Entry for Monday, October 23, 2006 - Cold Days Need Hot Soups

Yesterday, although I never got dressed, I didn't just sit around and gather moss.  I was in one of my cooking modes.  I made a pot of Hearty Potato Soup, a pot of Winter Squash Soup, I cooked fresh kale, carrots, roasted potatoes, and sweet Italian Sausages.  The vegetables and sausages we had for dinner last night.  The Squash Soup went in the freezer to take on my trip and the Potato Soup we'll have tonight for dinner.  Its cold and windy today; the perfect day for hot soup.  Oh, and before I forget, please add the following to your "Stuff You Should Never Do List".  I had a saute pan with a glass lid that I had in the oven.  When I took it out of the oven I put it in the sink and ran water on it to "cool it down".  Big mistake!  It exploded, luckily it exploded away from me and into the sink.  Also luckily, it broke like safety glass into little pellets.  What a mess!  I know better than to do that, I don't know what I was thinking.

Today I took my car into the dealer to have some safety recall work done.  We only had to be there about an hour, so that wasn't too bad.  While we were waiting, we looked around the showroom at the new Jeep Liberty's and Grand Cherokee's.   I was interested to see if they had re-engineered the dash and console on the Liberty, but it looked about the same.  I was intrigued with the navigation system in the Grand Cherokee, because I have no sense of direction.  My next vehicle will definately have that!  After lunch we went to the grocery store.  That set me back $110.00 and the only meat I bought was sausage (that was on sale!).

Tomorrow its back to NIH for the long day to start week 6.

I'm including the Potato Soup recipe that I use, because its quite good and you might like to make it.  The recipe came from the Taste of Home Magazine.

Hearty Potato Soup



6 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" cubes

2 carrots, diced

6 celery stalks, diced

2 quarts water

1 onion, chopped

6 tablespoons butter or margerine

6 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1-1/2 cups milk



In a large kettle, cook potatoes, carrots, and celery in water until tender (about 20 minutes).  Drain, reserving liquid and setting vegetables aside.  In the same kettle, saute onion in butter until soft.  Stir in flour, salt and pepper;  gradually add milk, stirring constantly until thickened.  Gently stir in cooked vegetables.  Add 1 cup or more of the reserved cooking liquid until soup is the desired consistency (should be slightly thickened).  Yield 8-10 Servings (about 2-1/2 quarts).



You can use this recipe as a base and use brocolli or cauliflower instead of potatoes.  For some extra zip I sometimes add an 8 oz. jar of "Cheese Whiz" at the end of cooking.  This gives the soup a slightly cheesy taste which is quite good.

Tomorrow I'll post the recipe for the Winter Squash Soup which I got from my nutritionist.



Have a great evening.