Tomato Soup

When there's snow on the ground, I crave soup and came up with this simple tomato soup. Since H doesn't like tomato soup, I only made two serving worth--one for today's lunch and one for tomorrow's lunch.

Tomato Soup

1 t olive oil
1 c chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1-2 T fresh chopped basil
1/4 c shredded white cheddar cheese
3/4 c milk
1-2 t chili garlic sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium sauce pan sauté onion in the oil for three minutes. Add garlic and sauté for an additional minute. Add tomatoes and basil. Heat to boiling. Add cheese and cook until melted. Purée in a mixer or food processor. I like my soup to be a little chunky so I only puréed 2/3 of the mixture. Return to sauce pan. Add milk and cook until heated through. Stir in salt, pepper and chili garlic sauce to taste. Serve and enjoy!

Creamy Potato Soup with BACON!!!

As the weather turns colder, it's time to look into soups. I've always wanted to make a really good potato soup, but I never knew where to start. I knew I wanted something creamy with chunks of potato in it. I searched the Internet, and found a recipe for Delicious Ham and Potato Soup. Ham didn't sound very good to me, but bacon did. :) So I altered the recipe to what sounded good to me. I've written the recipe a little different than normal because there are some things I would change about my soup tonight. For example, I felt it was too thick. I've added all changes into the recipe below. 

Creamy Potato Soup with BACON!!! 

2 large gold/white potatoes, diced (you could also use 4 to 6 small ones)
2 stalks celery
1/2 large white onion 
2 cups water (probably should have used a little more)
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/2 t salt 
1/2 t pepper (wasn't enough for me so I put more in my bowl)
3-4 pieces of bacon
2 T butter
2 T olive oil (alternatively you could probably use bacon grease in place of some of the oil)
5 T flour
1-3/4 cups milk (I probably should have used 2 cups milk)
Cheese
Green onions, sliced (I didn't actually put these in, but I think they'd be really good in it)

Place the potatoes, celery, onion, water, and chicken bouillon cubes in a sauce pan. Boil for 15+ minutes, stirring occasionally (mine cooked for about 30 minutes because I didn't plan things out well, so that might be why I felt it could use more liquid--too much might have boiled off). Season with the salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook bacon. Crumble or dice. Either after the bacon is done or while the it is cooking, heat butter and olive oil in a small sauce pan. Whisk in flour. When mixture starts to boil, slowly add in milk. Bring to a boil. Pour into potato mixture.

You can either stir in the bacon (but I felt this made it a little soggy) or top to soup with it in each bowl. Also top with cheese and green onions, if desired.

Creamy Potato Soup

For dinner last night, I really wanted potato soup. I've been craving it like crazy, but I've never made it from scratch before. I don't even have a recipe (that I know of) for it. I decided to take my chances and use the Creamy Butternut Squash Soup recipe as a base. And I even remembered to take a picture! I halved the recipe, and instead of using a butternut squash, I used about 2 lbs of Yukon gold potatoes. Instead of cilantro I added two green onions, sliced, and 1 teaspoon of dried chives. To make it easier for you, here's the recipe:

Creamy Potato Soup
1 T olive oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
4-6 garlic cloves, crushed (we love our garlic!)
1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes
2 lb potatoes, cubed (I used Yukon gold)
one 14-15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cans coconut milk
1 can vegetable stock
2 green onions, sliced
1 teaspoon dried chives
2 t sea salt, plus more to taste


In a stock pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and saute for five minutes. Then add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Saute for another minute or two, stirring frequently to reduce burning.


Add the cubed potatoes, tomatoes, coconut milk and vegetable stock. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender (till you can stick a fork in them easily).


When everything is cooked, ladle some of the soup into a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a clean pot or bowl. Continue to blend the soup in batches until all soup has been pureed. If you like your soup more chunky, only puree half of the soup. Add the sea salt, green onions, and chives. Enjoy!

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

This might just be my new favorite soup recipe. I've made it twice now, and neither time I got a picture of it. Just picture a bowl of yummy, creamy, yellow soup! :) The original recipe says that it serves 6-8 people. Either my family isn't big on soup or it's more like 10-12 people. We do usually eat something along with the soup, so maybe that's why. It makes great leftovers and freezes well, so I'm okay with the large batch. Mm-Mmmm. Okay, here's the recipe:

Creamy Butternut Squash Soup

2 T olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

6-8 garlic cloves, crushed (we love our garlic!)

1 t crushed red pepper flakes

one 4-5 lb butternut squash, peeled and cube*

one 28 oz can diced tomatoes

2 cans coconut milk

4 c vegetable stock

1/2 c chopped cilantro

2 t sea salt, plus more to taste

*Instead of peeling and cubing the squash, you can split it in half and bake it at 350 in the oven until tender. I think this takes about 20-30 minutes. Scoop out the cooked flesh and add it with the tomatoes, coconut milk, and stock. 

In a large stock pot (about 8 quarts), heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and saute for five minutes. Then add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Saute for another minute or two, stirring frequently to reduce burning. 

Add the squash, tomatoes, coconut milk and vegetable stock. If you added the squash raw, cover and simmer over low heat for about 30 minutes or until the squash is very tender. If you added the squash pre-baked, just cook until all the ingredients are heated through. 

When everything is cooked/heated, stir in the cilantro. Ladle some of the soup into a blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a clean pot or bowl. Continue to blend the soup in batches until all soup has been pureed. If you like your soup more chunky, only puree half of the soup. Add the sea salt to taste. Enjoy!