Soup's On: Black Bean Pumpkin Soup

More soup for you! This took a while to post. Life keeps swelling up on me. I get a daily recipe from Allrecipes.com and in the thick of the Thanksgiving season this one came up. I love pumpkin and buy up many cans when it first comes on sale in the fall. That shortage a few years ago was very sad for me. I make soup, breads, pancakes and muffins with it. Black bean pumpkin soup intrigued me. The color of the soup is not becoming, but the subtle pumpkin flavor is yummy.

All dressed up with sour cream and cilantro. Ready to eat!

I tweaked the recipe a bit. Shocking! Thanks to Fake Meats, I made it gluten free and vegan using Soy Curls. I soaked them and cut them up. I like a bit of texture in my soup. I've also made it with cut up cooked chicken and chicken broth or beef broth. For me the secret is in the sour cream. I add a dollop of sour cream to mine, and it just comes together. It does dirty the blender, but it's worth it.

Black Bean Pumpkin Soup

3 (15 oz) cans of black beans, drained and rinsed

That onion does not look medium...

1 (14.5 oz) can of diced tomatoes
1-2 tbsp butter
1 medium onion diced
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
a bay leaf
2 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 (14.5 oz) can pumpkin puree
2 cans (about 4 cups) vegetable broth
Optional and Tasty...
1 cup Soy Curls, soaked for 10 min and cut up
1/2 cup corn

1. Put the diced tomatoes and two cans of black beans in the blender and puree. Put them in that order or you may have to add some of the broth to get it to puree. If you want a chunkier soup with a thinner broth puree only one can of black beans.

2. Saute the onion and garlic in butter. The original recipe calls for more butter. I couldn't do it. Do as you will. When the onions have softened add all the other ingredients. I pour a little broth in the blender to get as much of the remaining contents out and for easier cleaning. Simmer for 25 minutes stirring occasionally.



Even enjoyed by my little critics.

Soup's On: Chicken Tortilla Soup

When I had my first daughter, I was overwhelmed. I am thankful for all the friends and family who were patient with me, came to help me and listened to my emoting. I am not sure who gave me the stapled sheets of crock pot recipes. Whoever it was, thank you. They became invaluable to the family until I could get my head above water. I'll let you know when that is. It really hasn't happened yet.

On the top of the first sheet was a recipe for chicken taco meat. It involved taking 1 lb of chicken breasts, 1 package of taco seasoning and 1/2 cup of chicken broth, putting them in the crock pot and then shredding it several hours later. A few of the following recipes on the page used the chicken taco meat. I found 3 lbs of chicken yielded about 8 cups of chicken taco meat. I would, and still do, freeze the meat in 2 cup servings. It's great for dinner in a pinch. We almost always have rice or tortillas in the house. Chicken tacos is an easy go-to dinner for us.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

We also love the Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe. Normally, we have it with chips, cheese and sour cream, but it's good on its own too. Super easy and super tasty. I've even put it in the crock pot if I'm well planned for the day. Sometimes we have forgotten if it was one can chicken broth and two cans diced tomatoes or vice-versa. It tastes good either way. The way below is preferred. I use regular diced tomatoes.

Utilizing the crock pot...

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 cups of shredded chicken taco meat
1-2 cup frozen whole corn
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp Worcester sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 - 14.25 oz chicken broth
1 - 14/5 oz diced peeled tomatoes seasoned with Mexican spices (do not drain)
1 can tomato condensed soup




Put all the ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.

Soup's On: Lasagna Soup

I have a binder where I keep a good number of my recipes. I want to properly cite where I got this recipe because whoever gave it to me deserves a thanks, but I can't. In the binder it's on a copy of an editorial page from the Chicago Tribune next to a recipe for coffee syrup. It's an ink jet copy, and I must have carried it with wet hands because some of the instructions have been penciled back in. According to the editorial the recipe has been adapted from the lasagna soup in the Windsor's Lounge at the Palmer House Hilton.

My husband can make it look so pretty.
It tastes even better than it looks.

It's a great soup. I served it a few years ago at my church's women's retreat. It got rave reviews, and there were no leftovers. It really tastes like lasagna.

Lasagna Soup

4 oz Italian sausage, removed from casing, or ground beef
1 small onion, diced


It appears I have no brand loyalty.

1 large clove garlic, minced
1 can (28 oz) tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 can (15 oz) tomato puree or spaghetti sauce
3 chicken bouillon cubes
1 beef bouillon cubes
4 cups water
1 tsp each; dried basil, dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
crushed red pepper flakes
3 lasagna noodles, broken into little pieces
2 cups ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese


1. Crumble sausage into a 4 quart nonreactive saucepan or Dutch oven. Cook until browned. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion begins to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato puree or spaghetti sauce, bouillon cubes, water and seasonings. Heat to a boil; simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes.

2. Add lasagna noodles; continue cooking until noodles are tender, about 15 minutes.

3. Taste and adjust seasonings; serve with a dollop of ricotta cheese and top with mozzarella cheese.


I've made the soup with both puree and spaghetti sauce. It's equally as good. I tend to use two cans of diced tomatoes because I almost always have them on hand. I also tend to use ground beef because it it's in the house. The hardest part of this soup is breaking up the lasagna noodles. It hurts my hands because the noodles are hard to break into small enough pieces. The pieces expand quite a bit when cooked so they have to be about quarter-sized or smaller to fit on a spoon after they are cooked. I have contemplated putting them in a bag and using a meat tenderizer but haven't tried it yet. Enjoy.

Soup's On: Pumpkin Chicken Chowder

This recipe is adapted from a recipe that my friend Becky used when we went Trick-or-Treating. I say adapted because I helped her put it together, and I make it from memory. My friends, Becky and Jodi, and I took our kids out Trick-or-Treating this year together. It was windy and bitterly cold. Really, what do I expect? Most the girls' costumes are cold even if you are standing inside. My girlios all wanted to be fairies, princesses or some other form of magic royalty with no sleeves. I couldn't talk them into being a bear or an eskimo. The soup was lovely to have when we got back, and the adults even got a chance to sit around and talk like adults. It was such a nice time.

This is a gluten free crockpot soup. I cooked two chicken breasts which came out to 12 oz. The original recipe calls for red pepper. However, red peppers were three times the price of green, and I went with the green pepper. I also used brown rice so it takes a little longer in the crock pot and makes the soup thicker.

Pumpkin Chicken Chowder:

Pumpkin chicken chowder ingredients

1 can (14.5) pumpkin
3 cans chicken broth
8 oz cooked chicken, cubed
1 onion chopped
1 red pepper chopped
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup rice
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper





Put all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook for 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. Enjoy!

Seriously, this soup is so good. I can't wait until lunch for leftovers :)

Soup's On: RW Clam Chowder

Crock pot soup! This recipe is from the February 2010 Runner's World. It's a low fat but still creamy clam chowder. It's very light and gluten free. The first time I made it we didn't have any fat-free evaporated milk so I put in two cups of 2 % milk.



Low preparation. Yummy tummy.

Slow-Cooked Clam Chowder:

1 onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
2 8-oz cans of clams
1 8-oz bottle of clam juice
2 tsp garlic, minced
3 russet potatoes, cubed into bite-size pieces
1 12-oz can fat-free evaporated milk

In a skillet, saute the onions and celery in the olive oil. Transfer to a slow cooker and add other ingredients except canned milk. Cover and cook on high for three hours (or low for six hours). During the last hour add the milk. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with hearty whole-grain bread. Makes four servings.

Calories per serving: 385 Carbs: 56g Protein: 28g Fat: 5g Zinc: 36% DV

I confess I've served it without the whole grain bread, and it's still delicious. I don't drain the clams. They just get dumped right in. I'm not a big fan of potatoes, but my husband is. This is a recipe makes us both happy and full. Instead of putting the milk in the crock for the last hour, I'd suggest putting it in at the end. The girlios have trouble with the curdled look.

Wicked cup of chowda'

Yvonne's Curry Butternut Squash Soup

My first sole sister gave me the recipe for this soup. Her name is Yvonne. She's amazing. She has six kids with one set of twins. She homeschooled all of them until high school. Her eldest went to Yale on scholarship. She was my small group leader in our church's MOMS group, and she was in my small group when I led. She's smart, funny, Godly and wise. Now she's back in grad school, our worlds have diverged, and I miss her. Oh, and she can out run me any day of the week.

Yvonne introduced me to the tri, the half marathon and the marathon. She was the first person I told I was pregnant with number three while we were training, just a week before our tri. She also ran my first marathon with me. It was her second but my first. We ran the inaugural Fox Valley Marathon, and I, having no idea what I was doing, wanted to finish in under 5 hours. She said she expected to finish in about 5:10. While we were running the race, I did okay until mile 20. I was so dehydrated, and my mood was terrible. I had done a 22 and a 23, but I went out harder during the race. At the aide station at 20, the medic said he could take me back, but I drank my weight in water and sloshed on. Yvonne stayed with me. She walked with me when I needed to walk. She encouraged me. She gave up her time for me. She reminded me around 22-23 that people were praying for us. At 25.2 she said, "We HAVE to run the last mile," so we did. She finished in 5:10 as she expected. I finished a minute or two behind her. I cried dry grunty tears when I was done. I could not have finished it without her.

Yvonne has been with me on each marathon after. I hear her voice in my head during the last six miles. The same encouraging words go through my mind. I have smiled while running the last mile to two more finish lines and broken 5 hours because of Yvonne. Thank you Yvonne.

Yvonne's Curry Butternut Squash Soup
1 stick butter
1 large onion chopped
2 cloves garlic
5 cans chicken broth
4 lbs cooked butternut squash
3 large potatoes cubed
1/2 tsp curry
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp white pepper
2 cups milk

Saute onions and garlic in butter. Add veggies and broth. Simmer until soft.

 Smooth in blender.

 (At this point it can be frozen.)

 Add 2 cups of milk. Serve with sour cream, chives or walnuts.

A day or two before I make the soup, I cut the squash and cook it at 350 deg for an hour cut-side down in an inch of water. Then I scoop it and put it in the fridge. It makes the whole task less labor intensive. This soup is a fan favorite. The girlios all like it and were sad that I froze it yesterday. Joy for another day.

Hearty Lentil and Ham Soup

I bought a ham before the retreat so my husband would certainly be able to feed the girls while I was gone. However, secretly I bought the ham, actually any ham, to make this recipe. I love it. LOVE it. It's an easy recipe to prepare. It tastes great. To me, it's so tasty that I don't care if the girlios don't like it. They can have a sandwich. More soup for me.

Unfortunately, they've come to like it, and I have to share. Bummer. I only put in one large onion because although onion flavor is not objectionable, onion pieces cause whining at the table. If I were cooking just for myself, I'd add them all. A perfect winter soup.

Hearty Lentil & Ham Soup
from epicurious.com

Ingredients:
1 leftover smoked ham bone or 2 smoked ham hocks
1 pound lentils (about 2.5 cups), picked over and rinsed
0.5 pounds mushrooms, chopped (about 3.5 cups)
3 onions, chopped coursely
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
3.5 cups beef broth
8 cups water

Preparation
In 6-to-8-quart kettle combine all ingredients and simmer soup, covered partially, stirring occasionally, 1 1/2 hours. Discard bay leaf and cinnamon stick and remove meat from bone and hocks. Chop meat and stir into soup.

Makes about 3 1/2 quarts. It freezes well.

All ingredients in the pot

A couple hours later, all done

 Enough for at least 2 family meals