We had soup last night………………

You know when it is so cold outside, your breath turns into ice crystals as soon as you breathe. You are walking around with so many layers of clothes on you can’t move, but yet you add more, now it is almost impossible to bend over. When you go outside to get the paper, you have to wear snow boots so you can walk down the sidewalk, crunching what sounds like Rice Crispies. When you finally get out to the driveway you reach down to pick up the paper. You give it a couple of tugs and notice that the plastic bag the paper is in sticks to the driveway. You have to use your car scrapper to dislodge it, so you walk back into your house doing the “Rice Crispies” thing, out your garage door, that is in your house, to your car and then you get the scrapper from your car and using the garage door opener take it out to the newspaper, walking on the ice again. (You noticed that I didn’t say Rice Crispies)?? Darn I just did….anyway you start the process of pulling up the bag and scrapping it off your driveway. Then you notice it won’t budge and you start to mess up your scrapper, and you don’t want that you so you just tear the plastic bag that is covering it and pull out your prize, but what do you do with the plastic bag, you go into your garage and get the snow shovel and whack at it a couple of times. All of this time you are starting to sweat so much that your undershirt is soaking wet. The neighbors come out to watch you, and start laughing at you, because they don’t take the paper! Maybe you shouldn’t either? Oh well, that is another story. I think my paper person (pc) is not able to throw the paper more than 3 feet. It always seems to be at the bottom of the driveway. Maybe he has a small arm, or he doesn’t want to open his window too much, because of the temperature so he chucks it out of his partially opened window and that is when it starts the process of sticking to you driveway, because it was nice and warm in their car, you know the story of not sticking out your tongue on a metal post because, well, you know. This is the same premise, it sticks! You ask yourself what that has to do with soup. Well, nothing, but it just sets the mood for the soup. Do you know what I mean? Baby its Cold Outside! My wife is the best soup maker, she used to stand over a hot stove and work with it, but now we have the marvelous inventions called a crock pot. I am sure you know what I am talking about. (No, it is not some new way to smoke something they had back in the 60’s that is absolutely outlawed today except for medicinal purposes). It let’s you put the ingredients in and you go to work and come back and it soup. It is the best on especially a cold winter day. I have a few recipes for regular soup and crock potting.

Bean and Sausage Soup

Ingredients:

4 small cans Great White Northern beans

1 lrg can stewed tomatoes, chopped

1 lrg Chopped Onion

1 lrg green bell pepper, chopped

1 lbs. Polish sausage, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
Chili powder to taste

Directions:

Place ingredients in crock-pot and cook for 8 to 12 hours or overnight on LOW.

Beef Barley Soup

Ingredients:

1 to 2 soup bones

1 cup barley

½ cup rice

1 cup diced carrots

1 small onion, chopped

1 can tomato with juice and water to cover barley

1 to 2 Tbls salt

tomato juice (optional)

Directions:

Put all ingredients in crock-pot, adding liquids last. Cover and cook on LOW for about 8 hours.

Beef Taco Bean Soup

Ingredients:

1(2 pound) rump roast

1 pkg. Taco seasoning

1 (15 ounce) can Mexican style diced tomatoes

1 small can green chilies

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 onion, chopped

2 beef bouillon cubes

2 (15 ounce) cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

Cut roast into bite-size chunks. Roll in taco seasoning and add to crock-pot. Then add the tomatoes, chilies, tomato sauce, onion and bouillon cubes. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours or until meat is tender.
Add the drained beans and cook until the beans are heated through, about 30 minutes.
Serve topped with cheese and/or the toppings that you like.

Black Beans and Ham Soup

Ingredients:

2 ham hocks

1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained

2 carrots, chopped

2 stalks celery; chopped1 onion, chopped

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns

2 quarts water

1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

1 tablespoon Old Bay seasoning

1 (46 ounce) can V-8 juiceSour cream

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except beans and sour cream in crock-pot. Cover; cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours.
Remove ham hocks and cut off meat; return meat to crock-pot. Add the beans and cook for 1 hour or until beans are heated. Serve with dollops of sour cream.

Navy Bean Soup

Ingredients:

6 cups water

1 Lb. dried navy beans

1/2 Lb. beef cubes, browned

1 small onion

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 clove garlic

½ tsp. rosemary

2 Tbls vinegar

2 tsp salt

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

Soak beans in water in crock-pot overnight. Cover and cook on for HIGH for 2 to 3 hours until tender (do not drain water from pot). Add remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on LOW for about 8 hours. Serve hot, garnished with chopped chives.

Now these aren’t soup, but they sound great.

Outa Sight Chunky Chili

Ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped

2 large cloves garlic, minced

2 pounds lean stew beef, cut into small pieces

1 pound bulk pork sausage (Jimmy Dean is good)

1 large can whole tomatoes, broken up

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

1 1/2 to 3 tablespoons chili powder, to taste

1 1/2 teaspoons cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons oregano

2 (16 ounce) cans baked beans

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1 (15 ounce) can kidney beans, drained

1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, drained

Directions:

Put everything into a crock-pot and cook on LOW for about 6 hours.

Prospector's Stew

Ingredients:

2 or 3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into bite size pieces

(2 to 3)1 pound kielbasa, sliced

2 (15 ounce) cans green beans, drained

1 small onion, quartered

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions:

Layer ingredients in crockpot in the order listed. Cook on LOW for anywhere from 4 to 10 hours.

And in honor of the Super Bowl coming up!

Super Bowl Sunday Stew

Ingredients:

1 pound beef stew,

1-inch cubes

Salt and pepper

3 tablespoons butter

30 ounces canned tomato juice

30 ounces canned tomatoes, chopped coarsely

5 celery stalks leaves included, chopped small

2 carrots, peeled (cut in rounds or quarters)

2 onions, peeled and sliced thin

3 cloves garlic, pressed

1 potato, peeled and cubed

1 (10 ounce) package frozen okra, cut

3 to 4 tablespoons barley

3 cubes beef bouillon

16 ounces canned corn or

10 ounces frozen corn

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons salt (optional)

6 to 8 stalks parsley, finely chopped

Water, as needed

1 pinch cayenne (optional)

12 black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon thyme

Directions: Sauté meat pieces in butter over medium high heat until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Pour into a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker or crock-pot, add remaining ingredients, and mix well to blend. Note: The frozen okra can be added as is, for it will quickly thaw in the warm liquid. You can add water to this stew depending on the thickness you want (about 4 cups for a thick stew). Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours. Stir occasionally during the day. Taste for seasoning just before serving. If you want a bite to this stew, you can add to taste some cayenne. Serve in heated bowls, with some country peasant bread or bread of your choice, in big chunks and with lots of butter.
Yields: 6 servings.

Last but not least………………

White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:
6 skinless chicken thighs

(1 1/2 pounds)

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 (14 1/2 ounce) can chicken broth

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

2 (16 ounce) cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained

1 (15 ounce) can white shoepeg corn or regular whole kernel corn, drained

3 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

Remove excess fat from chicken. Mix the onion, garlic, broth, cumin, oregano, salt and Tabasco sauce in a 3 1/2- to 6-quart crock-pot. Add chicken. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken. Use 2 forks to remove bones and shred chicken into pieces. Discard bones; return chicken to crock-pot. Stir in beans, corn, lime juice and cilantro. Cover and cook on LOW for 15 to 20 minutes or until beans and corn are hot.

Yields: 8 servings.

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Now all of these recipes should keep you warm and cozy all winter, just think about eating your hot bowls of soup sitting in front of your fireplace and enjoying your music, TV, or Video/Dvd. Makes the heart grow warm. Don't forget the fuzzies. :-)