Souped up Noodle Soup

Nothing beats a nice hot bowl of soup when you're not feeling well. But when you're sick, who wants to spend all that time in the kitchen making said soup? It's always good to have some dry soup mix on hand and here's an easy way to "soup" it up a little to make a comforting bowl of soup without much effort.


1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
8 cups water
2 pkgs dried noodle soup mix or dried chicken noodle soup mix
1 cup elbow noodles, uncooked

Saute vegetables in olive oil until tender. Season with black pepper. Add water and bring to boil. Add soup mix and elbow noodles, cook until noodles are tender.

You could also add cooked chicken to the soup.

Creamy Wild Rice Soup

Acadia had a friend over tonight and they both had seconds of this. The friend says I NEED to give her mom this recipe! lol

1 box wild rice mix, prepared
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/3 cup flour
1/2 to 1 tsp salt
4 cups water
1 can (14 oz) vegetable broth
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
2 cups (8 oz) cubed process American cheese (Velveeta)
12 oz bag frozen broccoli and cauliflower, steamed

In a large saucepan, saute onion and celery in butter until tender. Stir in flour and salt. Gradually stir in water and broth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Stir in wild rice. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the milk, cheese, and broccoli and cauliflower; cook and stir until heated through and cheese is melted.

Black Bean and Corn Soup

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium carrot, grated
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
4 ½ cups (4 cans) black beans, rinsed and drained
6 cups vegetable broth
3 cups frozen corn
1 tsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
Tabasco sauce, to serve

In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, carrot, and garlic. Cook until soft. Stir in cumin and oregano, tomatoes, beans, and broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Puree about one-third of the soup in the pot with an immersion blender, or in a blender or food processor, then return to the pot. Add the corn, and simmer uncovered, for 10 minutes to heat through and blend flavors.

Just before serving, stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve with hot sauce on the side.

***I didn’t have Tabasco sauce on hand *gasp*, so I just added some cayenne pepper to the soup before serving. We also feel that you MUST serve this soup with saltine crackers. It was delicious!!! And I loved it even more as leftovers the next day – YUM!

Chili Cheddar Penne

1 box whole wheat penne pasta
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
3-4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 taco seasonings package
½ tsp salt
2 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies, drained

Cook the pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour until smooth; gradually add milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir constantly for 2 minutes or until thickened.

Reduce heat to medium. Stir in the cheese, taco seasoning and salt. Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes or until cheese is melted. Drain pasta; stir into cheese sauce. Add corn, tomatoes, and chilies. Cook and stir until heated through.

** It is spicy but very tasty. Acadia LOVED it!

*** I might try adding black beans to this next time.

Layered Mexican Casserole

Susan Bower shared the original recipe with me, I adapted it to suit my family's taste and needs.

1 can refried beans
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained**
1 jar (16 oz) salsa
6-8 corn tortillas
2 cups shredded mexican blend cheese
1 box Spanish rice, prepared
1 cup coarsely crushed tortilla chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray casserole dish with cooking spray.

Mix 1 cup salsa with refried beans, mix remaining salsa with black beans. Line baking dish with 3-4 tortillas, overlapping to fit. Spread refried bean mixture over tortillas, evenly. Top with half the black bean mixure and half the cheese. Layer 3-4 more tortillas over cheese. Spoon and spread Spanish rice over tortillas. Top with remaining black bean mixture and cheese. Top with crushed chips.

Bake 30-40 minutes or until hot in center and bubbling along sides.

**Original recipe called for 1 lb cook ground beef instead of black beans.

*** I plan on adding black olives to this recipe next time.

****I have not tried freezing yet so I'm not labeling it as a freezer meal, but I bet it would work. If I try it, I'll come back to update the label.