Soup-er Sunday Sneaky Potato Soup

Once again, our little cul-de-sac is swathed in snow.  The little mouths and I are in our jammies, well, jammies and apron for me, and snug as bugs. 

One of the best ways to keep our bodies resilient and get much needed veggies into the little mouth's diet is soup.  With two sick kids in two weeks, we need to beef up our immune systems.  I'd love to be able to stuff them full of super-foods, like kale and turnip greens, but if they would eat that stuff, they would be no need for my blog.  So while I have one child who's idea of a smorgasbord is the produce section, the other one wouldn't touch a tomato with a ten foot pole.  I have to be sneaky.  

This is a soup I invented one day with what was in my pantry with a little inspiration from Jessica Seinfeld.  You can hide just about anything in this soup.  I have included cauliflower, summer squash, butternut squash, carrots and parsnips.  It is especially good with anything that is a little orange in color.  My family, even the adults, swear there is cheese in this soup.  But except for the occasional garnish, there's not a drop. 

This is also a great way to use up leftover bacon (as if), sausage or ham.  Today I threw in a cup of diced leftover holiday ham from the freezer.  Thumbs up from Big Mama and both little mouths.  Yummy in the tummy on a cold winter's day.

Sneaky Potato Soup

1 cup grated onion
2 cups grated carrot
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and Pepper
4 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup white wine (optional)
2 pounds potatoes (I used Yukon Gold)
4 cups chicken stock
4 cups milk

Cook onion and carrot in butter, salt and pepper.  Add herbs, spices and flour and stir until lightly browned.  Deglaze the pan with wine or chicken stock.  Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer or 45-60 minutes, until potatoes are creamy and falling apart.  Add ham etc. to taste.

The only difficult thing about this soup is finding a good pot to cook it in.  For most of my soups, I use my totally overpriced but beloved enamel covered cast iron dutch oven, similar to this:
 While it caramelizes the onion and carrots beautifully, this soup is half milk that needs to simmer for at least 45 minutes to cook the potatoes through.  I've tried adding the potatoes already boiled, but it definitely steals some of the flavor.  The last time I used this pot for the soup, I spent a day soaking and scrubbing the bottom of my pot and vowed, never again.

The next time I tried this stock pot that came with my set of Calphalon Cookware. 
It's non-stick surface made the cleanup a breeze, but the deep, rich flavor of the caramelized veggies was missing.  But better than the heart attack I had when I looked at the bottom of my Enameled Cast-Iron pot.

This time I used a new dutch oven I purchased recently at a chef's outlet I visited.  It's also Calphalon, but this is from their Unison line and promises "non-stick searing."  I was sceptical, but I gave it a go.  And guess what?  It worked beautifully.  This is the exact set I purchased, complete with free spoon and towel.   It gave the same flavor as my extremely expensive enameled pot, but the easy cleaning of the non-stick.  I LOVE IT!

It's Bean Week

I hate beans.  All kinds of beans.  Green beans, wax beans, navy beans, kidney beans, soy beans, refried beans, garbanzo beans and everyother kind of bean except for jelly.

But I do like hummus...and just figured out it was made from Garbanzo Beans!  I do like beans after all...that is if you put enough garlic and other yummy stuff in them...but it gave me hope. 

Beans are SO good for you!  They are packed with protein, take on whatever flavor you put them with and they're CHEAP!  Just one cup of Cannillini beans adds 12 g of protein and 10 grams of fiber. 

It was just the texture I didn't like.  Tonight I added a can of Canillini beans to my sneaky tomato soup.  It was delish!  (Which means you couldn't even tell they were there.)  Here's the recipe again in case you missed it.  I quadrupled the batch and froze the rest for later. 

“Sneaky” tomato soup


1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup minced onion (about 1/2 small onion)
1 cup chopped or shredded carrots
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup white wine (optional)
4 to 6 cups broth, chicken or vegetable
1 (14-ounce) can diced, Italian-style tomatoes
1 (14-ounce) can tomato puree
1 small can tomato paste
1 (14-ounce) can tomato sauce
Coarse-grained salt and cracked black pepper
10 ounces fresh spinach
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, very loosely packed
1/2 cup half-and-half (I used fat-free)
1 teaspoon fresh basil

In a stock pot, sauté onion and carrot in olive oil until softened. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds or so. Add tomato paste and cook for a minute or two to develop sugars in paste.

Deglaze pan with wine (or chicken stock) and stir to combine. Allow mixture to come to a bubble, then add chicken stock, tomatoes, puree and sauce. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Add spinach and stir until wilted. Blend soup in a food processor, blender, food mill or with a hand-held blender until smooth.

Add Parmesan and simmer for 1-2 minutes until cheese melts. Add half-and-half and basil, and serve.

The soup can be frozen or refrigerated.

Valentine's Day Macaroni and Cheese

This year, instead of purchasing presents, the Little Mouths and I made Macaroni and Cheese for gifts.  I used this recipe, inspired by Ina Garden's.  It freezes well and in the depths of a snow filled Midwestern February, our friends and family were glad to have a hot meal, ready to pop into the oven on a cold winter's night. 

Big Mama's Heart of Hearts Mac and Cheese

This recipe makes one large 9 X 13 cassarole or three smaller 8 X 8 foil cake pans.  I looked for heart shaped cake pans at the last minute, but was unable to find any.  I'll plan ahead better next year.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and put a large pot of salted water on to boil.

1 pound of your favorite small pasta
2 jars "Junior" yellow squash baby food
Kosher salt
Vegetable oil
1 quart milk
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
12 ounces Gruyere, grated (4 cups)
8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 pound fresh tomatoes (4 small)
1 1/2 cups fresh white bread crumbs (5 slices, crusts removed)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don't boil it. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large (4-quart) pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Add the squash.  Off the heat, add the Gruyere, Cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cooked macaroni and stir well. Pour into a 3-quart baking dish.

Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, combine them with the fresh bread crumbs, and sprinkle on the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

Rockin’ Roasted Vegetable Soup

There’s nothing better on a cold winter day than a hot pot of soup. The only problem is, that I’m not all that fond of veggies. A big pot of Beef Vegetable holds no allure past the smell of it simmering on the stove. However, I learned from my Sneaky Tomato Soup, that you can puree just about anything and it will taste good.


This soup is one inspired again from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, with a twist from what was on sale at Fresh Market this week.

Rockin’ Roasted Vegetable Soup

1 pound carrots

1 pound parsnips

2 large sweet potatoes

1 acorn squash

1 red onion

2 quarts chicken stock

¼ Cup Whipping Cream, half and half or milk (optional)



Garnish with Parmesan Cheese, Crème Fresh or Sour Cream

Peel all vegetables, cut into chunks and place on cookie sheets. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast at 425 degrees until veggies look all shrivelly, like when the kids stay in the bath tub too long and are slightly browned. I made these veggies ahead, so I stopped here and refrigerated them until the next day.

Put veggies in a dutch oven or stock pot and add chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and allow to simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes. Test and make sure the veggies are very tender…almost falling apart when you poke them with a fork.

Remove from heat and blend with an emersion blender, food processor or traditional blender until smooth.

So yummy. Big Mama gives this soup thumbs up for fix-a-head-ability, nutrition and incognito veggie hiding. Little mouths at least will eat it, even if it is without rave reviews…its veggies, I’ll take it.

Easy Peasy Beef Stroganoff

I love this recipe and I've been making it in some form for 20 years. It is so versatile you can add or subtract just about anything and it still tastes great.

It is good made with beef strips or ground beef, as my kids prefer. You can add carrots, as well as mushrooms and peas or leave them all our and serve on the side or with a nice green salad. You can jazz it up by adding some fresh thyme or serve it over rice instead of noodles.

The Little Mouths give this dish two thumbs up if I make it with ground beef, and pick of the beef if I make it with pieces of beef.

Big Mama gives this recipe thumbs up, all around for Easy Cooking, Cost and Taste with an honorable mention for fix-ahead-ability.

Easy Peasy Beef Stroganoff

1 pound ground beef or beef stew meat or beef for stir fry
2 Tbsp. All purpose flour
1 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
2 cups beef stock
1 can cream of mushroom or cream of onion soup
1 small can of mushrooms or 8 oz. fresh mushrooms.
1 box or small bag of frozen peas (optional)
1 cup sour cream (Reduced Fat works great)
12 oz. egg noodles
Salt and Pepper

Fill a large pot with cold water and 1 teaspoon salt and put on to boil.

Dice onion and cook in Olive Oil, over medium high heat, until just starting to brown. Add minced Garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Toss beef in flour and brown on high/medium-high heat until browned on all sides. Remove beef and add fresh mushrooms and sauté until browned. If you are using canned mushrooms, just add to the beef. When the mushrooms are browned add beef back into the skillet. Deglaze the pan with beef stock and allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes to reduce. Add the can of cream soup and mix well. Allow mixture to simmer until it coats the back of your spatula and is a good consistency to stick to the noodles. If it gets too thick, don’t worry. You can add more beef stock, a little of the starchy cooking liquid from the noodles or even a bit of milk. Add the peas so they can warm through while the sauce reduces.

Stop here and freeze or keep in the refrigerator for up to three days.

While you are waiting for your sauce to reduce, prepare egg noodles to package directions. At the last minute, mix half of the sour cream into the sauce mixture.

Serve over noodles and garnish with a dollop of sour cream on top.

Tomato Soup

One of the biggest time savers for me is to make a large batch of something...lets say soup, then freeze it in batches. This is not a new idea. I cried BUCKETS when Supper Thyme USA closed. There is nothing better than coming home after a long day at working and knowing all you have to do is turn on the oven.

I'm not THAT good but today's recipe is the bomb. It is a tomato soup that has 5 count them, FIVE servings of veggies in one bowl. Today we added pasta O's and it became a healthy version of Spagetti O's.

The Little Mouths give this dish two thumbs up, especially when I add alphabet noodles.

Big Mama gives this recipe thumbs up, all around for Easy Cooking, Cost and Taste and fix-ahead-ability.


“Sneaky” tomato soup

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup minced onion (about 1/2 small onion)

1 cup chopped or shredded carrots

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup white wine (optional)

4 to 6 cups broth, chicken or vegetable

1 (14-ounce) can diced, Italian-style tomatoes

1 (14-ounce) can tomato puree

1 small can tomato paste

1 (14-ounce) can tomato sauce

Coarse-grained salt and cracked black pepper

10 ounces fresh spinach

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, very loosely packed

1/2 cup half-and-half (she used fat-free)

1 teaspoon fresh basil

In a stock pot, sauté onion and carrot in olive oil until softened. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds or so. Add tomato paste and cook for a minute or two to develop sugars in paste.

Deglaze pan with wine (or chicken stock) and stir to combine. Allow mixture to come to a bubble, then add chicken stock, tomatoes, puree and sauce. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Add spinach and stir until wilted. Blend soup in a food processor, blender, food mill or with a hand-held blender until smooth.

Add Parmesan and simmer for 1-2 minutes until cheese melts. Add half-and-half and basil, and serve.

The soup can be frozen or refrigerated.

Add cheese, fresh pasta, orzo, cheese tortellini, meatballs or other favorites to vary it.