I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again….Fall is my favorite season. One of my favorite things to incorporate in my weekly meals is soup. My hubby doesn’t really care for soup, so I when I make it I have to be committed to enjoy it for several days in a row. When I set out in the kitchen to make soup…I kinda just wing it…you know, Food Network ‘Chopped’ style. I attempt to use as much produce that needs to be used in the fridge and create something I can eat for several days. Needless to say my soups don’t really taste the same way twice, but they are still yummy each time I promise! So on this episode of ‘Chopped’ I had the following items that I wanted to use up in the fridge and pantry. Diced tomatoes : I used two cans in this one, I really like canned tomatoes with the seasonings already in them. One of them today was fire roasted garlic and the other was basil, oregano, and garlic. Aldi’s has them and so does Walmart hence the two brands in the picture. Jarred garlic: I even say it’s better when fresh, but this is super easy to store and use over a long period of time and still meet my garlic needs. I’m a fan J. Peppers: I had a small green pepper from my in-laws garden and some tri colored ones from the store so I used the yellow one from that pack. Beef broth: This is just something I had in the pantry. I actually normally have chicken broth but I think the beef added nice flavor to the soup Onion: I only used ½ of the onion and saved the rest for another day Noodles: I’ve had these lasagna noodles in the pantry for a while and they stare at me every time I open up the doors so I decided to make use of them. You can also use any whole wheat pasta shape. Tomato Sauce: I made tortilla pizzas earlier this week. The can was bigger than I normally get (I think it was 20+ oz) so I had a lot of unused sauce from the can that needed to be used. It was actually the inspiration for the whole soup idea! Ingredients: 2 16 oz cans of diced tomatoes 1 20-24 oz can of tomato sauce or marinara sauce 1-2 cloves of chopped/jarred garlic 1 32oz box of beef broth 1/2 large white/yellow onion chopped 1-2 bell peppers, any combination of colors whole wheat lasagna noodles 1 pound of ground turkey Italian spices : red pepper flake, oregano, italian seasoning, parsley flakes, etc Mushrooms would also be good in this, didn't have any in the Chopped kitchen this time...so sadly no mushrooms. Directions: In a stockpot, brown ground turkey in a little EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). Add onion, peppers, and garlic (any any other veggies) and saute until soft. Add the two cans of tomatoes, tomato sauce, and beef broth (I also added two cans worth of water here) Continue simmering in stockpot or transfer to crockpot as long as you need to. I simmered mine on the stove for 6ish hours. Around 30-40 minutes left in the cooking time, add the noodles. I broke mine into smaller pieces. When I reheated later, it ended up being more stew-y than soup. So when you think you don't have enough noodles (around 5 or so) just stop. Just. Stop. haha. They will absorb a lot of liquid and if you want soup, less is more. And that's it! Top it with some shredded mozzarella cheese or parmesan and......muah! Perfection! I reheated this and little man even ate it over the course of about a week.
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I was super craving some Chinese food for dinner thanks to passing the Tai Pan restaurant. And while it's quiet tasty it's also expensive: money and calorie/container wise. So I came up with a dinner that satisfies my craving but also isn't too bad container wise.
Ingredients: Quinoa protein: chicken, shrimp, ground pork/turkey, beef veggies: peppers, onions, mushrooms...really any veggies you like. Today is peppers, green beans, corn, and peas Cook quinoa per package directions. In the meantime, heat a pan over medium high heat. add a smidge of oil (coconut, olive) and a little sesame oil and sautée the chicken and veggies until cooked through. I made a lot of the chicken veggie mix so I got a smaller pan and added a little oil and I portioned out the veggie chicken mixture and added the cooked quinoa. Make a well in the middle and crack one egg. Cook the egg and slowly incorporate it into the mixture around it. Add to a bowl with a little soy sauce and siracha sauce. Waaaaalahhhhh! |
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September 2017
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