Poor Sunday Soup

This is a recipe that I brought back from Russia. One of my companions was Ukrainian and would make this soup for us on cold afternoons.I love this soup because it uses cheap ingredients and has good hearty flavor. I do it a little differently every time because I never wrote the recipe down, but here is the gist of things:

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 large carrot shredded on a cheese grater
1 small onion diced
2 medium potatoes cut into 1 inch pieces
1- 32 ounce box chicken broth or 4 cups of broth made from chicken bouillon

Optional- 1 cup egg noodles: I just started adding these recently because my kids love noodles. You might need to add another cup of broth if you add noodles though, just depending on how chunky you like your soup.

Directions: Heat oil over medium heat in a large sauce pan. Add onion and shredded carrot and cook until they start to soften. Add chicken broth and potatoes and bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are tender. Pour into bowls and enjoy!

If you add noodles, cook the taters until they are soft but still slightly firm in the center, and then put the noodles in and cook according to the noodle package directions. Pour into bowls and enjoy.

Beef Noodle Stew

I am in love with Martha Stewart's Everday Food magazine. It is my favorite piece of mail every month. The recipes are relatively easy and don't normally require crazy expensive ingredients. After months of finding delicious looking recipes in there that called for a Dutch Oven pot, I decided to ask Santa for one of my own. This was the first recipe that I made in my new pot, and we loved it! Good flavor and less salty than other beef stew versions.

Here is a link to the original and a picture of the stew from Martha.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 pounds boneless beef chuck, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 medium onion, sliced lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 cans (14.5 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 pound carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice
• 2 cups egg noodles
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon red-wine vinegar (Christian is not a vinegar lover and so I left this out)

Directions:

1. In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over high. Add beef, season with salt and pepper, and cook until seared and brown, about 6 minutes. Add onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook until onion begins to soften (reducing heat if necessary), about 5 minutes. Stir in flour until beef and onion are coated and cook 1 to 2 minutes (do not burn). Add broth and 3 cups water, stirring and scraping up browned bits. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook until beef is tender, about 25 minutes.
2. Add carrots and potatoes and cook until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Add noodles and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. To serve, stir in parsley and vinegar.
   

Pesto Tortelli Soup

I found this recipe on This Week for Dinner
and needed to try it since my husband LOVES pesto. It was easy and pretty healthy.

1 small onion chopped
2 cloves minced
1 tbsp. butter
-saute these together in a large soup pan until they are tender.

Add to pan-
5 cups of vegetable or chicken broth
1 9 oz. package of tortellini (cooking times vary depending on the type of tortellini, so add it at a point where it won't overcook)
2 cups frozen vegetables (the California mix is recommended)
-simmer until the veggies and tortellini are tender

Add 1/4 cup of pesto at the very end

Garnish bowl with Parmesan cheese, serve and enjoy!

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

What You Need!
1 lb. baking potatoes (about 2), cubed
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup milk
3 slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon, cooked, crumbled and divided
1 cup KRAFT Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided
1 green onion sliced, divided
1/4 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream

Make It!
MICROWAVE potatoes in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 5 min., stirring after 2-1/2 min. Stir in broth and milk. Microwave 10 min., stirring after 5 min. Carefully crush potatoes with potato masher.
RESERVE 2 Tbsp. each bacon and cheese and 1 Tbsp. onions for topping. Stir remaining bacon, cheese and onions into soup.
SERVE topped with reserved bacon, cheese, onions and sour cream.

Bacon, Cheese, and Potato Chowder

What You Need!
3 cups fat-free milk
1 can (10-3/4 oz.) condensed cream of potato soup
2 cups frozen Southern-style hash browns
1 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese
2 slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon, cooked, crumbled
2 green onions, thinly sliced

Make It!
MIX milk and soup in large saucepan. Stir in hash browns. Bring to boil on high heat, stirring occasionally; simmer on medium-low 10 min., stirring frequently.
SERVE topped with cheese, bacon and onions.