Broccoli Cheese Soup

It's been freakin' cold lately. Comfort yourself by making a hot & hearty supper like this Broccoli Cheese Soup. This simple soup has basic ingredients, but it tastes so good. The green broccoli florets and the brilliant orange carrots make this creamy soup a colorful addition to any table.

Ingredients

2 cups sliced fresh carrots

2 cups broccoli florets

1 cup sliced celery

1-1/2 cups chopped onion

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 can (10-1/2 ounces) condensed chicken broth, undiluted

4 cups whole milk

1/2 pound process cheese (Velveeta), cubed

Directions

In a large saucepan, bring 2 quarts water to a boil. Add carrots, broccoli and celery; cover and boil for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In the same saucepan, saute onion in butter. Add flour and stir to make smooth paste. Gradually add chicken broth and milk. Cook until mixture thickens, about 8-10 minutes. Add vegetables; heat until tender. Add cheese; heat until cheese is melted. Yield: 6-8 servings (2 quarts).

Warm Chicken Fiesta Dip

This crowd-pleasing dip is always a success, whether I follow the recipe as is or if I substitute shredded pork and stir in chopped fresh mushrooms.

Ingredients

• 1 medium green pepper, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
• 1 can (10 ounces) diced tomatoes and green chilies, undrained
• 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
• 4 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Mexican cheese blend, divided
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced
• Tortilla or corn chips

Directions

• In a large skillet, saute green pepper and onion in oil until tender. Add the chili powder, salt, pepper and cumin; cook 1 minute longer. Remove from the heat and set aside.

• In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add the soup, tomatoes and jalapeno. Stir in the chicken, 1 cup cheese blend and green pepper mixture. Transfer to a greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with green onion and remaining cheese blend.

• Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand for 5 minutes. Serve with chips. Yield: 8 cups.

Editor's Note: Wear disposable gloves when cutting hot peppers; the oils can burn skin. Avoid touching your face.

Nutritional Facts

1/4 cup (calculated without chips) equals 103 calories, 7 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 30 mg cholesterol, 209 mg sodium, 2 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 8 g protein.

The Best Homemade Hot Chocolate

Melted marshmallows provide the frothy texture that you'll savor in this sweet and speedy warm beverage. They're also what makes this hot chocolate different from (and better than) the instant kind you make from a store-bought mix. Chocolaty and comforting!

Ingredients

8 teaspoons sugar

4 teaspoons baking cocoa

4 cups 2% milk

1-1/2 cups miniature marshmallows

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

In a small saucepan, combine the first four ingredients. Cook and stir over medium heat until marshmallows are melted, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Ladle into mugs.  Tastes best topped with whipped cream & a dash of cinnamon, if desired. Yield: 4 servings.

Spiced Pear Upside-Down Cake

The flavors of fresh, sweet pears and gingerbread blend beautifully in this intriguing variation on pineapple upside-down cake. Leftovers—if there are any—taste great with coffee or tea the next day.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 large pears, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup molasses
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup warm water
Ice cream, optional

Directions

Pour melted butter into a 9-in. square baking pan; sprinkle with nuts and brown sugar. Arrange pears over nuts.

In a large bowl, cream softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and molasses. Combine the flour, ginger, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda; add to creamed mixture alternately with water, beating well after each addition.

Spread batter over pears. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a serving plate. Serve warm with ice cream if desired.

Yield: 9 servings.

Good Ol' Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

(Recipe below)

If you are a cat owner, please do me a favor: (besides spay &  neuter), try whistling at a very high pitch & see how your cat responds. I'm not sure if it works on all cats, but my kitties become very affectionate and silly. I've read all sorts of things about why this might be. One place said it could be because kittens have a very high pitched cry & instinctively hearing the whistling makes them think you're in distress & need comforting.  If you know why this is, feel free to comment! Love hearing from my readers! 

Meet my felines:
<--Smokey & Gabriel-->

Now, on to the soup. Yes, the soup. What's the scoop on the soup, Scotty! No, but seriously. Homemade Chicken Noodle. Ya' know, I'm kind of surprised at how cold it's been today. I mean 62 ° F isn't that low, but in comparison to this summer's heat, it's a tad chilly. There's a wicked draft that comes through the french doors toward the back of the house that needs to be fixed before winter.  Go figure my office is the room with the french doors. Har, har.  Though we haven't fired up our wood stove yet, I am guilty of using the space heater today.  I am also guilty of wearing fuzzy socks; very warm fuzzy socks.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup chopped celery

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning

6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

4 cups cubed peeled potatoes

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast

2 cups uncooked yolk-free wide noodles

1 cup fat-free evaporated milk

Directions:

In a stockpot, saute the onion, carrots and celery in oil for 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the flour, oregano, thyme and poultry seasoning until blended.

Gradually add the broth, potatoes and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Stir in chicken and noodles; simmer for 10 minutes or until noodles are tender. Reduce heat. Stir in milk; heat through (do not boil). Yield: 8 servings.

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts

You "doughnut" want to miss out on this. Homemade Baked Cinnamon Sugar Doughnuts. Need I say more?

Makes about 1 1/2 dozen doughnuts

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups warm milk, 95 to 105 degrees

2 teaspoons instant yeast

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons softened butter

2 large eggs

5 cups all-purpose flour

A pinch or two of nutmeg, freshly grated

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Directions

Place warm milk in the bowl of an electric mixer. Stir in the yeast and sugar. Add the butter, eggs, flour, nutmeg and salt. Beat the dough with the dough hook attachment (or with a wooden spoon and eventually your hands) for 2-3 minutes at medium speed. Adjust the dough texture by adding flour a few tablespoons at a time or more milk. The dough should pull away from the sides of the bowl and be very soft and smooth but still slightly sticky – don’t overflour! Knead the dough for a few minutes (again, by mixer or by hand) and then transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for about an hour or until it has doubled in size (the exact time will depend on the temperature of your kitchen).

Punch down the dough and roll it out to about 1/2-inch thickness on a lightly floured counter. Using a doughnut cutter or a 2-3 inch circle cookie cutter, cut out circles in the dough. Carefully transfer the circles to a parchment- or silpat-lined baking sheet and stamp out the smaller inner circles using a smaller cutter. Be sure to make the holes large enough that as the doughnuts rise again and bake, they don’t fill in the doughnut hole with the puffiness of the dough. Cover the tray with lightly greased plastic wrap. (At this point, you can refrigerate the doughnuts overnight or proceed with the recipe.) Let the doughnuts rise for about another 45 minutes, until they are puffed and nearly doubled.

Bake in a 375 degree F oven until the bottoms are just golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Start checking the doughnuts around minute 8. They should still be pale on top, not golden and browned, and just barely baked through.

Remove the doughnuts from the oven and let cool for 1-2 minutes. Dip each one in the melted butter and toss or sprinkle with the cinnamon and sugar. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

As you may or may not know, Vermont experienced its first snow of the season yesterday.  (I guess this means I finally have to retire my flip flops for the year! )  When I woke this morning, I was greeted by a bright and sunny day, though the snow still coated the ground and the tops of trees.  So, before my morning walk, I had to dig my gloves, hats, and scarves out of the back of the closet.  By the time I arrived back home, I looked like Rudolph.  I figured, what’s a better way to warm up in this chilly weather than with a toasty bowl of your favorite soup!  Split pea with ham was calling my name! 

Growing up, I can remember running around in the bitter cold with my brother.  When it was time to go inside for supper, mother often had a bowl of steaming split pea ready on the table and my family would sit down for a comforting meal together.  Man, how I miss those days!  Now that I have mother’s recipe, I can go back to the memories every time I make this satisfying soup, and now YOU can, too! 

Check out the recipe below.  Would love to hear what you think of this!  Don’t hesitate to share your own Soup Stories! 

Mom’s Split Pea with Ham Soup

Prep Time: about 20 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours

Makes about 8 servings

You will need:

1 package green split peas

1 medium onion, diced

2 cups ham chunks

2 whole carrots, peeled and diced

1 medium potato, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

Directions:

Rinse split peas well.   Remove bad peas or small pebbles that “snuck in” during processing. Put  rinsed peas in a large pot and cover with at least 2-1/2 inches of water. Turn your burner on medium- high heat.  Next, dice up at least half of your medium sized onion and add the onion to the pot. Add some salt to the water, and allow it to cook.

After they’ve cooked for at least an hour, throw in your ham chunks.

While your soup is cooking, dice up remaining vegetables and set aside. When the peas are just about how you like them, toss in the remaining veggies and continue to cook.  Mom’s soup was always thick and chunky.  She allowed it to cook on the stove for at least another hour and a half, if not two hours.

If you prefer, add salt and pepper.  I usually don’t.  It’s so tasty without extra seasoning.  Serve with buttered rolls. 

And there you have it!  Enjoy folks!  I’m enjoying a nice bowl right now!  I’ll be happy to answer any questions if you have them.