Potato Soup

Last week my mom gave me most of a 10 lb bag of potatoes. I made Crash Hot Potatoes with some of them and decided to make Potato Soup with the rest of it. Here is the recipe I made up with what I had on hand:

~6 lbs of potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 T minced garlic
2 T butter
2 cans of evaporated milk
8 oz cheese, shredded
salt and pepper to taste

Cook potatoes in water until tender. Saute onions and celery in the butter just until brown, then add garlic. Heat through until you can really smell the garlic.

Once potatoes are tender, drain off half of the liquid and half of the potatoes. Use your hand mixed (or masher I suppose) to create a puree right in the pan with the remaining water and potatoes. Stir in sauted vegetables, evaporated milk, and cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted then add in the remaining potato cubes.

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Apart from the time spent peeling and cubing the potatoes, this was very simple to make. If I had it, I would have tossed in crumbled bacon and then topped with green onions. But they weren't on hand today. You could also use heavy cream instead of evaporated milk.

This recipe is one that is hard to mess up though. So, if you have less or more of something it probably wouldn't matter much.

What do you do with extra potatoes?

Casserole City

Tonight I got a little creative and pulled some random items from my pantry and freezer to make dinner. Bruce isn't a huge fan of casseroles, but if I add enough meat and flavor he can handle them on occasion.

For tonight's casserole, I took the 3 chicken breasts that Bruce defrosted and cut them into chicken strips. This was easier because they were still partially frozen. I browned the strips in olive oil then set them aside. While they were hanging out in a bowl next to my stove, I dumped in what was left of a bag of frozen peas along with 1 1/3 cup of water.

I let that heat up then added a box of whole wheat chicken flavored stuffing. I mixed that in just until moistened then placed the chicken over the top.

On top of the chicken, I put two things. First, I poured a mix of cream of celery soup mixed with 1/2 milk. Then, I shredded about 1/3 cup of cheddar cheese over that. Placing the lid on the pan, I let it heat up for about 5-6 minutes.

While this was cooking up, I made a green bean casserole for the oven. I did not have any french onions, so I decided to use Ritz crackers. This was a gross miscalculation. They got super soggy in the soupy mix. Plus, I was reminded that I do not like frozen green beans. I have made them a hundred different ways and have never liked them. So, I won't be buying them anymore, and I still have 1 bag left.

From my stash I used - frozen chicken, 1 can cream of chicken  soup, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 bag of frozen peas, 1 bag of frozen green beans, and a box of instant stuffing.

Weekly Shopping Trip

I made my weekly pilgrimage to Publix tonight in my quest to buy yummy food to go with my stash. I stuck to fresh produce, dairy, and whole grain bread except for my water. I can't drink the water where we live (horrible smell). I used to buy individual bottles, but realized that wasn't a very eco-friendly way to live. So now, I compromise and buy the 2.5 gallon jugs and then put it in my recycling bin once we finish it. I still keep some individual bottles around to grab on the way out the door, but use my Tervis Tumbler the rest of the time.

It was only my second week in the Eating It Up experiment and I already had to have the cashier take some items off of my bill. I guess I did a poor job adding up my purchases and had to put back the blueberries, plus my lite wheat hamburger and hot dog buns. I did not mind too much though since I was not sure we'd eat the blueberries and I can buy the buns for less money at the bread store if I plan my shopping trip for earlier in the evening.

After taking those items off, my total was $25.13. I am okay with going over my $25 goal though, because I was so far under it last week. Not that I want to go over every week, but $0.13 isn't going to break the bank. Yet. :-)

Oh, let me tell you about the dinner that we had tonight. It was the Tortilla Soup made from a mix by Bear Creek. I'll be honest and tell you it is the first expired item in my pantry. The use by date was September 2007, but I don't think it affected the taste at all. I added in a can of black beans and also a can of yellow corn to bulk it up some. It worked as a yummy meal and I got to eat the Harry & David chips with it! Bruce sprinkled some cheese on top of his and liked it. He topped his belly off with a hot dog though.

Tomorrow for lunch, we'll take leftover baked potatoes from last week and pour the soup over it with more cheese for something a little more filling. Trust me, you can't tackle the task of teaching 8th & 9th graders on an empty stomach!