Winter Soups: Virtual Potluck Party Roundup

Daffodils are lifting their lovely heads. Trees are budding.  The sun is warming the earth and our spirits. In short, spring has sprung, so our virtual potluck party must end. 

Thanks for joining me each Tasty Tuesday as friends--old and new--gathered to share their recipes. As a party favor, here's a link to last summer's virtual potluck party with salads as well as a round up of all of the soups. 

Happy eating!

Valarie Lawson brought Nana's Potato Soup

Lisa Marotta brought Turkey Chocolate Chili 

Coleen Thornton brought Swiss Chard and Sorrel Soup

 Dee Dee Chumley brought Easy Chicken Chili

 Valarie Olson brought Apple Butternut Squash Soup

Ashley Riherd brought Wonton Soup

Mari Farthing brought French Onion Soup (and a quiche!)

Since I threw the party, I brought a couple of soups, too.

Easy Crockpot Chili

Tomato Soup

Thanks for coming to the party.  Don't be a stranger. Come back soon!

Leprechaun Poop

Need an easy recipe for the little leprechauns in your life?

Mine transform from leprechauns to screaming banshees when I suggest they try anything with mint. 

So, since my children think all things "booty" and "toot" are hilarious, I called these cookies Leprechaun Poop. They saw it through new eyes.

They gobbled up Leprechaun Poop.

Lucky me.

I'm not sure where I first saw the recipe...probably Pinterest.  I guarantee you won't find it by looking up Leprechaun Poop, though, so here you go.

1 bag of ready-made sugar cookie mix

1 Cup of mint chocolate chips (or chop up the Andes mints)

1 Cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 egg

1/2 Cup butter (softened)

1/2 teaspoon mint extract

green food coloring until you achieve desired shade

Stir it up. 

Scoop little balls about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. 

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. 

Leprechaun Poop

Friday Favorite: Easy Icing

Need a fast way to frost a cake? It's your lucky day!

Half the batter made cupcakes.  Half the batter made this easy cake.

My friend Dee Dee gave me this "recipe" a while back and I finally tried it.

1. Remove cake from oven.
2. Place Hershey's chocolate bars or candy kisses on top.
3. Watch them melt.
4.  Eat cake while still warm.

I tried this the other day with leftover Valentine candy.  It was delicious. Thanks, Dee Dee!

Winter Soups: Valarie Lawson and Nana's Potato Soup

This winter has been exceptionally...wintery.  Our snow days have been extensive, but who minds those when you have good soup and good friends?  Thanks for joining me again for another Tasty Tuesday and a virtual potluck. I'm so glad you did because Valerie Lawson is here!

Aside from her mass of curly hair, the first thing I noticed about Valerie was her t-shirt. Like her, it was smart, artsy, and funny. To this day, when I see her at an SCBWI event, I look to see what she's wearing because I know she'll make me smile. 

And she brought potato soup for Saint Patrick's Day week. What luck! I'm definitely smiling now.

Valerie Lawson...she's wearing a funny t-shirt beneath that smile, y'all.

I’m so thrilled that Brandi invited me to participate in this virtual potluck. As many of you know who follow my blog, I am no cook. I was raised by my father, the microwave king, who still thinks cut-up hot dogs in macaroni and cheese is a fancy meal. He actually served this meal to my daughter recently, much to her horror. I think we’ve spoiled her. Or rather, my husband has. He is the cook in the family. He has a natural intuitiveness in the kitchen, lucky for us. Otherwise I’m afraid we’d live off fast food and cold cereal. My husband can look at the contents of our pantry and see what might work together as a meal. He does this weird thing called experimenting with food - and it almost always turns out fantastic. If I tried this, I’d end up with a fried crispy mess and a fire extinguisher.

My husband learned much of his instinctual cooking techniques from standing at his mother’s elbow while she cooked from scratch all through his childhood. She was also a natural cook who never wrote down a recipe, never used a measuring spoon. Thankfully, my husband had the foresight to write down a few of her favorite dishes before she died last year. I’m happy to share it with you, today.

This soup is simple and yet comforting on a cold, winter night. It is a meal all by itself or with some warm, crusty bread. I hope you enjoy it.

Nana’s Potato Soup

Ingredients:

4 peeled and cubed Potatoes

½ cup chopped Celery

¼ cup chopped Onion

1 Tbsp Butter

1 ½  cups Milk

¼ tsp Greek Seasoning

Salt and Pepper to taste

Suggested garnish:

Crumbled Bacon

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Sour Cream

Chopped Green Onions

Instructions:

Cover the potatoes with an inch of water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil for ten minutes.

While the potatoes are boiling, sauté the celery and onions in butter over a medium-high heat until translucent, about four to six minutes.

Pour off half the water from the potatoes, leaving the remainder of the water in the pan. Add the milk to the pan, along with the vegetables and seasonings. Turn the heat down to medium. Let flavors come together and allow the soup to simmer for about twenty minutes. Then your soup is ready.

Garnish as you please.

Nana's Potato Soup

Grab some soup and spend more time with Valerie over at her blog Barbies on Fire. For me, the title of her blog was enough to tempt me to check it out, but once I got there I loved what she did with the place. She publicly challenges herself and shares her progress with the world while making it completely fun and mixing in great book reviews, author interviews, and more. 

Have fun with Valerie. I'm so glad I could introduce you!

Winter Soup: Brandi's Tomato Soup

My sorority house often served the comfort food combo of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup on a cold day.  I loved it. Still do.

So, as uncreative as I am in the kitchen, I knew I wanted to figure out how to make my own heart-warming goodness. Most people say they create tasty recipes "through trial and error."  Not this girl.  I completely goofed and accidentally added some things and forgot other things because I tried to remember how to make a soup after reading a couple of different recipes.

No one could be more surprised than I was to discover how yummy my mistakes tasted!

All of these ingredients are readily available at my house.

Brandi's Tomato Soup

Ingredients
onion (red or yellow work)
stick of butter
3 cans diced or whole tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 TBS. tarragon
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup of sour cream (pure cream tastes good, too)

• Dice onions and cook them in butter until clear. If you cook them until they begin to brown, well, that works, too.
• Add tomatoes and chicken broth and tarragon.
• Boil. Stir occasionally. Simmer about 40 minutes.
• Add sour cream and mix with your fancy emulsion mixer until smooth.

Special trick
Whole tomatoes work better than the diced if you use the emulsion mixer.  If you've ever slightly lifted the mixer to try to mix up those little diced pieces, then you know what happened. Yep. It looked like someone had stepped on a ketchup packet and splattered it everywhere.

Complete Magical Meal Suggestion
What pairs better with tomato soup than grilled cheese?  The other night I used heart-shaped cookie cutters on the grilled cheese. Everyone was happy.  For a little luncheon with friends, toss a bag of Caesar salad and cook up some frozen mini quiche. Add the grilled cheese sandwiches and cupcakes for a tea party with a cozy, comfort food feel.

Enjoy!

Check back next Tuesday when Valerie Lawson will help us get into the St. Patrick's Day mood with some potato soup!

Winter Soups: Dee Dee's Easy Chicken Chili

Thanks for joining us today for my virtual potluck.  My friend and critique buddy Dee Dee Chumley is here. You may remember her from the summer salad potluck. (She brought a salad and margaritas!)  

When I think of Dee Dee, I always giggle. No reason in particular--she's just so funny that I know if she were with me I'd be laughing. Plus, Dee Dee is always having an adventure that she may or may not tell you about.  She's so delightfully mysterious. Dee Dee treats life as something to be enjoyed, and I love that about her.  She also experiments with cooking. I like that, too, because it saves me the trouble. She's one of those people who sees a recipe and will try it within a week. I'll see a recipe, pin it on Pinterest, and try to convince someone else to make it for me.  

That being said, Dee Dee brought a recipe today that I know I'll try. It's healthy, but it's also so easy that even I can't mess it up.

the lovely Dee Dee Chumley

For most of my adult life, I’ve been a yo-yo dieter, experimenting with almost every weight-loss strategy known to man. I still recall one rather unfortunate situation involving something called “Peel-a-Pound” soup. I read about it in the National Enquirer, where it was purported to have worked wonders for Dolly Parton. The soup—consisting mostly of cabbage and tomatoes—wasn’t bad in itself. But when gallons of it are consumed over a three-day period, the experience can be likened to prepping for a colonoscopy. And the end result (no pun intended) is also similar: one solid meal and all the weight returns.

            
Last February, as I embarked on yet another weight-loss attempt, I resolved it would be my absolute last one. And my goals would be not only losing weight but also establishing healthier eating habits for life. For those reasons, I joined Weight Watchers because I was convinced it was the best program available for achieving those goals. When Brandi announced she was launching another virtual potluck dinner, featuring winter soups, I was all in. I knew I would collect a lot of tasty recipes that would fit into my new, life-long eating plan, and I haven’t been disappointed. The dishes she has “served up” so far have been healthy AND yummy! I know because I’ve tried several of them—and haven’t gained a pound!

My WW Lifetime Member Award.
With so many failures "under my belt," success can taste pretty sweet.

            
Since it is only good manners to bring a dish when you’re invited to a potluck, here’s my contribution:

Easy Chicken Chili (And I mean EASY!)

Prep time: 10 mins. Cook time: 6 hours  Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

·      4 shredded, cooked chicken breasts

·      2 cups chicken stock or broth

·      2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

·      1 Tbsp. cumin

·      ½ jar salsa

·      2 cans great northern beans, or bean of your choice

·      Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Shred chicken

2. Add all ingredients to your crock pot or slow cooker

3. Stir and add lid

4. Cook on High for 6 hours or Low for 12

5. Serve (See, I told you it was easy!)

Magical Meal:

Really, this can be a meal in itself. But, if you want, you can “embellish” it with crackers, cornbread, sour cream, grated cheese, salsa, or—my go-to favorite—hot sauce.

It is also good with this EASY salad:

Arrange spring mix greens on a salad plate; add any fruit you prefer (this time of year, I like apples or pears); add crumbled bleu cheese; sprinkle with walnut pieces; drizzle with dressing of your choice (I like a balsamic or raspberry vinaigrette)

With lots of lean protein and fiber, this is a healthy dish (except for maybe the cheese). But if you want to really up its health factor, skip dessert and go for a walk. J

Here’s to good eating and good health!

Congrats to Dee Dee on her Weight Watchers Lifetime Member Award.  Hooray! For more fun with Dee Dee, swing by her blog or check out her guest post on Oklahoma Women Bloggers.

The Winner of Heaven Sent Food and Fiber's Goats' Milk Soap is....

...Valarie!

Congratulations! Random.org selected Valarie as the winner of Heaven Sent Food and Fiber's Tea Tree Mint and Oatmeal Soap.  

Thanks for all who entered and shared your desires to learn back-to-basics survival skills.  I, for one, would like to learn to quilt so that I can transform all these memory-filled, past-their-prime t-shirts into works of art. Quilting bee, anyone?

Lastly, many of you asked for a reminder on how to support small farms and Heaven Sent Food and Fiber.  So, here's a note from Coleen:

Since you are signing up through the computer would you vote for our Dream Big Contest Idea? We are competing to win a $5,000 grant to purchase equipment for making socks from our yarns. This is one “warm step” closer to our dream of bringing a small fiber mill to Tahlequah to create agriculture-related  jobs and more options for farmers and ranchers. Go here to vote for our Dream! Share it on your page to have friends and relatives vote too. 

Voting opened today!

Winter Soup: Turkey Chocolate Chili

Lisa's here! Lisa's here! Lisa's here!

If you know Lisa Marotta or read her blog, you are as excited as I am that she came by our virtual potluck today. She's so much fun. She interjects happiness into everything.

Even chili.

She puts chocolate in her chili.

Dr. Lisa Marotta aka The Feelings Doctor

Turkey Chocolate Chili!  (Crockpot)

I adapted this Weight Watchers recipe to fit the tastes of my family and hope you will like its unusual combination of flavors--it smells and tastes so good!

Serves 6                                               5 points plus value (more if you like more cheddar on top)

15 minutes preparation                       Crockpot for 4 hours on high

Check out Lisa's flying pig!

Ingredients

Olive Oil

1 pound uncooked ground turkey breast

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1 teaspoon of pre-minced garlic)

1 teaspoon chili powder (or more to taste)

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

28 oz original Rotelle with green chilis

¼ Cup water

½ teaspoon table salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

                                                                     

12 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped (1 square of Ghiardelli’s semisweet chocolate bar)

Garnish

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Sliced green onions with tops

In a skillet heat the oil, add the turkey and cook, breaking up the meat until it browns.  Add the onion, garlic, chili powder, and cinnamon.  Cook, stirring occasionally until it smells so good you want to nibble (use your will power!) and the onions begin to soften. 

Transfer to your favorite Crockpot and add the Rotelle, water, salt, and black pepper.  Turn up to high for 4 hours and take a break.  Your Crockpot is going to finish the cooking for you while you choose your own adventure (read, nap, make snow angels, chat with friends/family . . . just get out of the kitchen).

In the last 15 minutes of cooking stir in the square of chocolate.  This smoothes the texture and adds another layer of flavoring.

Turkey Chocolate Chili

Magical Meal Suggestion: The Marottas serve Turkey Chocolate Chili in bowls topped with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese and green onions, with a fresh side salad and warm French bread.  We hope you like the combination of spicy and sweet.

P.S. Left-over chocolate squares make a tasty just right dessert!

If you like this recipe, check out the pasta salad Lisa brought to our last potluck.

Also, I have to include this photo...because I love it...

Those certificates behind her are winning writings of Lisa and her friends.

...and also because it reminds me of what Lisa is doing each Monday on her blog. I love reading her Mindfulness Mondays. It's always a short post and it always makes me feel good.