Soups and Stews

Aloha Chili by My3rgr8


Got 2nd place at my church's chili cookoff yesterday with this recipe. It is from Immanuel Lutheran Church in Lake Geneva, WI. The cookbook is called "Hallelujah, it's homemade"

2-lbs. ground beef
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 (15oz) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (16oz) can pork and beans, undrained (I used 2 11oz campbells cans)
1 (20oz) can pineapple chunks, undrained
1 cup ketchup (I used a little more because I was at the end of the bottle and added water to the bottle to rinse it out and poured it in my chili. I thought it was not "soupy" enough so I preferred the added water and ketchup)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar

In large saucepan, brown beef and onion; drain. Stir in remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

NOTE: A fun sweet and sour chili! I combine the ingredients and let them simmer in the crockpot. The chili is also great topped with shredded cheese and sour cream.

Ham and Cheddar Chowder by Flautista


1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
2 cups ham cubes
2 tbsp margarine
4 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 cup milk
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Sauté vegetables and ham in margarine. Add potatoes, broth, and pepper. Cover and simmer 15 minutes, until potatoes are tender. Stir in milk and cheese. Cook until cheese melts, stirring occasionally.
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"HAPPY SOUP" (Southwest Chicken Soup)

This is the only soup that I don't add any extras too. I keep it simple b/c it's good and I like it being easy. I made it up during "lean" times and needed to keep things simpler.

BTW, my (then) six year old is the one who named it (so that explains the name, lol) I was in the kitchen trying to think up a name for it and he said "How about Happy Soup"

Hard for me to put into recipe form b/c I really just dump stuff in the pot, but I'll try to formulate the amounts somewhat. Add more or less of anything.


1 Large pkg. Boneless, Skinless Chicken breasts (5 whole breasts).
Petite Diced Tomatoes (For a normal pot amt. I probably use two of the big round (large) cans).
One or two cans of Rotel (depending on your spice preference. You can also use mild rotel.)
Cumin (lots)
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 small bag frozen corn (I think that yellow is better in this).
2 or more cans of black beans, rinsed
Chicken stock (You will make this yourself when you boil the chicken).
Salt and Pepper

1. Rinse and boil chicken breasts in large pot. (fill to cover chicken and then a little more...) I put salt, pepper and lots of cumin in the pot while it's cooking.

2. Once chicken has cooked and is tender and easy to shred, shred it up inside the stock (it will make it's own stock while it cooks) (I use two big pair of tongs to shred it up quickly).

3. Add in tomatoes, rotel, beans, and corn (add it frozen), and anything else you want (you can add onion or sometimes I add green chliis) And add the taco seasoning, plus I add more cumin.

4. Add some water if necessary (depends on how much stock you had. If it needs extra liquid, add water).

4. Cover and cook for a couple of hours at least, to blend up the flavors well. Check the liquid amounts every so often and if it gets low add more water. Taste test for more seasoning toward the end (add more if it's needed, depending on how seasoned your family likes their food).

I serve it with salad and cornbread usually.

I almost never make this small of an amt. either so play around with the amt. of tomatoes and seasoning and all that you like. It's so easy to change around w/o messing it up. I use more taco seasoning too when I make a bigger amt. Use more of everything if you want to make a really big pot. (I don't add more chicken though, this is enough to make a big pot; in fact you could easily do just 3 breasts using these smaller amts. here.)

Sometimes I crisp up some flour tortillas in strips and put those over it.
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Home made cream soup by SandKsmama:


I use poultry seasoning or sage for cream of chicken. When I make it, I do the flour/butter, then add chicken broth and milk, then the seasonings.

For cream of mushroom, I do all the same, but if I have it, I use veggie broth instead, and put a small can of mushroom stems/pieces, and some garlic and onion powder.
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"clean out the fridge" soup by Lucy


12 cups water, 10 chicken flavor boulion cubes

2 carrots, peeled and diced small
1 giant white onion, diced
2 celery stocks
3 ears of corn, cut off the cob

(this is only because that's what i had in the fridge)

poultry seasoning - about 1 tsp..

salt, pepper, garlic powder

all the left over turkey from christmas...

simmer a long time,

then add 2 1/2 bags of different type of egg noodles.

serve w/ 2 different types of crackers.

it was wonderful....and it cleaned out my fridge.

The soup I prayed over by tepupmommy


My family isn't a big soup eating family - but times are tight and today I took my leftovers in the fridge and made a soup and I really thought it turned out good.

I started with some water...and I am sorry I don't know how much...guessing.....5 cups?? Maybe you could put it in after the main ingredients to see how much you need to keep it from getting too much liquid.

One can of tomato soup
One can of French onion soup
One packet of Italian seasoning
leftover grilled chicken breasts (I had probably 3-4 very small pieces)
almost a pound of wild rice mix that I had already cooked for a past meal
a pouch + of real bacon bits
garlic powder to taste
basil to taste
salt to taste

I made homemade yeast rolls and this was a yummy meal...and I think if you had wild rice and chicken one night you could easily plan this for a few nights later.

Corn Chowder by DDofEve


Extra Virgin Olive Oil (or butter)

2 cups corn (off the cob, sweet corn is best)

1/2 onion, minced

4 tsp (4 cloves) garlic, minced

1/4 cup bell pepper, minced (roasted red would be amazing!)

4 teaspoons Salt (kosher-reduce amount if using table salt)

1 tsp. Cumin

1/2 tsp. Coriander

1-1/2 tsp. chili powder

2 tsp. dry garlic powder

1 tsp. black pepper

4 c. chicken broth

1c. heavy cream

1c. whole (4%) milk

3 oz. cream cheese (low-fat would be ok-I didn't have it)

cooked bacon

1/4 c. fine ground corn meal

Ok, so this was born of things that were already in my pantry. Its not a wonder we are poor.

So this is all about getting the veggies and the spices into the pan so the spices bloom and you can layer flavors. This is a fairly simple method, and all you do is:

1. Combine the first 6 ingredients. Cook until the onion is translucent and the garlic is not. Be careful not to burn.

2. Add in the spices cumin, coriander, chili powder, garlic powder, black pepper and salt. OH! I use Kosher Salt, so it will be less salty.

3. Add in the chicken broth.

4. Add in the cream, milk and melt the cream cheese.

5. Throw in as much or as little bacon as you want.

6. Let simmer for 5 minutes to meld the flavors.

7. Add in the corn meal and stir.

8. Let simmer 5-10 more minutes.

Serve with Salsa Verde and Monterey Jack cheese.

Its quicker than the directions appear.