Pamela’s Kitchen: Soup Recipes & More
Happy Friday, friends! Today, let’s go back to Pamela’s Kitchen: Soup Recipes & More.
It has been a busy week in Pamela’s Kitchen with very cold weather outside (Soup Recipes) and with celebrations for Mr. B’s birthday (and he loves chocolate).
He loves soup and requested more of it, so I have done my best to comply, but as always…I do my own thing.
In Pamela’s Kitchen, the recipes are more about what is on hand in the pantry and refrigerator than testing and creating new…though I have done that.
I know that I am not presenting Pamela’s Kitchen as a properly formatted cooking blog does, but when I have time, I will research it. I just have not had the time….please forgive.
Today, I share with you what recipes have worked and brought back great reviews from friends and family.
So…come along into Pamela’s Kitchen for soup recipes & more!
PAMELA’S KITCHEN: SOUP RECIPES
Mr B was raised on meat and potatoes as most Texas boys were during his time.
So, I am always attempting to get more veggies in him when I create soup recipes.
As a significant chill was in the air, I thought of Broccoli Cheddar Soup, and began to pull ingredients from the kitchen to see if I could make it happen without a trip to the store.
Any of my soup recipes that require chicken stock are best with my own homemade stock that I freeze in these SOUPER CUBE FREEZER MOLDS.
The flavor of this stock is so rich with deep flavor and it is perfect for any dish requiring chicken stock.
For my stock, I cover a whole chicken with water.
Then toss in three cloves of garlic; one chopped onion; two chopped stalks of celery; and salt and pepper. If I have fresh rosemary, I toss that in as well.
And slow cook it overnight to steep in that flavor.
I was excited to find frozen stock cubes when it was time to create soup recipes.
I thawed out three cubes for this soup….which was exactly 2 1/2 cups.
Everyone, I know this recipe is not the freshest of ingredients (at least a main one) from this point on, but the taste was phenomenal.
I had no fresh broccoli the day I was scouring my kitchen for ingredients, but I did have two bags of Tuscan seasoned steamed broccoli by Green Giant.
So I steamed those bags in the microwave and chopped the broccoli. I believe the seasoning of this frozen broccoli really added in a positive way.
I chose to grate about a half cup of fresh carrots rather than chop them in chunks.
Get a soup pot and whisk out to begin….
*First I sauteed one chopped onion (that I chopped fine in the food processor) and three chopped cloves of garlic in five tablespoons of melted butter.
*Then I stirred in 1/4 cup of all purpose flour until is was like a thick ball for a rouix.
*I use the whisk to stir in one cup of whole milk (Mr. B loves whole milk so we always have it on hand); one cup of Half n Half (what goes in our coffee); and 2 1/2 cups of chicken stock
I stirred over the heat until it began to boil and thicken…I guess that was about 10-12 minutes.
Then I stirred in the broccoli and carrots.
I previously had grated four cups of cheese and, perhaps, it was this cheese that also made this soup recipe so good.
This is the MAYTAG DAIRY CHEDDAR CHEESE that was part of a gift box from Leigh Ann for Christmas.
All of the cheeses we were blessed to experience in this box were so smooth and creamy and rich….made for a great soup.
The final touch was to stir in these four cups of cheddar cheese.
I did also stir in a pinch of cayenne since it was a Mr. B soup…he likes a little kick.
It was delicious! And I am certain would be just as good with your own mild cheddar cheese and, of course, with fresh broccoli and a teaspoon of Italian spice.
Recently, one of you requested my homemade chicken soup recipe….this is the one among Pamela’s kitchen soup recipes that we eat often.
Both Mr. B and I believe it has healing powers from a cold or virus….remember we are not doctors!
Of course, you start with the stock overnight in the crock pot, but for this stock I add a little more chopped celery, onion and one more garlic clove.
The next morning, I remove the chicken and smash the garlic cloves in the stock.
After it cools, I debone the chicken.
One whole chicken will give me meat for soup, for extra chicken for chicken salad or whatever you want…and for Tux! He loves chicken day.
I strain the stock to make certain there are no bones from the chicken.
Chicken cooked like this in the crock pot tastes as if it has been infused with flavor and is so moist…even the white meat.
I usually season the stock with salt, pepper, dash of cayenne, a dash of Italian seasoning and occasionally a dash of tumeric.
My vegetables are different every time…I do love it with green peas, carrots, zucchini squash, and maybe what even bean I have on hand.
It is always delicious… because of the stock. Remember to freeze any extra stock you may have…even a little adds to rice or potatoes in another meal.
It is a very old post, but you can find how I turn this to HEALTHY CHICKEN TORTILLA SOUP at this link.
I have one more of Mr.B’s favorite meals that I made this week….I will share it soon!
PAMELA’S KITCHEN SOUP RECIPES & MORE: THE MORE
In addition to soup recipes, I wanted to share what Mr. B requested to take to the office for his birthday celebration this week.
First, he wanted cookies, so I sent my PAMELA’S KITCHEN: BEST EVER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES and SALLY’S DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CRINKLE COOKIES.
His favorite cake is German Chocolate and I did use a cake mix for the cake.
But, what makes this cake is the icing….and this simple recipe made it fabulous.
It is the GERMAN CHOCOLATE CAKE FROSTING FROM ALL RECIPES….and yes, I used the European Butter that I love.
This frosting would be so good on many things…including to top off a pie.
OK…that is it for Pamela’s Kitchen: Soup Recipes and More
It felt great to be back in my kitchen with my happy bromeliad that waited patiently for Christmas decor to come down.
I found this lovely pot while walking through a couple of years ago…and wouldn’t you know it, my new kitchen is blue trim!
Let me know if you have any questions…and I hope to see you tomorrow for the latest in the 2025 fashion trends. Until then….
STAY WARM & KEEP SMILING!
By Pamela Lutrell
Whether shopping new arrivals or clearance sales, please shop with the links on my SHOPPING PAGE…thank you, thank you to all who shop this way.
Love the recipes! My daughter has a food blog named For the Love of Gourmet which is one I follow, among others. One way to make chicken stock is to freeze the chicken carcasses from rotisserie chickens. When you have about three, place in the crockpot and press them down in order to cover the carcasses with water. Makes an easy and excellent chicken broth. Thank you for sharing one of your many talents!
Around my house my potato soup is the request if someone does not feel good. However, to be prepared to stay inside during our snow in the South this week, I made a big pot of vegetable beef soup. We got more than four inches of snow Tuesday night into Wednesday so we have been house-bound until today when hopefully we can get on the roads. Our schools have been closed Wednesday-Friday, and we had a curfew because we are not used to dealing with snow, nor do we have a way of clearing the roads. I’m sure people in other parts of the country laugh at the utter paralysis we folks in the South feel when it snows.
Thank you for sharing today, Mary. I like to make the stock with the whole chickens so that I have the meat. But this would work if you just want some rich stock.
Snow surprised many this past week including our family in South Texas….great soup weather!
Pam, this all looks perfect for a winter day. it is 9 degrees this morning. I have gotten lazy about making homemade stock, but will try your slow cooker method. Thank you!! Lately I’ve been loving sage, and it would really be a flavor boost in this chicken soup. Happy Friday!
Yes it would, Marcia! I love sage and it smells so good!
I love your “Pamela’s Kitchen” days and I love your recipes! I haven’t tried a lot of them but they are on my list to do so because they sound delicious. I did make your chocolate chip cookies at Christmas and they are the best. It is now my go to recipe. I like crisp cookies and hubby likes softer, this was the PERFECT combination of both, thank you for sharing.
You are so welcome, Alice. That recipe is a hit!
Mary J’s tip to freeze chicken carcass is perfect to make great bone broth because you can cook the bones for 24 hours. Don’t forget to splash in at least 1/4 apple cider vinegar to extract nutrients.
Thanks Suzi…great reminder on the bone broth…and I am going to share something on Sunday about apple cider vinegar.
My retired doctor husband, Brent always has water and organic apple cider vinegar with his breakfast. He used it with honey and equal parts warm water to gargle and swallow when he felt a cold virus coming and sure enough, he wouldn’t get sick! He really believes in it. He is 83 and healthy as a horse. I love your chicken soup. I recently made a slow cooked roast beef with carrots and potatoes. Because I can’t have onions or garlic, I have to make my own broth too. I put it in a container over night to allow the fat to solidify on the top and just break it and skim it off. I put single servings in the freezer of the beef, potatoes and carrots. My husband ate the vegetables and added black beans to his meal as he rarely eats meat. I don’t eat beans so I have to eat meat. I will make chicken stock with a whole chicken in my slow cooker. I need to get those stock containers for the freezer too. Thank you for great ideas for stock and soups. I could also use the idea of a rotisserie chicken as a bone stock. Thank you for these ideas!
That broccoli soup looks phenomenal. My understanding is that frozen vegetables are just as nutritious as fresh, so no apologies for that! I don’t always use homemade stock, but I agree it really does make all the difference. If you want to make a veggie stock that could be combined with your chicken stock or used alone, I do make a good one. I use whatever vegetable scraps I have, including potato peels and onion skins, carrot and celery tops, etc. I use some broccoli or cabbage, but not a lot because it can be overpowering. Celeriac is really good in it. I add enough carrots, celery, potato chunks, whole garlic heads to make a good batch, and toss it all with olive oil. Then I roast the vegetables until they are brown. Cover with water, add salt and pepper, a couple of bay leaves and some rosemary and thyme, and simmer like a chicken stock. It’s excellent.
Sounds excellent…roasting the veggies makes such a difference. Thanks for this Linda…I am going to make some soon.
All so wonderful- Pam, your chicken soup looks like mine and I’ll bet it’s so yummy and satisfying in the chilly weather. Nothing better! I’ve never attempted broccoli cheddar soup at home. I guess it’s the grating of blocks of cheddar? So many of the pre packed cheeses have additives and I need certified gluten free products plus no wheat flour with my celiac disease. I can’t use that short cut….though I wish I could. Bone broth is my next experiment…..
Happy soup days!
I know it is not gluten free but the quality of this cheese is so good. I think that played a huge difference in this soup. I have not tried it with a store bought cheese.
I just saw on another food blog that the couple who created the Souper Cubes lost their home and everything in the LA fires. Buying them supports both you and them.
Thank you for sharing!
Thank you Pam for another great post. Just ordered the Souper cubes. Sorry I don’t comment often, but husband’s health is declining, and his care is at times overwhelming. A while back, you recommended a cooling blanket, which I ordered through your Amazon link. I love it— use it daily, and the cooling side truly feels good on the skin, and keeps me cool. You may want to revisit this product for those who may have missed it. I ordered another one for a friend who is going through menopause, and she likes it as well.