Category Archives: Soups and Stews

Creamed Vegetable Soup

Posted on September 1, 2025 | Comments Off on Creamed Vegetable Soup

I’ll first start off saying that I don’t have exact measurements for this.  I just threw in what I thought would be good and it was.  Keep in mind, these are just estimates.  Secondly, my husband is 6’4″ and the zucchini he’s holding in this pic is at least a foot and a half long.  This is the main ingredient in the soup I made and I used about 1/6 of it.  It was washed well, I left the seeds in and the skin on.  Third, soup is a great way to get vegetables in your fridge used up that are nearing expiry.  I just started throwing things in…  After it was blended, I added a bag of frozen meatballs for a little protein.  It was good. Ingredients:

  • About 1/6th of the zucchini in the picture above (maybe 4 or 5 store-bought zucchinis?
  • 4 medium tomatoes ( I had a mix of beefsteak and cherry tomatoes which was loosely 4 tomatoes combined)
  • 2 medium coarsely chopped kale leaves and stalks (Winterbor so it’s fairly big)
  • 1 large coarsely chopped carrot
  • 1 large coarsely chopped rib of celery
  • 1/2 coarsely choppped green bell pepper
  • 1 red onion (quartered)
  • 4 small garlic cloves
  • 2 tbsp rosemary
  • 1 tbsp fennel seed
  • 2 pinches of ground dill
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp chicken bouillon (undiluted liquid)
  • 2 bay leaves

Preparation:

  • Add 1 cup of water to the slow cooker
  • Place all ingredients in the slow cooker ensuring the bay leaves are placed on top for easy removal later on
  • Set on high for 4 hours and let it cook
  • When complete, remove the bay leaves
  • Use an immersion blender to mix everything well to a creamy smooth consistency.
  • Add a protein or whatever you’d like to it or eat it just like that!

Comments Off on Creamed Vegetable Soup

Posted in Slow Cooker, Soups and Stews

Zucchini Soup

Posted on August 28, 2025 | Comments Off on Zucchini Soup

I haven’t tried this yet but plan to this weekend!  Our zucchini is huge so this will be a good way to get it used up.  I probably won’t put cream in it, but maybe a little 2% milk instead to lighten it.

Ingredients:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 750 g zucchini, thinly sliced (~5 cups)
  • 3 cups vegetable broth
  • medium potato, peeled & diced
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme (or 1 tsp fresh thyme)
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
  • (Optional) 1/2 cup cream or crème fraîche
  • Garnish: Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

  • Heat oil and butter in a large pot over medium heat.
  • Add onion and sauté 5 minutes until translucent.
  • Add garlic and cook 1 more minute.
  • Stir in zucchini and potato. Cook ~8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until zucchini softens.
  • Pour in vegetable broth. Bring to boil, then reduce heat. Season with salt, pepper, thyme.
  • Simmer 15–20 minutes until potato is tender.
  • Blend with immersion blender (or in batches) until smooth.
  • Optional: Stir in cream for richness. Garnish with Parmesan and serve with crusty bread.
  • Enjoy!

 

Comments Off on Zucchini Soup

Posted in Soups and Stews

Cream of Mushroom (Puffball) Soup

Posted on September 23, 2022 | Comments Off on Cream of Mushroom (Puffball) Soup

After the motherlode find of puffballs, I decided to make some soup out of some of it. My gosh, it’s good. It’s not a heavy mushroom flavour but does make a thick light tasting soup. I don’t like a lot of salt in my soup so for those who do, add more.

Ingredients:

  • About 3 tbsp. olive oil
  • 6 c. packed mushroom (puffball) in about 3/4″ cubes
  • 2 medium thinly sliced onions (about 2.5″ diameter)
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp. dried oregano (I crush it to release more flavour)
  • 1/2 tsp. ground thyme
  • 1 tbsp. marjoram (optional)
  • 1/4 c. flour
  • 6 c. chicken broth
  • 1 c. 3% milk
  • Salt to taste (about 3/4 tsp., more if you like salty soup)
  • Pepper (about 1/2 tsp.)

Preparation:

  • In a dutch oven, sautée onion and mushroom with the olive oil over medium heat
  • Once the water has evaporated from them (about 15 minutes), sprinkle flour on the mushroom mix and stir well to coat
  • Slowly add broth, continuously stirring (the goal is to thicken the mixture)
  • Add salt and pepper
  • Once all broth has been added, let simmer for 5 minutes. Some pieces of mushroom can be removed and set aside if you like chunks of mushroom in your soup
  • Let cool and use an immersion blender to purée the mixture. It will be very thick
  • Add the milk and turn off the stove. If you find it too thick, you can cut it with water some. Add you mushroom pieces if you had set any aside

Comments Off on Cream of Mushroom (Puffball) Soup

Posted in Soups and Stews

Instant Pot Split Pea Soup

Posted on April 1, 2018 | Comments Off on Instant Pot Split Pea Soup

I made split pea soup in the Instant Pot (IP) last night for the first time.  I’m not a big fan of pea soup but I think that’s because I usually have had it from a can and it’s been a looooong time since I’ve had any at all.  Anyhow, last night I thought I’d try it.  It was really something I came up with in my head after seeing no actual recipe that I wanted to follow.  A lot of recipes called for ingredients I didn’t have so this is what I came up with.  We all enjoyed it (my uncle even had a couple of servings!), so I guess I wasn’t the only one who thought it turned out pretty good 🙂

Ingredients:

  • About 3/4 head of celery
  • About 1 c finely sliced or chopped carrot (see note below)
  • About 9 c water
  • About 3 tbsp chicken Bovril
  • 1 large yellow onion finely chopped
  • 3 c split peas
  • 2 c cubed ham (no bigger than 1″)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp marjoram
  • 3/4 tsp savory
  • 3/4 tsp thyme

Preparation:

Add water and celery to the IP (it should come up to about the 10 c mark).  Pressure cook for 20 minutes (I used the meat/stew setting).  Do a quick release of the steam.  When safe to continue, carefully blend with an immersion blender to shred all the celery up (it should be very soft at that point).  Add remaining ingredients and stir well.  Pressure cook on the same setting for 40 minutes.  Do a quick release and when safe to continue, stir with a large spoon to break up the clumps of peas and give it a smooth consistency.

Notes:  

  • This will give you a very creamy texture to the soup without any pea pieces (they get mushy), but it’s very nice.
  • I left the celery in large pieces about 4″ long and used my immersion blender on it when cooked.  If you’d prefer not to do this, just thinly slice the celery before putting it in the IP.
  • Next time I will add a good cup (maybe 2!) of sliced carrots (I didn’t think I had any but turns out I did in the basement!).

Comments Off on Instant Pot Split Pea Soup

Posted in Instant Pot, Recipes, Soups and Stews

Beef Stew

Posted on January 20, 2018 | Comments Off on Beef Stew

Who doesn’t love stew?  Especially when it’s cold out, nothing warms and soothes quite like it.  Here’s how I do mine in our 6 qt Instant Pot (IP).

Ingredients:

  • about 3 lbs beef, cubed, trimmed of fat
  • about 5 med. potatoes, cubed
  • 1 small bag of baby carrots
  • about 4 or 5 stalks of celery, cut up in chunks
  • 2 large onions, cut in eighths
  • Other veggies (optional, just watch your IP space limits)
  • 4 c water
  • 2 packets gravy (I usually use French’s) or make a thickening agent of water, salt, and flour

Preparation:

Set the IP to the sauté setting and let the beef brown while you prepare the veggies.  Turn the beef a couple of times to get both sides browned.  Add vegetables and water to the IP.  Cover and set to “Meat” setting and let it pressure cook for 45 minutes.  Everything will be so tender when it’s done.  I do a quick release when it’s done.  Remove cover and set to sauté.  Add gravy packets or thickening agent and stir well.  Let the gravy heat a little for about 10 minutes.  Give it one final stir and serve.

Comments Off on Beef Stew

Posted in Instant Pot, Soups and Stews

Fish Chowder

Posted on February 10, 2017 | Comments Off on Fish Chowder

My cousin Tommy used to make amazing fish chowder.  Back in those days, it was usually made with the fish that he actually caught (often Walleye).  I haven’t been fishing since I was a teen so I won’t be making it with fresh fish anytime soon.   Today I used frozen fish (Haddock works well, Alaskan Pollock, and I tried it today with Tilapia).  Tommy died a few years ago, so I got the recipe from my cousin Tim since he also has made it in the same manner as Tommy.   So here it is (roughly).  It makes a big pot so judge accordingly if you want to make a half batch etc.  The trick to getting the creaminess is soaking a couple of tubes of soda biscuits in condensed milk.  Don’t try to cut corners and use regular milk – it will not produce the same texture, it’ll be watery and nowhere near as good.

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium onions
  • 5 lbs of raw diced potatoes (about 3/4″ cubes)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • About 2 lbs of whatever fish you want to use, cut in 1″ pieces
  • 2 cans condensed (unsweetened) milk – you can use 3 if you want it milkier
  • 2 tubes of soda biscuits (I used salted)
  • About a litre of water
  • A little oil.

Preparation:

In a large bowl, dump the contents of soda biscuit tubes and cover with the condensed milk.  Set aside.

In a large stock pot, sautée the onions in the oil.  When they’re translucent, add potatoes and enough water to cover them by about an inch.  Boil potatoes until they’re almost cooked (about 20 min.).  Add fish and salt and boil until cooked (about 5 min.).  Carefully add condensed milk and soda biscuits to the stock pot and heat for 5 min. on low heat (you don’t want to scorch it!).  Serve hot.  I like to garnish with bacon bits but it’s not necessary.

Comments Off on Fish Chowder

Posted in Recipes, Soups and Stews

Third Party Links for Recipes

Posted on April 19, 2016 | Comments Off on Third Party Links for Recipes

Just a few notes… Some of these recipes are too high in calories; I’m notorious for making substitutions. Some of these I’ve tried, many I have not… yet 🙂 I keep this list so I can reference when I do want to make some of these things. Of the items I have made, both my husband and I like them, a few though are more for my taste buds than his. Since these links are on third party sites which I have no control over, I’m not responsible for dead links. I’ll try to update them on my own site when possible. And now, on with the list! Sweets

Sides

Snacks and Appetizers

Salads and Slaws

Breads & Biscuits

Slow Cooker

Sauces, Salsas, and Dips

Meat

Drinks

Breakfast

Soups and Stews

 

Comments Off on Third Party Links for Recipes

Posted in Appetizers, Breads and Doughs, Desserts, Dips, Drinks, Main Course, Recipes, Salads, Dressings, Sauces, and Spice Mixes, Sides and Sandwiches, Slow Cooker, Soups and Stews

Magazine Recipe: Slow Cooker Creamy Mushroom Chicken Stew

Posted on December 7, 2011 | Comments Off on Magazine Recipe: Slow Cooker Creamy Mushroom Chicken Stew

Comments Off on Magazine Recipe: Slow Cooker Creamy Mushroom Chicken Stew

Posted in Main Course, Slow Cooker, Soups and Stews

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Magazine Recipe: Slow Cooker Cassoulet

Posted on December 7, 2011 | Comments Off on Magazine Recipe: Slow Cooker Cassoulet

Comments Off on Magazine Recipe: Slow Cooker Cassoulet

Posted in Main Course, Slow Cooker, Soups and Stews

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Magazine Recipe: Creamy Turkey Chowder

Posted on December 5, 2011 | Comments Off on Magazine Recipe: Creamy Turkey Chowder

I’ve decided just to take pictures of magazine recipes I like and post them here.  It will save me from having to type everything out.  It might not be the best quality but at least it’s readable. 🙂

 


Comments Off on Magazine Recipe: Creamy Turkey Chowder

Posted in Main Course, Slow Cooker, Soups and Stews

Tagged ,