Soup is on! Serving Beef Fajita Soup from the crockpot!

Two weeks ago, a slip on the ice landed me square on my shoulder and gifted me with some sprains and strains that have made cooking tricky. Thank goodness for the freezers and the pantry, but they are starting to look a little bare in the ready made foods department!  I had planned on making beef fajita soup in the crockpot on Monday and then realized that I couldn't reach the meat in the bottom of the chest freezer without using my injured arm, so that was postponed until today. Having asked A to get a packet of venison out of the freezer before he left for work, I was able to easily put together this soup with minimal arm movement. It's a new recipe for us from *The Slow Cooker Bible*, and after having tasted a small bowl of it in anticipation of dinner, I'm going to say it's one we'll do again. In fact, if the leftovers freeze well, I'll definitely be adding this soup to our list of core soup recipes! The flavor was very nice, the textures were good (onion was tender crisp, meat was tender, peppers were tender but held their form, the beans were the same as the peppers, and the diced tomatoes added a nice smoothness. The colors were beautiful, even with me using a large green bell pepper instead of a small red and a small green pepper. Tonight I'll serve this soup with piping hot cornbread muffins and local honey, but next time I will have dishes of shredded cheese, sour cream, fresh pico de gallo, and chopped cilantro to allow diners to add these to the top of their soup. This would be a very interesting soup course to precede enchiladas or to serve with a taco dip or empanadas. The success of this recipe also is a good omen for trying more recipes from this collection of recipes!

Beef Fajita Soup
1 lb beef stew meat (I used 1 lb 7 oz venison roast cut into bite sized pieces)
15 oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes with roasted garlic, undrained (I used a can of petite diced tomatoes and add 1 tsp garlic powder)
14 oz can beef broth (I used 2 tsp better than boullion and 16 oz boiling water)
1 small green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced (we love onion, so I used a medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into thin wedges)
1 1/2 c. water
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp seasoned salt (I used Lawry's)
1 tsp black pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker. (I used my 4 qt round crockpot.)
2. Cover; cook on low for 8 hours. (Who really does 8 hours? You're at work for at least 9! I started mine at 9 a.m and served it at 6:30 p.m. and it was fine. This one has some flexibility but don't go too long or the peppers will be mush.)
3. Serve with desired toppings.
Recipe from *The Slow Cooker Bible*.

A Spicy Soup and a Sweet Treat

We did two new pumpkin dishes tonight: spicy pumpkin soup and pumpkin buckle. The soup is good, but I don't like it. I know that doesn't make any sense. I can tell that the texture is good, the spices and flavors have a nice balance, but having grown up without savory squash dishes means that my brain rebels against something close to the consistency of pumpkin pie but not sweet and with a distinct curry flavor. Although I won't make it again, I encourage others to give it a try. The pumpkin buckle will certainly be made here again - it was delicious!

Spicy Pumpkin Soup
1/4 c. butter or margarine
1 c. chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp coriander powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
3 c. chicken broth
16 oz canned pumpkin
1 c. half-and-half cream (I used Silk soy creamer)

1. Melt butter in a medium-large pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, cooking until soft.
2. Add seasonings. Cook at least one minute.
3. Add broth and bring to a low boil for 15-20 minutes.
4. Add pumpkin and half-and-half. Boil for 5 minutes.
Makes 6 cups. Recipe from Recipezaar, #385456.

Pumpkin Buckle
1/2 c. butter or margarine, melted
Crust:
1 c. flour
1 c. sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c. milk (I used Silk soy creamer)
1 tsp vanilla
Filling:
3 c. canned pumpkin
1 c. evaporated milk (I used Silk soy creamer)
2 eggs (I used 1/2 c. Eggbeaters)
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1 T flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1. Pour butter or margarine into a 9x13 baking dish.
2. Mix up the crust batter: Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, then stir in the milk and vanilla until smooth. Pour this into the pan over the butter, do not stir!
3. Mix up the filling: Beat the pumpkin, milk, and eggs. Combine all of the dry filling ingredients and stir that into the pumpkin mixture. Pour this into the pan over the batter and butter, do not stir!
4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-60 minutes. The top will be golden brown.
This dessert is much like I cobbler I make with cherry pie filling and a batter made with Bisquick - the ingredients invert so that the result is a pumpkin pie bottom and a crispy, tender, 1/2" thick cobbler type top. Serve this warm with vanilla or cinnamon ice cream, freshly whipped cream, or with milk.
Recipe originally from Recipezaar.

Mexican Chicken Soup

Tonight's bean dish was Mexican Chicken Soup. This is one of our favorites, is great in the crockpot, freezes beautifully, can be made using leftover roast chicken or turkey, and is packed full of protein and vegetables - one of the most perfect dishes I know! The bean in this one is the black bean. It's size is very complimentary to the corn, the color makes a nice contrast, the flavor is mild while being strong enough to hold up to the strong flavors in the soup, and has a good texture for soups - creamy but firm.

1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed and sauteed until done or 1 1/2 lb cubed or shredded leftover roasted chicken or turkey
1 envelope taco seasoning or 2 tsp chili powder and 1 tsp cumin
32 oz can V8 juice
16 oz salsa
15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
10 oz (2 1/2 cups) corn
toppings: shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, and minced fresh cilantro

Combine all ingredients in a 5 qt crock pot. Cover and cook on low at least 3 hours and up to 12 hours (newer crock pots cook hotter, so in my new one, I leave it on low for 10 hours and then switch to warm).
Recipe from Taste of Home.

Soup in a Hurry

Today is still chilly and cloudy, and the bathroom painting project that should have taken one day is on day two. On top of all that, I work this evening, so dinner is going to be disjointed again!

One of our favorite fall back plans is soup, and one of my favorites is clean-out-the-fridge soup. I keep a thickened tomato broth in my pantry, made from simmering ripe tomatoes and then putting them through a food mill, producing a smooth, slightly thick "juice" to which I add some herbs and then can. I will put a quart of this tomato broth into a pot, then add all sorts of leftovers from my fridge and freezer. Corn or green beans from the freezer, slice up the leftover sausage from last night's dinner or chunk/shred the last of the rotisserie chicken you bought two nights ago, chop up the half an onion sitting in the fridge, toss in some leftover small pasta, heat it all through in about 10 minutes on medium-high, and we'll have hot soup in 15 minutes total prep and cook time. This can be vegetarian or even vegan, loaded with meat, or whatever you want. Substitute a big can of V8 for the homemade tomato broth. Sprinkle the soup with croutons, shredded cheese, whatever you think goes together.

Our version tonight will be tomato broth, sausage crumbles, corn, onion, and pasta with some rolls warmed up from the freezer or maybe some french bread (we buy a big loaf of french bread, slice it, then put all the slices back in the bag, and freeze, pulling out slices as we need them - they thaw on the counter in under 10 minutes). Leftovers can be frozen or eaten over the next couple of days.