Crock Pot Zuppa Toscana Soup

I am, truthfully, not a big soup fan. I'll eat it, occasionally; but not a fan. For some reason, this one got my attention, so I thought it was worth a shot.

It is, most definitely, worth making! Nate was at work when I made it, so he hasn't had it yet, but it was a huge hit with the boys and I! I was lazy/in a hurry when I was putting it together, so I did not dice the potatoes very fine, but I just mashed them a bit in my bowl. The boys didn't seem to have a preference--they were eating the pieces until they saw me mashing it with my spoon, then they mashed theirs too. ;) I would recommend cutting the pieces smaller, but it did work this way if you don't have much time to prep.

Adrian absolutely loved it, and Gabriel announced that the spinach was the best part ever. ;) (We may not be perfect parents, but so far we are at least raising them to be less fussy than their mama was/is!!)

One tip/suggestion/comment-- this does not need to be a crock pot recipe! Next time, I am just going to try stove top, and see how that works! I would recommend simmering all ingredients but the spinach & whipping cream for maybe 20-30 minutes, then adding them for another 15-20. However, since I haven't done that yet, you should definitely watch your times!

Remember, comments are loved! What's your go-to soup recipe?

Printable Recipe

Crock Pot Zuppa Toscana Soup

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground sausage
• ½ tablespoon Garlic Garlic, or 1 clove fresh, diced
• ½ tablespoon Onion Onion, or 1/2 small onion, diced
• 4 potatoes, diced
• Dash salt
• Dash pepper
• 4 cup chicken broth
• 2 cups spinach/kale (Original called for kale, but I usually have spinach on hand)
• ¾ cup heavy whipping cream
• Parmesan

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the sausage. (If using fresh onion/garlic, add here and saute for a few additional minutes.)  Drain grease from skillet.
2. In a large crockpot, place sausage, Garlic Garlic, Onion Onion, potatoes, salt, pepper, and chicken broth. Add additional water to cover potatoes as needed. 
3. Gently stir, then cook on low for 5-6 hours or high for 2-4 hours. 
4. Add spinach/kale and whipping cream, stir, then continue to cook for 30 minutes.
5. Serve hot, with parmesan. 

Yield/Time

8 servings

3-7 hours

Nutrition Facts *I calculate nutrition facts for reference only, this is not done scientifically

278/serving

Source (for original): Homemade Hooplah

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Chicken Pot Pie

It's almost unheard of these days, but Nate & I don't have TV. We have a TV that's hooked up to his PS3, but we don't get any shows on it. No cable, satellite, or even local channels. The few shows that we like, we can watch on Hulu after they air. 

The downside to this is that we tend to watch the same commercials over & over.... and those Marie Callender commercials were starting to kill me. Have you seen them? It goes on about how no one has time to make fresh, from scratch chicken pot pies, but Marie Callender does! (Or something like that.) And then they try to sell you frozen chicken pot pies. 

I'm sorry, but there is no way those things, from the freezer and full of sodium, taste as good as homemade. Sure, I don't always have time to roll out a pastry shell and bake a chicken pot pie from scratch.... but after seeing that commercial a few too many times, I made the time.

So, I grabbed my pastry shell recipe, and threw together a chicken pot pie for dinner on Sunday! 


Aside from the pastry shell, I don't usually measure much when I am making chicken pot pie. (And now I've said chicken pot pie so many times it's lost it's meaning....) The only thing I ever really measure is the gravy, and that's only to make sure there isn't too little or too much. The rest of the measurements are an educated guess. You want the pie to be full-to-rounded, without having it stacked too high. I am usually careful to not make it too full; I want a good pastry shell-to-filling ratio. (Wow, that makes it sound like it's a science....)

You can see in that picture that it's full, but not mounded. It's all personal preference, really.... (Oh, and ignore the atrocious crimping job there. I was trying to make the edges look wavy, then crimp with a fork..... hahahaha. Oh well, it tasted great.)

Oh, and if you aren't sure what to do with that extra pastry shell dough? I have a really good idea for you.....


Remember, comments are love! And so is food, so go share your pie!
   

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour    
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ⅔ cup butter flavored shortening    
• ¼ - 1 cup cold water
• ½ pound chicken, cooked    
• 1-2 cups frozen vegetables, diced if necessary
• 1-2 potatoes, peeled & diced    
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 cups chicken gravy (homemade, canned, or from the packets; whatever you want!)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper

 Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. In a medium bowl stir together flour and ¾ teaspoon salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until pieces are pea size. Sprinkle small amounts of the water over part of the flour mixture; gently toss with a fork. Repeat moistening flour mixture, using small amounts of the water at a time, until all the flour mixture is moistened. Form pastry into 2 balls.
3. On a lightly floured surface, slightly flatten each pastry. Roll from center to edges into a circle about 12” in diameter. Wrap pastry circle around the rolling pin. Unroll into a 9” pie plate, without stretching it. Trim pastry to ½” beyond edge of pie plate.
4. In a separate bowl, combine chicken, vegetables, potatoes, onion, salt, and pepper. Spread into prepared crust, cover with gravy.
5. Cut slits in remaining pastry shell and cover pie; crimp as desired.
6. Bake for 45-60 minutes, until pastry shell is browned and filling is steaming. (If edges appear to be getting too browned, cover edges in foil part way through baking.)

Yield/Time

8 servings

1 ½ hours

 Source (for original): Pastry shell is from my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook

Cheesy Crock Pot Cowboy Casserole

I love potatoes, but I don't actually cook with them very often. That usually results in me letting 1/3 to 1/2 of a bag of potatoes get nasty, which always annoys me. I hate wasting food. So, when I've had the potatoes for awhile, I start looking for something yummy & new to hurry up and use those potatoes before they go bad. I had about 1 pound of the 5 pound back left when I stumbled across this recipe on Pinterest.

Side note: I seriously love Pinterest. I scoffed at everyone using Pinterest before -didn't see the point- until a friend had a Pinterest birthday party and I had to get on it. The food & drink section makes me happy. There are so many recipes! You just keep scanning pictures til you find something that looks yummy. 

Anyways, back to the recipe. If I don't find anything that looks amazing, I will go with potato soup to use up the potatoes, but I was so happy I found this. Cheese, potatoes, meat... Even some veggies so I can convince myself it's good for us!


The one thing that almost deterred me from making this is the kidney beans. I know, I know. "Serena, I thought you were trying to broaden your horizons, try new things," blah blah blah. I have added various beans to things in the last couple of years, and wound up picking them out while I was eating it. (Nothing quite like having to dissect each bite before eating it....) I think that, next time, I will add the kidney beans. However, the last two new recipes I've tried have failed, and I wanted this to be a definite "yes."

Side note on the failed recipes: one was a cookie bar, and I thought the taste & texture were meh. Nate said they were good so I did wind up giving some to my big brother, Jonah, as part of his belated birthday gift, but it wasn't something I would make again. The second were soft honey spice cookies, were the taste turned out great but they did NOT look anything like the picture, and the texture wasn't what it should have been. Jonah got a lot of those for his birthday too; at least they tasted good. 


See below the recipe for more comments on it....

Cheesy Crock Pot Cowboy Casserole

Ingredients

• ½ medium onion, diced
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon Mrs. Dash
• 1 pound small red potatoes, sliced thin
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
• 1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced (if subbing canned tomatoes, do not drain)
• 1 cup canned or frozen corn
• 1 can dark red kidney beans
• ¼ cup water (skip if adding canned tomatoes)
• 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

• Place  all of the ingredients except the cheese in a 4 - 6 quart crockpot and stir well.
• Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 7 - 8  hours. Uncover crock pot and sprinkle shredded cheese over top. Recover and let cook an additional 30 minutes.

Yield/Time

6 servings

8 hours

Nutrition Facts

265 calories per cup, using ½ cup beef (324 if using a full pound of beef)

Source (for original): Family Fresh Meals 

I thought I had about 3/4 pound of cooked venison in the fridge (from when I made taco helper), but apparently I had only saved 1/2 pound. Oh well. Still meaty, but I would try to add the full pound or so next time.