Chicken Enchilada Soup-Stacey's Way

The weather has cooled down, finally! I know a lot of you may have an enchilada soup recipe but this one is just right for the entire family. My kiddos love things a little on the spicy side so you may need to adjust this recipe if your little ones don't like spicy. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:
5 boneless skinless chicken breast-browned and cut into bite size pieces
1 can Hatch Medium enchilada sauce
1 can Hatch Mild enchilada sauce
1 yellow onion-chopped
2 cloves of garlic-minced
2 pounds American cheese-shredded
1 jalapeno-chopped
6 cups chicken broth
2 T chili powder
1 T cumin
Oil
Cilantro
Sour Cream
Corn Tortillas

Brown chicken breast whole in an oil lined soup pot until golden brown. They will will not be completely cooked. Now cut them into bite size pieces. In same pot saute onion, jalapeno, and garlic. I also add my cumin and chili powder at this time to brown it a little. I like the taste better when I "cook" it a little. Now add your chicken back in with the broth and enchilada sauce. Cook for 1 hour over medium heat. Now add in your shredded cheese and cook for 30 more minutes. Serve with sour cream, more cheese, cilantro and corn tortillas.

Italian Soup

Fall is finally in the air on Beaty's Creek and I am so glad it is. I love soup when it starts to cool off and this one is perfect on a crisp Fall evening. All enjoyed this soup and that is a big plus for a family of 5. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.


Needed:

5 Italian sausage links- sliced and then browned
1 onion-chopped
6 garlic cloves-minced
2 quarts chicken broth
2 cans Italian tomatoes-undrained
1 package Barilla's cheese tortellini
2 bags Fresh Express baby spinach
3 T dried Italian Seasoning
3 t fresh basil-minced
1 T black pepper
1 T crushed red pepper
Shredded Parmesan cheese

Brown sausage in a deep heavy bottom soup pot with onion, garlic, salt, and pepper. Once browned, pour in chicken broth, tomatoes, Italian seasoning and red pepper. Cook over medium heat for 1 hour. Now add add in tortellini and spinach. Cook for 20 more minutes over medium heat but not boiling. The last few minutes put in the basil. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese and hot crusty bread.

Minestrone Soup

It's getting cool again on Beaty's Creek and I want me some soup. Nothing is better than a pot of soup on a cold day. Bake some bread and you are good to go. I am making a hard crusty bread to dip in olive oil tonight.

Needed:
1 pound Italian sausage-cut into chunks
1 large purple onion-chopped
4 large carrots-peeled and chopped
4 celery stalks-stripped and chopped
5 garlic cloves-minced
2 zucchini-sliced into 1/2 inch slices and then quartered
1/2 pound green beans-these can be fresh or frozen(I could not find fresh so I used frozen.)
3 quarts beef or chicken broth(Add this as you go, we like it soupy, so we add more.)
1 quart whole tomatoes-smashed(I used home canned)
3 T Italian seasoning(I use fresh in the summer but this time of year I use dry.)
1 T pepper
salt to taste
3 cups cabbage-shredded into 1/2 inch shreds
1 can cannelloni beans-drained
1 can garbanzo beans-drained
1 cup small shaped pasta(I always use different shapes to jazz it up.)
Fresh Parmesan cheese- shredded finely

Brown sausage with onions and garlic until the sausage is no longer pink. This is the time to add your broth, so you can get all the goodies off the bottom of your soup pot, now add the green beans, zucchini, carrots, celery, and both beans. Simmer for 20 minutes and add cabbage, tomatoes, pasta, and all of your seasoning. Cook for 30 minutes, you may need to add a little water if soup gets too thick after adding your pasta. We grate Parmesan cheese over soup in each bowl. This makes a lot of soup but it reheats very well. In fact I usually freeze some for lunch. Give it a try, I know you will like it! Well that is "what's cookin" tonight.

St. Michael's Alley White Chili

When Sean and I were first dating he took me to St. Michael's Alley on a date.  We had escargot and white chili. I know what a weird combo.  St. Michael's was and is still known  for their white chili.  I was so happy when the Tulsa World published this recipe a while back.  It is just like St. Michael's and I don't have to leave my home on Beaty's Creek.  I know it has been a bit since I have posted a new recipe the reason is I have been have some issues with my left eye and a one eyed blog writer is not the best by far.  heehee   This is  What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today. Like Spring today and Winter tomorrow...Only in Oklahoma!!

Needed:
2 yellow onions-chopped
5 garlic cloves-minced
4 chicken breast-cooked and chopped
1 pound Great Northern Beans
2 cans Rotel
3 cups chicken broth
1 jalapeno-chopped
2 T chili powder
1 t cayenne pepper
1 T cumin
1 Tabasco
1 T Worcestersthire Sauce
2 t oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook your beans in chicken broth just until tender.  Now  add in your onions, garlic, chicken, Rotel, jalapeno, cumin, salt, pepper, oregano, Tabasco, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and Worcestershire Sauce. Stir and let simmer over a medium low heat for 1 hour.

Broccoli Cheese Soup in Bread Bowls

This has always been my favorite soup! So creamy and "healthy", okay maybe not so healthy but it sure is creamy and cheesy. It is starting to look like Spring on Beaty's Creek but I still think old man Winter is going to come a knocking. I made this soup on the last cold spell that we had and everyone thought I was a boss, yes, a Boss! Email me and I can tell you why this is funny. Raine liked dipping her bread and Raven ate her bread bowl up before her second bowl. Give this a try before Spring has sprung and soup will be the last thing you want until next Fall. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek!

Needed:


1 stick butter
2 cloves garlic-smashed
1 small onion-chopped
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 cups half-and-half
6 cups chicken broth
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
8 cups broccoli florets (about 2 heads)
2 large carrots-diced
4 cups cheddar cheese-grated

Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Now add the onion and garlic and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the flour and cook until just golden, then gradually whisk in the chicken broth until smooth. Now add bay leaves , salt and pepper. Add the broccoli and carrot to the broth mixture and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, until thickened, about 20 minutes. Take out the bay leaves. Puree the soup in the pot with a immersion blender until smooth, you'll still have flecks of carrot and broccoli. Now add the cheese and half and half to the soup and whisk over medium heat until melted and the consistency you want . Add up to 3/4 cup water if the soup is too thick. Serve in bread bowls. Recipe for bread bowls follows.

Bread Bowls

Needed:

2 T yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 t salt
2 T canola oil
7 cups flour


Mix yeast, salt, and warm water together in your Kitchen Aid Mixer. Let sit for 3 minutes. Now add in your oil and begin adding in your flour a cup at a time. Now knead in your mixer for 10 minutes. Cover and let rise for 1 hour. Once double in size cut dough in to 8 equal pieces of dough. Roll into balls and place in a parchment lined baking sheet. Let them rise for 30 minutes. Place in a 400' oven and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool slightly and then cut top off and scoop out some of the bread so you can fill with soup. Enjoy!

Corn Soup

This soup is so good on those very cold days that are fast approaching here on Beaty's Creek. We love this soup with fry bread but a hard crusty bread would be a great choice also. The dried corn in this recipe might be hard to come by in your part of the world though. Fortunately we have a couple of semi-local stores that carry it in our neck of the woods. If you can find this dried corn, it is the only way to make this soup as it would not be the same with canned or frozen corn. The dried corn has a very rich corn taste that the others cannot match. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:
3 pound beef roast
1 pound dried corn-I use Cope's brand
Salt to taste
Lots of freshly ground black pepper
Water

Cover roast with water. Salt and pepper to taste, now cover with water and place lid on soup pot. Cook over medium heat for 4 hours or until meat is fork tender. Now add your corn and continue to cook for 1 hour. Serve with fry bread. You may need to add a little water to the soup after adding your corn.

Lentil Soup

Lentils are a very underrated legume. This soup was liked by the family but Sean was having none of it. He did manage to eat a partial bowl but that was his limit. He does not care for the texture of lentils, I on the other hand just love them. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today on this rainy almost Spring day!

Needed:
1 Pound lentils
1 pound carrots-cleaned and chopped
2 celery stalks-cleaned and chopped
1 cup Bulgar
2 garlic cloves-minced
1 onion-cleaned and chopped
5 cups water
2 T salt
2 T red pepper flakes
3 T olive oil

In a soup pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Now add in your carrots, celery, onion, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes and saute until slightly softened. Add in your lentils and water. Cook over medium heat for 30 minutes. Add in 1 cup bulgar and cook for 15 more minutes. Serve with a crusty bread.

Chicken Barley Soup

My MIL made this soup the other night and we loved it. We thought everyone else might enjoy the recipe so to the blog it went. It takes a little time to chop all of the veggies but once that part is done, all goes together quickly. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:

2 T oil

1 onion-chopped

1 cup celery-chopped

4 cups mushrooms-sliced

4 garlic cloves-minced

1 cup carrots-peeled and sliced

3 quarts chicken broth

5 cups diced new potatoes

3 cups cubed boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 cup barley

1/4 cup butter

1 cup toasted slivered almonds

Salt and Pepper to taste

Heat oil over medium heat, to it add your onion, celery, mushrooms, garlic, carrots, and chicken. Saute until veggies are tender and chicken is slightly browned. Now pour in your broth. Make sure to scrape the your soup pot to deglaze the goodies. Now add in your potatoes and barley and cook for 35 minutes. Now is the time to toast your almonds in a 350' oven for 10 minutes. Right before serving drop your butter in the pot and salt and pepper to taste. Serve with your toasted almonds on top and with a crusty bread.

Turkey Noodle Soup

Here is an idea for what is left of your turkey. Make soup..... I make mine like I do my chicken noodle soup but use your leftover turkey carcass. I boil the carcass for a couple of hours and then strain all of the bones out. It is really good. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Potato Chowder

I really wanted some potato soup but the kiddos wanted no part of my dinner suggestion. So I decided on the next best thing, Potato Chowder. It is creamy, potatoey, sausagey, this last ingredient sold them. We ate our chowder with crackers but a good crusty bread or cornbread would be great too. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek. I promise that soup is not all we have been eating, love it on cool days though...

Needed:
5 pounds of red potatoes-peeled and chopped
5 celery stalks-peeled and chopped
4 carrots-peeled and chopped
2 pounds skinless polish sausage-sliced into 1/4 thick pieces
1 yellow onion-peeled and chopped
Enough water to cover veggies
3 cups whole milk or soy milk
2 T Cornstarch mixed into 1 cup of milk from above 3 cups
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large soup pot add enough oil to coat bottom, then add your onion, celery, and sausage. Cook until sausage is slightly brown and onions soften. Now add in your carrots and potatoes and cover with water. I add my salt and pepper now. Cook over medium heat for 30 minutes. Add your milk and bring almost to a boil, now add in the milk in which you have added your cornstarch and stir. Chowder will begin to thicken up, serve.

Taco Soup

After a few days of some of the family not quite feeling up to snuff, this soup just sounded tasty. This one goes together pretty fast and can be made with beef, chicken, soy, or no "meat" at all. We are having ours with sweet cornbread. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:

3 pounds hamburger, turkey, chicken or soy-browned
2 cans Rotel
2 cans whole kernel corn
2 cans black beans-drained and rinsed
1 can hominy
1 can red beans-drained and rinsed
1 can tomato sauce
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 t garlic powder




Brown meat of choice and then add, Rotel, corn, black beans, red beans, hominy, tomato sauce, taco seasoning and ranch dressing mix. I add about 3 cups of water to this, salt and pepper to taste. Cook over medium heat for 1 hour. Serve with shredded cheese and sweet cornbread.

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

I am sure everyone has a favorite chicken soup recipe that their grandmother made and here is mine. I guess I am the grandmother here, or at least I will be someday. One of our kiddos turned up sick and wanted this soup for lunch. Doesn't chicken soup make you feel good when you are a little under the weather?? This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:
1 whole chicken-I use free range
4 stalks of celery-cleaned and chopped
4 carrots-cleaned and chopped
2 T ground sage or 5 fresh sage leaves
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 pound of egg noodles
Water
Add to a large soup pot the following, chicken, sage, celery, carrots, salt and pepper. I cover all of this with about 3 inches of water. Cook covered for 2 hours. I like to cook mine until the chicken starts to fall apart. Remove chicken and remove meat from bones and place chicken back to pot. I add my noodles now and cook for about 29 more minutes. We like ours with cornbread.

Beef and Vegetable Noodle Soup

A little bit of a tongue twister but by any name it is tasty. I made a homemade yeast cornbread with it and yes, all enjoyed. This is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Needed:

1 rump roast
2 cans green beans-I used home canned
1 can diced tomatoes-home canned
2 cans of whole kernel corn
1 can peas
1 whole white onion-chopped
1 can tomato sauce
1 pound baby carrots-whole
2 T garlic powder
2 T sea salt
2 T black pepper
1/2 pound dry egg noodles
Water

Cook roast in a large stock pot with enough water to cover meat. I add in at this time the garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Cook over medium heat until meat falls apart. I cooked mine for approximately 5 hours. At this time add all of your veggies with canning liquid. Add carrots and noodles now too. Cook until carrots and noodles are done, this happened in about 20 minutes on my watch. You may need to add a little more water to your soup. I added about 3 cups, the noodles soak up a lot of the broth. Serve with a good homemade bread.

Green Chili Soup

I love visiting New Mexico and love the food there. This is my rendition of green chili soup. We like it with fry bread or flour tortillas. This is a soup you can start in the morning in a Crock Pot and have dinner waiting for you when you get home. It really gets better the next day. Raven likes it on flour tortillas as a taco of sorts. Either way it is good! That is What's Cookin today on Beaty's Creek.

Needed:
1 pork roast with some visible fat
4 cans Rotel
2 cans green chilies
Water
Salt ane Pepper- to taste

Place roast in a crock pot or soup pot, pour Rotel, chilies and enough water to cover roast by 3 inches. You may have to add more water when using a soup pot as the soup cooks throughout the day. I salt and pepper my soup pretty heavy, meaning I use about 1/8 cup salt and 1/8 cup pepper, but it is really up to your taste. Cook all day on high in a crock pot or on medium on your stove top. Serve with fry bread or tortillas.

Baked Potato Soup

Another cold one here on Beaty's Creek, spring weather is predicted for the weekend and I am ready! This soup is yummy and it is worth all of the calories! We eat it with Gold Fish crackers but homemade bread would be yummy too! Well folks that is What's Cookin today.

Needed:
5 lbs. potatoes-peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Water to cover potatoes
2 lbs. bacon-cooked crisp
2 lbs. sharp cheddar-shredded
Sour Cream
Chives-chopped
2 pints 1/2 and 1/2
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 T cornstarch mixed with 1/2 cup cold water

Boil potatoes in enough water to cover. Salt and pepper water to your taste. It takes quite a bit of salt to taste good, potatoes will really soak the salt up. Cook for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender, not any longer or you will end up with mush. This is the time to add your 1/2 and 1/2, cheese, and cornstarch mixture. Stir very well and bring to a rapid boil for 5 minutes but no longer or your 1/2 and 1/2 will spoil. Soup should be like a thick cream soup. We like to eat our soup with bacon, shredded cheese, chives and sour cream. Load it with whatever you like on baked potatoes and it will be good though. Regular saltines or Gold fish crackers are a must too! This is comfort food to me on a cold day.

Creamy New England Clam Chowder Stacey's Way

It is a cold and snowy day on Beaty's Creek and I want some Clam Chowder. This is a recipe that I made up after making some that I did not care for. I top this with crispy bacon, I think it is a good addition to the chowder.

Needed:

5 pounds of golden Yukon potatoes-peeled and cut into 1 inch squares
3 carrots-peeled and sliced into 1/8 inch rounds
2 stalks of celery-stripped and chopped into 1/8 in slices
2 cans baby clams with juice
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 quart Milk
2 T Cornstarch
1 quart Water
2 sticks of butter

In a large soup pot melt butter and add celery and carrots, saute until slightly tender, now add about 1 quart of water. Add potatoes to water with salt and pepper, cook until potatoes are fork tender. Now add your clams with juice and milk, next add cornstarch to 1 cup of water and stir very well. We like ours a little thick so you may want to start with less cornstarch if you like a thinner chowder. Bring to a low boil to thicken a little. Serve with crackers and bacon. Yummy!! Well that is What's Cookin on Beaty's Creek today.

Stacey's Split Pea Soup

If you are a teen of the 70's I know what comes to your mind at the thought of pea soup.... So don't go there. This soup is sooo good your kiddos will scarf it down in no time. I cook mine in the Crock Pot and all I have to do is make bread bowls. I will post my recipe for my tried and true bread bowls later today. We like shredded sharp cheddar cheese with our soup but some people like sour cream too. It feels like spring today on Beaty's Creek complete with thunder storm watches. Stay safe and enjoy this soup.

Needed:
1 pound of split peas-rinsed
2 quarts of chicken broth
2 large carrots-peeled and slice into 1/4 inch pieces
2 large celery stalks-peeled and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
5 red potatoes-washed and cut into quarters
Salt and Pepper to taste

Place all of the ingredients in a crock pot and cook on high for 6-8 hours.

Chicken and Dumplings

What says home cooking any better than a pot of chicken and dumplings?? I love rolled out dumplings for chicken and dumplings. This is one recipe Sean's Grandmother and my Granny West shared, I think it is a good southern recipe. We serve ours with homemade cornbread and coleslaw. Coleslaw you ask??? I know it sounds odd but it is so good once you have it you will never want one without the other. So that is "what's cookin" on this eve of a supposed ice storm, we will see...

Needed:
1 whole chicken(I use our free range)
2 T sage(I use about 5 fresh leaves of sage)
Salt and Pepper to your taste
All Purpose Flour
Baking Soda
Water
2 carrots-peeled and sliced into 1/8 inch slices
1 celery stalk-peeled and sliced into 1/8 inch slices

Boil in a large soup pot, chicken, water to cover chicken, carrots, celery, sage, salt, and pepper. When chicken is done and falling off the bone, remove from pot and let cook completely. Once cool remove all meat, Raven likes the skin in the dumplings so I add it back but you don't have to. Now is the time to make your dumplings. Sift 6 cups of flour with 1 t baking soda, make a bowl in the middle of flour, this is where you will add your water. I start with 3 cups of warm water. You may need more. Mix with your hands until lit resembles a hard biscuit dough. Now roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness and slice with a pizza cutter 2 inch squares. Bring broth to a boil and add dumplings, be sure to stir once in a while. Boil dumplings for 10-15 minutes, lower heat and add chicken back to pot and boil for 10- 15 minutes longer. I hate it when chicken gets stringy, this is the reason to add the chicken and the end of cooking.

Tortilla Soup

This is a good soup for a cold day. It is a cold day on Beaty's Creek, so I made this soup. It is not hard at all.

Needed:
2 chicken leg quarters
1 large can Rotel
1 can corn
2 cans black beans-rinsed
salt and pepper to taste
1 T cumin
2 T chili powder
2 garlic cloves-minced
1 carton chicken broth

Boil chicken quarters in 2 quarts of water with garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Once chicken is done remove from broth and add Rotel, corn with liquid, rinsed black beans and additional chicken broth. Bring to a low simmer and add boned chicken back to soup. Simmer for 30 minutes and serve. We like to add cheese, avocado, sour cream, the juice from a line wedge and chips but it is up to you what you add.

Zuppa Toscana Soup

The first time I had this soup I was at the 25th Anniversary of the Reader Exchange Party thrown by the Tulsa World. Linda Fraizier made this soup and it was soo good I rushed home to make it! The only thing I do different is I use Italian pork sausage. You have to try this soup! It is so cold on Beaty's Creek that I am wearing socks with my Birks today. Note, I never wear socks! We eat this with homemade french bread.

3-4 slices bacon cooked crisp
1 pound spicy Italian sausage- chopped and browned (Linda uses Healthy Choice Sausage)
3-4 shallots-minced
1 onion-chopped
2 garlic cloves-minced
1 bunch kale-leaves removed from stem and chopped (if you live in a small town kale will be hard to find so use spinach)
4-5 red potatoes scrubbed and chopped into bite size pieces
4 cups of chicken broth
2 cups half and half



Brown sausage and bacon with onion and garlic. Once sausage and bacon are cooked add broth. Scrap bottom of pot to release all the goodies the bacon and sausage left behind. At this time add the potatoes cook them until fork tender. This will not take very long. Once the potatoes are done add the kale or spinach. The greens will wilt very fast, so don't be scared that you added too much. Right before serving add your half and half. RIGHT BEFORE SERVING ADD THE HALF AND HALF! If you add it any earlier you will have soured half and half in your soup. Yuck!! I did this the first time I made the soup and was very sad to throw it out but that is what I had to do. Make some homemade bread and enjoy!