Asian Rice Noodle Soup

The pictures say it all :Yum! I love Asian Noodle soup! It costs about $5 a bowl at restaurants though and that can definitely add up! I made this little creation and I love it! It made about 10 bowls of soup and the ingredients are very inexpensive!

Ingredients:

- 1 package of rice noodles (I choose the thin kind)
-1 bunch of green onions
- 1 lb of thinly sliced steak
- 1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger root
- 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
- 10 cups of beef broth (I prefer the "better than bullion" beef base stock)
- 1 container of fresh mushrooms

Directions:

In a large pot, pour in the beef stock, garlic minced ginger, chopped green onions and sliced mushrooms. Place on high heat and allow to boil. Once it hits a boiling point, reduce to low-medium heat. In a separate large pot, fill half way with water. Place on high and allow the water to boil. Once the water is boiling, add the rice noodles and lower to medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Allow the noodles to cook through (about 8-10 minutes.) Drain the noodles. Coat a medium sized pan with EVOO and place on low-medium heat. Gently fry the steak, flipping half way. Do not over cook your steak, it is thin and will remain cooking once you have set it aside.No one wants tough chewy steak in their soup!Chop up the cooked steak into bite-sized pieces.

Now for the presentation I like to keep all of my ingredients separate for a couple of reasons. One is so that the rice noodles don't get soggy in the broth and the other reason is in case someone doesn't like an ingredient or wants to add extra of an ingredient, they can. I like to add the broth to the bowl first, then place the other ingredients on top.


Feel free to be creative with this recipe and mix things up! Try chicken broth instead of beef broth, shrimp or chicken instead of steak and onions instead of mushrooms!

*UPDATE* - I made this soup again last night and substituted the steak with shrimp and it was just as delicious!

Copycat Panera Bread Broccoli Cheddar Soup

I LOVE Panera Bread's Brocolli Cheddar Soup, however - it can get pricey! $4-$5 for a bowl of soup is a bit steep! This recipe makes about 10 cups so feel free to share ;)

Ingredients:

-2 cups of shredded cheese ( I used a 3-cheese blend of asiago, parmesan and cheddar)

- 2 bunches of brocolli

- 1 white onion

- 1 cup of shredded carrots

- 2 cups of chicken or vegetable broth

- 3 cups of water

-4 tablespoons of butter

-3 tablespoons of flour

- 1 tablespoon of minced garlic

- 1 cup of heavy cream or half and half

Directions:

Chop up the broccoli and carrots.Place in a pot with a steamer on high and let cook until broccoli is a bright green color like pictured below.

Dice up the white onion. In a separate large cooking pot, combine the diced up onion, minced garlic and 1 table spoon of butter and place on medium.

Once all of the butter melts, add in the chicken stock and water and mix.

In a smaller sauce pan, being making your roux and melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Slowly mix in the flour, whisking until it makes a paste-like mixture. 

Add the steamed broccoli and carrots to the big pot with broth. Slowly add in your roux and stir. Slowly add your shredded cheese and mix well. Once the cheese is all melted, add in the 1 cup of cream. Lower the heat to low and continue cooking for 5 minutes.

Serve with your favorite bread. I went and bought a stick of bread from Panera to make it taste more like the real thing!

 

Cheeseburger Soup - 194 Calories a serving!

I found a new healthy addiction: Cheeseburger Soup. Cheeseburgers are one of the things that I crave most on this diet... or "lifestyle change." Since they are pretty much terrible for you and so high in calories, I absolutely had to find an alternative. This soup is awesome, and even better the next day! This recipe makes 12 servings and will last all week... if you don't eat it all on the first night that is!

Ingredients: 

- 8oz Block of Kraft Velveta Cheese (cut into cubes)
- 1 lb of ground hamburg
- 1 white onion
- 1 stalk of celery
- 1 cup of carrots
- 1 can of Campbell's cheddar cheese soup
- 1 can of Campbell's 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
- 2 tablespoons of low fat sour cream
- 1.5 cups of skim milk
- 2 tablespoons of light butter (I used smart balance)
- 3 cups of water

Directions:

In a medium sized frying pan, add the hamburg. Cook on medium heat until there is no more red. Put aside. While the meat is cooking, chop up the onion, celery and carrots to desired size. Add the chopped up vegetables and 2 tablespoons of butter to another medium sized frying pan on medium heat. Cook until the onions are transparent. Chop up the Velveta cheese into small cubes.Once the vegetables are cooked, combine in a large sized pot with the cooked hamburg, cubed Velveta, both cans of soup, sour cream, milk and water. Stir well and place on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Continue to let this cook until it starts to bubble. All done :) Yummmm!

Nutrition Facts (for 1 cup. This recipe should make 12 servings.)

Calories - 194
Carbs - 11
Fat - 9
Protein - 17
Sodium - 568
Fiber - 1

Butternut Squash Soup

It's that time of year again, the leaves are falling off the trees and it's getting cold out. On a more un-traditional note, we have already gotten about 10 inches of snow... and it's November 1st! Nonetheless, I'm not trying to rush fall along, as it is one of my favorite seasons! There's absolutely nothing better on a cold night than a warm cup of butternut squash soup... especially when its homemade AND healthy! This is my version of butternut squash soup.

Ingredients:


- 1 Macintosh apple
- 1 White onion
- 1 Butternut squash
- 1 Clove of garlic
-3 Bullion cubes (I used chicken flavor, but if you're a vegetarian, use the vegetable kind)
- Ground cinnamon
- Ground nutmeg
-***Optional (this is not calculated into the nutrition facts): 1/2 cup of sour cream

Directions:

Fill a large cooking pan with the 3 bullion cubes and suggested water amount. Place on high. Chop up the garlic clove into small bits and place into the pot. Take the butternut squash and peel the skin off with a potato peeler. Cut the squash in half and take the seeds out with a spoon. Chop the squash up into small cubes and place into the pot. Peel the apple and chop into small cubes and place into the pot. Chop up the onion (be sure to take off the skin) and place into the pot. Let this come to a boil, stirring occasionally. Let these ingredients cook until the squash is mushy and the onions are transparent (about 15-20 minutes.) Sprinkle the top with only a teeny bit of nutmeg- too much nutmeg would taste gross! Then sprinkle on top the ground cinnamon (use your discretion with how much to add.) Let the mixture cool for about an hour. Once it is room temperature, place in a blender and puree. When it has reached your preferred consistency, it is ready to serve! If you are choosing to add the sour cream, this is when you do it. Be sure to mix it in well.

Nutrition Facts for 1 Serving (This recipe should make 6 servings at 1 cup each)

Calories - 81
Carbs - 20
Fat - 0
Protein - 1
Sodium - 387
Fiber - 3

Tortellini and Turkey Sausage Soup

Is it just me or could you too eat a whole container of Tortellini in one sitting? Tortellini is one of my favorite types of pasta, probably because it's filled with cheese. I was able to create a soup that would help cut my intake of pasta while adding spinach, onions, and turkey sausage to make it a more filling meal. From experience, I would say this meal is best if you eat it right away. It is still good if you have it as a left over, but it begins to lose it's flavors as the days go on.

Ingredients:

-Fresh Spinach (1/2 of package, but you can add more if you like a lot of spinach)
-4 cups of crushed tomatoes (I use tuttorosso crushed tomatoes with basil.)
-4 cups of light and fat free chicken broth
-9 Jimmy dean turkey sausage links sliced
-1 onion diced
-2.5 cups of whole wheat tortellini
-1/2 cup of reduced fat Parmesan cheese
-A pinch of salt and pepper
- A sprinkle of Italian seasoning

Directions:

In a large saucepan, combine crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, and a pinch of salt and pepper and place it on medium, being sure to stir often. In a frying pan, fry up the onions. Once the onions are done cooking and are transparent, add in the sliced sausage for less than a minute (just enough time for it to brown.) Combine the sausage and onions into the large pot with crushed tomatoes, etc. Take two medium sized pots. In one, fill half way with water and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the tortellini and cook until they are puffy and float to the top. Strain and combine in large pot with crushed tomatoes, etc. In the other pot, place a boiling strainer in and fill with water just below the strainer. Fill with spinach and place on high. Once the spinach is cooked, strain and place in the large pot. Let all of the flavors blend in the large pot for about 20 minutes, then serve!

Nutrition facts per 1 cup serving size. (This recipe should make about 10 servings.)

Calories - 156
Carbs - 21
Fat - 4
Protein - 8
Sodium - 621
Fiber - 4

Baked Potato and Chicken Soup for a rainy cold day!

On this cold rainy night, I've been craving a nice big bowl of some creamy soup, but there's a catch : I'm on a diet. Or shall we say a "lifestyle change?" To be quite honest, I was craving a bowl of Panera Breads baked potato soup, but at 350 calories and 21 grams of fat for just one bowl (not including the bread), I would have to be crazy! Not to mention, it's not even that filling, which means I would end up splurging for a big brownie or baked good of some sort. So I decided to be good and headed to the grocery store to buy low calorie ingredients (we're not going to mention that I'm a 22 year old single female and spent my Saturday night cooking and watching lifetime movie network.) Now you might be thinking "How can you make a soup creamy and still taste good?" Just take my word for it and you will not be disappointed. Did I also mention that this recipe is a crockpot recipe which means practically no work? So here goes...

Ingredients:


- 8-16 oz of chicken uncooked and diced (you can use either chicken breast meat or thigh. Thigh will give it more flavor)
-4 Potatoes (I used Idaho)
-1 medium sized onion diced
- 2-3 carrots sliced thin
- 2 stalks of celery diced small
- 3 chicken bullion cubes
- 1 can of 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
- 4 cups of water
- 1 8oz block of fat free cream cheese
- 1/4 cup of low fat or fat free sour cream
- 1 tsp of garlic powder
- 1 tsp of salt
-1/2 tsp of pepper
- A sprinkle of fat free shredded cheese if desired for topping (I used Kraft fat free cheddar)
Directions: 


Take all of the ingredients and place them in the crockpot and put it on high for about 5 hours, stirring in-between. Once you portion out, you can top with fat free shredded cheese. That's about it! Easy right? This recipe makes about 10 servings per batch at 1 cup per serving.

Nutrition Facts: (Per 1 serving or 1 cup)

Calories - 139
Carbs - 17
Fat - 5
Protein - 7
Sodium - 600
Fiber - 1