Chicken Soup

Monday there seemed to be a few upset tummies in the house so for dinner I made a simple chicken soup.  It is one of my favorite things to make.  I clean out the veggie drawer, add a little chicken, throw in some egg noodles and dinner is done.  Being inspired by several cooking shows I typically put a large pan on the back burner and chop up my veggies and toss them in as I go.  I usually use homemade broth from the freezer but since I was out of it I used some boxed broth.  The following is about what I did on Monday but since it is a soup the recipe is very flexible.  Use whatever is on hand, every pot of soup should be a little different than the last!

Chicken Soup

1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 small onions, diced
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 medium stalks of celery, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 quart chicken broth
1 large chicken breast, diced
1 1/2 c egg noodles
2 sprigs of thyme
black pepper to taste
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen peas

Put a large pot on medium heat drizzle in olive oil and start chopping.  Add the veggies to the pan and stir frequently.  Once the veggies start to soften add the chicken broth.  Bring broth to a boil add chicken and simmer a few minutes.  Once chicken is almost cooked through add in egg noodles, thyme and pepper.  A few minutes before the egg noodles are done add the corn and peas, continue cooking until everything is heated through.

For the little people I serve the soup with a handful of frozen peas.  The peas cool off the soup and the kids get a little bit of extra veggies.

Hit or Miss?

Wednesday was a busy evening.  I knew it would be so I stuck a pot roast in the crock pot.  I thought it was an ok dinner.  I was alone in this opinion, so there was a lot of leftovers.  DaGoof proclaimed dinner to be "blander than what DaKids are used to."

Thursday night I decided to be a little creative.  The leftovers were diced up and turned into and Italian style beef and barley soup.  The kids shoveled the soup into their little mouths, and my dad who was visiting ate 2 bowls.  I guess the soup was better than pot roast.

Italian Style Beef and Barley Soup

1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
14 ounce can diced tomatoes
14 ounce can beef broth
2 cups water
1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
pinch of ground red pepper 1 cup barley
2 - 3 cups diced beef, and vegetables (leftovers)
In a large dutch oven saute the fresh vegetables and garlic until they start to get tender.  Add diced tomatoes and liquids, bring to boil.  Add seasonings and barley reduce heat to simmer.  Simmer for about 45 minutes.  Toss in leftovers heat until everything is heated through and enjoy.

 

Black Bean Soup

This one was a huge hit with the DaKids because they got chips for dunking in their soup. Like most of the soups I make this one is bits and pieces of stuff that I wanted to use up.

I sauteed up all the leftover veggies in the veggie drawer which included onion, celery, carrots and peppers. I added some chicken broth, a can of diced tomatoes and a a can of black beans. To spice things up I threw in a little chili powder and cumin and then let the pot simmer until DaGoof got home. While he went off to entertain DaKids I pureed the soup and added some turkey kielbasa that had been hiding in the freezer.

For the kids I added a few frozen peas to their bowls to cool off the soup and then we ate it with tortilla chips. Guessing by DaKids smiles they liked this one. Maybe someday I will write enough notes about how I make my soups that I will be able to duplicate them... probably not!