Poop Soup

On Wednesday, after our "huge" snow storm, I was craving soup!  It was as if I knew what was coming when I was at the grocery store the Sunday before and picked up a bag of dried, mixed beans!  When I was a little girl, my mom used to make a red soup called Poop Soup, which is more commonly refer to as Navy Bean Soup.  It used to be a treat we would only indulge in a few times a year, but we all looked forward to it with our mouths drooling.  The two day process was torture!

When I came across the dry bean mix in the grocery store, I realized that it had been years since we had it, and I could not resist the temptation.  When snow arrived on the weather forecast, it was destiny!  I just want to mention, that if you do not want to go through the process of soaking beans, you can always mix wet canned beans that have been drained instead.  This will also cut your process down from 2 days to 1!  I have also included the recipe for my great grandmom's dumpling recipe, which I make with this. 


Poop Soup
Yields 10 large servings...aka enough to feed the entire state of Rhode Island.  There is enough with this amount of ingredients to reserve half and freeze it for another day!

Ingredients 
1 lb 13 oz bag of dried bean mix (Again, you can replace this with canned beans that have been strained for a shorter prep time!)
56 oz of tomato puree
1 pound of diced ham (You can replace this with a pork butt or kielbasa.  Normally we do use a pork butt.)
Salt and Pepper to taste

To Prepare the Soup 
1. The night before you make the soup, place your dried beans in a strainer and wash them with cool water.

2. Place them in a large bowl with plenty of water and leave them to soak over night.  Even though you have washed the beans, the water will still turn colors because of the beans reconstituting.

3. The next day strain the water from the beans and start boiling them in 2 quarts of water.  Make sure there is enough water to cover the beans plus some!

The reconstituted beans will be slightly plump and a little softer.

4. Boil the beans for at least 1 hour.

5. Chop the ham and add it to the pot of water and beans.  If you are using a pork butt, I would recommend leaving it whole and adding it to the pot!

6. Right after adding the ham, add 56 ounces of tomato puree to the pan and turn it down to low heat.
7. Cook for another hour on low heat. You can salt and pepper to taste during this step, or let everyone season their own bowls!

Approximately a half hour before serving, prepare your dumplings!

Great Grandma's Dumplings
Yields approximately 2 cups of dumplings

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 cup milk
1 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder

To Prepare the Dumplings
1. Turn the soup up to medium heat so it is simmering and on the verge of boiling.

2. Blend all of the dry ingredients together.
3. Add the milk and gently fluff the batter together with a fork.  The dough should not completely come together.  If you force the ingredients, your dough will not rise properly in the soup!

4. Drop the dough into the soup by the spoon full.

5. Cover the pot with a lid and forget about it for about 20 minutes or until the dumplings have risen and puffed up!

Meatless Monday - Havarti and Kale Grilled on Seeded Rye with Tomato Soup

I should have known better than to venture into the kitchen while I was under the weather.  Dinner was good, but definitely NOT incident free...

Every now and then throughout the year I go on a new recipe binge.  I try out a bunch of new things, and then adapt them to my style and my family's tastes!  It looks like the binge came early this year.  

Rachel Ray got me again with the pictures of her Grilled Cheese and Kale Sandwiches with Tomato Soup.  It looked beyond yummy, and seemed like a good dinner for Meatless Monday.  With a storm a-brewin' to the west of us, and the temperatures steadily dropping, it seemed like the perfect combo!  Not to mention, I hoped that it would help my stuffed up nose along!

It seemed easy enough...

I forgot to pick up the havarti and bread at the grocery store when I did my shopping...greaaaat.

So today, on the way home from work, my dad and I stopped at the grocery store.  Not thinking, I had worn slippers in the car and couldn't go in the store, so I sent my dad in with a list and told him, "If they don't have havarti at the deli counter, get provolone."  What seemed like 40 minutes later he emerges...with havarti...in block form.  Crap.  Ok, so I will just slice it up when I get home...no biggie.  As I drive, I suddenly remember that someone, who shall remain nameless, ran my wooden cheese slicer through the dishwasher and cracked it beyond repair.  Hand slicing soft cheese...this is going to make for an interesting night!  At least he did me proud and picked up a real loaf of seeded rye in the bakery...bonus points for dad!

We get home and I get the havarti sliced in a decent amount of time, assemble 3 sandwiches, and start melting a pad of butter in the frying pan on medium heat.  Two sandwiches went in easily, and I dipped my kitchen brush in the melted butter and saturated the tops of both sandwiches.  I reached for my tried and true Campbell's Condensed and the milk and got the tomato soup going while they cooked.  After about 5 minutes on low to medium heat, the bottom layer of havarti had melted most of the way, so I flipped and pressed the sandwiches down with a spatula to help everything bind together.  My dad and sister's sandwiches came out of the pan and were the definition of perfection when I cut them in half and set them on a plate next to a heaping bowl of steamy tomato soup!

Then it quickly went downhill as I put my sandwich in the pan.  I threw another pad of butter in the pan forgetting that the heat was a little high.  It browned quickly and I though, "No biggie, I'll toss it in anyway'"  Yeah...not my best idea.  I thought it was ok, and dipped my brush in the butter to take care of the top piece of bread.  The brush MELTED IN THE BUTTER!

The burnt brush aftermath!

I scooped my spatula under the sandwich and started yelling for help.  My sister sauntered into the kitchen wanting to know what my problem was.  She got me a smaller frying pan for me and dropped a pad of butter in it.  I figured my sandwich was ready to flip and flipped it over into the new pan.  I burnt the bottom of my sandwich and the cheese didn't melt all of the way.  I managed to get it to melt most of the way and finally was able to enjoy my dinner!

After all was said and done, the grilled cheese was worth it and everybody loved it, but I guess I would have liked it more if mine had been a little less...cajun style?

Havarti and Kale Grilled on Seeded Rye 
Source: Every Day with Rachel Ray - February 2011
Yields approximately 5 sandwiches

Ingredients 
1 pound of havarti cheese
1 pound of kale
1 loaf of seeded rye bread
a few tablespoons of butter

To Prepare 
1. Melt a tablespoon of butter in a frying pan over low to medium heat.
2. Spread a layer of havarti on both sides of the bread.
3. Place a layer of deveined kale leaves on one side of the sandwich and close the sandwich.
4. Cook the sandwich in the melted butter over low to medium heat. For the optimal  golden brown buttery sandwich, spread some melted butter on the top side of the sandwich while it cooks!  When you flip it there will be some butter to brown and bubble!
5. After you flip it, press it down with a spatula so everything starts to melt together. 
6. Pull the sandwich out of the pan when the cheese has melted!

It didn't quite melt all the way because I was afraid of burning it more!  It was still delicious though!!

On a fun little side note, I have to show how absolutely adorable my cat Vinnie is!  He LOVES tomatoes, so any time we have fresh tomatoes or tomato soup, he puts on his "I don't want it face," and starts purring so loud that it sounds like a semi is coming through the house.  Tonight he was eating the spoon full of left over tomato soup off a spoon.  He has manners, what can I say?  Here are a few photos of him with a slice of tomato...

Turkey Soup with Stuffing Biscuits

I have a lot of catching up to do on the blog, and I didn't realize how bad it was until I flipped through the pictures I recently uploaded...whoops...I guess I was more distracted than I thought!

I made this the weekend after Thanksgiving with the last of the leftovers. It was pretty easy to make, and went much better than most of my broth based soup attempts! What is great about this recipe, is that you can adapt it to whatever your leftovers consist of, and most of the ingredients are probably already around your kitchen!

Turkey Soup with Stuffing Biscuits 
Yields 6 servings

To Prepare the Soup
1. Wash 1 pound of carrots, and cut them down into 1/4 inch thick rounds. 
2. Wash 2 pieces of celery, and cut them down into 1/4 inch thick slices. 
3. Peel and dice 1 small onion.
4. Once all of your veggies are diced, begin heating 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. 
5. When the oil is hot, add all of the veggies to the pan. 
6. Stir them and cook them until the onions are translucent and the celery is starting to get soft. 
7. Add 4 cans of chicken broth to the pot, and keep the pan over medium heat. 
8. Cut up leftover turkey or chicken.  I put in a large turkey breast, and it was a good amount.  You can add more or less depending on your particular tastes! 
9. I then added leftover wild rice from Thanksgiving dinner.  If you are going to add uncooked noodles, rice, or pasta, you might need to add extra broth to your soup as it cooks, otherwise it will quickly absorb the juice and your soup runs the risk of drying out and burning!  You can also precook it and then add it in like I did. 

10. Make adaptations to your liking...have leftover corn?  Toss it in!  Don't want to add grain?  Don't!  Take a look in your fridge and at your leftovers, and get creative!

To Prepare the Biscuits

1. On top of a cookie sheet, press leftover stuffing through a round cookie cutter until it is flush with the top of the cutter. 

2. Repeat this step until you are out of stuffing. 

3. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees. 
4. Keep an eye on them while they are cooking.  When the bottoms have started to brown, flip them over and cook them until the other side has browned.  Your cooking time will vary depending on your stuffing, and how moist or dry it is!

These are great for dipping in the soup too! 

Pumpkin Coconut Cream Soup with Cinnamon Croutons

After perusing my new favorite grocery store (The Golden Mango), I found quartered pumpkins for cooking in the refrigerated produce section.  I obviously could not turn this offer down (especially when 3 pounds worth was only $2.00)!!!  With Vegetarian Week quickly looming on the blog, I opted for it, and figured I would find something to do with it.  I didn't want to go the obvious route of pie or bread, and finally remembered that there is such a thing as pumpkin soup!  I wanted to find a balance between sweet and savory though, especially since my dad and sister can be a little picky sometimes!  They really ended up enjoying it, and we are now looking forward to making it the week after Thanksgiving to have with leftover turkey sandwiches!  I also almost forgot to mention that this actually ended up being a vegan recipe!

Pumpkin Coconut Cream Soup with Cinnamon Croutons
Yields 6 servings


To Prepare the Soup 
1. Puree 3 pounds of pumpkin.  If you are going to puree them from scratch, you will need to cut the pumpkin into manageable pieces, and remove all of the seeds and goopy stringy bits!  Leave the skin on though, as it peels off much more easily after it is baked.  Bake the pumpkin in a casserole dish at 350 degrees for an hour and a half!  When the pumpkin is done cooking, cool it, peel it, and puree it either in a food processor or in a food mill.  If you do not want to go through this process, use 3 pounds of pumpkin from the grocery store!  Just be sure it is pumpkin puree and not the pie filling though!

2. Start boiling the pumpkin puree in a large pot.
3. Add in a can of cream of coconut (Approximately 16 ounces).  If you do not like coconut, you could use regular milk that is sweetened with a little brown sugar, or you could use vanilla or almond soy milk to keep this recipe vegan!
4. Add in a can of vegetable broth (Approximately 16 ounces).
5. Add in 1 heaping teaspoon of curry powder.
6. Add in 1/2 a teaspoon of ground nutmeg.
7. Add in 1/2 a teaspoon of cinnamon.
8. Add in 1/2 a teaspoon of ground ginger.
9. Let all of this simmer over medium heat.

To Prepare the Croutons 
1. Slice 6 slices of wheat bread into thirds.  Be sure to use a vegan friendly bread if you are keeping this recipe vegan!
2. Place them on a baking sheet.
3. Sprinkle them with cinnamon and sea salt.

4. Bake at 350 degrees in the oven for approximately 10 minutes, or until they are golden brown and crunchy!

Creamy Chicken and Green Bean Casserole

It is the official start of my self proclaimed CASSEROLE WEEK!!!  Why casseroles, you may ask?  They are easy and cheap to make, are a great way to get left overs out of the fridge and freezer, and can be made a head of time and reheated!  Plus, casseroles are great for lunch the next day or two!  I know that some of you do not have ovens or access to them, so I would like to take a quick second here to tell you that you do not have to have an oven to enjoy a casserole!  All of the ingredients can be prepared and heated and then served on top of each other.  For example, with tonight's recipe, you can heat the green beans in the sauce while the chicken cooks, and then top with the stuffing mixture.  Sometimes, we just have to get a little creative to enjoy our kitchen and dinner!

I have made this casserole for some of my friends in the past, but never for my family, so it is new for my dad and sister...hopefully they will be digging in for seconds!

Creamy Chicken and Green Bean Casserole
Yields 6 - 8 servings

To Prepare the Casserole
1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat.
3. Once the olive oil is hot, add 1 pound of chicken.  I used boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins!
4. While the chicken is cooking, start making the sauce by adding 2 cans of cream of chicken soup, 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, and 1 cup of white wine in a bowl and mixing it well.  (Be sure to pour yourself a glass of wine while you are at it!)

5. Pour a thin layer of sauce in a large casserole dish.

6. Put 2 pounds of thawed green beans in the casserole dish.

7. Evenly spread the cooked chicken on top of the green beans.

8. Cover the entire casserole with the remaining sauce.

9. Top with dry, seasoned stuffing cubes.

10. Bake in the oven for approximately 45 minutes, or until the stuffing is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling! 

Enjoy your casserole with a glass of white wine!

Taco Soup

I absolutely love tacos, but when fall and winter come I like to fill up on hearty and hot soup, not to mention the fact that lettuce and tomatoes start to become a little sketchy (and not as delicious)!  Cold weather and a craving for tacos got me craving this last winter.  What I especially love about this soup is how fast it cooks...only about 10 minutes!  The longest part of the process is browning the meat!  Now, I know most of you are probably cringing at the fact that this used to be a school cafeteria left overs dish, but this isn't your high school's taco soup!

Taco Soup 
Yields 6 generous servings

To Prepare the Soup
1. Brown 1 pound of ground beef in a large pot.  If you don't like beef, ground chicken or turkey works well too! 

2. After the meat is browned, add a packet of either mild chili seasoning or taco meat seasoning.  Cook this down for a few minutes!

3. Add 4 cans of condensed tomato soup, as well as 4 cans of water.  Don't use milk with this recipe!  The milk makes the soup too sweet in the end, while the water carries the other flavors better!

4. Blend in one can of refried beans.  Make sure they are mixed in very well and not stuck to the bottom of the pan!
5. Bring the soup to a boil.

To Serve the Soup
I like to offer a few different toppings, but my favorites are crunched tortilla chips, taco blend cheese, and sour cream.  I've also opted for black beans, corn, chives, olives, and onions!