Zuppa Toscana

• 1 lb Italian sausage (I like mild sausage) 
• 2 large russet baking potatoes, sliced in half, and then in 1/4 inch slices 
• 1 large onion, chopped 
• 1/4 cup bacon bits (optional) 
• 2 garlic cloves, minced 
• 2 cups kale or swiss chard, chopped 
• 2 (8 ounce) cans chicken broth 
• 1 quart water 
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream 

Chop or slice uncooked sausage into small pieces.
Brown sausage in your soup pot.
Add chicken broth and water to pot and stir.
Place onions, potatoes, and garlic in a separate pot.
Cook on medium heat until potatoes are done.
Add sausage and bacon.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Simmer for another 10 minutes.
Turn to low heat.
Add kale and cream.
Heat through and serve.

Cream of Carrot Soup

Cream of Carrot Soup

• 1 lb carrots 
• 2 C. chicken brother
• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 C. half-and-half

Peel carrots and cut into 1/2 inch slices. Put carrots in 2 qt saucepan. Add the chicken broth. 

Cook the carrots and broth over med-high heat. When the broth begins to boil, turn heat down to med-low. 

Cover the saucepan. Cook the carrots for 20 min or until they are very soft and break apart when pierced with fork. 

Place the colander in a large bowl. Pour broth and carrots through the colander, catching the carrots in the colander. Save the broth. 

Put the drained carrots back in the saucepan. Mash them until they are smooth. Set the pan aside. 

In the 3 qt saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour. 

Cook the butter and flour for 1 min over low heat, stirring constantly. 

Add the mashed carrots, salt, and cayenne pepper. Stir to mix them together. 

Slowly stir in the broth. Turn the heat up to med-high and cook for 10 min. Stir often. 

Add the half-and-half. Heat the soup slowly, stirring constantly. Do not let the soup boil. 

Ladle into bowls and serve with crackers. Great appetizer soup. 

The cayenne pepper gives this soup a great flavor. I add a little more than this calls for. And I've used whipping cream instead of half-and-half. 

Black Bean Taco Soup

• 1 lb beef - browned and drained
• 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 15 1/4 oz corn (undrained)
• 15oz black beans (undrained)
• 15 1/2 oz can red kidney beans (undrained)
• 1 envelope dry Ranch dressing mix
• 1 envelope dry taco seasoning
• 1 small onion, chopped
• tortilla or corn chips
• shredded cheese
• sour cream

1. Combine all ingredients, except last 3 in crockpot.
2. Cover. Cook low 4-6 hours.
3. Garnish with last 3 ingredients. 

Taco Soup

• 1 onion
• 1 28oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1 9oz jar of tomato sauce
• 1 can of corn (do NOT drain)
• 1 can of chili beans (do NOT drain)
• 1 can of pinto beans, rinsed (or red, kidney, or black)
• 1 small jar/can of jalapeno pepper
• 1 lb hamburger
• 1 pkg taco seasoning
• sour cream, grated cheese (opt)
• tortilla chips

Brown the hamburger and onion. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, chili, beans, pinto beans, jalapeno pepper, and taco seasoning. Simmer for about 20 min. until heated through. Serve with tortilla chips, crushed (opt). Enjoy!

Black Bean Chili

4 teaspoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 can (4 1/2 ounces) chopped green chiles
2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes
Salt
1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn

Directions
In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion; cook until softened, 5 to 6 minutes. Add garlic and cumin; cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 2 minutes more.
To the pan, add chiles, beans, tomatoes and their juice, 2 cups water, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Bring mixture to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, partially covered, until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes.
Add frozen corn; simmer until heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve hot.

I usually serve with corn bread.

For something different, I tried this on a whole wheat tortilla and it was great! Or you can eat it in a bowl with a whole wheat tortilla on the side. It was surprisingly easy to make your own tortillas.

Whole Wheat Tortillas

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 T olive oil
1/2 cup warm tap water
Combine flour, Baking powder and salt. Add olive oil and stir until well combined. Put in warm tap water 1 T at a time until dough can be gathered into a ball. Add more water if needed 1 T at a time. Knead on floured surface 15-20 times. Let dough rest for 15 minutes. Divide dough into 10-12 equal portions and shape into balls. On floured surface roll out ball from center into a circle. Cook on ungreased skillet over medium-high heat on each side about 30 seconds or until puffy.

Autumn Harvest Soup

1 Tbsp. garlic

1 large onion

2 links Italian sausages (milk or hot, we like spicy hot)

2 Tbsp olive oil. 

Saute on low heat. 

6 C chicken stock (beef stock works fine if you don't have chicken stock)

2 rings smoked Kielbasa sausage

4 C cabbage shredded (if you use purple cabbage, you will have purple soup)

2 C quartered raw potatoes (we like with the skin on)

1 C diced turnip (we've used acorn squash instead, very tasty)

1 C diced carrots

Cover and simmer 1 hr.

Cut sausages. 

1 C fresh  spinach (I've used kale instead because I had it on hand and it's very similar)

1 Tbsp sage

1 Tbsp rosemary  ( I didn't have sage this past time, but I threw in thyme, basil, oregano, and bay leaves, that was delicious!)

1 green apple (I don't think we've ever put that in, but you can try and tell me how it was)

Salt and Pepper to taste. Sprinkle Parmesan or Romano on top of each bowl. Yum! 

Note: This is a great soup to ignore measurements and just throw in whatever you have. I had tons of carrots this past week, so I'm sure this soup had way more than one cup of those. 

Pioneer Stew and Pioneer Bread

I make this for Pioneer Day every year!

Pioneer Stew

1 C flour
2 Tbsp salt
1 tsp pepper
3 lbs round steak
1/2 C butter or vegetable oil
6 C water
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 tsp sugar
2 bay leaves
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
4 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 onions, chopped
2 C chopped tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced

Combine flour, salt, and pepper and place on the surface of a cutting board. Place half of round stea on top. With a mallet, pound flour into both sides of meat. (I don't have a mallet, so I skip that part). Repeat process with other half of meat. Cut meat into bite sized pieces. In a Dutch oven or other large oven-proof pot, heat butter or oil over medium heat. Add stew meat and brown well. Add water, vinegar, sugar, bay leaves, carrots, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and garlic. Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 2 hours. Remove covering and cook for an additional hour or until meat is tender and stew is thickened. Makes about 12 cups.

Also works with venison if you happen to be one of those with that in your freezer. I prefer the steak myself though.

Pioneer Bread

1 (0.25 oz) pkg yeast
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 C warm water
1 C hot milk (not boiling)
2 tsp salt
1/2 C dark molasses
1/2 C butter or margerine
1 C cold ilk
1 egg, beaten
5 1/2 C whole wheat flour

In a small bowl mix together yeast, sugar and war water. Set aside and let rise until foamy. In a large bowl combine hot milk, salt, molasses, and butter until dissolved. Add flour and stir until well blended. Put into two well-greased loaf pans. Let rise about one hour. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes. Best when served warm.

Beehive Honey Butter

Great spread for the Pioneer Bread.

1 C honey
1 C butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla

Combine all 3 ingredients. Beat with an electric mixer on high speed for about 3 minutes until thickened. Put into jars and refrigerate. Lasts a long time in the fridge.

Taco Soup

Taco Soup

1 onion, chopped
1 28 oz. can of tomatoes, diced
1 8 oz. jar of tomato sauce
1 can of corn (do NOT drain)
1 can of chili beans (do not drain)
1 can of pinto beans, rinsed (or red, kidney, or black beans)
1 small jar/can of jalapeno pepper
1 lb hamburger
1 pkg. taco seasoning
Shredded Mexican Cheese
Sour Cream
Tortilla Chips

Brown the hamburger & onion. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn, chili, beans, pinto beans, jalapeno pepper & taco seasoning. Simmer for about 20 min, until heated through.
Serve with tortilla chips & a sour cream. We sprinkled on shredded Mexican cheese into each bowl before adding a spoonful of sour cream. This tastes like a yummy Mexican dip, it is so good & spicy!

Pasta Fagioli

Pasta Fagioli

1 lb. ground beef 
1 small onion, diced (1 cup)
1 large carrot, julienned (1 cup)
3 stalks celery chopped (1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can red kidney beans, with liquid
1 (15 oz) can great northern beans, with liquid

1 (15 oz) can tomato juice
1 (12 oz) can V-8 juice
1 Tbs. white vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 pound (1/2 package)ditali pasta (short little tubes)

Brown ground beef in a large saucepan over medium heat. Drain off fat. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Saute for 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, except pasta and simmer for 1 hour.
About 50 minutes into simmer time, cook pasta in boiling water over high heat. Cook for 10 minutes. Drain. Add pasta to the large pot of soup. Simmer for 5-10 minutes and serve.
Serves 8.

Potato Soup

Potato Soup

1 1/2 sticks butter
3/4 C flour
1 C diced onion
1 C diced celery
2 C diced potatoes (with skin)
4 C milk
3/4-1 C grated cheddar cheese

Put onion, celery & potatoes in a pot with just enough water to cover veggies. Boil till tender. Make white sauce by melting butter, then stir in flour. Then slowly stir in milk, cover over low/med heat until thick (stirring constantly!) Add cheese. Heat until melted (use some as garnish). Add potatoes, celery & onions to white sauce. Heat till thickened. Season with salt, pepper, & paprika. Chopped chives may be added as garnish.

I usually double the recipe because this doesn't make very much. Great with fresh homemade bread or rolls!

I got this recipe from my good friend and old roommate Tara. Thanks Tee!