Broccoli Cheddar Soup

About a month before our daughter {who is three now} was born my husband and I went out for lunch to Panera. I was excited because I adore their Chicken & Wild Rice Soup. Sadly, that day it wasn't on the menu so I had to pick a different soup. I went with Broccoli Cheddar Soup and haven't looked back since.
Admittedly, I've made this soup more often now that I have an immersion blender but even without it wasn't impossible to puree the soup in my regular blender, it just resulted in more dishes. My kids come running when they hear me start to blend the soup because there's just something fascinating about watching it change so quickly before your eyes.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup
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Yields: ~8 main dish portions
Source: My Blessed Life

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup flour
4 cups milk
4 cups chicken broth
1 lb frozen broccoli, divided*
2 cups carrots, chopped
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
salt and pepper

Directions:
   1.  Melt butter in a large stock pot; add onions and saute until slightly softened. Add flour, stir and cook for 3-5 minutes.
   2.  While stirring, slowly add milk and chicken broth; simmer for 20 minutes.
   3.  Add broccoli {all but a handful} and carrots; simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
   4.  Add salt and pepper to taste; puree soup until smooth.
   5.  Add remaining broccoli and cheese; stir and heat until cheese is melted.

*If using large pieces of broccoli chop reserved handful into ~1/2 inch pieces.

Cinnamon Glazed Carrots

We typically have frozen veggies along with most of our meals. Sometimes though, if I'm thinking ahead or bored of the regulars, I'll make these Cinnamon Glazed Carrots. My husband, who before we were married would very rarely eat vegetables, even admits these are pretty good. That's high praise for vegetables from him!
I refuse to buy frozen carrots since I can get raw ones for half the price so peeling and cutting the carrots is the "hardest" part of this side dish. After that minimal prep work is done, all it takes is steaming the carrots then adding two ingredients and stirring. Not hard at all! Also, the measurements given are easily adjusted for the quantity or taste you desire.

Cinnamon Glazed Carrots
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Yields: 4 side dish servings

Ingredients:
4-6 carrots, peeled and diced
2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
   1.  Steam carrots until just softened.
   2.  Remove from strainer and place in pan. Add brown sugar and cinnamon; stir until coated.

Tomato Basil Soup

It took a long time and many less than great bowls of soup but I've finally found a homemade tomato soup that is similar to the canned stuff but tastes even better! My husband had never had tomato soup until we were married and now this is one of his favorite soups, served, of course, with grilled cheese.
This soup is easy to put together and can withstand a long simmer time so it's perfect for days when dinner needs to be started early. However, it can also come together quite quickly. Since I try to keep chopped carrots and celery in the freezer I've definitely pulled this together spur of the moment.

Tomato Basil Soup
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Adapted from: Kate's Great Crafts & 365 Days of Slow Cooking
Yields: 6-8 generous servings

Ingredients:
1 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
28 oz can tomatoes
3 cups chicken broth
1 T basil
1 small bay leaf
3 T butter
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
dash garlic powder
1/4 tsp basil

Directions:
   1.  Saute onion, carrots and celery in olive oil. Add tomatoes, chicken broth, 1 T basil, bay leaf and butter. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer.
   2.  Remove bay leaf. Blend using either an immersion blender or regular blender {in batches}; add milk and remaining seasonings. Heat until warm.
   3.  Serve with grilled cheese and buttery crackers.

Hawaiian Tuna Sandwiches

My husband has not always been a huge fan of tuna so the first time I made this it was not without a little apprehension. I'm glad I tried it because we both love the combination of all these flavors, even the tuna! It's very fresh and pleasing.
It doesn't take a lot of work to put together the sandwich filling, just a little bit of chopping and stirring. I've used a variety of breads for these sandwiches, from homemade rolls, to hamburger buns and other sorts of rolls and it's always been good.

Hawaiian Tuna Sandwiches
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Yields: 6 sandwiches

Ingredients:
2 cans tuna, drained
1/2 20 oz can pineapple, drained and chopped
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, shredded
1/4 cup celery, chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise
3/4 tsp ginger
salt and pepper
6 rolls

Directions:
   1.  In a medium bowl combine tuna, pinapple, green pepper, carrots, celery, mayonnaise and spices.
   2.  Serve on rolls with optional lettuce and tomatoes.

Source: All You magazine

This is linked to Tasty Tuesday and URS.

Fiesta Chicken Soup

There are a few different "Mexican" based soups in our rotation but I keep each of them there because they each have their own little twist. This one incorporates so many ingredients and in the end they all go together so well. The flavors meld perfectly, especially considering the relatively short cooking time.

One thing that amazed me about this soup was how much color the broth had. Most of it, I assume, is from the tomato juice but look at that color!

Fiesta Chicken Soup
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Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients
1 T Italian dressing or olive oil
2 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1 onion, chopped
3/4 cup carrots, sliced
1 can stewed tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 tsp chili powder
3/4 cup peas
1 can kidney beans, drained
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions
   1. Cook chicken, onions and carrots in the Italian dressing until the onions and carrots are beginning to soften.
   2. Add tomatoes (with juice), chicken broth, water and chili powder to pot. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer.
   3. Fifteen to 20 minutes before serving add peas and kidney beans.
   4. Serve with cheese sprinkled over the top.
Notes: The measurements of the vegetables are extremely flexible. I've also added green beans.

Source: Kraft Foods

This is linked to Tasty Tuesday and URS.

Quesadillas

These quesadillas were a hit with all three of us. I was a little worried at first about convincing my husband that they would still be good, even without meat. It didn't take long for him to decide I was right.

Pulsing the salsa with the beans makes it much easier to work with and a little smoother for the mouth. The spinach and carrots blend so well in this application. You get a few crunches from the carrots, a nice change in this otherwise soft meal.

Quesadillas

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Yields: 5 quesadillas

Ingredients:

10 tortillas

1 can pinto beans, drained

6 T salsa, divided

1 cup spinach

1 cup carrots

1 tsp chili powder

2 cups shredded cheese, divided

sour cream and salsa, for serving

Directions:

   1.  Preheat oven to 350.

   2.  In a food processor pulse pinto beans and 3 T salsa until smooth. Remove to a medium bowl. Pulse spinach and carrots until very fine; add to bowl. Add chili powder and 1/2 cup cheese. Stir to combine.

   3.  Spread bean mixture over 5 tortillas; top with remaining cheese. Cover with other five tortillas.

   4.  Bake at 350 for 12-14 minutes, flipping halfway through. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

This is linked to Good Cheap Eats.

Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

My favorite soup at Panera is Chicken and Wild Rice. Now, it's been a while since I've been there so I can't accurately speak to how close this came. No matter though, this was delicious anyway. It was creamy but thick, rich but refreshing--an absolute winner!
This soup contains some ingredients that can be prepped ahead of time, adding to the ease of assembling this. While the recipe only calls for 5-10 minutes of simmering at the end, it can withstand a longer time, as long as it is stirred occasionally.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
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Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients:
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
1 box wild rice (I used Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice.)
6 T butter
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 3/4 cup whole milk
2 cups diced or shredded chicken
2 cups spinach, roughly chopped
1 cup carrots, diced and cooked crisp tender


Directions:
   1.  In a large pot, bring chicken broth, water and rice to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.
   2.  Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add flour, salt, pepper and rice seasoning. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Whisk in milk; bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until thickened, stirring frequently.
   3.  Add sauce to rice; add chicken, spinach and carrots. Stir to combine; simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Adapted from: The Keune Home

This is linked to URS.

Chicken Pot Pie

Growing up, I always loved pot pie night. I insisted on eating mine out of the tin and stirring my applesauce in. My siblings would dump their pie pot out on the plate and then stir in the applesauce. Well, now my pot pie has no tin and while I still enjoy having applesauce with pot pie, I definitely don't stir it in!
This recipe has quite the list of ingredients and can take a little bit of time to prepare but that's okay, becuase there's a whole lot of taste to make it worthwhile!

Chicken Pot Pie
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Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup diced, cooked chicken
1/2 cup diced, cooked carrots
1/2 cup diced, cooked potatoes
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup green beans
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

double pie crust (not pictured)

Directions:
   1.  Preheat oven to 375.
   2.  Combine chicken, carrots, potatoes, peas and green beans in a large bowl.
   3.  In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add onion and cook for 3-4 minutes.
   4.  Whisk flour in and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in chicken broth and milk and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until thick.
   5.  Stir in spices and pour over chicken mixture.
   6.  Place one pie crust in baking dish. Pour chicken mixture into pie crust; top with second pie crust. Crimp edges and cut vents.
   7.  Cook at 375 for 50-60 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 5-10 minutes before cutting.

Source: Life as Mom