Since then we have visited the Explorium (formerly known as Lexington Children's Museum), visited the zoo, threw a birthday celebration, attended a couple birthday celebrations, played outside (! in January and February, I know!), joined the FAC and fell in love with Zumba (well, just me on that actually, ha!), been to a UK game, and yadayadayada.
At the birthday celebration we hosted, I fixed two large pots of soups for our peeps to devour. After some begging from a couple of those peeps, I am finally posting those recipes for you ladies! ENJOY!
Cream of Potato Soup
6-7 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 to 3/4 stick margarine
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 8oz package cream cheese, cubed
1 tsp. garlic salt
1 1/2 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste
In a large saucepan cook diced potatoes and onions in enough water to cover potatoes.
Cook over medium-high heat until tender.
Add cream cheese; remove from heat. Stir until cheese is melted.
Add soups and margarine.
Add garlic salt, milk, salt and pepper. Stir. Serve hot.
Top with crumbled bacon and/or shredded cheese, if desired.
**Like most soups, this is excellent leftover.**
Taco Soup
2 lbs ground beef
2 cups diced onions
2 (15 1/2 ounce) cans pinto beans
1 (15 1/2 ounce) can pink kidney beans
I ma1 (15 1/4 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can Mexican-style stewed tomotoes
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 (14 1/2 ounce) can tomatoes with chiles
2 (4 1/2 ounce) cans diced green chiles
1 (4.6 ounce) can black olives, drained and sliced, optional
1/2 cup green olives, sliced, optional
1 (1 1/4 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
1 (1 ounce) package ranch salad dressing mix
corn chips for serving
sour cream for garnish
grated cheese for garnish
chopped green onions for garnish
pickled jalapenos for garnish
Brown the ground beef and onions in a large skillet; drain the excess fat, then transfer the browned beef and onions to a large slow cooker or a stockpot.
Add the beans, corn, tomatoes, green chiles, black olives, green olives, taco seasoning, and ranch dressing mix, and cook in a slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours or simmer over low heat for about 1 hour in a stockpot on the stove.
To serve, place a few corn chips in each bowl and ladle soup over them. Top woth sour cream, cheese, green onions, and jalapenos.
***I make a few substitutions with this recipe just for convenience sake and personal preference. First instead of the diced tomatoes, tomatoes with chiles, and gren chiles, I use 3 cans of Rotel tomatoes. I also leave out the olives. I have been known to substitute black beans for one of the cans of pinto beans. There is a lot of room to play with this recipe!***
If you give them a try, let me know what you think!
