Creamy Vegetable Soup

This is a total revamp of my Cheeseburger turned Cheesy Vegetable Soup, now turned Creamy. lol  I'll be honest, the original tastes the best, but this really tasted good, too and with so much less fat and calories.  Try it out!

Pam
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
 cup sliced celery
3/4 cup sliced carrots
1 T. dried parsley flakes
3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
4 cups chopped potato (I used red)
1 1/2 cups frozen corn
1 cup milk (1 %)
1 1/2 cups grated colby jack cheese
1/4 cups greek yogurt, plain (replaces sour cream in original recipe)

Spray Pam in the bottom of a large pot, cook onions, bell pepper, celery, carrots, and parsley.  When vegetables are soft, add broth, potatos, and most of the corn.  When potatoes are done, use an immersion blender to blend most of the soup - to desired consistency.  Add remaining corn (I like having some of the kernels whole, you could just add it all before using the blender.), milk, and cheese.  Season to taste (I used black pepper, garlic salt, and some cayenne pepper.).  Add greek yogurt and stir until blended.  Serve with saltine crackers, if desired.

Makes about 8 cups (about 4 adult servings)

Nutritional info per 1 cup: 165.2 calories, 2.2g total fat, 27.7g carbs, and 9.9g protien.

Stir-fry

Stir-fry is great because it is so easy and you can totally tweak the ingredients according to your taste or what you've got on hand.  I made a stir-fry tonight that was so yummy that I HAD to have seconds.  Thankfully, it's pretty healthy too, so that was okay!

1 onion, thinly sliced
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
4 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp. light olive oil
4-5 Tbsp. Stir-fry sauce
Black pepper to taste

Heat oil; add onion, pepper, and celery.   Cook for 5 minutes or so, add zucchini and stir-fry sauce.  Season with black pepper.  Cook for 3-5 minutes more.  Serve over rice. 

I use parboiled rice because it is much healthier than white rice but tastes exactly the same so no one even notices; it would be even better to serve with brown rice. 

Easy Taco Casserole

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed (or you could use 1 pound ground hamburger, browned)
1 cup salsa
1 pkg. taco seasonings
1/2 - 3/4 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded cheese
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
shredded lettuce
diced tomatoes

Heat beans (or cook hamburger), add salsa, taco seasoning, and sour cream.  Put half of the bean mixture in an ungreased baking dish.  Layer with half the cheese and half the chips.  Repeat.  Bake 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  Top with lettuce and tomatoes.

Quick Chicken Noodle Soup

I don't remember where I got this recipe but we tried it last night and it was quick, easy, and delicious! 

5 carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 onion, chopped
8 cups chicken broth/stock
4 chicken breast, cooked and cubed

1 (10 3/4-oz) can cream of chicken soup
1 tsp basil
pepper to taste
1 cup frozen peas (optional)
5-6 oz of pasta

Boil veggies in broth for 15-20 minutes. Add cut up chicken. Add cream of chicken soup, basil, pepper and bring to a boil again before adding pasta and peas. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Slow Cooker Pesto Spinach Lasagna

I went to my kids' back-to-school last night and they actually served us DINNER. Sweet! There were two choices of lasagna available - meat (regular) and vegetarian. I had the vegetarian and it was so delicious, I woke up wanting more this morning!

I've been reading a blog called A Year of Slow Cooking for a long time and appreciate her fun instructions and honest evaluations of the recipes she tries. It's a fun blog to read, even if you never try a recipe.

I read her latest entry today, and it was a recipe for this lasagna in the crock pot. Score!

I'm linking to it here, not only for this recipe, but for the other vegetarian-friendly crock pot recipe links she added to the end of the post. She also has a "vegetarian" category of recipes. Score again!

Zucchini Bread

Susan Bower shared her sister's recipe with me and I tweaked it just a little. 

Zucchini Bread


3 cups flour
½ tsp. Nutmeg
½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cup sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
3 eggs
1 cup oil (or applesauce - I always use applesauce)

Combine and mix until moist. Grease and flour bread pans. Pour ½ - ¾ full. Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 – 1 ½ hours.

Tortilla Salad

Marilyn Beckstrand brought this to a Relief Society activity a couple of months ago.  She gave me the recipe right away but I was VERY slow getting it up... I'm sorry!  But here it is... and trust me, it is GOOD!!!

Tortilla Salad

1 ½ packages curly pasta
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can corn
1 red onion, chopped
1 red or green pepper, chopped
1 can sliced olives
2 cups mayonnaise
2 cups buttermilk
1 package fiesta ranch dip
Tortilla chips
Cheese, diced
Tomato, diced
Avocado, diced

Cook and drain noodles. Mix beans, noodles, corn, onion and olives together Combine mayonnaise, buttermilk, and dip mix. Add to bean mixture. Line dish with tortilla chips. Add bean and mayonnaise mixture. Top with diced cheese, tomato, and avocado.

Serves 20.

*Taco seasoning mix and plain ranch dip can be used as substitute for fiesta dip mix.


From Marilyn:  I probably had less noodles than the recipe calls for, I didn't measure them. I also had a very large pepper and onion so didn't use all of them. Also I cut the dressing in half. I don't put the chips in the salad either.  (They were sprinkled on top.)  The recipe isn't too clear on the amounts, Sorry, you will just have to experiment to get it to your liking!