Cooking for Two;Tuesday!

So yesterday was a cooking day in the Humphrey household.  I have been reading some articles lately on the bpa lining of aluminium cans and how bad the sodium content is in canned soup and people just going on and on about how bad canned soup is.  So I decided, I would make my own. 

I started out making Cream of Chicken soup, then Cream of Mushroom, then Chicken Noodle Soup, then Cream of Celery.  Surprisingly they were all very easy to make.  I have included the recipes just in case you decide to go out on a limb and try them yourself.  I think you will be very satisfied with the end result.  Stick around until the end, because I have a little surprise for you all!

Condensed Cream of Whatever Soup

Description:  In this recipe I advice you to use organic ingredients.  It is a personal preference, but if I am going to take the time out to make homemade soup, I would at least like it to be the best it possibly can be.  This recipe will make any kind of condensed soup you would like.  You can use this soup in any recipe that calls for a condensed creamy soup! 

Yield:  6 cups

3 cups organic stock*
3 cups organic Skim or 1% milk
1 tsp poultry seasoning (if you are making a chicken based soup)
1/2 tsp onion powder or you can use finely chopped onion if you wish, if you do so use 1/4 cup of onion**
1/2 tsp garlic powder or you can use freshly grated garlic (3-4 cloves depending on the size of the cloves and the family's preference to garlic)
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp of kosher or sea salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1 1/2 cups of organic or unbleached all purpose flour
fresh veggies**

Additional Notes: 

*:  If you want to make Cream of Chicken soup, use chicken stock.  If you want to make Cream of Mushroom soup, use Vegetable Stock.  Or you can use whatever you have on hand!

**:  When you are using fresh vegetables, you should always boil them in the stock until the become tender. 

Directions:

1.  If you are using fresh vegetables, mix broth, seasoning and veggies together in a saucepan. Cover and bring stock to a hard boil.  Allow broth to boil for 7-10 minuets or until veggies are tender. Add milk and the continue to step three.

2.  If you are not using fresh vegetable, mix all ingredients together, EXCEPT THE FLOUR, in a large saucepan.

3.  Whisk in flour.  Whisk until completely combined.

4.  Place saucepan on a medium heat burner and bring to a boil.  Whisk every couple of minuets.  Once the soup boils, keep whisking until the soup gets to the desired consistency.

5.  Allow soup to cool completely and then freeze in 1-2 cup increments. 


Chicken Noodle Soup (Minus the Noodles)

Ingredients:

1 1/2-2 cups of chicken (raw or cooked/cubed or shredded)
1/2 cup of leeks, finely chopped
3-4 cloves of freshly grated garlic
1 liter of chicken broth
1 cup of diced carrots
1 cup of diced celery
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp freshly chopped or dried parsley*
1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt
1 cup egg noodles (I like the super fine ones)

Additional Notes: 

*: If you use fresh herbs, add them to you soup after it is done cooking.  If you are using dried herbs, add them at the beginning of the cooking process.

Directions:

1.  Add all ingredients, EXCEPT THE NOODLES, to a medium size saucepan.  Cover and bring to a hard boil. 

2.  Once soup beings to boil, reduce heat to around medium/low and simmer for 10-15 minutes until veggies are tender, and if you used raw chicken it is thoroughly cooked.

3.  Remove pan from the heated surface and ladle out soup into a 12 count muffin tin.  You should make 24 soup disk total.  Fill each hole with equal amounts of chicken, carrots, onions and celery and then top it off with broth to the rim. 

4.  Place muffin tin on a cookie sheet in the freezer overnight.

5.  To remove the soup disk and store them in a plastic Ziplock bag, run warm water in your sink, just enough to warm each cup to allow the disk to slip out easily.  Store disks in a ziplock bag in the freezer

6.  When you go to cook the soup, boil salted water and add the noodles.  Cook until they are al dente, follow the directions on the package.  You will not need a cup of noodles for each disk.  Probably more like 1/4 of a cup per every 2 or 3 disks.  Drain noodles when cooked.  DO NOT RINSE.

7. Heat the soup and serve!

I told you that I had a little surprise for you at the end of this post...WELL earlier this week I posted about my hashbrown waffles, well last night for desert I made Brownie Waffles.  They are absolutely devine.  They are the perfect crispy/fudgey/gooey ratio.  It is like one large corner brownie, but better.  Here take a look for yourself....

Next time I make these they will be topped with fresh strawberries and whipped cream!

They are so easy to make this is what you need:

Ingredients:
1 Box of Browine Mix

Melted butter or non-stick cooking spray

waffle iron

1.  Follow directions on the box to make the brownie mix. 

2.  Heat up the waffle iron, spray generously with cooking spray or brush grates generously with melted butter.

3.  Fill grates with browine mix and allow waffle maker to cook through one cycle.  They won't feel crispy until they cool a little bit. 

ENJOY!