Stuffed Pepper Soup

I was in the mood for stuffed peppers today, but decided this was easier to get the same flavors in a soup. Also, I was able to include extra veggies, always a good thing. This came out absolutely yummy, I hope you will enjoy it.

 Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef or turkey
• 3 red peppers, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 medium carrots, sliced
• 3-4 cups chicken stock (or one large container)
• 1 large can crushed tomato
• 1 large can diced tomato
• 3/4 cup white long grain rice (or whatever rice you prefer)
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Directions:
In large soup pot, brown ground beef/turkey.
Drain, set aside the meat, reserve a little fat in the pot.
Add onions, celery and red peppers and saute until onions are translucent. (if you are using ground turkey, you may need to add a tablespoon of oil.)
Add chicken stock, crushed tomatoes and undrained diced tomatoes, browned meat, carrots and seasonings.
Cover and cook on medium until carrots are tender.
Add rice and cook for 10 minutes more.
Turn off heat but let the soup sit until the rice has cooked through, maybe 15 minutes.
Ready to serve.

This makes a large pot and will keep for 3 or 4 days in the fridge. I also like to freeze leftovers in individual serving containers to have for lunches.



 

Curry Soup

Soon I will be posting more summer recipes, but here I am with another soup. As you may have already figured out, I am a soup nut! Also, my latest endeavors include Indian spices, especially curry and garam masala. For the moment, just about every time we go to a restaurant I order something with curry if it is available.

This soup is delectable. It is not HOT, as in spicy hot. I will have a few suggestions below the ingredients if you would prefer it that way.

In this version I used ground beef. Traditional Indian cuisine is vegetarian, so that would not include meat,  This certainly can be made without meat or with chicken. (mmm, curry chicken comes to mind.)


This recipe makes a large pot, about 12 servings.

Ingredients:

• 2 containers chicken stock (about 6 cups)
• 1 cup white wine (can be replaced with 1 cup water)
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 stick butter (Promise)
• 6 carrots sliced (1/4-1/2 inch slice)
• 1 package, frozen chopped broccoli or cauliflower
• 3 stalks celery chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/2 red or yellow pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (sometimes called coriander)
• 3 tablespoons corn starch
• 2 heaping teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons each onion powder and garlic powder
• optional: cayenne pepper, crushed red pepper or dashes of hot sauce to taste, for *heat*

Directions:

1. In a 2 qt or larger pan, boil carrots in one container of chicken stock and wine until tender.
2. In a soup pot, brown ground beef, with the black pepper, onion powder and garlic powder until no longer pink. Remove meat and set aside, reserving about a tablespoon of fat in the pan.
3. Saute onions, celery and pepper in the reserved fat of the soup pot until tender. Add the 1/2 stick butter when the fat is absorbed and continue cooking.
4. Add the cornstarch and let cook through, about 1 or 2 minutes.
5. At this time, add the curry, stir, then add the remaining stock.
6. Let this come to a boil, it will thicken a little.
7. Add the broccoli or cauliflower, let it come back to a boil.
8. Turn off heat.
9. Add the carrots (with the liquid they were boiled in) into the soup pot.
10. Blend in. Taste.
11. Add more curry if you want at this point. Also, any *heat* you have chosen to add.
12. Once you have the flavor correct add the cooked ground beef and chopped cilantro.

Serve with a few whole cilantro leaves on top, or a small dollop of sour cream.

Note: If you refrigerate leftovers this soup will thicken. Add a little water when reheating for a more soup-like consistency.

Salmon Veggie Chowder

I am such a fan of soups, I am always looking for new combinations to try. This inspiration came from my husband, who's got a shellfish allergy and cannot handle clams. 

It came out delicious - and includes a healthy dose of veggies and omega-3 fats from the salmon. I hope you enjoy it. 

Ingredients

• 1 pound salmon (frozen & thawed is OK here)
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 small slices canadian bacon, diced (this is very lean, but bacon or ham diced small will work here) 
• 3 celery stalks, diced small
• 1 shredded carrot
• 1 shredded summer squash
• 1 shredded zucchini
• 1/2 stick butter (Promise sticks)
• 1/2 cup parmesan
• 1 tablespoon oil (unflavored, like canola)
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups potato, diced to bite size
• 3 heaping tbsp corn starch
• 16 oz milk or cream (I used fat free coffee creamer, lactose & gluten free) 
• Splash of white wine
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 2 heaping tablespoons Bell salt-free seasoning (this has many herbs, but you can make your own combination of what you like) 

 

Directions

• In one pan cook diced potatoes in chicken stock. Add 1/2 the pepper and 1/2 the seasoning mix. Cook til tender, do not drain.
• In same pan as potatoes, poach salmon until no longer pink. Remove salmon and set aside. (leave potatoes and broth in pan). Once cooled a little, flake the salmon with a fork.
• In a separate soup pot, add butter (Promise) and oil. Add onions, celery, canadian bacon and shredded veggies, Saute until tender, about 10 minutes. Add remaining seasoning and stir in. Add cornstarch and continue to saute til well blended and cornstarch disappears and is cooked through.  
• Add a splash of wine, the broth, and potatoes. Scrape the bottom of your pan to get the flavor off the bottom. Bring to a boil. Keep stirring and the mixture will thicken. Turn off heat. Add flaked salmon, milk, parmesan and stir until blended in. 
• Ready to serve!
• Makes a large pot. About 8-10 servings.

Easy Garlic Fish Bake

Quick prep and cook time makes this dish a snap - and a great way to get that healthy serving of fish into your diet. In the picture I have used haddock, which was on sale this week at the local grocery store, but any fish variety you can get in a fillet can be used.

Ingredients:

• fish - calculate about 1/4 to 1/3 lb per person (larger portion for hearty appetites)
• 1/2 stick Promise(or butter) - softened
• zest of 1 lemon, & 1/2 lemon juiced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon each onion powder, garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Use wrapper from butter to grease the pan
3. Combine all ingredients except fish into bowl and use fork to blend
4. Place fish in buttered pan
5. Use brush or fork to get compound butter onto fish
6. Place fish in oven. Cooking time will vary depending on the type of fish you used. The haddock I used took about 15 minutes
7. Depending on the fish variety, you may have some liquid in the bottom of the pan. You can use this to make a sauce if you like.
8. Once cooked through, remove from oven and let rest a moment before serving

Suggested sides:
Asparagus or green beans will cook in about the same amount of time in the oven

Optional:
Add fresh or dry dill to your compound butter

Buffalo Chicken Dip

**Can be made gluten free, watch labels on your ingredients
*** if you have guests that have gluten allergies, make a separate dish for them that crackers and other glutens will not be dipped. Make sure people can tell it is gluten free by placing a card or paper napkin nearby with the words GLUTEN FREE.***

We have 20-30 people over for Christmas eve. Fans of this dish request it every year.
 

• 1 small bottle Ranch Dressing or Blue Cheese Dressing (depending on your taste)
• 1 container low fat sour cream
• 1 package low fat cream cheese (brought to room temperature)
• about 2 cups shredded chicken breast (a large can of chicken works well, but is high in sodium)
• 1/4 c. buffalo wing/hot sauce (or to taste)
• 8 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• pepper to taste

optional: chopped red bell pepper, chopped fresh cilantro

Warm oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a casserole with non-stick spray and set aside.

Mix dressing, sour cream, and cream cheese together until well blended. Toss hot sauce and chicken together, add to the cream cheese mixture and stir in. Add 1/2 the shredded cheese, any optional ingredients and the pepper to the mixture and blend. Taste it to see if you like the amount of heat and if needed, add more hot sauce/pepper at this point and blend in. Turn into a casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Place in oven for 10-15 minutes... until the the cheese on top has melted and started to brown.

Serve with cut veggies such as celery, pepper rings, carrot sticks, tortilla chips or crackers, keeping in mind food restrictions if any.

Gluten/Sugar Free Pie Crust (graham crust type)

This is delicious and makes a crust much like the graham cracker crusts.

1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy

1 2/3 cups baking sugar replacement (recommended: Splenda)
1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (McCormick pure vanilla is gluten free)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Prepare your pie dish by coating with non-stick spray. (I use the wrapper from Promise sticks and it does a great job.)

In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, 1 1/3 c. sugar replacement (reserve 1/3 c), egg, and vanilla, and stir well with a spoon. Consistency should be a little stiff, like cookie dough. Add in more sugar replacement, a little at a time till you get the consistency needed.

Put mixture into pie dish and form into crust. You can use the bottom of a glass or jar to help with this part.

Bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. The cooling is important, otherwise the crust is too soft.

This is great for pudding/cool whip type fillings, but can be used for any filling you like.

:-)

Dessert Trifle

Very easy to make and versitile. This is a family favorite.
***If making gluten free, check your labels when purchasing your ingredients as manufacturers do change their formulas at times***

Ingredients:
2 packages of your favorite instant sugar free pudding or gelatin mix
2 large tubs whipped topping -fat free (sugar is minimal)

Optional: (make it unique!)
bananas
fresh or frozen berries
grapes
fresh or sugar free canned pinapple
peanut butter

Reserve a little of the whipped topping for the very top of the dessert. Split the remaining whipped topping into two batches and mix one package of pudding/gelatin into each batch.

Layer your ingredients into your serving dish, top it off with the reserved whipped topping.

Refrigerate at least 30 minutes for the pudding to solidify a little.

Makes approximately 12 servings.

Here are a few varaitions I have made:

Elvis Trifle:
Using chocolate pudding in one batch and cheesecake pudding and 2 tbsp peanut butter in the other. Sliced banana as a middle layer and a few pieces on top. Chopped walnuts on top for decor. I tossed the bananas in a little lemon juice to prevent browning.

Very Berry Trifle:
Strawberry gelatin in one batch, and cheesecake in the other. Reserve a few whole berries for the decoration on top. Mix the rest into the strawberry gelatin batch.

Nutrition information:
(This is BEFORE you add your own toppings)
59 Calories
0 Fat
116 mg sodium
12 grams carbs

Sunday suppers are a challenge in my house. One I welcome every week!

Sunday suppers are a tradition in my family and I enjoy making something new every week. Over the years it also has become more challenging. I myself am diabetic and must have a low sodium intake. Within my family we have gluten allergies, shellfish allergies, sugar intolerance, lactose intolerance along with the need to reduce sodium, cholesterol and fat where possible. And we could all use to lose a few pounds. There are members of the family that do not have these restrictions. Even so, the main goal is to find recipes that everyone enjoys without feeling they are missing something.

Trying to find recipes on the web that tackle low sodium is easy. As is searching for something gluten free. Or sugar free. But finding recipes combining all of these restrictions is often difficult, if not impossible. So I do not look for these specifically. I look at recipes that do not specify these things and alter them to fit our needs. With the availability of gluten free flours, lower trans fat margarines and decent sugar substitutes it is getting easier to recreate some favorites.

I plan to start posting my Sunday supper adventures. Cooking is my way of bringing my family together. I hope you enjoy my recipes.