Veggie Tray Soup

Well we are moved into our new home.  My husband and I are so happy that we were able to sell our two bedroom home and find a beautiful three bedroom home in the neighborhood we wanted.  Now that we are mostly unpacked and had one casual backyard party I am back to my favorite hobby!  Freezer Cooking!  I can't tell you how much Subway sandwiches we have eaten in the last four months.  We absolutely love Subway, but we both miss having home cooked meals around the table.

 

 

So here is one that I have been meaning to try for years.  After our Independence Day party we had lots of food leftover.  But after many days of burgers, pasta salad, taco salad and potato chips we still had a lot of veggies left over from our veggie tray.  I don't want them to go to waste so I whipped up a veggie tray soup.  It has the consistency of a bisque.  It has a ton of flavor and not too many calories. 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

 

1/2 cup carrot sticks

1/2 cup celery sticks

2 C broccoli florets

2 C cauliflower

1/2 onion

2 cloves garlic

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

32 oz fat free, low sodium chicken broth

8 oz sharp cheddar cheese

4 Tbsp margarine

4 Tbsp all purpose flour

1 Tbsp black pepper

1 Tbsp all purpose seasoning

1 Tbsp fresh or dried parsley

 

Directions:

 

In a large saucepan melt the 4 Tbsp margarine.  Set up a large cutting board and chop the veggies and add them to the pan in this order...onion, celery, carrot, garlic.  Sauté until the root vegetables start to get tender.

 

 

Add 4 Tbsp flour and stir well.  Once you can no longer see bright white flour slowly stir in the chicken broth.  This is how it looked half way through adding the chicken broth.

 

Drain the can of diced tomatoes and add to the pan.  Lastly chop the broccoli and cauliflower into bite sized pieces and add to the pan. 

 

 

 Put a lid on the pan and simmer for 5-6 minutes.  You just want to take the crunch off the broccoli and cauliflower without turning them into mush.

Shred the 8 oz of sharp cheddar and slowly stir into the soup.  Add pepper and all purpose seasoning and fresh or dried parsley to taste.  I did not need to add any salt because the cheddar is quite salty.

I make two quarts of soup.  Yum!

It's creamy and hearty...I can't wait to have some for dinner.  Feel free to throw in some leftover grilled chicken or steak from your summer parties.  It turns a dried out tray of vegetables into something moist and delicious. 

 

Give it a try with your party leftovers and let me know how it turns out.

Enjoy!

Christie aka Keeza







Thankyou for you Patience

I want to thank you all for checking out my recipes and giving great feedback.  My husband and I are in the process of selling our house and buying a bigger one.  We have maxed out our current space and need a little elbow room.  In anticipation of the big move we ate up the meals in our freezer and unplugged it.  Soon I hope to be settled into our new kitchen and will start trialing some new recipes. 

Lately we have been grilling a lot.  Chicken legs, pork steaks, hamburgers and turkey sausage.  I am trying not to buy in bulk (which is so hard when bulk is a better deal) so we have less to move.   I also have been stopping at Subway once a week and they now know me by name! 

I can't wait to get back to my freezer cooking and show you my new spacious kitchen.  It needs a little updating, but I can't wait to get in there!  Wish us luck with this stressful process. 

Christie aka Keeza

Philly Cheese Steaks from the Crockpot

Thank you for your patience as I try out some new recipes.  This one was an instant hit so I made it again and took some pictures so you can enjoy it too!  My husband wants these sandwiches in the regular rotation.  I make these before and after a 12 hour shift with a 45 minute commute.  That's how easy they are!!!

Ingredients:

3 lb brisket or beef roast
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 C beef broth
1 Lg onion sliced
1 Lg bell pepper sliced
16 Tbsp steak sauce
8 ciabatta rolls
8 slices provolone cheese

Directions:

Place the brisket or roast into a large crock pot.  Pour the beef broth over top of the roast and sprinkle with dry onion soup mix directly from the envelope.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or more.  I have a timer on mine.  I choose 8 hours on low and then it switches over to keep warm until we are ready to eat.

About 30-60 minutes before dinner shred the meat with two forks and add the sliced onions and peppers.  Cover and cook on low to steam the veggies.

Now you are ready to assemble all your sandwiches. Slice the rolls and open the cheese to set up an assembling station.

First spread 2 Tbsp of steak sauce on one ciabatta roll.  Our favorite is A1 thick and hearty.

Add a generous helping of shredded beef and sliced onions and peppers to the other half of the roll.

Now top the beef mixture with a slice of provolone.



Here is the finished sandwich.

They are soooooo tasty.  Your house will smell amazing all day.  I assemble all the sandwiches and wrap the ones we aren't going to eat for dinner in aluminum foil. 

I put the wrapped sandwiches in a gallon zipper bag and put the date on the bag.

Now you can freeze theses sandwiches for months.  When ready to eat please thaw in the fridge for 2 days.  Then bake in the foil wrappers at 350 degrees for one hour.  If you want to have a picnic in the park you can bake them at home and place the foil wrapped sandwiches in a basket.   They will still be piping hot when you get to the park. 

I hope you enjoy these sandwiches as much as we do.  They are just mouthwatering!  They are so easy to make you can put it together in ten minutes in the morning before work and assemble them in fifteen minutes after you get home. 

Enjoy!
Christie aka Keeza