Lasagna Soup

My sister-in -law, Ada, made this delicious soup for our family reunion.  It is the taste of lasagna in a bowl.  She combined several recipes to come up with her version.  I have altered that only slightly.

Lasagna Soup

1 1/2 lb. Italian Sausage

1-2  green pepper, diced

3 cups chopped onion

4-5 teaspoons minced garlic

1 quart diced tomatoes

2 cups tomato juice

2 cups chicken broth

6 oz can tomato paste

2 cups tomato sauce

1 cup water

2 T. brown sugar

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp, Italian seasoning

1 T, Better than Bouillon

Mix all of the above and cook in a slow cooker.  An hour or so before serving break up 8 oz of lasagna noodles and cook in boiling, salted water on the stove.  You can use farfalle if you prefer.  When el dente, add the drained pasta to the soup and stir in.

Cheese topping:

8 oz. ricotta or cottage cheese

1/2 c. grated Parmesan

1/4 tsp kosher salt

Pepper

2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

Mix together and spoon some onto each bowl of soup.  

The leftover are delicious, too.  Serve with garlic bread.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

 I got this recipe from my sister, Joan.  She says it is a favorite at their house and I can see why.  It is really delicious!

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

1 16 oz. package Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice

42 oz. chicken stock

1 onion, chopped

2-3 carrots, chopped

3-4 ribs celery, chopped

1 box fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/3 cup butter

1/3 cup flour

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. pepper

2 cups half and half

4-6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Cook rice according to package instructions.  Put stock in a large soup pot.  Add the vegetables and cook until tender.  In a saucepan, melt the butter.  Add the flour and cook for several minutes.  Add the cream and cook and stir until thickened.  Add the salt and pepper.  Put the white sauce in the soup pot and stir until well blended and thickened.  Add the bacon and serve.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

 We recently ate at Chili's and had the loaded baked potato soup.  It was absolutely delicious.  I immediately came home and googled the copycat recipe.  There were so many different versions claiming to be copycat.  I combined ideas from several of the recipes, and think I may have made an even better version than Chili's?  We loved it.  I think it might be my new favorite soup recipe.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

*2 large potatoes, baked for 1 hour in a 400 oven and cooled

3 Tablespoons butter

1 large onion, diced

1 cup diced celery

2 Tablespoons flour

1 box (about 4 cups) chicken stock

2 cups water

1/4 cup corn starch

1 1/2 cups instant mashed potatoes or potato buds

 1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon basil

pinch of thyme

1 cup half and half

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Garnishes, as desired:

Shredded cheddar cheese

Bacon crumbles

Green onions, chopped

Sour Cream

Melt butter in a large pot.  Add onion and cook until soft and lightly browned.  Add the flour and stir and cook for 2-3 minutes.  Add the stock, water, cornstarch, instant mashed potatoes and spices to the pot.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about five minutes.  Cut the potatoes in half length-wise and scoop out the potato from the skins with a large spoon.  Discard the skins and chop the potato in chunks.  Add the chopped potato to the pot.  Simmer for about 15 minutes.  Add the cheese and stir until melted.  Taste to correct seasonings.

Serve with desired garnishes.

*When you are baking potatoes for another meal, bake two extra.  You can keep them in the fridge until ready to make the soup.

Favorites: Breakfasts

 Continuing our five favorite series, here are five of our favorite breakfast recipes.

1. Granola:  Ken eats this granola most mornings.  He loves it mixed with fruits, both dried and fresh, and lots and lots of nuts.  It is really a good granola recipe.

Hungry Hintons: My Version of Granola

2. Cherry-Stuffed French Toast:  One of our favorite vacation spots is Door County, Wisconsin. We have been there many times. We always have breakfast at the White Gull Inn there.  Good Morning, America held a contest for the best breakfast in America.  This dish won.  It is absolutely delicious.  The GMA website posted the recipe and here it is- the best breakfast in America!

We actually prefer it with blueberries.

Hungry Hintons: Cherry or Blueberry Stuffed French Toast

3.  Baked Eggs:  Ken got this recipe from Dr. Booth, a local doctor, when they were hiking together.  It is one of our favorites.  I sometimes make it for dinner, too.

Hungry Hintons: Baked Eggs

4. Blender Whole Wheat Pancakes:  I love this recipe because you put the whole wheat berries in the blender, so don't have to have wheat flour to have whole wheat pancakes.

Hungry Hintons: Blender Whole Wheat Pancakes

5. Breakfast Burritos:  Truth be told, this is the one of all these recipes that I make the most.  I vary the vegetables.  Serve with salsa.

Hungry Hintons: Breakfast Burritos

Favorites: Desserts

 Here are five of our favorite dessert recipes.

1. Vanilla Ice Cream:  A Hinton family tradition from when Ken was a child is to make homemade vanilla ice cream.  This is an old family recipe and honestly, you just can't beat it.  We made it while our kids were growing up in an old-fashioned ice and salt ice cream maker.  We now use an electric cold-core kind, but it just holds half of the recipe.  We store the other half in the fridge and make it again a few days later.  It is the best!

Hungry Hintons: Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream- Hinton Family Tradition!

2. The Next Best Thing to Robert Redford:  The name of this dessert dates it.  That's how long we have been making it.  We make it in many different flavors.  I made it a lot when on our mission in Japan for special occasions.  Michelle made it for a dessert competition when she was in college and  won 1st place.  As you can see, it is rich in tradition and taste.

Hungry Hintons: Next Best Thing to Robert Redford Dessert

3. Profiteroles:  Honestly, what is better than a chocolate éclair?

Hungry Hintons: Chocolate Eclairs

4. Chocolate Éclair Dessert:  A simple dessert that gives a similar taste to chocolate eclairs is chocolate éclair dessert.  It is so fast to make and is delicious. 

Hungry Hintons: Chocolate Eclair Dessert

5.  Pecan Cobbler  Reminiscent of pecan pie, but easier.

Hungry Hintons: Pecan Cobbler

Knife and Fork Soup

 My dad used to make this soup frequently and loved it.  I recently found out that my sister, Joan originally shared the recipe with him.  It is a delicious sausage/ vegetable soup.

Knife and Fork Soup

1 1/2 lb. Italian smoked sausages, cut into bite-sized chunks

1 cup sliced carrots

1 onion, diced

1 cup thinly sliced celery

1 envelope onion soup mix

2 T. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp. oregano

6 cups boiling water

1 quart diced tomatoes

1 zucchini, diced

1 package frozen hashbrowns

1 can green beans

Put all in a soup pot except the potatoes and beans.  Cook for about 1/2 hour.  Add the hashbrowns and bean.  Heat until the potatoes are cooked.  Serve with crusty bread.

Sour Cream Blueberry Bread

 I had blueberries I needed to use, so searched on the Internet for a good sweet bread recipe.  This was really delicious.  The glaze is lemony.

Sour Cream Blueberry Bread 

1 3/4 cup flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 cup sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 T. lemon juice

2 tsp lemon zest

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Glaze

Juice and Zest of one lemon

1 cup powdered sugar

Oven 350

Spray a loaf pan and line with parchment paper.

Using the muffin mixing method:

Put the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix together.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, oil, eggs vanilla, lemon juice and zest.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients in.  Mix until just combined.  Don't over mix. Gently fold 1 1/2 cup of the blueberries into the mixture.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle the remaining blueberries on top.

Bake for 55-70 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle.

Cool.  When completely cool, Remove the bread from the pan.  Mix the glaze ingredients together.  Use enough lemon juice to make a thick, but pourable glaze.  Pour over the bread.

Store in fridge.

Before I added the glaze

Malibu Chicken

 My sister, Joan made up this recipe.  I'm not sure what her inspiration was, but maybe it was Sizzler's Malibu Chicken.  

Malibu Chicken

Dip boneless, skinless chicken breasts in milk, then in crushed corn flakes.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour.  Then put a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss cheese and a pineapple ring on each breast.  Put it back in the oven until the cheese melts.  You can serve it with a honey-mustard dipping sauce or a gravy or just as it.  Serve it with a pasta or noodle dish.