Steak and Potato Soup

I made some steak and potato soup for lunch today and hubby thought it was great. So did I, and I was thrilled. LOL  No exact proportions to the ingredients, I just toss. lol  I didn't make a whole lot, enough for four servings. I used left over steak and cut off the fatty stuff (cringing, don't like fat) and cut the pieces of steak into small pieces. I also used pork broth I had in the freezer from when I had made a pork roast. I save the broths when I cook meat. I read an article in a magazine about keeping the broth when you cook veggies, too, and think I will do that, too. After cooking the meat I pour the juice into a plastic bowl, put a lid on it and stick it in the fridge. The fat rises to the top and I take that off, rinse it in cold water, and put it into a plastic bag and stick it in the freezer. Beef fat, tallow, can be used to make candles. They are soft so I put them into containers to stay in there. Pork fat, lard, for pies and biscuits.

Have you bought lard in the stores lately? It has hydrogenated oil in it! I was going to buy lard to get away from the hydrogenated junk and low and behold, there it was in the can of lard! That's why I have REAL lard in my freezer in a bag.

Steak and Potato Soup

• Cubed left over steak left 
• Pork broth to fill pan 3/4 full
• Chopped onion
• Chopped red pepper
• White potatoes, peeled or unpeeled, cubed (I used three med sized potatoes)
• Seasonings: salt, pepper, basil, sage, oregano, thyme, celery salt, garlic, rosemary

Throw it all into the pan and cook it till the potatoes are tender. 

We didn't have any leftover soup today. YAYAYAAYAYAAYA  LOL

New Year Soup!

Only because it's the first soup I made in the new year and had to give it a name so hubby would think I got it from a cook book. :::: eyeroll :::: It DID turn out good, even if I didn't get it from a cook book. I won't give exact amounts for the ingredients because I don't know the exact amounts for the ingredients. I don't actually measure, I toss in stuff. Besides, we all know you're gonna change the ingredients anyway. LOL

New Year Soup

• pork broth (I used the broth I saved from roast pork)
• cooked pork, chopped (I used the left over pork from the roast)
• green beans, frozen or fresh
• smoked sausage slices (Johnsonville or other brand works fine)
• onions chopped
• sweet corn, frozen or fresh
• collard greens, frozen or fresh, chopped into small pieces and don't need a lot of this
• cabbage, cut bite sized 
• red pepper chunks
• green pepper chunks
• tomato sauce (I used the small can because I didn't make the normal size big pan of soup)
• salt and pepper
• sage, basil, oregano, rosemary, celery salt, garlic, touch of lavender blossoms, parsley

Toss it all into a pan and cook it up. You may need to add extra water as it cooks. Let it cook for a few hours to blend it. Put it away and heat it up the next day for the BEST flavor, of course, but if you can't wait, go for eating the day you cook it. LOL 

Farmhouse Ham Chowder

Good stuff! I'd never made a chowder before in my life and I didn't know what to fix for supper tonight and was browsing through one of my new magazines and there it was. Yeah! I can do that one. I didn't have the celery and I didn't have vegetable broth (I used beef broth instead, chicken would have worked, too). It still turned out good!!

Farmhouse Ham Chowder pg 74, First for Women, Mar 1, 2010

1/2 lb green beans, trimmed & halved 1 large onion, chopped (1 1/2 C)

1 C each chopped carrots & celery 2 Tbs butter

1 1/2 lb baking potatoes, peeled/cubed 1 container (32 oz) vegetable stock

2 C milk 1/2 lb smoked ham, diced

1 Tbs each, chopped fresh parsley and dill

In saucepot of boiling salted water, cook green beans 2 min. Drain. In pot over medium-high heat, cook next 3 ingredients in butter for 2 min. Add potatoes, stock, and milk. Over high heat, brin to a boil. Reduce heat to medium. Cover; let simmer 20 minutes. In blender, puree 1 1/2 C mixture; stir back into pot. Add beans and last 3 ingredients. Cook 2 minutes.

Serves 4

I cooked the beans longer than 2 minutes... they were frozen and I know Mom does not like crunchy veggies. If they are cooked veggie, they are supposed to be COOKED until they are soft. I also put the put the green beans in with the milk and stock and cooked them in there with the carrots and onions.

Try! Enjoy!

See... I have fallen off the menu planning big time. LOL Had to figure out what to have for supper tonight! :)