Soup Archives - Page 5 of 5 - One Hundred Dollars a Month

Simple Storage Tips – How to Freeze Soup, Sauce, and Puree

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on October 3, 2012 · 39 Comments

One of the ways I’m able to keep our grocery budget so low is by freezing our extra fruits and vegetables during the growing season. I also like to make large servings of soup in my crock pot during the week as well. Knowing I have the option to pull a hearty soup or pasta sauce from the freezer when I’m having a busy day {or week}, is a huge stress reliever.

How to Freeze Soup, Sauce, and Puree

Fill quart sized zip baggies with 2 cups of soup, sauce or puree and seal.

Lay bags flat on a cookie sheet and place the cookie sheet in the freezer on a flat surface.

Once the contents are frozen solid {I usually wait 24 hours} stack them on a freezer shelf or in a freezer basket.

If you have a large quantity of soup to freeze, you may also want to use a large baking pan to stack your bags in while they are freezing. I have used this method before with various produce, purees, and soup as well and it works great.

So what do you think? Am I just a total weirdo with too much time on my hands?

Or do you freeze your excess soup and purees too?

~Mavis

Thinking about investing in a FoodSaver machine? Here are a few Amazon links if you are interested.

FoodSaver Vertical Vacuum Sealer
FoodSaver Advanced Design Vacuum Sealer

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Easy Crock Pot Recipes – Italian Chicken Pasta Soup

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on October 1, 2012 · 10 Comments

Since school started over a month ago, I’m been using my crock pot about twice a week now for dinner time meals. And why wouldn’t I? The weather is getting colder, everyone is coming home at different times, and it’s so stinkin’ easy to take 5 minutes out of my day to toss a few items in the crock pot for a hot dinner everyone likes.

If you haven’t dusted yours off yet from storing it all summer, now is your chance. This recipe for Italian Chicken Pasta Soup rocks. And seriously, it takes only 5 minutes to prepare.

Ingredients {adapted from Betty Crocker}

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts {I used frozen}
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup pitted ripe olives, cut in half
2 cloves garlic, minced
48 ounces chicken broth
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup uncooked small shell pasta { I used mini bow tie pasta}
1 teaspoon Italian seasonings {I used McCormick’s blend}
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Place all of the ingredients in a large crock pot, stir, cover, and cook on the low setting for 8 hours or on the high setting for 4 hours. About 20 minutes before serving the soup, use two forks to shred the chicken in the crock pot. Add pasta, stir and continue to cook in the crock pot for 20 minutes or until the pasta is tender {be careful not to overcook it}. Ladle soup in to bowls and serve.

Looking for more slow cooker recipes? Check out Art of the Slow Cooker By Andrew Schloss. There are over 80 recipes in the book ans it has great reviews. Plus, Amazon currently has it in stock and ready to ship.

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Recipe – Broccoli Soup

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on June 21, 2012 · 5 Comments

A big thank you to everyone who mentioned their roasted broccoli recipes. I have plenty of broccoli left over, so roasted broccoli and salmon are on the menu for tomorrow night. Yay!

I called the HH and asked him what I should do with the broccoli and he suggested broccoli soup, so after a quick search online I found this recipe and adapted it a little and used what I had on hand. And guess what? It turned out delicious!

So if you have a boatload of broccoli to harvest, or you find a deal on some, be sure and print out this recipe and make a pot.

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli
5 green onions, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
4 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese shavings
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in heavy medium pot {I used a stir fry pan} over medium-high heat. Add the broccoli, onion, carrot, salt and pepper and saute for about 5 minutes. Next add the flour and chicken stock. Stir and reduce heat to a simmer and for about 10 – 15 minutes until the broccoli is somewhat soft.

Next, pull out your immersion blender super powered blender {we love the Blendtec} and puree the soup.

Serve warm with croutons or shaved Parmesan on top.

If you are unsure of the total awesome power of the Blendtec blender, check out this video. My kids love it!

And just in case you were wondering if they sell Blendtec’s on Amazon, YES, they do! You can Go Here to check out the awesome reviews.

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Recipe: Rustic Split Pea Soup With Ham

The links in the post below may be affiliate links. Read the full disclosure
By Mavis Butterfield on April 8, 2012 · 13 Comments

If you prepared a ham for Easter Sunday, and are trying to figure out what to do with the leftovers, this recipe for split pea soup should help. A crock pot works best for this and you can add as much or as little split peas as you’d like. Some people like it thick, and others thin.

Split Pea Soup With Ham

Ingredients

1/2 – 1lb leftover ham
1 1/2 lbs of dried split peas
2 chopped carrots
1 chopped onion
3 minced garlic cloves
1 teaspoon cracked pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

Rinse, drain and pick over your peas. Add peas to crock pot, cover with 3 inches of warm water and turn crockpot on high. Add ham and cover. Saute carrots and onions in olive oil until lightly browned, add minced garlic and saute for one minute longer. Toss sautéed goodness over ham and pea mixture. Add salt, pepper and thyme. Stir and replace lid.

Set it and forget it. Come back 6 hours later and eat until your belly is nice and full. Serve with rolls. Enjoy.

~Mavis

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.