Zuppa Toscana

Zuppa Toscana (copycat from Olive Garden)
from geniuskitchen, with edits

1 lb Italian sausage (I use Jimmy Dean)
1 large sweet onion, chopped
4 medium russet potatoes, washed, sliced in half, then cut in 1/4-inch slices
2 cloves garlic
salt, pepper, chicken bouillon to taste
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 cups (one box) chicken broth
2 cups water
4 cups kale, deveined and sliced into ribbons
4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
1 1/4 c heavy whipping cream

Cook and crumble sausage in Dutch oven.  Remove from pot.  Add bacon drippings and saute onions until translucent over medium heat, about 5 minutes.  Add sliced potatoes, garlic, salt and pepper, red pepper; mix, then add broth and water, and return sausage to the pot.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes, until potatoes are tender.  Reduce heat to low and give a few good smashes with a potato masher to thicken.  Add kale, allowing it to wilt slightly.  Add in crumbled bacon and then slowly mix in cream.  Serve hot with crusty bread.

Bean and Ham Soup

Bean and Ham Soup
from the delightful Tammy Adams

1 pound navy beans (2 1/2 cups)
5 cups water
1 clove garlic
1 ham hock
1 t salt

Soak beans in water at least 4 hours.  You'll want to add MUCH more water than beans because they expand.  Drain water.
Add garlic, ham hock, beans, and water to crock pot.  Cover and cook on low 7-8 hours of high for 4 hours.  Add salt during the last hour of cooking time.
Remove ham hock from cooker and allow to cool.  Cut ham off hock and stir back into bean mixture.

Note from the original recipe:  "The most important thing of this recipe is you MUST use a ham hock.  I will make a ham for Sunday dinner and then keep the blessed hock to use for this soup!  I will sometimes cook a ham just so that I can have the hock for this soup.  It is really that good.  Be careful for the occasional bone.  For added flavor or color, you can add onion, celery, carrots, or tomatoes."

Tammy brought me this when when I was sick with pneumonia and also had two newborns.  I ate it for days and then got the recipe and made my mom make me another batch.  Now it is one of my cold-weather favorites!

Ham Chowder

A friend brought me this last fall when I was sick and I immediately demanded the recipe.  It was an immediate hit at Grandma Day when I finally made it this week.

Ham Chowder
from Emilie Sallee and her mother, Annette Tingey

2 c boiling water
2 c diced potatoes
1/2 c sliced carrots
1/2 c sliced celery
1/4 c chopped onion
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/4 c butter
1/4 c flour
2 c milk
2 1/2 c shredded cheese
1 (17 oz) can cream style corn
2 c cubed ham

Combine water, vegetables, salt and pepper.  Cover and simmer 10 minutes (or until veggies are done).  Do not drain!
In another saucepan, melt butter, add flour.  Add milk, stirring constantly with a wire whisk over medium heat until thickened.  Add cheese, stir until melted.  Add cheese sauce, corn, and ham to cooked veggies.  Heat until hot but not boiling.

Betty's Favorite Ham and Potato Soup

Ham and Potato Soup
from allrecipes, with additions

3 1/2 cups peeled, diced potatoes
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup diced cooked ham
3 1/4 cups water
2 T chicken bouillon
5 T butter
5 T flour
2 cups milk
salt to taste
pepper to taste
(I like to add corn kernels and sometimes green beans to give it a veggie chowder taste.  Also can garnish with shredded cheese or even bacon!)

Bring to a boil potatoes, celery, onion, ham in water, then cook over medium heat until tender, about 10 to 15 minutes.  Stir in chicken bouillon, salt, and pepper.

In a separate saucepan, melt better over medium-low heat.  Whisk in flour and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute.  Slowly stir in milk without creating lumps, until all milk has been added.  Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, about 4 to 5 minutes.

Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot and cook soup until heated through.  Serve immediately.

• • 
    

Grandma's Favorite Chicken Tortilla Soup

Every Friday we have "Grandma Day" at our house, when my Grandma comes over for lunch and to see the kids and make memories with us and do puzzles with my big boy and color with my little girl.  She loves soup, and this is one of her very favorites.  

Chicken Tortilla Soup
from Amy Newton's blog

1 rotisserie chicken, deboned
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 can black beans (not drained)
1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 jar chunky salsa

Garnishes:
corn tortilla chips to taste (great way to use up stale chips!)
sour cream to taste
shredded colby jack cheese to taste
avocado chunks to taste

Saute the onions and garlic over medium heat in the oil in the bottom of your soup pot.  (I love my dutch oven for this.)  Once cooked, toss everything else in into the pot over medium heat and warm until heated through.  Also works well in a crockpot, after you have sauted those aromatics.
Put a handful of crunched up chips in the bottom of bowl and top with warm soup. Add shredded cheese, sour cream, and avocado to taste.

Wendy's Chili

Wendy's Chili Recipe (copycat)


Cook 1# hamburger with onion, drain.
Add: 
1 - 10 oz can french onion soup
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
tobasco to taste
2 cans kidney beans, undrained
1 - 6 oz can tomato paste
1 - 8 oz can tomato sauce

Simmer all together.  Also works well in a crockpot!

Visiting Teacher Soup

Visiting Teacher Soup
from my visiting teacher, Jennifer Wright

1 chicken breast
2 quarts water
6 potatoes, peeled and chunked
2 carrots, sliced
1 onion, diced
2 c broccoli florets
3 T chicken boullion
2 T butter
black pepper to taste

Boil chicken breast in water about 12 minutes until cooked thoroughly.  Remove chicken from pot, chunk, and set aside.  Add potatoes, carrots, and onion and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.  Add butter, boullion, salt and pepper, and broccoli, and chunked chicken.  Heat through about 10 minutes.  Serve hot and feel better soon.