, after you make this you won't even need to follow a recipe the next time... 

Serve along with desired toppings. We had ham & turkey sandwiches along side of the soup. Double for lunch leftovers the next day....

Eat Well, XO Sonya

Lentil Soup

I just love soup. I could probably eat it everyday and never tire of it. Lentil soup is one of my favorites. My family is not big on lentils, so I took advantage of some quiet time on Saturday and made myself a big pot of soup. When you are nursing a chest cold, soup is always the best medicine. Lentil soup is quite easy and healthy for you. They are packed with protein, iron, fiber, they stabilize your blood sugar and are heart healthy. If you are unsure how to cook them, there is always a recipe on the back of the bag. The recipe I used came from another great book, Lunch in Paris, A Love Story with Recipes. An American journalist writes about blending her culture with that of her husbands, the man she falls in love with over lunch, in Paris. There are great recipes that follow each chapter. I just love books like this. It's the hopeless romantic in me! Once finished with the book, I was able to continue following the adventures of Lunch in Paris at www.elizabethbard.com the birth of their son and the post of how they stumbled upon their home and it's history, is just, how can I say it, just romantic. Why not pick up a bag and make yourself a bowl of goodness?

The greatest love story I have read is The Bible. John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Lentil Soup-

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 carrot-peeled & chopped
1 medium onion-peeled & chopped
1 celery stalk with leaves-chopped
2 1/2 cup dried lentils (recipe calls for Puy lentils, but I always just use what is available at the store)
6 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
3 cups water
1 cup dry white wine (use more water or broth if you don't have this on hand)
1 16oz can of chopped tomatoes ( I used a 28oz can with basil, garlic & oregano, reduce water to 2 cups)
1 bay leaf
fresh chopped parsley ( I did not have any on hand)

Directions-

In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the carrot, onion and celery. Saute' for 5-10 minutes, until the onion is translucent.

Add the lentils and stir to coat with the oil. Add the broth, tomatoes, water, wine and the bay leaf. Give a good grinding of pepper. Leave to simmer over low heat with the cover ajar until the lentils are tender about 45 minutes. 

You can puree the soup if you like, but I like mine just the way it is. Drizzle with extra olive oil and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. This soup freezes well.


Eat Well, Sonya

Slow Roasted Tomato Soup

                                                                                                  

I have been on a quest for the best recipe for homemade tomato soup that my family approves of. Too many times the recipe calls for onions, celery, garlic, carrots, a little of this and that, and it seems they overpower the taste of the tomatoes. I needed a soup that was smooth & creamy. While reading www.injennieskitchen.com/  I came across this recipe. With the short list of ingredients, most of which I had on hand, including canned whole peeled tomatoes, it was placed on the top of my "To Do" list. I love the fact that it calls for canned tomatoes. October is for apples not tomatoes. As I walked in our kitchen while the tomatoes were roasting I thought I was standing in a garden full of vine ripe tomatoes ready for the picking! I could not wait for the tomatoes to cool fast enough to put this soup together. Since my family likes their soup on the creamy side I added more cream. I have two more recipes marked to try, but after just a spoonful of this soup, it's a keeper!

Is not tomato soup with grilled cheese, macaroni & cheese, meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy, chicken & biscuits and apple pie, the comfort foods of all time? One bite of any of these dishes and my body just says "Thank You". It says in 2 Corinthians 1:3 that we have a God that comforts us in any trouble so that we can comfort someone else who is going through the same situation. Isn't it exciting to know that you may meet someone who went through what you are currently enduring, and they can offer words of encouragement and hope. "This too shall pass", I often hear echoing in my head, and with time it does, bringing more faith, strength and wisdom for next hurdle. An endless circle of giving comfort and receiving comfort. With your eyes and ears open, you may be a comfort to someone along the way. This person may become of friend of a lifetime. That's how I met one of my dearest friends. Thanking God above for a true treasure in the darkness!

This soup is worth keeping your pantry stocked with canned whole peeled tomatoes!

Slow Roasted Tomato Soup

Ingredients-

One 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes (mine had basil added)

salt & pepper to taste

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

drizzle of olive oil, just about 2 teaspoons

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (I had chicken broth in my pantry and used that)

1 1/2 cups reserved tomato juice

1/4 cup heavy cream (I used a pint)
croutons or crackers

Directions-

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line a baking sheet with heavy duty foil; set aside.

Drain tomatoes, saving the juices for the soup. Slice the tomatoes in half and place cut side up on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt, pepper & brown sugar. Drizzle with olive oil and roast for one hour. Remove tray and cool for 10 minutes. 

Transfer cooled tomatoes to blender, add the stock and blend until smooth. Pour into a soup pot and heat until warm. Stir in the cream and warm for about a minute. Serve with croutons or crackers. I placed all my ingredients in a soup pot & used my immersion blender. This made enough for four with sandwiches, if you want leftovers, double the recipe.

Eat Well, Sonya