Stephanie's Slice Of Life

Category: Soup

• 

  Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

  Posted at 11:00 am by StephMo

  Mar 5th

  I have been craving soup this winter more than I ever have, and last night I was in the mood for some kind of chicken soup. While my husband and son love a plain old chicken noodle soup, I am not a huge fan unless I am sick. I needed to make it creamy, but since I am trying to lose a little extra uninvited weight I wanted to keep it on the lower fat side. I tried just using whole milk to give it a little creamy consistency and taste, but it wasn’t working how I would have liked and just looked like milky water so I added a little bit of half and half and it did the trick. If you want a really creamy soup, use all half and half and I’m sure it will be even more delicious.

  Ingredients:

  1 tbsp. butter

  1 cup chopped carrots

  2-3 stalks of celery, chopped

  1 potato, chopped

  1 tsp minced garlic

  1/4 cup flour

  salt and pepper to taste

  1/4 tsp. thyme

  8 cups chicken broth

  1/2 cup whole milk

  1/2 cup half and half

  2 cups shredded cooked chicken

  3-4 cups noodles

  Chop up your vegetables and set aside. I managed to sneak in a potato even though my son doesn’t like them, but I didn’t dare an onion 😅. I considered a mushroom but that really would have been pushing it.

  

  If you are wondering why my carrots look so small, it is because I only had baby carrots in the house.

  Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the garlic, carrots, and celery and cook stirring frequently for about 5 minutes until they start to soften.

  

  Whisk in the flour, salt, pepper, and thyme and cook for about 1 minute.

  Add the chicken broth and potato and stir well. Bring the soup to a boil and let boil for a few minutes before turning the heat down to low/medium to simmer.

  

  Cover cracked and cook for 20-25 minutes stirring occasionally until the potatoes have softened.

  Add the milk, half and half, chicken, and noodles and stir well.

  

  Turn the heat up to medium and cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

  Serve and enjoy!

  

  Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

  Print Recipe Pin Recipe

  Ingredients

    

  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 cup carrots, chopped
  • 2-3 stalks of celery, chopped
  • 1 potato, chopped
  • 1 tsp garlic
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1/4 tsp dried thyme
  • 8 cups chicken broth
  • 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup half and half
  • 3-4 cups noodles

  Instructions

   

  • Chop vegetables and set aside. Melt butter in a large saucepan. Add carrots, garlic, and celery and cook stirring frequently for about 5 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
  • Whisk in flour, salt, pepper, and thyme. Cook for about 1 minute.
  • Add chicken broth and potatoes, stir well and bring to a boil. Boil for a few minutes, reduce heat to low/medium and simmer with cracked cover for 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
  • Add milk, half and half, chicken, and noodles. Stir well and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes.
  Posted in Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup, Recipes, Soup | Tagged chicken noodle soup recipe, chicken soup, chicken soup recipe, creamy chicken noodle soup recipe, food blog, food blogger, soup, soup recipe, stephanie's slice of life
• 

  Italian Wedding Soup

  Posted at 8:28 am by StephMo

  Feb 1st

  We have had quite the cold spell recently, and what better to make on a freezing cold day than soup. It is such a comforting food that warms the soul. The other day as I was hunkered down in my house I made a batch of this delicious hearty soup. It is very easy to make and the only time consuming aspect is making the meatballs. I use ground turkey for my meatballs but you can substitute ground beef if you prefer.

  I made a batch of my childhood favorite, Popovers for Piglet, to go along with the soup and I had a very happy family at dinner. Have you tried Piglet’s Popovers yet? Here is the link to the recipe if you haven’t:

  https://stephaniessliceoflife.com/category/recipes/breads/popovers-for-piglet/

  Now on to make this wonderful soup!

  Ingredients for meatballs:

  1/2 lb. ground turkey or beef

  1 egg, slightly beaten

  1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs

  Salt and pepper

  1/4 tsp. garlic powder

  1 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

  Additional ingredients:

  6 cups chicken broth

  6 oz. fresh spinach, roughly chopped

  1 cup uncooked orzo or other small pasta

  Grated parmesan cheese

  These are the same meatballs I make anytime I make meatballs. When I make them to cook in red sauce I use a full pound of turkey and double the other ingredients. For this soup we only need half a pound of turkey to make plenty of meatballs.

  Meatballs are one of those recipes I have been making for so long without measurements that it is difficult for me to say exactly how much salt, pepper, and garlic powder I use as I just sprinkle it in. The same goes with bread crumbs, but for this recipe I used about 1/4 cup, maybe a little more.

  For the meatballs combine all of the meatball ingredients well in a mixing bowl.

  

  Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a frying pan. Shape the meat mixture into small bite size meatballs and add to the pan and brown on all sides.

  

  

  You aren’t trying to completely cook the meatballs, just giving them a nice browning on the outside. Once browned put them on a plate lined with paper towels to remove the excess grease.

  Remove the stems from the spinach and roughly give it a chopping.

  

  When you are ready to make the soup bring the chicken broth to a boil. Season the broth with some pepper to taste. Chicken broth already has quite a bit of sodium so I prefer not to add salt to the broth. There is so much flavor in the meatballs that the soup doesn’t need anything other than the pepper.

  Add the meatballs, chopped spinach, and uncooked orzo to the broth and continue boiling for 10 minutes.

  

  

  That’s it! Your delicious soup is ready to eat.

  Once you ladle the soup into bowls top with a little grated parmesan cheese. Yum!

  

  

  Italian Wedding Soup

  Print Recipe Pin Recipe

  Ingredients

    

  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1/2 lb. ground turkey or beef
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
  • 1 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
  • salt and pepper
  • 6 oz. fresh spinach, chopped
  • 1 cup orzo, uncooked
  • 6 cups chicken broth

  Instructions

   

  • Combine turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, grated cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper well in a mixing bowl.
  • Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a frying pan. Shape the meat mixture into small bite size meatballs and add to the pan and brown on all sides. Once browned put them on a plate lined with paper towels to remove the excess grease.
  • Remove the stems from the spinach and roughly give it a chopping.
  • Bring the chicken broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Season broth with pepper to taste.
  • Add the meatballs, chopped spinach, and uncooked orzo to the broth and continue boiling for 10 minutes.
  • Serve topped with parmesan cheese.

  Posted in Italian Wedding Soup, Recipes, Soup | Tagged food blog, food blogger, italian wedding soup, soup, soup recipe, stephanie's slice of life, turkey meatballs, wedding soup recipe
• 

  Lamb Bourguignon

  Posted at 5:32 pm by StephMo

  Oct 27th

  I was feeling a little down and unmotivated the other day and I took some time for myself to just watch a feel good movie. I chose Julie & Julia and it was just the movie I needed to give me a jump start back into cooking, and a smile when I needed one. I have seen that movie a few times, and it is one of those movies that you can watch again and again and still enjoy it.

  If you haven’t seen the movie, it is about a woman named Julie that decided to make every recipe in Julia Childs’ cookbook and blog about each one. While I share some similarities with Julie in blogging about food, I have no desire to make every one of Julia’s recipes. The only recipe I have made is this recipe but with lamb instead of the beef it calls for, and it is absolutely delicious. It is a hearty stew perfect for the colder weather. I hadn’t made it in quite some time and the movie encouraged me to get some lamb and get cooking!

  This is not Julia’s exact recipe. As I stated I use lamb instead of beef, and I have changed the ingredients and directions slightly.

  Ingredients:

  6 oz. bacon

  3-4 lbs. boneless lamb leg

  1 tbsp. olive oil

  1 carrot, sliced

  1/2 onion, sliced

  1 large potato, peeled and cubed

  1 tsp. salt

  1/2 tsp. pepper

  2 tbsp. flour

  2 cups red wine

  3 cups beef broth

  1 tbsp. tomato paste

  2 tsp. minced garlic

  1/2 tsp. thyme

  1 bay leaf

  4 -5 baby bella mushrooms, sliced

  1 tbsp. butter

  For this stew you will need a heavy dutch oven pot that can be used on top of the stove, and in the oven.

  Trim the fat off of the meat and cut into bite size cubes. Pat the meat dry with papertowels so that the meat will brown. Set aside.

  

  Chop the bacon into small pieces. Heat the olive oil in the dutch oven and add the bacon.

  

  After the bacon has cooked for a few minutes and is starting to brown, transfer it to a bowl using a slotted spoon and set aside.

  Start cooking the lamb in batches in the bacon grease until it browns.

  

  Transfer the meat to the same bowl as the bacon and set aside.

  

  Cook the carrot, onion, and potato in the lamb and bacon juices for a few minutes until they start to brown.

  

  Drain the liquid from the pot and add the lamb and bacon back in with the vegetables.

  Stir in the salt and pepper. Then add the 2 tbsp. of flour and stir well.

  

  Set the oven to 450 degrees and cook for 4 minutes. Stir and continue cooking for an additional 4 minutes and remove from the oven.

  Reduce the oven heat to 325 degrees.

  

  Add the wine, beef broth (enough to just cover the meat), tomato paste garlic and herbs. Bring to a boil on top of the stove then cover and transfer to the oven.

  Cook for 2 1/2 hours. Check the stew to make sure it is only cooking at a low simmer. If boiling too high lower the heat of the oven.

  While the stew is cooking, saute the mushrooms and butter in a frying pan until cooked and brown. Set aside.

  

  Once you remove the stew from the oven, drain the liquid into a saucepan.

  

  

  Simmer the liquid for a few minutes while skimming the fat from the top before adding the liquid back in with the meat. Add the mushrooms at this time as well.

  I have found the stew is not thick enough after doing this and I mix 1 tbsp. corn starch with 1 tbsp. water and add it to the stew and cook on the stove for a few minutes. If you prefer it thicker, use more cornstarch and water.

  Looks perfect to me!

  

  So delicious and such incredible comfort food! Here is the recipe for some homemade French Bread if you’d like to do some dipping https://stephaniessliceoflife.com/2020/10/23/french-bread/.

  Posted in Comfort Food, Dinners, Lamb Bourguignon, Recipes, Soup | Tagged beef bourguignon, beef stew recipe, comfort food recipe, food blog, food blogger, lamb bourguignon, lamb bourguignon recipe, lamb stew, lamb stew recipe, stephanie's slice of life, stew, stew recipe
• 

  Buffalo Chicken Soup

  Posted at 10:09 am by StephMo

  Oct 24th

  My family loves pretty much buffalo chicken everything. While my husband’s motto is the spicier the better, I personally am not a fan of spicy food except for buffalo sauce. But with the buffalo sauce there needs to be blue cheese, of course. This soup is basically a bowl of yummy cheese and chicken with a nice little buffalo sauce kick. It is absolutely delicious and such a great comfort food.

  If you follow my blogs and Facebook page you know we always have Buffalo Chicken dip when the Patriots are playing, and that every time I make homemade pizza I make Buffalo Chicken pizza. You probably also know that my son doesn’t like onions, which will be touched upon later in this recipe.

  Ingredients:

  3 cups of cooked chicken breast, shredded

  2 tbsp. butter

  1/2 cup celery, chopped

  1/2 cup onion, chopped

  28 oz. chicken broth

  1 1/2 cups milk

  2 tsp. buffalo sauce

  1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

  1 cup crumbled blue cheese

  1/2 cup shredded or grated parmesan cheese

  1/3 cup flour

  Shred the chicken and chop up the onions and celery, and set aside. As you can see there are no onions in my picture (son doesn’t like onions).

  

  Combine the blue cheese, mozzarella, and parmesan in a small bowl. Mix in the flour and also set aside.

  

  Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the celery and onions and cook until they just start to soften. Try to imagine the onions are actually in the pan.

  

  Sorry to digress, but I always think of this when I have to leave out the onions in a recipe. It’s so true!

  

  Ok, back to the recipe.

  Add the chicken broth, buffalo sauce, and milk. Bring to a boil stirring frequently.

  

  Whisk in the cheese until it has melted. It tends to be chunky so you really need to give it quite a whisking.

  Stir in the chicken and simmer for about 5 minutes until it starts to thicken.

  

  That’s it! Serve with additional buffalo sauce on the side for those that like it a little spicier.

  And if you are looking for a French Bread recipe to make for dipping, here is the bread that I made https://stephaniessliceoflife.com/2020/10/23/french-bread/.

  Enjoy!

  Posted in Buffalo Chicken Soup, Recipes, Soup | Tagged buffalo chicken recipe, buffalo chicken soup, buffalo chicken soup recipe, Comfort Food, comfort food recipe, food blog, food blogger, homemade soup, soup recipe, stephanie's slice of life
• 

  New England Fish and Corn Chowder

  Posted at 4:46 pm by StephMo

  Feb 18th

  New England chowder or “chowdah” as we New Englanders affectionately like to call it, is a soup with a base of broth and cream which is not to be confused with Manhattan Chowder which is tomato based. I remember ordering chowder in New York once many years ago and was very disappointed when I was given what looked like tomato soup and not something creamy as I was expecting.

  My favorite types of chowders are corn chowder and fish chowder, so why not just combine them into one chowder. Once I asked a waitress in a Maine diner what was in their corn chowder and was told very matter of factly, “There’s cawn in the cawn chowdah”. I asked no further questions lol.

  Most chowders are very fattening, and with this chowder I tried my best to make it as low fat as I could without sacrificing the creamy chowder taste. You can make it even less fattening by either using all milk, altering the amounts of milk and cream, or using a low fat milk which is what I use. If you want it creamier, use all cream and forget about the milk.

  For this haddock chowdah you will need:

  2 pounds haddock or cod

  2-3 slices of bacon

  3 potatoes

  2 cups frozen corn

  1 stalk of celery

  Yellow onion

  1 tsp. minced garlic

  2 tsp. dried thyme

  2 bay leaves

  32 oz. seafood stock

  1 1/2 cups milk

  1 1/2 cups heavy cream

  1 tbsp. butter

  As I was trying to make this a little lower fat, I decided not to have the bacon fat in the chowder so I cooked the bacon first in a separate pan and drained it on a paper towel. Every little bit helps right?

  

  Peel and cube the potatoes, chop about 1/4 cup of onion, chop the celery, mince the garlic, and crumble the cooked bacon.

  

  Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large sauce pan, then add all of the vegetables, spices, and the crumbled bacon. Cook on low/medium heat for a few minutes while stirring frequently.

  

  Add seafood stock to vegetables and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 5-7 minutes.

  Cut the fish into large chunks and add to the pot and simmer covered for another 5-7 minutes.

  

  Break up the fish into bite size pieces with a spoon while it is in the pot.

  Add the butter, milk, cream, salt and pepper, and simmer covered for another 5-7 minutes.

  Turn off the heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

  Now you too are a chowdah lovah!!

  

  Stamping silverware is another one of my many talents 😜

  Posted in Dinners, New England Fish and Corn Chowder, Recipes, Soup | Tagged chowder, chowder recipe, corn chowder, corn chowder recipe, fish chowder, fish chowder recipe, food blog, food blogger, new england fish chowder
• 

  When life gives you lemons, make Avgolemono (Greek) soup

  Posted at 6:47 pm by StephMo

  Nov 12th

  I’ve spent the last four days home sick with a pretty miserable cold. My husband is such a caring man, and he will run out at any time to get us whatever we need, but this weekend he topped it all. He went to the store to get me chicken soup and when he came home with a few different varieties, he also said “I bought the ingredients to the lemon soup you make in case you feel like making it”. I couldn’t even get mad, it was just so funny. Needless to say, I didn’t make the soup. Nice try.

  However, I am feeling a little better today and since he bought the ingredients for Avgolemono, I decided to make it. I love this soup mostly because it reminds me of my grandmother. This isn’t her recipe, but I have been using it for about 20 years since I cut it out of a Cooking Light magazine.

  The recipe didn’t call for chicken, but I always add maybe about a cup or more of shredded cooked chicken. I can’t find the recipe on-line, so here it is – enjoy!

  Ingredients:

  2 cups chicken broth

  1 cup water

  3 tbsp. lemon juice

  2 large eggs, lightly beaten

  1 cup hot cooked rice

  1/2 teaspoon salt

  1/8 teaspoon pepper (or more depending on taste)

  1 cup shredded cooked chicken

  Shred chicken while you are cooking the rice and set aside.

  Lightly beat an egg and combine with lemon juice.

  Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

  

  Heat broth and water in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.

  

  Turn off heat and gradually add egg and lemon juice mixture to hot broth mixture, whisking constantly. You need to be careful the egg doesn’t scramble.

  Cook over medium heat until slightly thick (about 15 minutes), whisking frequently.

  Stir in rice, chicken, salt, and pepper and continue to cook on low/medium heat for a few minutes.

  

  And serve! Delicious!

  Posted in Avgolemono (Greek Lemon Soup), Recipes, Soup | Tagged avgolemono, blog, blogger, chickensoup, cooking light recipe, food blogger, greek lemon soup, my slice of life, soup recipe

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