This soup has a lot of things going for it.

It can be made entirely in the slow cooker.

The chicken cooks in the soup, so no need for an extra step.

Just like taco soup, there are a million variations.  Use what you’ve got available in your pantry.

Here’s what I used: 

I also used an onion, which didn’t make it into the photo.

Here are a few variations:

• use both red and green peppers, or just a green pepper
• use a can of diced tomatoes with green chilis
• use canned corn, instead of frozen
• use kidney beans or red beans
• skip the rice
• skip the chicken and use a variety of beans to make it meatless
• top with cheddar, Monterey Jack or pepper Jack cheese

It will turn out different every time, but they will all be good!

I created this soup the other day when I needed something fast for dinner.  If you’ve got cooked hamburger in the freezer, this meal really comes together quick.  It’s a combination of Hamburger Vegetable Soup and Pasta Soup.

Feel free to vary the recipe according to what you like and what you have available in your pantry.  It’s a good one for using up small amounts of pasta.  You could also use rice or barley instead of the pasta.  And you might want to add more veggies.

Here’s what I used: 

This meal is so fast to get on the table.  The soup cooks up very quickly and Sister Schubert’s Mini Baguettes are not only the prefect accompaniment, they are also quick to the table.

Do you like dipping bread in your soup?  I do and these were perfect for doing that.  The outside of the baguette is crunchy, making them great for dipping.  The inside is soft and warm, which gives them a homemade taste.  I also really appreciate that they are individual servings, versus a whole loaf that needs to be cut.  When you need to get dinner to the table fast, every little time-saving step helps!

The other thing I love about this whole meal is that it requires no advanced planning.  It’s basically a pantry/freezer meal.  All the ingredients can be kept on hand and pulled out when you need them.  The Mini Baguettes warm in the oven while the soup comes together.   I love meals like this!

Here’s what you’ll need to make the soup: 

In the photo, you’ll see beef broth, but I ended up using chicken broth.  Either would work fine.

How do you eat your soup?  Do you like to dip bread in it?  Do you like to crush crackers in soup?  Or are you a purist, keeping the bread/crackers on the side?

I was one of eight bloggers selected by Sister Schubert’s Homemade Rolls to review their products. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program as well as my writing about my experience. I have also been provided products for review. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.

A while back I shared how excited I was to find Quaker Steel Cut Oats at the grocery store.  They are significantly less expensive than the other brand I’ve seen and I like to use them for oatmeal in the slow cooker.

I never imagined I would use them in soup.

But then The Sweets Life linked up a recipe for Scotch Oatmeal Soup for Ingredient Spotlight: Cabbage.  I knew I had to try it.  The oats are kind of like barley.  They add heartiness to the soup.

I modified The Sweets Life recipe a little bit.  Hers doesn’t have any meat in it and I knew I’d get much further serving a soup full of cabbage to my family if I included some meat.  I was right.  They all ate the soup and liked it.

Here’s what you’ll need to make a pot: 

This soup is really tasty served with cornbread.

Have you ever had oats in soup?

Eating Cheese Soup and Sister Schubert’s Soft Pretzel Rolls made me feel like I was in Canada.

Not the real Canada.  The Disney version in EPCOT.  They have a restaurant there called Le Cellier that serves cheese soup and pretzel bread.  So yummy!

This recipe is not exactly like the Disney soup, but it is very good and easy to make.  And the Pretzel Rolls are super easy.  Just pop them in the oven to warm for a few minutes.

My kids were so excited to have the rolls again.  They’d been asking me to serve them since we’d had Reuben Sliders on Pretzel Rolls a few weeks ago.  The rolls are crusty on the outside, but the inside is soft and tender.  The flavor is like soft pretzels.  They’re a perfect compliment to any soup, but I think they go especially well with cheese soup.

Here’s what you’ll need for the soup: 

Have you ever tried Sister Schubert’s Pretzel Rolls?

I was one of eight bloggers selected by Sister Schubert’s Homemade Rolls to review their products. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program as well as my writing about my experience. I have also been provided products for review. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.

This is a recipe that will be made often in my house.  My kids have been asking for it again already.

I first saw the recipe when Mary from Giving Up on Perfect linked it for Ingredient Spotlight.  I’ve since spotted it on Pinterest several times.  This soup is fantastic!  And it’s easy too.

I made just a few minor changes to the way Mary fixed it.  I doubled the recipe, which made a lot.  It completely filled my 6 quart slow cooker.   Here’s what you’ll need: 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 – 2 lbs. chicken tenders
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 large onion, diced
• 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cans tomatoes with diced green chilis
• 1 can cream style corn
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 2 cans enchilada sauce
• 3 cups milk

Directions

Place chicken in bottom of the slow cooker.  I used frozen chicken and did not thaw it.  Add all other ingredients except cream soup, enchilada sauce and milk.  Stir those last 3 ingredients together and pour over others in slow cooker.  Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 7-8 hours.

Top with shredded pepper jack cheese and serve with tortilla chips.

In the doubled recipe, the 2 cans of tomatoes with green chilies gave the soup a nice kick.  We liked that much heat, even the kids, but if your family doesn’t then substitute a can of diced tomatoes for 1 can of tomatoes with green chilies.

This made enough for my family of 6 to have dinner twice.  I froze the leftovers for the second meal.

The fantastic thing about this soup is that it’s really just a bowl full of raw veggies.  But it tastes divine.  So good, you could just eat and eat it.  So good for you that you can do just that with no guilt.

It’s perfect for a hot, summer evening because it’s eaten cold.  I have to admit that freaked my kids out.  They did eat it, but they weren’t sure they liked cold soup.  Jim and I loved it though.

I adapted my recipe from Pioneer Woman, adding red bell pepper, jalepeno and parsley just because they were hanging out in my fridge.  I don’t own a food processor, so I used my pitiful blender that has been partially melted in the dishwasher.  It worked fine, so I guess I still don’t have an excuse to buy a food processor.

Here’s what you’ll need: 

Gazpacho

Ingredients

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 5 tomatoes, diced
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 jalepeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 46 oz tomato juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• 6-8 dashes hot sauce
• salt and pepper, to taste

In a blender, put part of the veggies, a drizzle of olive oil and vinegar.  Pour in some tomato juice.  Blend.

Pour into a large bowl.  Continue blending veggies, olive oil, vinegar and juice until you’ve done it all.  Stir it all together in the bowl, tasting to adjust hot sauce, salt and pepper seasonings.  Refrigerate for several hours.

Have you ever eaten gazpacho?  Do you like it?

Have you read the Mitford series books by Jan Karon?  Father Tim and Cynthia feel like old friends and so do all the other characters that populate the small town of Mitford.

On my last library trip, I spotted the Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader.  It’s full of recipes mentioned in the books (Orange Marmalade Cake, anyone?) and also lots of excerpts.  Food and stories is a hard combination to beat.

One recipe that caught my attention was Velma’s Chili.  I did make a few changes to it.  For one, I used half the meat it called for.  Two pounds of meat for 6-8 servings sounded like too much.  I doubled it and made a few other alterations as well.  Here’s what you’ll need to make my version:

• 2 lbs. ground beef
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 4 cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 cans diced tomatoes
• 2 15oz cans tomato sauce
• 2 cups water
• 2 bay leaf
• 4 Tbs. chili powder
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup red wine

Brown the meat, onion, garlic and celery together and cook till the meat is done.  Drain the grease and rinse under hot water.  Put it back in the pot.

Add all the other ingredients, except the wine.  Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.  Add the wine and bring to a simmer.  Cook for an hour or several hours.

A batch this large is too much for a slow cooker.  I did freeze half and will heat the rest in the slow cooker for another time.  If you make a half batch, it would fit in the slow cooker nicely.

The wonders never cease.  My kids actually tried the pearl onions in this soup.  And they liked them!  Amazing.

This is one of those fantastic “assembly only” type recipes.  Basically, you dump everything in the slow cooker and let it do its thing.

You don’t have to use pearl onions, if your kids are averse (but you might give it a go, because you never know…).  The bag of frozen veggies I used included the onions.  There are only 5 ingredients in this soup and they can be changed up as you wish.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2-3 cups cubed ham
• 24-36 oz. frozen stew veggies or other type veggies
• 2 quarts chicken broth
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 can cream of celery soup (not in photo)
• salt and pepper to taste

Toss all the ingredients into the slow cooker and give it a stir.  Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 7-8 hours.

We had quite a bit leftover the next day, but there weren’t many veggies or ham left (I used the lower amounts of each).  So, I heated the soup and added 1/3 cup white rice to it.  That was very good.  I’m not sure how it would work to add about 1/2 cup rice in the slow cooker.  I think it would be fine though.  If you try it, let me know how that turns out.

Alternatively, you could cut back on the chicken broth/canned soup a bit.  That would make less soup, but it would have more veggies and ham.  Make sense?

Basically, do what works!  Don’t be afraid to experiment.

Potato soup is one of my favorite meals.  I have 3 different versions already (Ham and Potato Chowder, Baked Potato Soup and my humble Potato Soup).

This Creamy Potato Soup is a souped up version of the humble potato soup.  (Yes, I just used the word soup 3 times in the same sentence.)

It’s creamy (hence, the name), comforting and warm.  And it uses common ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry.  Here’s what you’ll need:

• 10 small-medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• butter
• milk
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• salt and pepper, to taste

Place potatoes, carrots and onion in a large pot.  Cover with water.  Add a tablespoon or two of butter to keep it from boiling over.  Bring to a boil and cook until the veggies are tender, about 20-30 minutes.

Drain.  Smash the veggies with the back of a spoon until some of the potatoes smoosh.  You don’t want it to all be mashed, but this makes the soup a bit thicker.

Stir cream of chicken soup with 2 cups of milk.  Add to the veggies in the pot.  Fill the pot with milk, until the veggies are covered.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Heat thoroughly over medium-low heat.

In a completely unrelated question – Are you snowed in this weekend?  Do you have snow on the ground?