Recipe Review... Cheeseburger soup

We thought this one was good, if you thought "cheeseburger" while you were eating, you could definitely taste it. We topped our bowls with cheese, next time I think I will add jalapenos to mine, and maybe bacon then you could have a bacon cheeseburger, or maybe sauteed mushrooms then you could have a mushroom burger the possibilities are endless... and its too early to be thinking about food! So here is the recipe;

Ingredients
3/4 lb ground beef (I used a whole pound)
1 cup minced onion
1 teaspoon basil (I used dry)
4 cups beef broth
3 cups diced potatoes
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
4 teaspoons butter
4 teaspoons flour
8 ounces Velveeta cheese, cubed
2 cups light cream (I used 1/2 cup heave cream and 1 1/2 dairy ease)
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions
1 In soup pot, cook and break up ground beef.
2 Add onion,basil and beef broth.
3 Bring to a boil.
4 Add potatoes and green pepper.
5 Cover and simmer 12 minutes.
6 Bring back to a boil.
7 In saucepan, melt butter and stir in flour.

(after the butter and the flour were combined I added a dash of the milk I already measured out just so it wouldn't get that burnt flour taste)
8 Cook 2 minutes.
9 Add to soup, stirring.
10 Reduce heat to low again and add cheese, cream and pepper.
11 Stir until cheese melts. (or until potatoes are soft it took about a half hour, on low)
12 Serve.

Next time I think I am going to add more flour maybe 2 tablespoons so it is a little more "chowder-y"

There are no more recipe reviews this week but on Wednesday (maybe Thursday, but at the very latest Friday) I am going to post my Chili Verde recipe.

Recipe Review... CrockPot Chicken Cacciatore

When I was young my mom would make chicken cacciatore once in awhile, and I really liked it, so when I came across this recipe I figured that is sounded easy enough! It was really good, and really saucy, I think I will make this one again, next time I am going to use more chicken broth (I didn't use white wine), more bell peppers, and more pepper flakes.


3 lbs chicken, cut up in pieces
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
6 ounces sliced mushrooms(didn't have)
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon celery powder (didn't have)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dry white wine (used chicken broth)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional

Directions
1 Place onions in bottom of crock pot.
2 Add chicken pieces.
3 Stir all the other ingredients together.
4 Pour over chicken.
5 Cook on low heat 7 to 9 hours or high heat for about 3 to 4 hours.
6 Serve over pasta or rice.

I think I should start adding photos of food I review... if I remember

Recipe review... Beefy Mac

This was on the menu for Saturday, but we went out to Sizzler for a late lunch so we just had leftovers on Saturday, and Beefy Mac on Sunday. I am glad that we waited, it was really filling, I think next time I make this one I am going to add a little more salt.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon oil
1 lb lean ground beef
1 (15 ounce) can tomatoes, drained and chopped
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Directions
1 Cook macaroni in large pot of boiling salted water until done; drain.

2 Meanwhile, heat oil in large frying pan and sauté onion until softened.

3 Add ground beef and cook until browned.

4 Add tomatoes, thyme, oregano and salt to taste.

5 Cook about 5 minutes to blend flavors.

6 In a small saucepan, whisk together flour and milk.

7 Cook over medium heat, stirring, until mixture comes to a boil.

8 Continue cooking 1 minute.

9 Remove from heat and stir in 3/4 cup cheese.

10 Stir until cheese is melted.

11 Stir into meat sauce.

12 Combine with macaroni.

13 Pour into prepared baking dish.

14 Top with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.

15 Bake at 375° until golden, about 20 minutes.

Recipe Review...Smoky Refried Bean Soup

Here is my third recipe review of the week, I have one more coming tomorrow. I got this recipe for Smoky Refried Bean Soup from Stephanie over at A year of CrockPotting. It was good, next time, (there will be a next time) I am going to add ground beef, or shredded chicken, I also to the advice of the commenter's, and added 1/2 a packet of taco seasoning.

--1 can of vegetarian refried beans (I used regular)
--1 can of black beans
--1 cup frozen roasted corn (all I had was regular frozen corn so I used that)
--2 cups of vegetable broth (chicken broth works just fine)
--1 cup baby tomatoes cut in quarters (you could used canned tomatoes--no juice-- instead)
--1 cup diced carrots
--1 t garlic (If using fresh, chop up 2-3 cloves)
--1 T Tabasco sauce
--1 t cumin
--1 t oregano
--1/2 t chipotle chili powder
--salt and pepper to taste

The Directions.
--dump in refried beans into your crockpot
--turn your crock to high, to start to melt the bean blob
--rinse black beans, add to crock
--chop up the tomatoes and carrots, add to mix (I added corn at this time)
--pour in your vegetable broth
--add all spices
--give a quick stir
--cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8. You aren't really "cooking" anything---just letting it all simmer and getting the carrots to soften. The soup is done when the carrots are to your liking.

Recipe review... Sausage Torellini Soup

When I first saw this recipe I thought "wow that's alot of ingredients" but really its not so bad! I started this soup at about 3 this afternoon and then I just let it sit without putting the noodles, until right before L came home (@515) after 15 minutes of boiling it was a success! The noodles were a tad bit hard in the middle but that will be solved the next time I make it, and there will be a next time. Every one really liked this one!

Makes 10 servings (that's 2 meals here!)
Ingredients
1 lb mild Italian sausage
1 cup onion, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 cups beef broth
2 cups carrots, thinly sliced
2 cups tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped (I used canned)
1 1/2 cups sliced zucchini
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
1 (9 ounce) package refrigerated basil and cheese tortellini, uncooked
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated


Directions
1 Remove and discard casings from the sausage.


2 In a large Dutch oven, brown sausage over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1 Tablespoon drippings in the pan. Set sausage aside.

3 Add onion and garlic to the drippings in the pan; cook, stirring constantly, until onion is tender.


4 Add sausage, beef broth, carrots, tomato, zucchini, bell pepper, tomato sauce, water, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper, stirring well.

5 Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes.


6 Add tortellini and parsley, stirring well.

7 Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes or until tortellini is tender. Adjust spices to taste.

8 Ladle soup into individual soup bowls. Sprinkle each serving with cheese

Recipe review... Chili Verde

I make there are probably a thousand recipes, if not more, for chili verde out there. I make one that is actually "chili verde" (green chili) the recipe that I made last night (here)was more like a chili Colorado it was really good just something different then what we are use to, I am definitely going to keep the recipe, I should post mine, maybe the next time I make it.

We are probably going to eat the leftovers with eggs and tortillas later on in the week, I think it will be very good with scrambled eggs.

Thanks Trish for the recipe!