Almost My Mom's Potato Cheese Soup

My children love this soup and it is just about my mom's recipe from growing up which I loved so much. Since it has finally been cold enough to make soup, we just can't get enough of our favorite so I thought we'd share this recipe with you.


Potato Cheese Soup

1 cup chopped onion(optional)
4 cups cubed potatoes
1 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 soup can milk
1/2 cup sour cream or 1/2 bar of cream cheese, softened
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
tiny dash of nutmeg(a.k.a as my secret ingredient)
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste


1. Brown onions in a pat of butter or TBS of olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add potatoes, and only enough water to cover. Cover and cook until potatoes are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Stir together soup, sour cream and milk until smooth; add to potato mixture. Heat, but do not boil. Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir in tiny dash of nutmeg.
4. As desired use crumbled bacon, cheese or green onions to sprinkle on top to garnish.

Useful tips:

For a little more taste, I have been known to throw in a chicken bullion cube but I don't add much salt if I do.

[Photo credit from blog: From Single to Married and it's a good overall step by step process for making the soup in photos if you'd like to take a look.]

Black Bean Soup

Now that fall is upon us, and it's geting a little cooler (well except for today) I'm in the mood for a good soup. Here's one that Richie and I love. You can either make it a little thinner like a soup with a little more chicken broth or make it as a thicker chili type dish with less chicken broth. I like mine thick.

10 slices bacon, finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, pressed
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups canned chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
4 (15 1/2-ounce) cans black beans (we use 2), drained but not rinsed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 bunch cilantro
juice of 1/2 lime
Thinly sliced scallions, for garnish
Sour cream, for garnish
Grated cheddar, for garnish

Put the bacon into a large heavy pot and place it over medium heat. Cook until it starts to give up its fat, about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until you can smell it, about 1 minute. Add the broth, tomatoes, ketchup, Worcestershire, and chili powder. Stir in the beans, turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Adjust the heat so the soup is bubbling gently and cook 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, pick off all the thick stems from the cilantro. Wash it and shake dry. Chop the cilantro coarsely and stir it into the soup when it has been simmering 10 minutes. cook until the soup is thickened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lime juice. Serve with the garnishes.

We add shredded chicken and/or a half cup of rice after it's simmered to give it a little more depth.

Chicken and Veggie Soup

I know most people don't make soup in the summer. It is too hot. But, today I didn't really feel good, I kept getting the chills (even with a sweater and my slippers on) and chicken soup just sounded good. So, I came up with this recipe for dinner, and I was pretty happy with the results.

2 TB butter (could use olive oil)
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
2 large chicken breasts, cut into chunks*
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can chicken broth/stock
2 1/2-3 cups water
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed*
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped*
2 cups-ish carrots, chopped*
1/2 tea basil
1/2 tea fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tea cumin more to taste

*These don't need to be cut up too small, about 3/4"-1" cubes/pieces.

In a large stockpot melt the butter, and saute the onion until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often until the chicken is no longer pink on the outside. Add the chicken stock, cream of chicken soup and water and bring to a boil. When the soup is boiling, add the vegetables and spices. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the veggies are tender, 12-15 minutes. (The potatoes will cook faster than the celery and carrots. I like my carrots and celery still crisp, so I put all the veggies in at the same time. If you want them cooked through, add the celery and carrots to the soup a few minutes before the potatoes.)

This was the first time that I had ever used cumin. It has a smoky/earthy flavor that was unexpected, but still tasty. It kind of tasted like it was going to be spicy, but it wasn't hot, just... flavorful. When I was halfway done with dinner, I thought I should have added a bay leaf. Maybe next time.

Curly Noodle Chicken Soup

This soup tastes INCREDIBLE! The spices are perfect.
1 lb chicken cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced
4 celery ribs
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp olive or canola oil
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 C flour
1 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
3 cans (14 1/2 oz each) chicken broth
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
6 oz uncooked tricolor spiral pasta

1.In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, saute chicken, onion, celery, carrots and garlic in butter and oil for 5 minutes.
2. Stir in flour, basil, oregano and pepper until blended.
3. Gradually add broth and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour.
4. Return to a boil; stir in pasta. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 12-15 minutes or until pasta is tender.

Serves: 9

Potato Cream Cheese Soup

This is a big hit with the kids and SOOO easy to make.

Potato Cream Cheese Soup
5 large potatoes
5 C chicken broth
1/2 onion, chopped
1 box cream cheese (1/3 fat)
Optional mix-ins: broccoli, corn, cheddar cheese, croutons

1. Peel and cube potatoes. Boil chicken broth, onions and potatoes
2. When potatoes are soft (smash easily against the side of the pot), add cream cheese.
3. Serve when cream cheese is melted.
4. When you add the cream cheese you may want to add: broccoli, corn and/or cheddar cheese.
5. You may want to serve this in bread bowls or put croutons on top.

Bread Bowl recipe:
2 Tbsp yeast
2 tsp salt
2 C warm water
5 C flour
1 Tbsp sugar
cornmeal

1. Dissolve yeast in water with sugar.
2. Add salt and 3 C flour. Gradually add remaining flour to make a stiff dough.
3. Knead on lightly floured surface till dough is smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise till double.
4. Punch down and divide into 8 pieces. Form each piece into a ball and place on baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise until double in bulk.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Cool.
6. Cut off tops, scoop out bread to make a bowl, and serve with hot soup. Eat the bowl when you finish the soup.

Makes 8.