Mom's Beef Stew

Story:
This is the beef stew I grew up with.  It still reminds me of home.  And my mom.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs beef cubes
3 medium carrots, sliced 1/2 inch slices
1 or 2 onions, chopped
3 potatoes, peeled and quartered (or eighth-ed)
1 pkg frozen peas
1 can golden mushroom soup
1/2 can of water
1 t salt
dash of pepper
1 bay leaf

Directions:
Combine all ingredients (except the peas) in a crock pot.
Cook on high for five hours.
Add peas last 10 minutes or so, before serving.

Delicious and comforting.

Chrystal's Kentucky Bean Soup

Story:
We moved to Arizona (from Kentucky) in August of 2011.  We lived with my brother and his family in Mesa while we looked for a house.  There was a gal in his ward who I became friends with (and she was my visiting teaching companion).  Ethan and her oldest boy played together... which was great for Ethan to find a friend.  Chrystal S. is awesome.  The funniest part is she is from Kentucky and a lot of her family is still there!  So we played the name game here and there and it's all cool like that.

Well, my brother's family moved out in October and we were still there (still couldn't find our own place).  One evening in December, Chrystal dropped off a little "Christmas neighbor gift" for us. So nice!  I loved that it was the recipe and ingredients for "Chrystal's Kentucky Cornbread" and "Grandma's Pinto Bean Soup."  It was kind of a like a taste of "home."  Loved it!

Now, a year later, I'm pulling out the recipe to try making it again.  You know, it's almost fall-like weather here now... temps have dropped below 100, so I feel like making soup again!  Heh.

Ingredients:
1 C dry pinto beans
1/4 t oregano leaves
1/4 t ground cumin
1/2 t pepper
1 t salt
1/4 t garlic powder
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (6oz) can tomato paste
8 C water

Chrystal's Directions:
Wash beans.  Cook beans in the water and boil for 2 minutes.  Turn off heat for 1 hour.  Add seasonings (oregano, cumin, pepper, salt, garlic), onion, and tomato paste.  Cook 1 1/2-2 hours or until tender.
Fill a blender 1/2 full with soup and puree it.  Pour into a bowl and puree the rest of the soup.  Sprinkle with cheese and serve.
Her notes:  I like to put the 8 C of water in a pot and boil the beans.  If I am short on time, I will boil them for 15 minutes, otherwise just a few minutes.  Then I dump all the water and beans in the crock pot and add the rest of the ingredients.  I turn it on high until I am ready to blend and eat the soup at the end of the day.

So there you have it, from a real Kentuckian!  Thanks again, Chrystal!  I appreciated the recipe... but even more, your friendship!

White Chili

Story:

A friend in South Ogden, Jessica H., gave me this recipe years ago. I found it in my binder and tried it just recently. It was super good! I made it again last night and it was even better than I remembered. My kids don't love the butter beans, but they didn't really complain about 'em either. Ben and I loved it.

Ingredients:

1 T vegetable oil

1 C chopped onions

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 C chicken broth

2 T chopped fresh cilantro OR 1/2 t ground coriander

2 T lime juice

1/2 t dried oregano

1/4 t red pepper sauce

1/4 t salt

1 can (11 oz) white shoepeg corn, drained

1 can (15-16 oz) great northern beans, drained

1 can (15-16 oz) butter beans, drained

2 C chicken breast, cooked & chopped

And garnishes: (whichever of these look good to you...)

crushed tortilla chips,

shredded cheese,

diced tomatoes,

chopped green onions,

sliced avocados,

chopped cilantro

& sour cream.

Directions:

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat.

Cook onions and garlic, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender.

Stir in remaining ingredients, except the chicken.

Heat to boiling, reduce heat, and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.

Stir in chicken. Simmer until hot.

Serve with:

crushed tortilla chips, shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, chopped green onions, sliced avocados, chopped cilantro, & sour cream.

Notes:

It tastes great without the garnishes, but they make it a lot better. I didn't use the cilantro or sour cream last night, and it was still good. My top picks for garnishes, though, would be the chips, the cheese and the tomatoes.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Story:

Soon after Ben and I got married and after I graduated from BYU, we moved into married student housing at the University of Utah. There Ben was working on his Bachelor's degree until we both started graduate school in the fall of 2000. In our married student ward, the Relief Society would sometimes pass around simple recipes to share with all of us young newlyweds. That's where this recipe came from.

Now you real chefs out there could surely figure out how to make this old American traditional soup without a recipe, but being the non-experimental recipe-following wannebe cook that I am, I grabbed a copy of this one. I keep it and refer to it often... or at least every fall... when chicken noodle soup sounds especially tasty.

Ingredients:

(I'm listing measurements here, because it's what's listed on the recipe... but, of course, you can be very flexible! I go easy on the chicken, and heavier on the veggies and noodles.)

1 1/2 C cooked and cubed chicken

1 C sliced carrots

1/2 C chopped celery

1/2 C chopped onion

2 t dried parsley

3/4 t dried dill weed

4 (14 1/2 oz) uncooked egg noodles*

Directions:

In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients except the noodles and stir.

Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes or until veggies are tender.

Add the egg noodles and cook 15 more minutes, or until noodles are done.

Notes:

*I really like to use the homestyle egg noodles... I think the bag has red and white checks on it and it sits upright with a twistie-tie on top. (I just threw the bag away, but I'll post a picture next time I buy some.) They really make this soup dee-lish!

Also, this soup is really good with my Easy Breadsticks. Remember you can make the breadsticks with half white and half wheat flour which really helps fill up the tummies.

Lastly, I made a HUGE batch of this tonight to take dinner into a friend. And I tried making it a new way that I loved:

I put a bunch of frozen chicken breasts in my counter-top roaster oven with a big box of chicken broth. Let it boil and cook for a couple of hours. Then I just shredded the chicken right in the roaster oven. Then I added all the veggies and let that sit for a while. About an hour before serving (because the homestyle egg noodles take longer to cook), I dropped in handfuls (and handfuls!) of noodles. It was great because it was all in one pot and I didn't have to keep my eye on it on the stove.

Anyway, Judy just gave me this roaster oven (she got a new fancier one!) and I think I'm really going to like it this winter!

Taco Soup

Story:
Believe it or not, somehow I grew up never having Taco Soup. My mom gave me this recipe soon after I was married and I thought it was the best creation ever! It was then that I realized that everybody else in the world already seemed to know what it was. And everybody else already seemed to have their own version of this yummy soup. Oh well. This one is my all-time favorite recipe for Taco Soup. I love it. Ben loves it. The kids love it. And it makes a lot, so be prepared for leftovers!

Soup Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 C chopped onion
2 C water
1 (12 oz) can of V-8 juice
3 (14.5 oz) cans of diced tomatoes
1 (16 oz) can of red kidney beans (drained)
1 (11 oz) can of corn (drained)
1 (14.5 oz) can of green beans (drained)
1 pkg. taco seasoning
2 T sugar

Garnish Ingredients:
Fritos (I like the Scoops!)
Grated Cheese

Directions:
Cook the ground beef with the onions.
In a big pot, add all the soup ingredients except the corn and beans.
Simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the corn and the beans the last 5 minutes.
Serve with Fritos and grated cheese.

Notes:

• The original recipe called for 3 cups of water. If it seems a little too thick for you, feel free to add more.
• The original recipe called for 16 oz can of V-8. I either just use one 12 oz can... or sometimes I have some of the little 5.5 oz cans (Costco) on hand, so I use 2 or 3 of those.
• I buy taco seasoning in bulk, so I use 1/4 cup of that instead of the individual packages.
• Other ideas for the garnish: green peppers, green onions, sour cream, olives, chopped tomatoes, or avocado.

Tortilla Soup

Story:
When I got married, Julie & Brent R. gave me a binder with dividers, a few recipes, and plenty of sheet protectors. This book would eventually become my personalized collection of recipes. A "recipe scrapbook," if you will... but without all the fancy "embellishments." I now have all sorts of recipes filling the pages: nicely typed recipes, sticky notes, cutesy recipe cards, printed e-mails, index cards, photocopies, Relief Society handouts, and magazine cutouts. One of the original recipes from the couple who gave me this book, was a recipe for Tortilla Soup. I probably had this book for about 5 years before I tried making it... and now it's one of our faves! Thank you, Julie!

Ingredients:
1 T butter
1/2 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/4 t black pepper
1 can diced green chilies
1/8 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t chili powder
1 large tomato, diced
1 C diced cooked chicken (I like to use my Cafe Rio chicken)
5 C chicken stock (save out 1 C)
1/2 C dry Masa
Garnish:
tortillas
cheddar cheese, shredded
avocado, coarsely chopped

Directions:
Melt butter in stock pot. Add onion, garlic, and black pepper. Stir and cook until transparent.
Add chilies and the rest of the herbs and spices.
Add tomatoes, chicken, and chicken stock. Simmer for 15 minutes.
In a separate bowl, mix the reserved chicken stock with the Masa. Whip until all lumps are gone. Add to the soup and stir until thickened.
Cut tortillas into strips. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. Put the strips on the cookie sheet and spray the top sides as well. Bake in 350 degree oven until crisp.
To Serve:
Place a few tortilla strips and a few pieces of avocado into the bottom of the soup bowl. Pour in soup and top with more tortilla strips and grated cheese.

Enjoy!

French Onion Beef Stew

Story:
I love my Mom's Beef Stew. Way good. It has that nostalgic feel to it, too. It was always one of my favorite family dinners growing up.

But just for variety's sake, I tried my friend's (Janae E.) recipe. My kids love it. (Or as Megan says, "I L-O-V-E love it!" - It was even her 7th birthday dinner request, so you know it's gotta be good.) It has a creamy, more flavorful taste... which also means that it's not quite as "low fat" as my Mom's. But, hey, if you have a good beef stew recipe, why not share it? You can never have enough crock pot recipes, as far as I'm concerned.

And, of course, we love it with Mom's Cornbread or with my Easy Breadsticks.

Ingredients:
2 cans French Onion soup (the regular-sized Campbell's kind)
2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup (1 large and one small)
carrots, chopped
celery, chopped
potatoes, chopped
frozen peas
1 lb stew beef (I always cut it into smaller pieces)

Directions:
Put all the ingredients (except the peas) in a crock pot. Cook on high for 6-8 hours, or on low for 10-12. About 10 minutes before serving, stir in the peas. Easy as that!

Notes:

• Warning: It makes a ton, so be prepared to have lots of leftovers. (Hooray for leftovers!! That just means no cooking tomorrow!)
• How many veggies to use? A lot!
• Janae's recipe didn't call for the peas, but personally, I think it adds nice color, gives the kids a little 'legumes' (said all fancy-like) and makes it look a little more like stew than dogfood.

Picture coming soon. (It's in the crock pot as I type...)

Autumn Chili

Story:
I didn't know that I like chili as much as I do until I learned how to make it. I pulled a chili recipe out of... well, I don't know where. But I've since embellished it and made it my own, so I guess this is pretty much my own recipe. It's an autumn-time-rainy-day favorite at our house. (Posted just in time for Halloween!)

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 sweet onion
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can kidney beans, drained
1 bell pepper (any color), chopped
1 packet chili seasoning
2 T brown sugar
Shredded cheese

Directions:

• Brown meat with onions in skillet; drain.
• Add all other ingredients. Stir in.
• Simmer for 15 minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top before serving.

Note: We LOVE it with my Mom's cornbread. So cozy-like.

Black Bean Soup

Story:
I discovered this recipe through one of those eat-well-during-pregnancy kinds of magazine/resources. Very Best Baby. The recipe card says to visit verybestbaby.com/recipes for more!

I know that Black Bean Soup doesn't sound (or even look!) very appealing. It's one of those foods though (kind of liked a baked potato) that doesn't really sound good, but once you start eating it, you remember how much you love it! I like this black bean soup... and I like that I've found a few ways to spruce it up a bit too.

Ingredients:
2 cans (16 ounces each) black beans, undrained
1 cup chicken broth
nonstick cooking spray
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon bottle minced garlic
1 jar (16 ounces) salsa
4 teaspoons lime juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
1/3 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (optional)
fresh cilantro leaves (optional)

Directions:

• Place 1 can of beans (with the liquid) and the broth in blender or food processor; cover. Blend until smooth. Coat large saucepan with cooking spray. Heat over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook for 4-5 minutes or until onion is tender.
• Add blended bean mixture, remaining beans and liquid, salsa, lime juice, cumin, and crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low; cover.
• Cook, stirring occasionally, for 25-30 minutes. Serve topped with sour cream. Garnish with cilantro. (Makes 4 servings)

Variations:

• The original recipe card says to use Ortega Thick & Chunky Salsa... I use my favorite Garden Fresh brand from Costco OR the Wal-Mart brand of Black Bean & Corn salsa... another yummy one.
• I put a big dab of sour cream in the middle of each bowl. The kids like it because it mellows out the flavor a little if it seems too spicy. I know the plain yogurt would be healthier, but, whatever. And I haven't yet bothered to garnish with cilantro, though that would be pretty.
• My friend, Traci, taught me to add some shredded chicken. I especially like to add about a cup of the shredded "Cafe Rio Chicken" (another recipe from Traci--I use it in lots of different recipes).
• I've also added a can of corn before. Bulks it up a little and gives it a little more color and texture.

Enjoy!