Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with Sausage

We had some horrible storms with tornadoes the other night and it was prefect soup weather. I wasn't sure what kind of soup to make, though, because I didn't have many ingredients on hand. I did have Italian sausage and found this recipe via google. It tastes a lot like spaghetti. It was very good with French bread on the side.
Creamy Tomato Basil Soup with Sausage
Picky Palate
Ingredients
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1 lb Italian Sausage
10 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade (stacked, rolled and thinly sliced)(I just used dried basil)
1 26 oz jar of your favorite pasta sauce or homemade sauce
1 14.5 oz diced tomatoes, partially drained (don't drain and add less than a cup of water instead of a whole cup)
1 Cup water
1 1/2 Cups half and half
Pinch of salt and pepper
Directions
1. Place olive oil and onion into a medium sized dutch oven over medium heat.
2. Add sausage until browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic.
3. Stir in basil leaves, pasta sauce, tomatoes, water, half and half, salt and pepper.
4. Cook until warm then reduce heat to low.
5. Simmer until ready to serve.

Mary's Black Bean Soup

This is my mom's black bean soup recipe and it's quick and easy. It's good with cornbread.

Mary's Black Bean Soup
5 or 6 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small onion, diced
6 or 7 baby carrots, diced really small
1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 small can of chicken broth
2 cans black beans
salt to taste

In a medium size pan with medium heat, cook garlic, onions, carrots, and olive oil. While this is cooking, take 1 of the cans of black bean and the chicken broth and put them in the blender. Blend together until smooth. When onions are transparent and carrots are soft, they are done. Add the chicken broth mixture to the pan and bring it to a simmer. Add last can of beans and cook 5 minutes more. Makes 3 to 4 servings. Enjoy!

Tortellini Soup

This is one of my favorite soups and so easy to make! It is hearty and delicious. Trust me, you will want seconds.

Tortellini Soup
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 oz. pancetta or bacon, finely diced (I chopped 6 slices of turkey bacon)
1 medium onion, finely chopped (I used red onion)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (49-1/2oz.) chicken broth (I used one 30oz box of stock)
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 package cheese tortellini (I used two 9 oz. bags)
1 can (8 oz) crushed tomatoes in puree (I used 2 cans of diced tomatoes for extra liquid since I didn't use as much broth)
8 oz. fresh spinach, rinsed, stemmed and chopped (I used a bag of spinach)
1 can (14.5 oz) white beans, rinsed and drained (OMITTED)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
Directions:
1. Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add pancetta. Cook until crisp.
2. Add onions; cook 3-4 minutes or until soft. Add garlic, cook 1 more minute.
3. Add broth and Italian seasoning; bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile cook tortellini according to package directions; drain.
5. Add cooked tortellini to soup mixture.
6. Stir in tomatoes and beans and simmer 5 minutes.
7. Add spinach and cook just until wilted.8. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with cheese

Crock pot pizza soup

I found this on a crockpotting website and it was actually really good. I love soups and this one uses fresh veggies. I will definitely make this again.

Ingredients:
1 jar (14 oz) of pizza sauce (I used Ragu but next time I'm going to try a Trader Joes or whole foods sauce - basically an all natural brand to make it a better for you soup)
3 empty jars full of water
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped (I used a whole red onion because we love onion)
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup baby tomatoes, cut in quarters (I used 1 can diced tomatoes and didn't drain them)
2 already-cooked Italian sausage (I used chicken Italian sausage)
1 cup sliced pepperoni, sliced in quarters (Hormel turkey pepperoni is labeled gluten free)
8 fresh basil leaves, chopped (or 1/2 T dried)
1 T dried oregano
1/2 to 1/3 cup of dried pasta (if your pasta is tiny, use 1/3 cup. if it's big, do 1/2. I used 1/2 cup Trader Joe's brown rice penne)

shredded mozzarella cheese (to add later)

The Directions.
Use a 5 or 6 quart crockpot for this recipe. Serves 4-6
Wash and prepare veggies. Dump them into the crockpot. Cut up the sausage into small pieces--I sliced, then cut the pieces in fourths. Add to crockpot. Cut up the pepperoni, add it, too. Add basil and oregano. Pour in the pizza sauce, and follow with three empty jars of water.Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours. Everything in this is already cooked, so you are really only heating through and allowing the flavors to meld.
Thirty minutes before serving, add the dry pasta, and turn to high. My pasta only took 20 minutes to soften quite nicely. Garnish/top with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Roasted Potatoes

This recipe is off the Lipton Onion Soup mix box. It is very easy and good! I made this as a side with the George Foreman Chicken.

1 pack Onion Soup mix
1/3 cup olive oil
7-8 small Red Potatoes (use whatever potatoes you want...I wanted red and cut up enough to cover the bottom of the 9x13 pan)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Cut the potatoes into 4-6 pieces (depending on potato size) and place in a 9x13 baking dish.
Drizzle olive oil and soup mix on top and mix together (I used my hands).
Place in oven for about 30 minutes or until done

Green Bean Casserole (with a twist)

Green Bean Casserole (with a twist)

This is the recipe off French's can but with broccoli cheese soup instead. I like it better that way!

Ingredients:
1 (10 3/4) oz. can CAMPBELL'S® Cream of Mushroom Soup (I used broccoli cheese soup)
3/4 cup milk
1 1/3 cups FRENCH'S® French Fried Onions
4 cups cooked whole green beans (I used 2 regular cans)

Directions:
1. MIX soup, milk, 2/3 cup French Fried Onions, and beans in 1 1/2-qt. baking dish.
2. BAKE at 350°F for 30 min. or until hot. Stir.
3. TOP with remaining onions. Bake 5 min.

Crock pot beef stroganoff

EASY BEEF STROGANOFF

1 1/2 lb. round steak (I used stew meat)
2 tbsp. flour
Salt & pepper to taste
10 oz. can cream of mushroom soup
1 small can of mushrooms
1 packet onion soup mix
1 sm. onion
sour cream (optional)
egg noodles

Tenderize and cut meat into serving pieces. Salt, pepper and dredge meat in flour. Place onions in bottom of crock pot, then add meat. Combine mixture of mushroom soup, canned mushrooms and onion soup mix and spread over meat. Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours.
Before serving I mixed about 1/4 cup of sour cream throughout the stroganoff for added flavor.
Serve over egg noodles.

Quick Tater Tot Bake

This is easy and good. :)

Quick Tater Tot Bake

3/4 to 1 pound ground beef or ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 package (16 oz) frozen tater tot potatoes
1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1/2 soup can milk or water
1 cup (4oz) shredded cheddar cheese

In a skillet, brown the meat and onion. Drain any fat. Season with salt and pepper. Place in a greased 1-1/2 qt. to 2-qt. casserole. Top with potatoes. Combine soup and milk or water; pour over potatoes. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

French Fry Casserole

So this isn't the healthiest meal to make but it was good! I thought I would try it in place of the tater tot casserole I make and liked it better. It definitely has more flavor and is a quick, easy meal. I did use turkey to make it a little healthier as a meal.

French Fry Casserole
1 lb. ground meat (lean beef or turkey)
1/2 a medium onion - chopped
1 clove fresh garlic - chopped finely
salt & pepper to taste
1 can cream/mushroom soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup ----- (I could only find Campbell's Spicy Nacho Cheese Soup at the grocery store but it worked fine)
shredded cheddar cheese
frozen french fries ----- (I used the thin fast food style rather than the thick crinkle fries)

Brown beef, along with onion and fresh garlic. Drain, add back to pan along with salt, pepper, and soups. Heat through & pour into casserole dish. Top with frozen fries. Sprinkle top of fries with seasoning salt and pepper. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until fries are golden brown. Spread handful of cheese on top & put back in oven until melted.

Mexican Casserole

A friend's brother forwarded this recipe on to me. I tried it and it was good - that's a lot of doritoes though! :)

Mexican Casserole

3 chicken breast
1 can of rotel
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 bag of nacho cheese doritoes
shredded cheese(however much you want to put on it)

Uncle Bens 90 second mexican rice(if you want rice on on the side)

The layers for this are crushed doritos, the soup and rotel mixture, shredded chicken and cheese. Only do 2 layers for each in a sqare Pyrex pan.

Cut the chicken into pieces and cook. Put the Rotel, and soups together in separate pot and cook that. After everything is cooked you will follow the layers above. You will have to shred (pull apart) the chicken with your hands or you can cut it with scissors. After you have the layers done put in the oven on 350 for about 20 minutes or so. You kind of just have to guesstimate if it looks ready.

Chicken pot pie

This is one of my favorite comfort foods and it came out really good! I found this recipe at cooks.com.


CHICKEN POT PIE

2 (10 oz) cans Campbell's Cream of Chicken Soup orCampbell's Chicken or Turkey Pot Pie Soup
2 (about 9 oz) packages frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
2 cups cubed, cooked chicken
1 cup chicken broth combined with 2 tablespoons flour
2 Pillsbury pie shells
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Mix soup, vegetables, chicken, and broth. (The mixture should be sort of thick.) Place in pie shell.
Bake for 35 minutes until golden. (Cover pie edge if it begins to brown too quickly).