Loaded Baked Potato Soup - Instant Pot

Who doesn't love loaded bake potato soup?  All hot and creamy, topped with a dollop of sour cream, shredded cheese and bacon. Serve it with a crusty loaf of bread and you've got yourself a really hearty meal.  I have made this soup in a crock pot several times and wondered if it could be done in the instant pot.  After checking out a couple of recipes, and a few trial runs, this one turned out to be not only the easiest, but the best.

Delicious, yummy loaded bake potato soup!

 Note: I got this recipe from www.belleofthekitchen.com
 She also has a video play by play on her site which is super helpful.

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoon butter
1 medium onion diced (or half bag of frozen chopped onions)
3 cloves of garlic minced (or a spoon full of diced jarred minced garlic)
3 cups of chicken broth
1 small can cream of chicken soup
4 large russet potatoes or 7-8 smaller russet potatoes chopped into 1 in cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons of seasoned salt 
   black pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon of flour
1 cup of milk
2 cups of shredded cheese (i used mild cheddar and a jack/cheddar mix)

Garnish:
Cooked bacon chopped up, or real bacon bits
Sour cream
Shredded cheddar cheese


Put 2 Tablespoon of butter into the Instant Pot and turn on "Saute" function.  Add in chopped onions and cook until soft (3-4 minutes). 

You gotta love the saute function!

Add in garlic and cook for an additional minute, making sure the garlic doesn't burn

Steamy garlic vision

Add in 3 cups of chicken broth, the small can of cream of chicken soup, stir

It's smelling pretty good right about now

Add in cubed potatoes, salt, pepper, to the pot.  Stir until well combined. 

Hey potatoes, are you really going to be fork-soft in 10 short minutes? Let's find out.

Place lid on the Instant Pot, turn the vent valve to "sealing" and cook on manual high pressure for 10 minutes.  

My instant pot with it's new pretty cover

Quick release the pressure.

What it looks like when you open the lid

Meanwhile, stir together the 1 tablespoon of flour and the 1 cup of milk with a whisk until it creates a slurry and set aside.  

I think it's easier to add the milk to the flour than the other way around

Once the steam is completely released and the pin has dropped, open the lid and add in the slurry.  Turn to pot to saute and cook the soup for 4-5 minutes, until thickened. 

Hey we're getting somewhere! I also used my Pampered Chef meat utensil to help mush up some of the poatoes.

Stir in the two cups of shredded cheese and stir until melted.

Everything is better with cheese.

 Cook until thickened. Taste and season at the end.

Seasoning is the key to non-bland soups.

Serve garnished with a dollop of sour cream, bacon chunks, and some extra cheddar cheese.  

Yummy loaded baked potato soup

Also a nice buttery crusty loaf of french break goes nicely as a "dipper" for the soup.

Activate smell-o-vision now.

Also toppings are key here, don't skimp!

The more the merrier!

My children are weird, well 2/3 of them are.  They don't like mashed potatoes, but they love french fries.  When my youngest said "What's for dinner" I told her it was "french fry soup with bacon"... and guess what? She bought it!  She had a whole bowl and proclaimed it "yummy"!  The middle child wasn't so fooled but I will still count this as a victory.  

The bread fell in, so sad we had to scoop it out - and devour it.

This was a very delicious and hearty week night dinner that the whole family enjoyed (minus one - there's always the one). I am always surprised how the instant pot cooks old school crock pot dishes in a flash.  You don't need all day to get all day flavor these days!  Hooray for science, and Instant Pots.

 Enjoy!!

Easy Hearty Crockpot Stew

I guess I'm on a kick of my hubby's favorite things lately, but seriously, his all time favorite dinner is a hearty beef stew.  I thought I'd give you our recipe as it is a very easy to make, cooks on low all day, and tastes great!  Not only that but my picky girls will eat tons of the soft carrots in the stew when only one out of the three of them will eat carrots the cold regular way in every day life.  Picture it.  It's a cold blustery winter day... you come through the door and sit down to a big ol' simmering bowl of this:

Homemade hearty beef stew

You only need a few simple ingredients to pull this "man meal" off. After that you just need a slow roasting oven or a crockpot and some time.  Gather the following ingredients (full printable recipe at the end of the post):

2-3 pounds stew meat
1 chopped onion (or 1/2 bag frozen chopped onions)
1 bag baby carrots
2-3 stalks of celery (chopped)
2-4 russet potatoes (peeled, chopped into bite-sized chunks)
1 can beef broth (+1 can of water)
garlic powder
paprika
parsley flakes
seasoning salt (or salt and pepper)
Worcestershire sauce
Flour

Take your defrosted stew meat and place inside two grocery bags (doubled up).  Pour in a couple big scoops of flour and add some seasoning salt and pepper to the bag.  Twist the bag closed at the top and shake the contents together, until the meat is covered in the flour and seasoning.  Pour into the bottom of your roasting pan or crock pot. This recipe is quick and easy, no browning of the meat required.

the stew meat covered in flour and seasoning goes in first

Next, you want to chop up an onion, or use my awesome time saver of a bag of frozen chopped onions and dump in half the bag.

frozen onions mean no tears! Hooray.

Dump in a bag of baby carrots, or as many baby carrots as you want

baby carrots will save you chopping time!

Next chop up 2-3 stalks of celery and add to the pot

onions, carrots, and celery are your passport to flavor town

Peel and chop up 2-4 russet potatoes into bite-sized chunks and toss in the pot.

Next pour in one can of beef broth, plus one can of water into the pot

Next come the spices.  I have to say, that spices in the recipe are KEY to it working out and tasting right.  If you under season you will have a very blah meal.  The seasonings I like to use are:  Seasoning salt, garlic powder, paprika, parsley flakes, and Worcestershire sauce

Behold, the spice of life.  Sorry, couldn't resist.

I shake hearty amounts of each one of these into the stew.  Ok well I go easy on the garlic powder since my family doesn't like that flavor, but you are seasoning a lot of meat and veggies, so a few solid shakes of each spice flavor will not hurt.

Now all you have to do is slap the lid on and plug this baby in and cook for 8 hours.  You can make this in the morning, set it on low and when you come home later your dinner will be ready.  It must be noted that if you have a NEW crock pot that burns the snarf out of everything on low, then this recipe will cook in half the time and the meat will be tough.  I highly recommend chucking this kind of crock pot out the window (or take it back to the store) and get a roasting oven where you can control the temperature (see my rant here).  I set my lovely roasting oven at 200º, right below boiling, which is the perfect temp to cook low and slow all day.

By the way, if I am home I will stir the stew occasionally throughout the day and half way through I will add another round of spices, as the flavor tends to cook out a bit.  Now it's been 8 hours and you open the lid to find this:

Mmm beef stew.  Almost ready to eat!

This next step is optional, and it depends on the consistency of the liquid of the finished stew.  If it is thick enough for your tastes then check seasonings and then serve.  If you want the liquid to be a little thicker, do this. Put a few spoonfuls of flour in a bowl and add some water a little bit at a time. You don't want a thick paste or a runny liquid, but you want to create a little smooth slurry that will act as a thickener.  Pour this into the stew and stir slowly.  You will instantly see the stew thicken.  I tend to do this about 3o minutes before serving.

Mixing flour and  water together first will eliminate lumps in your stew (this works for gravy too)

Now the last step is to stir the stew and TASTE it.  The meat should be tender, the carrots, should slice through easily, the potatoes should still keep their shape but you can still run a fork through them easily.  This is also your last chance to add more seasoning.  I will usually add more Worcestershire, seasoning salt, and parsley flakes here for a brighter green color and stir one more time.  Scoop into bowls and serve with warm, soft, french bread

Stew Stew Stew... Oh how my hubby loves you.

One big bowl is all you need and a more satisfying meal can not be found.

This also freezes well (not that ours lasts that long) and Mr. D. likes to take portions every day to work, so he can enjoy his stew non stop for days at a time.  I say are you sick of the stew yet? And his answer is always a resounding "not even close!"  :)

Full printable recipe found here.  Enjoy!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

There is nothing more comforting than snuggling up with a warm bowl of soup on a cold rainy fall day.  Oh sure, anyone can pop the top off a can of soup, nuke it for a few minutes and you are good to go.  But... what if I told you, a big, yummy pot of homemade soup was not only extra delicious, but not really that hard to make?  After I got my Big Blue Mama a few years back I decided it was time to try making my own chicken noodle soup from scratch.  I know, I know, it sounds like a slippery slope.  Make your own soup and soon after you might be doing other pioneery things like fishing in the creek, threshing wheat by hand, and hanging the wash out on the line... But seriously, take a few simple ingredients and some left over rotisserie chicken, and an hour or so later you will have a hearty home cooked meal.

We have tried a couple of recipes over the last year, and most of them claim you can have them ready in thirty minutes.  The veggies (in my opinion) are still a little tough this way.  I give them a little extra time to simmer, soak up some flavor, and get kid friendly and tender. 

Homemade chicken soup is the bomb diggity!

Okay, now onto the ingredients.  You will need (full printable recipe at the end):

1/2 to 1 full stick of butter
2-3 carrots chopped up small
2-3 celery stalks chopped up small
1 onion chopped fine
4 cloves of minced garlic
2 cups of chopped left over rotisserie chicken
8-12 cups of chicken stock
8-12 oz of dried pasta
2 bay leaves
1-2 teaspoons parsley
1/2 teaspoon thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Take the stick of butter and throw it into your pot.  Turn heat on to slightly above medium.

If you freak out about butter then just use half a stick.  If you believe in Paula Dean chuck the whole thing in

Next, chop up your carrots, celery and onions on the small side.  You want to make these small so they can get tender faster.  Toss them into your melting butter.

The French call these three veggies Mirepoix (pronounced "mira-qua") Throw it in to everyday conversation to sound smarter!

Simmer these veggies lightly in the butter for five minutes, until they cook down a bit.

After 5 minutes, add the 4 cloves of minced garlic and stir.  You can also add the parsley, thyme, 2 bay leaves, and a bit of salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer for another 10-15 minutes.

You can not eat bay leaves, we will fish them out at the end.  But they do add great flavor!

After about 10-15 minutes you can now add the chicken stock.  You can make your own or you can use a box of stock.  I used Rachel Ray's chicken soup stock.  There are 4 cups in each box.  I used two boxes for 8 cups total.

I always keep a third box on hand, just in case the noodles expand too much. A little extra stock can help bring the soup back to a balanced broth/noodle consistency.  If you do not have enough homemade stock, you can do half yours and half Rachel's, like I did here.  You want to bring the temperature back up to a boil (my big blue mama took about 20 minutes at least to heat all the way back up).  We are going to cook the noodles in the boiling soup.

By this time, your veggies are getting a little softer, so you can add in your chopped up rotisserie chicken.  I usually take the meat off the bird while it is still warm after dinner the night before, and store in a container until I want to use the extra meat.  I make a little assembly line from storage container, to plate. I chop the meat up into bite sized pieces, and a second plate for skin or other undesirables.

I usually do this the same time I chop up the veggies, before I start cooking

While the soup is coming up to a boil, you can add in your chicken pieces

Stir gently and wait for the soup to come back up to a boil.  You do not want a super hard boil here, more like a strong simmer to cook the noodles in.  Pour in your dry noodles

We use bow tie pasta because we have girls.  We call this princes bow soup.  They love it!

Next, let the soup cook the noodles.  The amount of noodles really depends on you. Currently we are more of a 70% noodle to 30% broth kind of family right now.  If you like more broth, add less noodles.  I tend to get over zealous anyway and pour too many in.  After they expand, most of my stock will seem to disappear.  If (when) this happens, that's when I pull out my reserve 4 cups of chicken stock to add to the pot.  There is no such thing as too much chicken soup.  It freezes well and makes great left overs for the week.

Isn't the princess bow tie pasta adorable?

Oh yes one important step you don't want to miss.  Please fish out the bay leaves at this time.

They have done their duty adding mountains of flavor.  Discard at will.

We have made this soup a few times, and found the smaller sized pasta (as shown above) seems to work a little better.  Here is the same soup with full sized bow ties:

If you love glorious pasta then try it with the larger bow ties!

You actually have to "cut" the noodles with your spoon while you are eating your soup.  This action reminds me of wonton soup.  After your pasta is soft, add more chicken stock if you need it, then check your spice levels.  Add a bit more dried or fresh parsley, salt and pepper if it needs it.  This whole process should take around an hour.  You can put the soup on low if need be and it can sit for an extra 1/2 hour and it won't be much worse for wear.  The larger noodles will get a bit more floppy, but those small mini bow ties hold up pretty good.

This was our big noodle soup, with less broth

Here is our small princess bow tie soup

The absolute best thing to serve with homemade soup is some toasted artisan bread or a buttery, crusty loaf of french bread.  This recipe is a pretty simple version of the soup.  You can add your own herbs and spices and make it to your family's tastes.  Also, like I said before, if you have leftovers they make great lunches the next day, or save in the fridge all week and have some when you get the craving.  Soup will indeed freeze (I thought the noodles would be destroyed), but it thawed and reheated just fine.  So go out there, impressed yourself and  your loved ones with a big bowl of homemade soup... and stay warm and cozy this month.

Full Printable recipe found here

Mexican Cheese Soup

I took my new roasting oven (aka crock pot with controllable temperature dial, see rant here) out for it's maiden voyage last night.  I decided to make one of our new family favorites, Mexican cheese soup.  This soup is quick, easy, lazy (as in dump in cans of things without draining them) and still ends up being delicious. The original recipe is very spicy, so I've modified it to be more family friendly.  When I take this to a potluck people always ask me for the recipe, so here it is:

Looks yummy, yes?  Since I varied from the original, in the printable recipe link I will include both the spicy version (original) and the one I tend to make.  By the way, this recipe was from an older Rival Crock pot recipe book.  First, gather your ingredients:

Some cut up left over rotisserie chicken (or optional: 1 pound of ground beef, cooked and drained), 1 can of light red kidney beans, 1 can diced petite tomatoes, 1 can of Mexican stewed tomatoes, 1 can of corn, 1 lb Velveeta/processed cheese, and taco seasoning (one packet worth or 1/4 cup). Now, let the dumping begin! Throw in your meat (chicken or beef) and then toss in 1lb of Velveeta that has been cubed up for easier melting.

Now, more dumping!  Have the kids help here if you want.  The best part about this is there is NO draining.  That's right, open the can and dump the whole thing in, liquid and all. Dump in the stewed tomatoes, the beans, the corn, the diced tomatoes, and the 1/4 cup taco seasoning.

That's it!  Just stir it up, slap the lid on and cook it 4-5 hours on low or 3 hours on high.  By the way, the original recipe is spicy HOT.  I'm talking punch you in the face hot.  They add diced tomatoes with green chilies, optional jalapeno peppers, and another can of diced green chilies. That was just way too hot for my little ones (and lil' ol me who likes 0 star Thai food and can't eat hot wings).  The recipe I use here has a slight warming "hey I'm eating Mexican food" spicy sensation without burning your tongue off.  After it simmers for a few hours, this is what it will look like:

Crush up some tortilla chips or corn chips and top with sour cream, cheese, whatever you like.  Definitely don't forget the cheese... it's the best part!

I hope you enjoy this recipe.  You can make it as mild or as spicy as your family likes it. Make a big vat and freeze half or take the rest to work for left overs.  This one is sure to be a crowd pleaser!

Corn & Cheese Chowder - Testing a Pioneer Woman recipe

So I must admit I'm a big fan of Ree Drummond, aka "The Pioneer Woman".  I have her cookbook and am having tons of fun trying a lot of her recipes.  I've been watching her show on the Food Network as well and trying some of those new recipes on the show not yet in a cookbook.  Last night I thought I'd try one that looked pretty good on her show, a corn and cheese chowder.  Here is a picture of what is suppose to look like, from her blog:

Ree's lovely soup with bread bowls

Here is also a link to her website with the play by play recipe, if you want to make it, which you should:  
Corn and Cheese Chowder by the Pioneer Woman 

I am just trying these for my family to see how we like them, make a few small changes, and see how it turns out.  The most fun I had with this recipe was chopping up all the bell peppers.  It was so colorful I had to take a picture

I'm a pepper, your a pepper, she's a pepper, he's a pepper, wouldn't you like to chop a pepper too?

So I chopped them all up real purdy like and though the recipe didn't call for it, I added a few cloves of garlic using my handy dandy garlic zoom, mostly because I couldn't resist using the cute thing!  Then I dumped each thing into the pot one at a time, sauteing in butter a few minutes each just like she recommends.

Pretty peppers in the pot

After the peppers, butter, onions, and garlic, the next thing I added was the bacon, then flour, seasoning, the chicken stock, the milk, etc.  One thing I changed was the amount.  We have three little girls, so technically I'd be cooking for 5, however they eat like birds most of the time and tend to frown on my cooking experiments as  actual "edible" food, so in reality this is just for hubby n me.  So instead of doing 3 cups of stock, I did 2, and instead of 2 cups of half/half I did 1 cup. I did add the whole amount of cheese though, because really, you can never have too much cheese, no?

So I let it simmer on low and get all nice, thick and bubbly.  Didn't have bread bowls on hand but had a crusty loaf of french bread that went nicely with it.  Hubby seemed to really like this soup.  I thought it had a nice warming effect.  The peppers were very mild and added just a hint of heat.  The kids on the other hand, wanted NOTHING to do with it.  This is despite the fact they love corn and cheese in any amounts.  I do think the bell peppers gave this soup a more "grown up" taste, hence the shunning. 

We should probably put this into the grown up soup arsenal around here.  This is the 4th soup I've made from scratch in the last few weeks, and I'm really starting to get the hang of how easy and tasty homemade soup can be.