Jean's Leftover Turkey Soup

My mother-in-law, Jean, wasn't a great cook. She could cook and everything was edible and good, but all her food was pretty plain. In her spice cabinet she had...salt, black pepper, and garlic salt. Really. She made really good egg noodles and tried her best to show me how to make that, but it didn't stick in my head. Lol! She did, however, show me how to make this soup from leftover turkey. And it is really good!

Jean's Leftover Turkey Soup

1 whole leftover turkey
1 box Uncle Ben's Brown and Wild Rice
4 stalks celery, sliced thin
15 ounce canned carrots, undrained
15 ounce canned corn, undrained
water
1 box chicken broth, optional
salt and pepper to taste

Place leftover turkey w/bones in stock pot. Cover with hot water. Bring to a boil, then cook on medium until meat falls off the bones. With tongs and a fork, separate the meat from the bones. Strain the broth. If you want a really rich soup, use this broth for the soup. If, like me, want a lighter soup, reserve 1 cup of the broth. You can still save the rest of the broth and freeze into ice cubes for other soups or to sauté vegetables in.

Very carefully go through the meat and shred, making sure there are no slivers of turkey bones. Place the meat in a Dutch oven and cover with water or use the box of chicken broth. Add the reserved turkey broth. (If you're using just the turkey broth, you may still need to add some water or chicken broth.) Bring to a boil. add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until done, about half an hour.

Note: If you don't want to use rice, use your own seasonings and just make turkey soup. Add more veggies! Barley would be good too! Be creative...have fun!

Chicken Noodle Soup

I love soup in the winter. Actually, I like soup all year round, it just feels cozier in the winter. I came across a recipe for chicken noodle soup and made just a couple of changes to jazz it up a touch.

Chicken Noodle Soup

2 cans chicken, drained (I use Member's Mark from Sam's Club) (if you use small cans, use 3)
26 oz can condensed cream of chicken soup
2 boxes chicken broth
1 cup celery, sliced
1 cup carrots, sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch rosemary (rub between fingers to break up)
1 package egg noodles

Place all ingredients except noodles in crock pot, stir well and cook on High for 2 hours or on Low for 4 hours.

Cook your noodles separately and add when soup is done.

* I like to add noodles to each bowl instead of into the soup. This prevents the leftovers from having mushy noodles and also not everyone likes the same amount of noodles. You can also use rice (our favorite). I use the brown and wild rice mix from Whole Foods in their bin area.  Change things up for variety. Try using leftover rotisserie chicken. Try putting in some of the wonderful dried mushrooms from Whole Foods. (Rehydrate first). Make it yours! Enjoy!

Chicken & "Rice" Soup

I remember on cold days (well, as cold as it gets in Louisiana anyway) my Mom would sometimes heat up a can of Campbell's Chicken & Rice soup. As a kid, I loved it! And as an adult that didn't think about how much sodium was in there, I loved it. I tried eating some a couple of years ago and...YUCK! Way too salty! And what's with the grease in there anyway? So what to do? Panic? Who me? Noooooo...I played around with it until I hit on the perfect chicken and rice soup!

Chicken & "Rice" Soup

Chicken:
1 bag frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast pieces, defrosted
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, and the herbs and spices into a paste. Rub well onto the chicken then place chicken on baking sheet. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until chicken temperature reaches 165F. (FYI: If you're not making soup, this is terrific baked chicken; just make sure you don't over-bake so that your pouch won't tolerate it). Remove from oven and let cool.

Soup:
1 bag carrots, peeled and sliced
6-8 stalks celery, sliced
2 quarts chicken stock
1 envelope beef bouillon
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste

Place all the vegetables in a Dutch oven. Cut the cooled chicken into cubes and add to the vegetables. Add the herbs and spices and finally the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, cover and lower heat to simmer. Cook until the vegetables are tender and the chicken starts to shred a little when you stir.

"Rice"
3/4 cup medium barley
4 cups water
dash salt

Cook barley according to package directions. Drain if there's water left in the barley. Add barley to soup and stir. The longer the barley sits in the soup, the less you can tell it's barley. It begins to feel like rice.

Note: Don't try to save time by throwing the barley into the soup to cook it. It will just absorb up all that lovely chicken stock!

Cuban Black Beans

I have been wanting some Cuban black beans. Love them! So I decided that I will make some for lunch one day this week. When I make this as a side dish, it's a regular bean dish. But when the cold weather starts I add extra broth so it's a little soupy! This makes a great lunch with a small salad.

Cuban Black Beans

15 ounces canned black beans, drained and rinsed
Dash garlic powder
1 slice green bell pepper, cored, seeded, chopped (or a little frozen mixed peppers)
1/8 cup yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon chopped ham
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 bay leaf
1/3 cup chicken broth (when I want soup I put 1 cup broth)
1 pinch chili powder
1 splash red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Place the beans in a saucepan with the broth. Add the remaining ingredients except for the red wine vinegar and salt. Cover and simmer until beans are soft. Add the red wine vinegar and salt, simmer for a couple more minutes.

Not Too Chili

At my house, chili is like ice cream; we can eat it all year round. I don't care if it's burning hot summertime, we love chili! Before surgery I liked it hot hot hot! Make it hot then add hot sauce! Yum! Since surgery, Prissy the Particular Pouch decided she doesn't like hot and spicy. So we don't eat hot and spicy anymore. If Prissy's not happy, nobody's happy. Ugh! Well Bob and I love Longhorn's chili. It's got a bite to it, but it's also mostly mild and just a touch sweet. My chili is not a copycat of Longhorn's, but it's got a bite to it, mostly mild and just a touch sweet. Bob and I love it...hope you do too!

Not Too Chili

1 pound 90/10 ground beef
1 envelope chili seasoning
1 can mild Rotele
1/4 cup ketchup
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
2 8-oz cans tomato sauce
2 8-oz cans water
salt, pepper, garlic powder
1/2 medium onion, diced, divided

In a Dutch oven, brown the ground beef with the salt, pepper, and garlic powder. When halfway browned add 1/2 the diced onions. When the beef is cooked with no pink at all, add the envelope of chili seasoning. Mix and let it cook into the meat just a minute. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the reserved onions. Cover, bring to a boil. After it boils, lower heat to simmer and let the chili cook and reduce until it is a thick as you want it. If you want it hotter, add a few slices of pickled jalapeno at this point (or some fresh jalapeno). When ready, serve hot in small bowls and top with some diced onion.

Chicken Vegetable Soup

I love soup. I love soup in the winter. I even love soup in the summer. It can be 100F outside and I might be inside eating soup. So you'll probably see a lot of soup recipes here! This Chicken Vegetable Soup is a new one. A few weeks ago I had just made some vegetable stock in my pressure cooker. I had strained it and was going to let it cool then freeze it for future use. It smelled so good it made me hungry for soup. So...I made this soup! It is very tasty and satisfying. Play with the seasonings and see how many ways you can make it (Mexican, Italian, Greek, etc.). You'll notice that there are no measurements for some of the ingredients. That's because this is your soup and you can make it with any vegetables in any amount that you want. Love asparagus with chicken?...throw some chopped fresh asparagus in there! Love broccoli?...go for it! Have fun!

Chicken Vegetable Soup

1 - 1 1/2 quarts vegetable stock

3-5 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1 medium onion, diced

4 fresh carrots, sliced

2 stalks celery, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
frozen corn
fresh or frozen green beans
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
various frozen or fresh vegetables, sliced, chopped, or diced
2 envelopes sodium free beef or chicken broth (I use Herb-Ox)
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
seasonings of choice (try Mexican, Italian, Greek, etc.)

Pour vegetable broth in pressure cooker. Add chicken. (If you want to slightly brown the chicken first, your soup will have more flavor. If you do that, brown the chicken in the pressure cooker then add the stock). Add the rest of the vegetables and seasonings. Stir. Turn burner to high heat, cover and lock the lid. When pressure is reached, turn burner to heat sufficient to maintain pressure. (See my pc tip for electric ranges) Cook at pressure for 25 minutes then quick release the pressure. If you want to let the pressure release naturally, you can decrease the cooking time by several minutes. I always cook chicken for at least 15 minutes in the pressure cooker. When the cooker is de-pressurized, remove the lid and take the chicken out. Place on a cutting board and shred, chop, slice...however you feel like eating it. We have found that shredded is easier on our pouches. Put the chicken back in the cooker, stir, and serve up!

New England Fish Chowder

I had a medical procedure today and wanted soup when I got home this afternoon. I had been fasting for 1 1/2 days before the procedure so I was really hungry. I've mentioned before how much I love love love my pressure cooker. I recently bought Cooking Under Pressure by Lorna Sass. She's got a blog and a website with recipes too. I highly recommend this cookbook if you have a pressure cooker. And if you don't have a pressure cooker, get one. It took me about 10 minutes to chop the veggies, it cooked under pressure for 4 minutes, then simmered for about 5 minutes. Voila! New England Fish Chowder! In a total of about 20 minutes! So delicious and satisfying too.

New England Fish Chowder by Lorna Sass
(used with permission)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter or oil (I used butter)
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice (I used new potatoes)
1 pound thick firm-fleshed white fish fillets, such as cod, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks (I used tilapia and flounder)
2 cups fish broth or clam juice
1 cup water
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 to 1 1/2 cups milk, half-and-half, or heavy cream (I used 1 1/2 cups fat-free half and half)
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley (I used about 1 tablespoon dried parsley)
Salt and freshly ground white or black pepper
Garnish: additional unsalted butter, cut into pats (optional) (I didn't use this)

Heat the butter in the cooker. Saute the onions until soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Toss in the celery, carrot, and potatoes, and saute an additional minute. Add the fish chunks, broth (watch for sputtering oil), water, bay leaf, and thyme.

Lock the lid in place and over high heat bring to high pressure. Adjust the heat to maintain high pressure and cook for 4 minutes. Reduce the pressure with a quick-release method. Remove the lid, tilting it away from you to allow steam to escape.

Stir in the milk, corn, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer until the corn is cooked. Top individual servings with additional butter, if desired.

Saturday, September 18th
I had an idea last night as I was drifting off to sleep. I thought I'd better get it posted before I totally forget about it. Yeah...I'm old enough for that! I think next time I make this, I'm going to use cooked great northern beans instead of potatoes. I think it will actually be thicker, which is what I think of when you say chowder, and it will add a very different texture and taste to the original recipe. I guess it wouldn't actually be "chowder" then, but I think we'd like it better.