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Broccoli Cheese Soup

Once upon a time, in the not-so-distant past, I made broccoli cheese soup.

It was a disaster.

I’m not sure what went wrong, but it was inedible. Usually, even if dishes don’t turn out that great, we still suffer through so we don’t waste food. But this… this abomination of broccoli cheese soup will probably go down in history as the worst thing that I have ever made.

Since that day, I have stayed away from making broccoli cheese soup. Even though I love it so and my heart pines for it, I refused to try to make it ever again.

…Until now. As I’m entering my last few weeks of pregnancy, I’m trying to prepare for bringing the baby home. One way I’m prepping is to make a bunch freezer meals so I won’t have to worry about cooking for a while.

I came across this recipe for a healthy broccoli cheese soup and decided to overcome my fear and go for it!

It came out fantastic! In fact, it was so good that we ate all of it before I could get it into the freezer! So then I made a double batch so we could eat it and freeze it!

I am so happy with this soup. It’s so easy and it is so good! Hope you enjoy it as much as me!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, dice

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 c of butter

1/4 c of All-Purpose flour

1 c milk (I used Almond Cashew)

3 c vegetable broth

3 c broccoli (apxr 1 head), chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 c carrots, diced (I used pre sliced carrots and roughly chopped them)

½ tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 c cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

  1. In a large pot, heat the butter until it starts to melt.
  2. Add the flour and whisk constantly for about 2 minutes.
  3. Slowly add the vegetable broth and milk, continuing to whisk the mixture.
  4. Once combined, turn heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 min.
  5. Meanwhile, add olive oil to saucepan for medium heat.
  6. Add onion and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another minute. Remove from heat if finished before flour/butter mixture is done simmering.
  7. Once the flour/butter mixture is done simmering, add broccoli, carrots, and cooked onion/garlic.
  8. Add salt and pepper.
  9. Simmer for another 20-25 minutes, until vegetables are soft.
  10. Using a handheld immersion blender, puree about half of the soup. (If you don’t have a handheld blender, blend half the soup in a blender). You can also blend more or less depending on how chunky you like your soup.
  11. Add the cheese and stir until combined.
  12. Serve and enjoy! You can add some shredded cheese on top if desired!

 

To freeze: Once cooled place in the either a freezer ready plastic container or freezer bag.

To serve: Place in fridge to thaw about 24 hours before eating. Reheat either on stovetop or in a microwavable container in microwave until heated through.

 

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Sweet Potato Bean Stew

My husband has had a sore throat and just generally been feeling icky for the past few days. I’ve been trying to stuff him (and myself) with tons of vitamins and fluids hoping that he quickly gets through this and that I don’t get sick.

Normally, I would really dread my husband having a Man Cold, but he has been a champ this time. He even managed to drag himself to our eight-hour birthing class over the weekend.

I decided this would be a perfect time to try out this new recipe that I actually found on the side of a veggie broth container.

It is so good! It’s so healthy and is super filling.

Usually, my husband hates eating food (especially soup) for days, so I had planned to freeze half of this soup for after our baby arrives, but he has been requesting it every night for dinner! I think we have had this three nights in a row and have one more meal left.

I love the sweet and spicy mix of this soup! I do have to warn you, the longer it sits in the fridge, the spicier it is getting! However, I am still able to eat it without drinking a ton of water, so it’s not too spicy and I wouldn’t change anything for next time.

I usually like to add “toppings” to my soup like avocado, green onion or cheese. But this soup doesn’t need anything. It’s delicious! It is also very easy to edit, so if you like a different kind of bean or more beans, you can surely add them too! I thought I might need to add more beans or quinoa to make this soup a meal, but it didn’t need it.

Sweet Potato Bean Stew

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 c onion (about 1 medium onion), chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped (I used both a yellow and an orange pepper because they were starting to go bad)

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 c sweet potato, cut into 1 in pieces (about 1 large sweet potato)

1 can (15.5 oz) garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

½ tsp ground cinnamon

4 c vegetable broth

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Heat olive oil in large saucepan. Saute onion, bell pepper, and garlic until tender.
  2. Stir in cumin, red pepper flakes, and cinnamon; add broth, beans, and sweet potato.
  3. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer 1 to 1.5 hours until potatoes are tender.
  4. Puree 2 cups of stew in blender or food processor until smooth (or you could use an immersion blender). Stir back into stew.
  5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Easy and Healthy Enchilada Soup

Winter is finally here in Michigan. Sad face.

I have really enjoyed the mild, 40 degree, no jacket days. I didn’t miss the snow or the car doors freezing shut or not being able to breath when you walk outside.

But I knew it couldn’t last forever. Now we are at highs of 15 degrees and snow every day.

The good news? It’s soup weather!

I love making soup because it is so easy. I love when you can throw a bunch of stuff into a pot (or Crock Pot) and walk away. It is also very healthy and filling!

I had some beans and some tomatoes, so I figured I would throw together this delicious soup! One issue that I did have is that this recipe calls for a can of enchilada sauce. I usually always buy mild sauce, but for some reason, I bought hot enchilada sauce! So my soup came out extra spicy! If you like spice, get it hot, if not, stick with mild.

Adding yogurt/sour cream and avocado really help chill out the heat though.

And that is one thing I really love about this soup… There are so many ways to dress it up! You can add cheese, yogurt/sour cream, tortilla strips or avocado! Personally, I do them all! It makes for a really hearty, delicious meal. Sometimes I will serve a side salad, but this soup is filling enough to stand alone.

Enchilada Soup

Ingredients:

1 tbl olive oil

1 med onion

2 cloves garlic (minced)

1 14.5 oz can black beans (drained and rinsed)

1 14.5 oz  can pinto beans (drained and rinsed)

1 14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes

1 10 oz can of enchilada sauce

6 oz frozen corn

2-3 c vegetable broth

1 tbl cumin

1 tsp red pepper

1 tsp smoked paprika

salt and pepper to taste

Optional for topping:

Plain yogurt/sour cream

Cheese

Tortilla strips

Avocado

Directions:

  1. Heat oil in large stock pot over medium high heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook until soft/translucent. About 5 minutes.
  2. Add rest of ingredients to pot. Start with 2 cups of vegetable broth. If soup is too thick, add additional broth. Bring to boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for an additional 20-25 minutes.
  3. Serve hot and garnish with your choice of toppings. I prefer all of them. 🙂
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