National Soup Month

I just realized that it's National Soup Month. Sounds like a great thing to celebrate to me-- I could eat soup almost every day. The rest of my family isn't quite as fond of it, though, so I mostly have it for lunches and only occasionally make it for everyone for supper.

My personal favorite is potato soup. I've created my own recipe over the years, and it's posted over on RecipeZaar-- here's the link. (I'm Chef AmyMCGS there.) I'll make a big pot of this and have it for my lunches several days in a row- it reheats well.

Another favorite of mine is Broccoli Cheese soup. I've tried several recipes, and liked them, but I haven't found that "perfect" recipe yet.

One of the few soups that my DH really enjoys is one we simply call "Hot Soup". I've blogged about it before-- it's a quick and easy soup that basically involves combining canned ingredients. If you have a little more time and you enjoy spicy soups, try my take on Tortilla Soup:

Amy's I-Don't-Feel-Like-Cooking Version of Tortilla Soup:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1 can diced tomatoes/ chili peppers (Rotel)
1/2 cup salsa (guess-timated amount)
1/2 onion, chopped
several shakes of dried cilantro
two shakes of chili powder
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 can precooked, chopped turkey

Put that all together in a crockpot and let it simmer on low for a couple of hours. I usually do this around lunchtime and serve it for supper, so it probably cooks around 3-4 hours. Top it with shredded cheddar cheese and crushed tortilla chips.... yum!

And for comfort food, there's always vegetable soup- another one my DH likes.

Amy's Easy Homemade Vegetable Soup
This is my own recipe, basically learned from my mom, but now tweaked to suit my (and my husband's) taste. Mom always saved all the leftover vegetables in the freezer, until the container was full. We never have enough leftover vegetables to make soup when we want it, so I came up with this combination of canned veggies that works well. You could always add/subtract any veggies that you like... green beans, etc. The soup has a tomato broth that we love... credit for that goes to mom. There's nothing better than coming home on a cold day and smelling this soup!

2 cans diced tomatoes
2 - 20oz cans Veg-All Homestyle (big chunks of potatoes, carrots, etc.)
1 can corn
1 lb stew meat, cubed (Optional- I would leave it out, but DH prefers to have meat in the soup. It will cook in the crockpot. You can brown it if you prefer, but it will cook just fine in the broth.)
2 TBSP cilantro
2 TBSP dried onion flakes
2 TBSP Mrs. Dash
OPTIONAL: a small can of tomato sauce, to make a richer broth

Place stew meat in bottom of crockpot, add dried onion and Mrs. Dash. Dump in the canned vegetables and tomato sauce, top with cilantro. Fill the crockpot the rest of the way with water. Cover and cook on low all day (8 hours or more).

So, what are your favorite soup recipes? I'd love it if you'd leave me some links or recipes to try!

P.S. I'm also celebrating National Soup Month with my residents at the nursing home where I work, and I made this wordsearch puzzle in honor of the occasion. It's best viewed by clicking on the "printable PDF" link at the bottom. Enjoy!