posted by Nina on Nov 30
I told you my recipes were going to be easy this week. I saw this on a commercial on TV. I am not sure which brand of soup they were advertising, but I have a feeling it’s not the one I bought. If I am going to buy soup in a can, I need to be able to read and identify the ingredients on the label.
Ingredients:
Two cans of any thick, stew-like soup or leftover stew from a previous meal
Rice or couscous
Instructions:
Cook rice/couscous according to package directions.
Heat stew.
Serve rice in bowls and pour stew over the top.
What did the family think? Everyone ate it but our oldest. I think all he ate was the rice.
posted by Nina on Oct 29
We needed some soup on this chilly night, but I had also planned to make some Vietnamese sandwiches. These two paired up nicely with the sushi I got at the store…we had an Asian sampler night. 
Ingredients:
4 cups chicken broth, divided
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
Instructions:
Reserve 3/4 cup of chicken broth, and pour the rest into a large saucepan. Stir the salt, ginger and chives into the saucepan, and bring to a rolling boil.
In a cup or small bowl, stir together the remaining broth and cornstarch until smooth. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk together using a fork. Drizzle egg a little at a time from the fork into the boiling broth mixture. Egg should cook immediately. Once the eggs have been dropped, stir in the cornstarch mixture gradually until the soup is the desired consistency.
Did I change anything? I had some shredded carrots left over from a recipe I made earlier this week, so I added some of those.
What did the family think? I was a little nervous that the soup would not taste AT ALL like restaurant soup, but it turned out great. Hubby and I liked it. Our oldest tried it, but he was not impressed.
posted by Nina on Oct 25
It’s been a while since I made this, but this is a staple in our house. It is perfect for a cold and rainy night like tonight.
Ingredients:
3/4 lb Italian sausage
2 (14.5 ounce) cans Italian diced tomatoes
1 cup red wine
2 cans chicken broth
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 pound dried tortellini
1-2 cups fresh baby spinach (depending on how much you like spinach)
grated or shredded Parmesan cheese for garnish
Instructions:
In a Dutch oven, cook Italian sausage using a wooden spoon to crumble. When Italian sausage is cooked through, add tomatoes, wine, chicken broth and garlic. Bring to a simmer.
Add tortellini and cook until done.
Add spinach right before serving. Stir until wilted.
Serve and garnish with Parmesan.
Did I change anything? Sometimes I add a little chopped zucchini and/or some diced carrots.
What did the family think? We love this one. It’s definitely comfort food at our house.
posted by Nina on Oct 16
It has meatballs in it so I knew the family would like it. 
Ingredients:
1 large onions, diced
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 (16-ounce) can tomatoes
1 (4-ounce) can diced green chilies
1 cup diced potatoes
3 (14-ounce) can chicken or beef broth
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 pound lean ground beef, turkey or chicken
1 cup crushed corn chips
1 large egg
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons water
Parmesan, garnish
Instructions:
In a Dutch oven saute onions in olive oil until soft but not browned.
Add tomatoes, chiles, potatoes, broth, coriander and cumin; bring to boil and reduce to simmer.
Mix ground beef with crushed chips, egg, garlic, cumin and water.
Shape into marble size balls and drop in broth mixture. Simmer on medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until meatballs are cooked throughout.
Ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Serve.
Did I change anything? I have seen some other versions of this recipe that call for rice. I think rice might be a nice addition. A few chopped up carrots would make a good addition as well. I also think that some fresh cilantro sprinkled on top would give it some extra zip.
What did the family think? It was a nice warm meal on a chilly night and it had meatballs in it…all of my boys are suckers for anything that’s in the shape of a meatball.
from cooksrecipes.com
posted by Nina on Sep 13
This is supposed to be a meatless dish, but to make everyone in the family happy I added some extra protein.
Ingredients:
Olive oil
One medium onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
2 celery ribs, chopped
6 cups chicken broth
2 cans white beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 cup macaroni, dry
2 bay leaves
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp salt
Ground black pepper
Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)
3 Italian sausage links, sliced and cooked thoroughly (optional) or 8 meatballs (optional)
Instructions:
In a large stock pot, sauté onion, garlic, celery and carrots in olive oil until onions are tender. Add the broth, beans, crushed tomatoes, bay leaves, herbs, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Let simmer about 20 minutes, until vegetables have softened. Add macaroni and cook for 10 more minutes. If you are going to have this with Italian sausage, once the sausages have been sliced and cooked in a separate skillet, put them in the pot of soup. You can put the already cooked meatballs in the soup as well.
Serve with Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top.
We had this with grapes, salad and french bread.
Did I change anything? I just added the Italian sausage. I just sliced it up and cooked it in some olive oil in a skillet and then added it to the soup once it was done.
What did the family think? Everyone ate it! This worked out great, too because I made it this afternoon because I knew we would be getting home late from soccer practice. I just put it back on the stove to warm up after soccer while I was getting the salad ready and although it was a late dinner we were able to eat together as a family.
from Half Assed Kitchen
posted by Nina on Sep 8
This was a perfect dinner for the chilly and rainy weather we had today.
Ingredients:
1 T olive oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 cup sliced carrots
1/3 cup frozen peas
6 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 cup uncooked egg noodles
Pepper, to taste
Instructions:
Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Fry chicken pieces and garlic in the oil until chicken is cooked through.
In a Dutch oven, heat chicken broth over medium heat. Add the carrots, peas, water, celery, onion, bay leaf and poultry seasoning. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and let simmer for 20-25 minutes. Add the noodles and cook for about ten more minutes.
We had this with watermelon and bread and butter.
What did the family think? Hubby and I really liked it. I think it is one of the best chicken noodle soups I have ever made. Our boys aren’t huge soup fans, but they ate the chicken, some noodles and some carrots.
adapted from recipe at allrecipes.com
posted by Nina on Jul 19
I liked this, but if I make it again, I will make some changes. This is how I made it:
Ingredients:
1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 lb. Italian sausage, cut into 1/2 in. chunks
Pepper to taste
1 tspn. dried oregano or marjoram
1/3 c. olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 bay leaves
2 cans diced tomatoes
12 oz. spaghetti, broken into 3-in pieces
Grated parmesan
Instructions:
Season the chicken with pepper. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and Italian sausage and cook for about 5 minutes or until cooked through. When cooked, remove the chicken and sausage from Dutch oven with a slotted spoon.
Add the oregano/marjoram, onions, garlic, bay leaves and tomatoes to the Dutch oven. Reduce the heat and cook for about six minutes.
Add the spaghetti to the onion mixture. Add water to Dutch oven to just cover the spaghetti and cook for about six minutes. Add the sausage and chicken back in to the pan and simmer for about ten minutes. Remove bay leaves before serving.
Garnish with parmesan after being served into individual bowls.
Did I change anything? I didn’t change a lot, but if I make it again I will change a few things. I would leave out the chicken and add more Italian sausage. I would change the diced tomatoes to Italian-style diced tomatoes.
What did the family think? Everyone liked it. Our youngest REALLY liked it.
from Food Network
posted by Nina on Apr 27
This has pesto in it and as far as I am concerned anything with pesto in it is good.
Ingredients:
1/2 c. water
(2) 14 oz. cans of chicken broth
1 lb. chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces, precooked
2 1/4c. chopped carrot, celery and onion mix
Salt and pepper to season
1/4 c. uncooked pastina (tiny star-shaped pasta)
3T pesto (or more if you’d like)
2T lemon juice
1/4 c. shredded parmesan
Directions;
Bring water and chicken broth to a boil in a Dutch oven.
Stir in veggies and chicken and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil.
Add pasta and cook 4 minutes.
Stir in pesto and juice and simmer for one minute.
Serve and top with parmesan cheese.
We usually have this with a yummy fresh baguette from the bakery.
Did I change anything? No! This recipe is perfect and simple as is. However, if you don’t have pastina, I am sure you could use some other little pasta. Also, sometimes I can’t find the celery, carrot, onion mix in the freezer section at the grocery, so I will either just make my own mix of veggies or use the Italian frozen veggie mix that has zucchini in it.
What did the family think? Hubby and I love this soup. The kids aren’t too keen on soup of any kind.
Adapted from a Cooking Light recipe
posted by Nina on Apr 25
This is a great soup to make if you want to have leftovers or if you are going to have company. It makes A LOT of soup, makes your house smell fantastic and tastes yummy, too.
Ingredients:
2 cans of kidney beans, drained
2 cans of pinto beans, drained
2 cans of corn
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of Rotel tomatoes
1 packet of taco seasoning
1 packet of ranch dressing mix
1 lb. of ground turkey or hamburger
Shredded cheese
Sour cream
Directions:
Brown the meat until it is thoroughly cooked.
Add cooked meat to crockpot.
Sprinkle seasoning packets on top of meat.
Add the beans, tomatoes and corn.
Stir.
Cook on high for 4-5 hours or on low for 8-10 hours.
Before serving stir well.
Serve with shredded cheese and sour cream as garnishes.
Did I change anything? I think the only thing I changed was that I crushed up some tortilla chips and sprinkled those on top. The crunchy and salty of the chips is good with the spiciness of the soup.
What does the family think? Sean and I both really like this soup. Our oldest thinks it’s too spicy and the youngest isn’t too keen on it either which is too bad for them because it is GOOD.
posted by Nina on Apr 9
This recipe was one of the reasons I started this website. Â I was trying to explain to a friend of mine in an e-mail about what I had changed about the recipe, what the kids thought of it, etc. and then I was telling someone else later on. Â How much easier would have been to type it once?
Also, let me say that Jamie Oliver is my new hero and I have been trying out a lot of his recipes lately.
Here is my version of his recipe:
1/2 lb. ground turkey chorizo
3/4 chopped red onion
3 garlic cloves
olive oil
1 tspn. cumin
1/2 tspn. sweet paprika
1 pinch of cayenne
14 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes
15 1/2 oz. can butter beans
several dollops of sour cream
Directions: In a dutch oven or other such pot, cook the chorizo, garlic, olive oil and onion until the chorizo is cooked through. Add the spices, tomatoes and butter beans and cook until heated through.
When serving, dish into bowls and top each serving with a dollop of sour cream. This dish is on the spicy side and the sour cream helps take the heat off. This recipe doesn’t make a lot. It made enough for hubby and I to each have one serving and our two boys to each have one little serving. It could easily be doubled for more.
Jaime Oliver suggests serving this dish with some crusty bread and a nice glass of red wine, so that’s what we did.
So what did the family think? Hubby and I thought it was awesome. It was SO MUCH tastier than I thought it would be. One of the kids ate only the beans and the tomatoes and our other child ate only the chorizo. Go figure.