Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Soup (with slow cooker instructions)

Tomato soup is almost always a crowd favorite. Making homemade tomato soup in the past has been a challenge, producing less than delicious results. I had made this ONE with grilled cheese croutons which I liked, but my kids still preferred the can version. So I had given up of finding something to replace the quintessential tomato soup from the can. You know the soup. The kind we all loved as children, and still secretly love as adults.

A few weeks ago I got the hankerin' not for chili as the typed accent would allude, but for homemade tomato soup. I was a little cautious about trying to make some because of the aforementioned soup disasters.

After some searching, and a little self pep-talking, I found a recipe that I thought would be successful. This recipe called for roasting tomatoes instead of using the canned ones. I thought that was a good start since all the previous recipes I have tried used the canned ones.

I had posted on Instagram about the smell of the roasting tomatoes and garlic. Gosh it was ever so delightful. From that smell alone I was hopeful. Roasting the tomatoes and garlic is the "hardest" part and really it was nothing.

The soup came together easily and I only made a few alterations from the original recipe.

The use of an immersion blender (best thing ever) made this soup so smooth. In our house, it is normal for us to top our tomato soup with a little bit of sour cream. The fancy swirly depicted was just for you, normally we just drop a large dollop smack in the middle.

Another tomato soup staple...well the grilled cheese sandwich of course.

A few months ago we had these amazing grilled cheese sandwiches at our local farmer's market. They were DIVINE. In fact, they were so divine that we followed them up to another farmer's market a few hours away. Kidding. We were already planning on being there and they just happened to be there too. We like to think it was divine intervention. Anyway. I noticed something about how they made there sandwiches. They grilled the bread and cheese separate at first. Big piles of ooey gooey cheese melted all by itself and then was added to the grilled bread before letting it cook a little more.

It. Was. Divine.

So I tried it. It was life-changing and I will probably only be making them this way from now on. But this post isn't about grilled cheese sandwiches. I digress.

You should give this soup a go. Seriously. If you don't have an Instant Pot, no worries you can make it in a crock pot too. I will put those directions too.

Happy tomato soup eating!

Okay guys, so let me explain this recipe "card" situation. Bear with me for just a bit longer. I have made these recipe print offs. I admittedly do this the hard way. There are not recipe widgets in blogger (yes I know I should switch to wordpress, but since I am not sure how much I am going to blog again I don't want to switch). Because of this I have to create my own recipe template. I had one I was using, but I wanted to switch it up so I created this layout using PicMonkey of course. The image is going to be in the post and then there will be a print option. For short recipes, there will be one page. For longer ones, two.

I know it isn't as fancy as a widget, but I think it will work nonetheless for either printing or screen shotting (since that is what a lot of us do anyway).

Thanks guys!


PRINT HERE

Potato Cheddar Sausage Soup: Slow Cooker Saturday

Every Fall something momentous happens. Soups get introduced back into our menu. I feel like every Fall when this happens, I gush and gush about my love for soups. I then in turn talk about how my family (curse them) do not love soup as much. It really is uncool.

Well I am not going to talk about that this Fall. I am just going to talk about this oh-so-good Potato Cheddar Sausage Soup.

First, it is a soup.

Win.

Second, it is made in the slow cooker. Might I just add, welcome back Slow Cooker Saturday (at least for this week. Wink. Wink.).

Win.Win.

Everything but the cheese and the corn goes into the slow cooker and it just sits there and makes your house smell awesome all day.

I love when a soup is light and hardy all at the same time. Sometimes chowders feel too heavy, but my boys don't always appreciate a broth heavy soups, you know because they are strapping young men and all. This Potato Cheddar Sausage Soup is the perfect happy medium.

Happy soup making weather! Er, uh, I mean happy Fall.

print HERE

Slow Cooker Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

I know, I know, it isn't really soup weather anymore. Unless you live in Idaho and then it is soup weather sporadically off and on until the end of June. You know it could be 70 one day and then snowing two days later.

We like variety around here. Well, we don't really like it but we don't really have a chance. So we are going to pretend that we like it.

The best thing about crazy weather ...

I don't have to pack away my sweaters.
I can have soup 9 months out of the year.

So yes, I made soup. The weather was just chilly enough that I hopped on that train and whipped up this soup. I had bookmarked several different recipes and did a little remix and I came up with this recipe. The end result was super dreamy and warmed me up perfectly on such a chilly day.

One of my little secret weapons in this recipe is the use of boxed wild rice.

The great thing about using a boxed wild rice is that there is a spice packet inside. That little add umph is so special. Special and fantastically yummy.

So if you have some uncharacteristically chilly days, make yourself some of this soup. If you want this soup and it is not chilly where you live, crank up the AC, pretend it is a chilly day, and make some soup. Oh and of course you need some of this crazy easy Dutch Oven Artisan Bread on the side.

Eat up and hey, thanks for stopping by another Slow Cooker Saturday.

Follow along with Just Another Day in Paradise

Instagram        Facebook        Pinterest

Potato Corn Chowder: Slow Cooker Saturday

Welcome to the long awaited revival of Slow Cooker Saturday. I have been meaning to bring it back for months and months and months, but obviously I couldn't get my act together.

However, I knew when I made this warm your belly Slow Cooker Potato Corn Chowder I had to bring Slow Cooker Saturday back to life.

This chowder is completely family friendly. All my boys devoured it. The heaping serving of bacon thrown on top of the soup probably helped their love a little bit. Just a little bit. Oh bacon. On Instagram (you know you want to follow along @larissa_anotherday) I referred to this as bacon with a side of soup. Ha. That is how we do things around here.

This soup is easy to throw together and is altogether so very yummy on a cold day.

You will not be sad you made this soup.

Okay, now to the recipe.

First, I am trying something new with how I get recipes to you. Since I am still in the dark ages and still use blogger I do not have access to a recipe widget that will make printing recipes easier for you. I am fully aware that makes getting recipes from my site more than a little annoying. So until I make the big girl step to switch over to Wordpress and to actually install a .com, I have come up with a format allowing you, the reader, to have a print friendly recipe.

I am going to offer the recipe in a jpg and pdf form. So you can either right click on the photo of the recipe and save it OR you can click the PDF link. The choice is yours. Either way, you will have a printable recipe.

Hope that makes life a little easier. Let me know what you think. LOVE YA.

Get printable recipe HERE

Follow along with Just Another Day in Paradise

Instagram        Facebook        Pinterest

Cauliflower Corn Chowder

Every so often we order a basket of fresh fruit and veggies from Bountiful Baskets. If you haven't ordered from Bountiful Baskets before, it is a like a jackpot of fruits and vegetables. In your order there is half fruit and half veggies, but you never know what exactly you are going to get.

We never ever have a problem eating the fruit. We know how to throw back our fruit. However, we don't always know what to do with the vegetables. I wish I could tell you that we eat all our vegetables happily. Um...we don't. Oh we still eat them, just not always happily. Hang head in shame now.

This last bunch of healthy goodness had a bunch cauliflower. Add that cauliflower to a fridge already full of veggies and you have this chowder just calling your name.

Well not really, that would be weird. No one wants to eat food that call's their name. Who am I kidding, I would eat this chowder even if it called my name over a bull horn.

It is that good. Good and packed full with vegetables.

This chowder might also be topped with bacon. BACON people. That is a vegetable right? Shh, let's just pretend. Bacon is a vegetable. Bacon is a vegetable. Bacon is healthy. Eat five servings of bacon a day. Okay maybe that is too far.

This chowder is amazing. My boys all ate it. All of them had seconds and one of them had three bowls. THREE. That right there is a momma miracle. I do feel the need to mention that the subsequent bowls didn't have bacon on top. That right there is saying something.

It is saying this Cauliflower Corn Chowder is amazing. That is what it is saying.

Cauliflower Corn Chowder

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup flour
4 cups chicken sodium
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
salt and pepper

Cook bacon first. Set aside.

Heat a stock pot over medium high heat and melt the butter. Once the butter is melted add in the garlic, onion, carrots, and celery. Stir frequently until the vegetables are tender. Which should take 4-5 minutes. Stir in cauliflower and bay leaf. Stir occasionally, making sure to not break up the bay leaf. Cook until the cauliflower is tender, about 5-6 minutes.

Stir in the flour and stir while cooking for 1 minute. Then slowly add in the chicken broth and milk. Stir constantly for 3-4 minutes while it thickens slightly. Stir in the corn.

Bring the chowder to a boil. Then reduce it to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 12-15 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper.

Top with bacon.

Adapted from: Damn Delicious

Follow along with Just Another Day in Paradise

Instagram        Facebook        Pinterest

Strawberry Soup

Before I get to this Strawberry Soup, let me just say I love strawberries. One of the best things about Summer is strawberries. So...I really love strawberries.

When we lived in Ohio this time of year would be about the time that we would be berry pickin' at our favorite local farm. Strawberry picking at that farm is one of my favorite family memories. We would eat as we pick, which was allowed. We would load up crates, baskets, and flats with bright red, delicious strawberries. We would then roll them all out of the berry fields on the most quaint green wagon.

We would take the berries home, eat some more, and then make lots and lots of freezer jam.

We may not be able to pick berries anymore (no sweet little strawberry farm by us now), but we still manage to find buy ourselves lot and lots of strawberries. I still make lots of freezer jam. I mean seriously, how can I live without freezer jam? Nobody can. It is the best stuff ever, especially slathered on a just out of the oven warm slice of of homemade bread.

Strawberry freezer jam holds a special place in my heart.

Now so does this Strawberry Soup. Don't be confused by the word soup. This is not a warm bowl of pureed strawberries. This Strawberry Soup is more like a creamier version of a smoothie.

Oh. My. Heavens.

This pretty much made my day. I had myself three bowls in one day. Don't worry I saved some for all the boys in the house. Everyone else thought it was quite spectacular too.

This soup is the perfect addition to a Summer meal. Heck it is perfect for anytime.

I highly encourage you all to give it a try. I am fairly positive you won't be too sad about it. So after you pick your berries or buy your berries or grow your berries, put some aside for a delightful bowl of this Strawberry Soup and be prepared to eat several bowlfuls.


Strawberry Soup

4-5 cups of fresh strawberries, cleaned and hulled
1 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream

Blend all of the ingredients in a blender until smooth. Chill for an hour before serving. Garnish with fresh strawberries.

Happy berry picking and berry eating. Happy Summer!

Follow along with Just Another Day in Paradise

Instagram        Facebook        Pinterest        Twitter

Homemade Cream of Chicken

Way back in the beginning of my culinary exploits as a newly wedded wife I had a very teeny tiny arsenal of recipes I made. My pantry was pretty boring and basically stocked. I used a lot of canned this and packaged that.

One of my solid gold go-to ingredients was the ever versatile , if not a wee bit boring, can of cream of chicken soup. I pretty much used it in everything.

Like I said, not so much a cooking wizard.

Now, I am not bagging on the can of cream of chicken soup. It has its place in the recipe world. I am just bagging on my own overuse of the can.

So as years went by, I tried to kick the can. Not to be mistaken with the bucket or the curb. I pretty much succeeded. The only problem: sometimes a recipe you desperately want to make calls for a can of cream of chicken soup.

What's a cook to do?

Well, she is just gonna make some cream of chicken soup from scratch. No can necessary.

You know something, the from scratch cream of chicken soup was super easy to make. Plus, it was yummier and it is WAY healthier for you.

I am pretty positive now I am going to make my cream of chicken soup from scratch from now on.

I think you should give it a try.

Then you can say you made your cream of chicken soup from scratch and I promise you will feel all June Cleaver-ish.

Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup

equivalent to one can of soup

2 Tablespoons flour
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
salt and pepper, to taste

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium high heat. When the butter is melted, whisk in the flour and continue to whisk until the flour is smooth and bubbly. Remove from the heat and slowly whisk in the chicken broth and the milk. Return to the heat and bring it to a gentle boil, whisking constantly until the soup thickens. Take off heat. Then add the salt and pepper.

Soup will thicken as it sits. Use as called for.

Follow along with Just Another Day in Paradise

Instagram        Facebook        Pinterest        Twitter

Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup {Slow Cooker Saturday}

Welcome to Slow Cooker Saturday! Would you like a side of soup with your grilled cheese croutons? Sounds good to me.

Er..I mean a side of grilled cheese croutons with your soup. Yeah, that is what I meant.

Either way, both the soup and the grilled cheese croutons are kind of fabulous.

At our house we love ourselves some tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. I really wanted to try and make a snazzier version of our typical open a can tomato soup. Yes, I just said we like our tomato soup from the can. I am not ashamed of it.

Back to the snazzy version of tomato soup. I decided to try a tomato basil version that you can make in the slow cooker, and then I got all crazy and I decided that grilled cheese croutons were needed.

The tomato soup just hung out all day in the slow cooker making my house smell divine.

Once it was ready and just waiting to be eaten, I whipped up some grilled cheese croutons. I highly recommend making these if you make this soup. They are kind of like soul mates and it would be cruel to keep them a part.

I like to make our grilled cheese sandwiches with this extra divine and extra special gourmet butter.

Chef Shamy Gourmet Garlic Butter is kind of ridiculous. It should probably be a part of your life immediately.

To make the grilled cheese croutons, simply gather up some good old white bread, some American cheese slices, and this butter.

Drop a spoonful of butter into a hot skillet.

Once it melts add in the bread and cheese (in sandwich form of course). Cook one side until golden brown. Add in a bit more butter and then flip the sandwich and cook the other side until it is golden and the cheese is melted.

Keep on making sandwiches. I recommend making one per person.

Then cut the sandwiches up in cubes. Give them time to set out and dry a bit. Only for like 15-20 minutes. I set them on a cookie sheet and just let them get dry and a teeny bit crunchy. You can let them set out longer, but I like mine still a little chewy.

Now they are all croutony and ready to go on top of some Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup.

YUM!!

Slow Cooker Tomato Basil Soup
adapted from 365 Days of Slow Cooking

1 onion, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 Tablespoons caramelized tomato paste**
2 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
1 Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup of heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

**To make the tomato paste, saute 1 8oz can of tomato paste in a skillet with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil. Saute the tomato paste until it reduces slightly and turns a deep red.

Heat up some olive oil  in saute pan. Add in diced onion into the pan and cook until translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add in garlic, basil, and oregano and cook for another minute. Slowly stir in flour and cook for another minute while stirring constantly.

Take off the heat and transfer it to a slow cooker. Add in the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, broth, honey, and salt. Stir and cover. Cook on low for 5-7 hours.

Remove the lid and turn to high. At this point, use an immersion blender and blend the soup until it is smooth and creamy. Add in the heavy cream. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 10 minutes on high without the lid.

Serve in a bowl topped with grilled cheese croutons.

Follow along with Just Another Day in Paradise

Instagram        Facebook        Pinterest        Twitter

Zuppa Toscana

This winter my favorite soup, Italian Wedding Soup has been challenged by this recipe for Zuppas Toscana. I LUHHHVE it. Like so much. Previous to this winter I had never tried it. I had not even ever had the original version at Olive Garden.

Shock. Gasp.

No I do not live under a rock. I just never go to Olive Garden. Okay, so I hardly ever get out. Ha!

There were so many people telling me I needed to try it, that I gave into peer pressure and I decided to finally make Zuppas Toscana. 

Friends, I slurped it greedily out of my bowl and then I proceeded to lick my bowl. Then I had another bowl and repeated the previous process. Then I had another bowl the next day for lunch. People, that means I ate it for leftovers. You know me and leftovers. So...that is basically my must-eat-this-it-will-be-heavenly stamp of approval.

This soup has Italian sausage, potatoes, spinach, and bacon. Basically a few of my dearest loves are all in this soup. Only the most divine ingredients for me. Seriously it is no wonder I love this soup.

This soup is hearty enough for winter, but light enough to be made in all the other seasons. This is an all year kind of soup. If you have never made it, then I very strongly recommend the recipe for this bowl of goodness.

So let's recap shall we--

-never had Zuppas Toscana before

-made it

-loved it

-had it for leftovers

-if you haven't had it, make it

That is it in a nutshell.

Enjoy friends!

Zuppa Toscana

adapted from The Recipe Critic

5-6 pieces of bacon, cut up

4 potatoes

6 cups chicken broth

1 onion, finely diced

1 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1 lb mild Italian sausage

2 cups heavy cream

2 1/2 cups roughly chopped spinach

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

salt and pepper to taste

Cook the bacon in a frying pan. Remove pieces once they are cooked, but before they are really crispy. Set aside on a paper towel. 

Peel the potatoes. Slice each potato in half lengthwise and then cut each half into 1/4" slices. Add the chicken stock to a large pot. Bring the broth to a boil. Add the potatoes into the boiling broth.

As the potatoes cook, saute the Italian sausage into a pan. Cook just short of being completely cooked. Drain off the fat. Add in the garlic and onion. Saute the mixture together until the sausage is golden and the onions are translucent. 

Once the potatoes are tender, add in the sausage mixture and the spinach. Let the mixture boil for a couple of minutes. Long enough for the spinach to start to wilt.

Reduce the heat and add in the cream, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Cook until the soup is heated through.

Top with bacon and serve.

Follow along with Just Another Day in Paradise

Instagram        Facebook        Pinterest        Twitter

White Chicken Chili (Slow Cooker Saturday)

I love chicken chili. True story.

I like that it is lighter than regular chili. I like that it has taco or Mexican seasonings. I like myself some lime and cumin. Yes I do.

I used to have an old faithful White Chicken Chili recipe. Well, it wasn't really a recipe, it was a season packet and the instructions per that packet. Still good, just not really a recipe. We loved it, but we haven't had it in years. Years I tell you.

First, because we kind of outgrew it. Is it weird to outgrow a recipe? I hope not. I mean I hope every day that The Hubs has outgrown his boxed mac and cheese made with cream of chicken soup and peas. Thus far, he has not. I still love him. He can have his mac and cheese and peas.

Another reason we haven't had it in years, the seasoning packets are not as easy to find.

So White Chicken Chili left our culinary lives. So sad. So, so sad.

I kind of wanted it to come back.

So I developed this White Chicken Chili recipe using all my favorite ingredients. Did you catch the whole lime and cumin hint earlier?

Oh White Chicken Chili, thanks for showing back up in my life. Oh and by the way, thanks for showing up in a slow cooker. You know how I love my slow cooker. I super like this chili. Super duper like.

This chili is spicy, but not hot. It is full of flavor, but is not overpowering. This is a chicken chili that will warm you up on a Winter day, but is light enough for a Summer afternoon. It pairs up great with Monterrey Jack cheese (my favorite cheese by the way) and a couple slices of avocado.

Since this recipe is made in a slow cooker, there is little prep to do. Especially if you use a rotisserie chicken. Then the slow cooker does the cooking and you can take a nap. Or at least wish you were taking a nap.

Here is another Slow Cooker Saturday with my new favorite White Chicken Chili.

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili

Printable Recipe

4 cups cooked shredded chicken
1-2 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1/2 onion, diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
4 cups chicken broth
3 (15 oz) cans of pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 packet dry ranch mix
3 Tablespoons cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
sour cream
avocado, sliced

In a large skillet, heat up the olive oil. Add in the peppers, onion, and garlic. Stir frequently until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the cooked veggies, the chicken, broth, beans, ranch mix, and cayenne pepper to a slow cooker. Stir. Cook on low for 6 hours.

Serve with Monterrey Jack cheese, sour cream, and avocado slices.

Go HERE for other Slow Cooker Recipes.

Follow along with Just Another Day in Paradise

Instagram        Facebook        Pinterest        Twitter

Taco Soup

This week we hit a first. The cold hit double negative digits.

Say what?! Uh, yeah.

I guess that isn't uncommon around here, but it was still quite a shock for us. I mean we know cold.

Ohio got super cold and nasty during the winter too. The wind was nasty. The sleet was nasty. The snow was nasty. So yeah, we know cold winters.

Man this was different.

Considering our first winter in Idaho wasn't as bad as we had anticipated, I think we just kind of put it out of our minds that the weather here had the potential to be so cold.

Sunday late evening the predictions started.  Just how cold would it get?

Would it get cold enough to cancel school...

P.S. that would be -20 degrees.

Yes, folks it did get cold enough to cancel school.

-24.

Crazy. TWO cups of crazy.

There are only a few ways to combat that kind of cold.

Stay inside.
Grab a quilt.
Make a mug, or three, of hot cocoa.
Wear your jams all day.
Snuggle.

Oh, and of course, make soup.

Taco soup is a family favorite. 

This is a recipe I have tweaked over the years until we love it.

Taco-ey enough for Oldest, who could eat a taco for every meal. There is enough kick for the adults, but not so much that a little sour cream can't extinguish for the smaller boys. I like beans, so wouldn't you know it there are two kinds. For Hubby, it has the consistency more of a stew...but Taco Stew sounds weird, so I am still callin' it soup. From the cook/mom's perspective, this soup can be made quick-like in 30 minutes if I am pressed for time. It can also cook low and slow all day long in the crock pot if I am uncharacteristically prepared.

So really, it is a dream-come-true-kind of soup.

I have heard that is uncommonly chilly in a lot of places. 

I hope you can get warm and cozy. 

Soup is always a good idea.

Taco Soup

Printable Recipe

1 lb ground hamburger
1 cup diced onions
1 can pinto beans, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn
1 can diced tomatoes with chilies (like Rotel)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can diced green chilies
1 small can tomato sauc
1/4 cup salsa verde
1/4 cup taco seasoning
1 dry ranch packet

Cook ground hamburger and onions in a saute pan until meat is cooked through.

Drain the fat off the meat and transfer to either a stock pot or a crock pot.

Add all of the other ingredients and stir until combined.

If cooking it in a slow cooker, cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

In a stock pot, bring to a bowl of med high heat. Stir frequently. Once it comes to a boil, lower the temperature and let the soup simmer for 30 minutes, stirring ever five minutes.

Serve with grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, and tortilla chips.

Stay warm friends!!

Slow Cooker Saturday: Lasagna Soup

Welcome to edition No.2 of Slow Cooker Saturday.

Thank you to everyone for making the first Slow Cooker Saturday's recipe Teriyaki Chicken such a success.

I got a lot of good feedback and a few good recipe ideas. If you have any tried and true slow cooker recipes too, I would love to give them a try. My crock pot and I are becoming fast friends. Who knew?

I left her (yes I decided my slow cooker is a she) out of the kitchen cool group (you know...my Kitchenaid, my frying pan, my Dutch oven...) for so long. I can't believe I missed out on how awesome she is.

She is totally one of the cool kids.

This week she brought her a-game and helped me make this soup.

It is absolutely no secret that I love soup. My love of a delightfully warm bowl of goodness comes to no surprise considering how much I loathe being cold. When chilly Fall and even chillier Winter comes, soup is one of my favorite things to put on the menu.

Again, I have said this before. Broken record much?

How much do I love soup?

I love it like a love song baby. I love it like a love song baby. I love it like a love song baby...

And I keep hitting ruh-peet-peet-peet-peet-peet...

I think I just gave away that I like to listen to Selena Gomez songs...

Oops.

Anywho, this soup was awesome. 

How awesome you ask? 

Well, let's just say I had this soup done early enough to have good light to photograph it (yes I am crazy, but that is a given), about an hour before the actual time to serve dinner. 

I may or may not have eaten the bowl of soup immediately after my photo shoot was done. 

I may or may not have had melted mozzarella cheese hanging from my chin. 

I may or may not have happily pretended that I had not already had a giant bowl and proceeded to eat another...ehem...I mean my very first...bowl of soup of the day.

The soup was so yummy with the perfect combination of meat, pasta, and tomatoes. The cheese was pretty impressive too. We paired it with a loaf of Dutch Oven Artisan Bread. 

Yum.

No really...yuuummmm...sorry I got carried away.

My Little Men inhaled this soup. Even Little who tends to be a wee pit picky.

It was even music to my ears when I overheard the boys fighting the next day over who got the leftovers for lunch.

My heart was oh-so-happy.

If it is as chilly where you live as it is where I live, I think you owe it to your chilly toes to make this soup.

If it isn't as chilly...you lucky dog...

However, I still think you owe it to your not-as-chilly-toes to make this soup.

Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup 
adapted from Family Fresh Meals 

Printable Recipe

1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cups beef broth
2 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
1 Tablespoon dried basil
1-28 oz can diced tomatoes
1-6 oz can of tomato paste
1 1/2 cups V8
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
2 1/2 cups small pasta (I like any of Barilla's Piccolini pasta), uncooked
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese.
Shredded mozzarella-for topping

First saute the ground beef and the onion together until the hamburger is browned. Drain off the fat. Set aside.

In the dish of your slow cooker, mix the diced tomatoes and the tomato paste until well combined.

Next add in the cooked hamburger mixture, the broth, garlic, parsley, basil, V8 and the salt and pepper. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.

Add in the cup of water, the pasta, and the parmesan cheese. Stir. Then cover and cook on low for another 30 minutes, or until the pasta is done.

When ready to serve, generously top with mozzarella cheese.

I would love for you to share this recipe on Pinterest or Facebook.

Thanks you guys are the best.

Linking here:
Be Different, Act Normal, Six Sisters Stuff

Baked Potato Soup

Winter is getting closer. We are starting to get chilly around here.

One of the things I love about winter is that it gives me an excuse to make soup.

I am totally a soup girl. While I am always trying new soup to add to my soup recipe box, you are more likely to find me making my favorites over and over and, yes, over again. One of my favorites is Baked Potato Soup. This is a recipe I have used for years. This soup is pretty low maintenance ingredient wise. It comes together SOUPer fast...sorry I had to...This soup is also great as leftovers. Woohoo!

Today not only am I sharing the recipe for Baked Potato Soup, but I am also linking to several of my favorite soup recipes that I have shared previously on the blog. Let's start with the recipe shall we.

Baked Potato Soup 

Print Recipe

2 med. potatoes, baked
3 Tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
2 Tablespoons flour
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup instant mashed potatoes
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/8 teaspoon ground thyme
1 cup half-and-half
 garnishes-shredded cheddar cheese, bacon pieces, sliced green onions, sour cream


Melt butter in a stock pot. Saute onions in the butter until light brown and translucent. Add flour to onions and stir continuously  while cooking for 1-2 minutes.

Add broth, water, cornstarch, instant potatoes, and spices. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. 

Cut baked potatoes in half and scoop out the pulp into the soup, letting it crumble into rough bite-sized pieces. Add half-and-half. Bring back to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for another 15 minutes.

Serve with garnishes. Enjoy!

 

Okay, now for some other delightful soup recipes that I have made and shared on my blog. I have enjoyed all of these and a few have become my very favorites...don't worry I will tell you which ones those are! I hope you are finding ways to enjoy this winter weather and I hope you find a new soup recipe to warm up with.

Slow-cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup

a favorite

Chicken Parmesan Soup

Italian Wedding Soup

Classic Chicken Noodle Soup

a favorite

Chicken Cream Cheese Soup in Homemade Bread Bowls

Santa Fe White Bean and Chicken Soup

a favorite

Italian Wedding Soup

"Ahhhhhhhhh."

Yes that is a choir of angels singing. Well okay, maybe it was just me singing. I am sorry but when you manage to actually make a homemade version of one of your favorite soups, AND it is pretty garsh darn spectacular, then singing is necessary and involuntary.

I love, love, love a good Italian Wedding Soup. Until recently, I have never ventured to make a homemade version. Why? I don't know. But if waiting this long led me to create this, then the wait was worth it.

Side note...do you think food is going to hold this much power over me once I am no longer pregnant??? Hahaha...

Okay back to my ravings...

I have pinned a couple of different Italian Wedding Soup options. I didn't really like any of the entire recipes so I morphed some of the recipe parts, added a few things, omitted other parts, and then bam, I had pretty much the most delightful homemade Italian Wedding Soup. I am telling you guys, it was better than I imagined.

Yup. That good.

So here is the recipe I came up with for Italian Wedding Soup...

Italian Wedding Soup


Ingredients:

Meatballs-


1 lb ground beef
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
2 TBS Parmesan cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper

Soup-


1 TBS olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely diced carrots
1 tsp minced garlic
salt
pepper
1 bag baby spinach
2 eggs
2 TBS Parmesan cheese
6-7 cups chicken broth ( I used 7 because I like my soup brothy-is that a word?)
1 cup small pasta, I used Ditalini
50-60 mini meatballs

First make your meatballs. Simply combine all of the meatball ingredients. Then, to form the mini meatballs, I used a tsp as a scoop. I scooped out the small amount of meat mixture and then rolled it into a small ball. I lined them up on a baking sheet. I had about 80+ when all was said and done. I reserved about 60 for the soup. Set those aside. Then I just cooked up the others, which my Little Men enjoyed for an appetizer.

Look at 'em all lined up, aren't they so cute??

To start the soup heat up the oil in a stock pot over med heat. Add onions and carrots and a bit of salt and pepper to the pot. Saute the onions and carrots for 3-4 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Add garlic, stirring constantly, cook for another minute.

Add the entire bag of spinach and stir to coat with oil. It will look like A LOT, but don't worry. Spinach totally wilts and cooks down.

Add a little more salt and pepper and then allow the spinach to wilt down. It will take about 3-4 minutes. See it totally wilts.

While the spinach is cooking, whisk the eggs and cheese together in a small bowl. Make sure the white and yellow parts of the eggs are completely blended. Set aside.

Once the spinach is cooked, add the chicken broth to the pot and bring to a boil. Add pasta and the meatballs (yes just plop them in there uncooked...they will cook while the pasta cooks) in and allow to cook for 7-8 minutes.

Next slowly stream in the egg mixture, making sure to stir gently as you pour the eggs in. Stir in a circular motion, not so much a spastic side-to-side motion. If some of the egg whites cook and separate in the soup, just scoop them out with a fork.

Allow the soup to cook for an additional minute.

Then this delightful soup is done! Serve it up with a side of french bread.

Seriously I loved this soup. If you are a fan of Italian Wedding Soup, you gotta try this. It was a hit with every single member of the family. AND as I mentioned Tuesday, I had this soup twice for leftovers. I hardly ever eat leftovers. So you gotta believe me when I say this soup is a keeper.

Happy Eating!