QuiltMouse

It has been cold this week and I’m guessing before the winter is over we will have more cold days!  Earlier this week snow was on the ground and wet stuff was falling. Tuesday the temperatures dropped into the single digits.  This is perfect weather for some soup.

Many years ago I found a recipe for 5-Can Soup posted by Del Monte.  As the title implies, the ingredients are just 5 cans from your pantry.  Doing a search you can find many sites with the 5-Can Soup recipe but I couldn’t find it on Del Monte’s site. Here is the copy that I saved.

If you wanted more, you could add 2 more cans of vegetables drained plus one more can of broth.

The easy part is that you could mix-and-match other canned vegetables.

I use this recipe as a base to make a Slow Pot Vegetable Soup.  It is flexible and I use whatever canned or fresh vegetables I have on hand.  It is different each time I make it!

Ingredients:

• 1-2 stalks of Celery, diced
• 1/2 – 1 medium Onion, diced
• 1-2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. Butter or Olive Oil
• 1 can sliced Carrots, drained or 1-2 Carrots, sliced
• 1 can diced Potatoes, drained or 2 medium Potatoes, diced
• 1 can cut Green Beans or 1-2 cups Frozen Green Beans
• 1 can Zucchini w/Tomatoes
• 1 can diced Tomatoes (with Seasoning, with chilies or plain)
• 1 can Cannellini Beans or Red Kidney Beans, drained & rinsed
• 1-2 cans of Chicken Broth
• Seasonings – Italian Seasoning, Basil, Oregano, Salt, Pepper (Red Pepper and/or Red Pepper Flakes if you want it spicy)

Directions:

Heat Butter or Oil in a skillet and sauté the Celery, Onion & Garlic until crisp tender.

Transfer to a Slow Pot and add remaining ingredients.  Season to taste.  I usually add about 1/4 – 1/2 tsp. of Italian Seasoning, Basil & Oregano.  Canned vegetables have some salt, so adjust any additional salt accordingly.  Add a pinch or dash of Red Pepper or Red Pepper Flakes if you like it a little ‘hot.’

Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 3-4 hours.  (The longer it cooks the more the flavors mingle!)  If you don’t have a Slow Pot, bring to a boil on the stovetop and reduce to a simmer for 35-45 minutes.

I like to serve this with homemade Corn Bread.

As you can see, this recipe is VERY flexible! You don’t have green beans (or you don’t like them) add peas instead.  You can shred up 1/2 a head of cabbage and add to the soup.

If you want it with a Mexican flair, substitute canned corn and canned black beans for the carrots & potatoes; use a can of enchilada sauce for the Zucchini and a can of Rotel Tomatoes. Adjust the seasonings according to the vegetables in your soup or your tastes.

If you want your soup to be a bit hardier, add 1/2 – 1 pound of browned sausage or ground beef and an hour before serving add a cup of pasta (elbow, shell or whatever you have handy).

My revised version doesn’t take much longer to assemble and is handy to use up leftovers. 

HINT:  Keep a container in the freezer and when you have leftover vegetables or even meat or stock, add it to the container.  When it is full, use it to make your soup, and reduce the canned vegetables accordingly.

Stay Warm!!

Quilt Mouse

Well, it looks like we’re getting some winter weather.  The temperature was 44°F late Monday afternoon, but it has rapidly fallen to 12° F at 11:30 pm.  With the Wind Chill, they say it feels like –9° F.  I’ll take their word for it, as I’m staying inside!!

So, other than cranking up the furnace, how could I add heat to the house.  One thing comes to mind – Cook something!

I decided to prepare a breakfast casserole.  You know, one of those dishes you fix the night before and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight.  Then in the morning, all you have to do is take it out and let it sit while you preheat the oven.  OK, you see where I’m going – more heat!

This is one that I’ve done before.  It is called “Southwest Brunch Casserole” and you can find it on the Taste of Home website here.  It is fairly simple to prepare. 

As written, Taste of Home says it has 350 calories per serving.  With only 6 ingredients, there is not much you can do to cut the calories.  But I did what I did:

Southwest Brunch Casserole – Lightened up

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Deliciously Simple
• 2 Thomas’ Lite English Muffins, split (a savings of 15 calories/serving)
• 1/2 pound bulk pork sausage (Sorry, I only had the ‘real thing’ but you could use only 1/4 pound to lighten)
• 1 cup EggBeaters (a savings of 55 calories/serving)
• 1/4 cup Homemade Greek Yogurt (a savings of about 25 calories/serving)
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

Spray an oven-proof 8” square casserole.  Split the English Muffins and butter the cut sides.  Place in casserole, butter-side up.  Brown the sausage, drain & spoon into the English Muffins. Wisk together the EggBeaters & Homemade Greek Yogurt (Season with Salt & Pepper to taste, or a little Red Pepper to add some heat.)  Pour the Egg mixture over the Sausage topped English muffins and top with shredded cheese.  Cover with plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator overnight (or several hours).

In the morning, set the casserole on the counter for about 30 minutes to bring it to room temperature.  Preheat oven to 350°F.  Cook casserole for 25-35 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean. (See how it got poofy when it cooks.)  Let sit for 5 minutes before serving.

When serving, top with a spoonful of Mild or Medium Salsa.

With the changes I made there is a savings of 95 calories.  More calories could be saved by using only 1/4 pound of sausage or substituting turkey sausage, using a light margarine and using reduced fat cheese.

You could make some other changes such as adding onions & peppers sautéed after browning the sausage, or adding some jalapeño peppers if you like some spice.

(Adapted from Taste of Home Recipe)

Sitting on the counter while the oven preheats. 

Serve with some fresh fruit. Top with some Salsa (I forgot that!)

Enjoy!!

Stay warm!

Quilt Mouse