Broccoli-Cheddar Soup Bread Bowl

Broccoli cheddar soup is definitely one of my favorite go-to soups. It is relatively easy and quick to make, and I almost always have frozen broccoli on hand. I've tried several ways, adding and taking out ingredients as I had them available, but this batch was the best by far. It was thick, smooth, and creamy, with a perfect balance of flavors. I had some large bread rolls so I hollowed them out to use as bread bowls, and it was a perfect meal. Try it yourself!

Ingredients:

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup milk

1 cup frozen broccoli florets

1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar

3-4 tbsp butter/margerine

Salt & black pepper

Step 1: In a sauce pot, bring butter, chicken stock and milk to a simmer. Cook the broccoli for 5-10 minutes, until heated through and soft.

Step 2: In a blender, combine the soup, spices, cheese, and sour cream. [You can use an immersion blender if you're fancy enough to have one] Reserve 1 cup if you want broccoli chunks in the finished soup. Blend until smooth and return to the pot. Heat through, about 5 minutes.

Step 3: Hollow out a large round bread roll by cutting at an angle with a sharp knife all along the edges. Pull the middle out, and fill with hot soup. Sprinkle a little cheddar on top, and enjoy!

This soup was so good I had to have two bowls. Luckily the bread roll was big enough that I had plenty left for dipping. If you'd like to make this vegetarian soup vegan, just omit the milk and cheese, maybe use some vegan cheese product instead.

What's your favorite soup to eat in a bread bowl?

Turkey porcupine meatballs

So one day, I was running late at work. I text my SO (significant other) that I would be late, and he asked if I wanted him to start dinner. Bonus points already for asking! Yes please. We had some cooked rice in the fridge, and always have ground turkey on hand. I had mentioned porcupine meatballs previously, to which he responded with a weird look. To explain, adding rice makes meatballs 'porcupine'. We used to have these all the time growing up, maybe it's a Polish/Slovak thing. 

Anyways, so since I had planted the idea earlier, I suggested that as an option, with some healthy tweaks. An additional can of pinto beans mashed in, plus a can of diced tomatoes or two ups the protein, fiber, and vitamins from the usual just meat/rice combo. Using ground turkey over beef helps cut down on saturated fat as well.

Of course, the only side dish you're allowed to have with porcupine meatballs is mashed potatoes. Sometimes you can take shortcuts and make them healthy, but sometimes you gotta go all-in: butter, milk, sour cream, and garlic salt. You just know by the look and feel of the potatoes when you've added enough of each. Creamy and smooth without being too liquid, with a slight hint of yellow, and a strong smell of garlic. Starting to drool just thinking about it. 

And of course, the whole shebang gets drowned in a homemade tomato sauce. Simply perfect.

Ingredients: 

1 pound ground turkey

1 cup cooked rice

1 can beans

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

Italian seasonings

Garlic salt

Butter/margerine

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup milk

6-10 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

Step 1: In a bowl, mix turkey, rice, drained beans, drained diced tomatoes, and some seasonings if you like. Form into golf to tennis sized balls and place in an oven-safe pan.

Step 2: Bake these at 350 for 50-60 minutes. You can use a meat thermometer to check, or cut one open and make sure there is no pink inside.

Step 3: For the sauce, combine 1 can undrained tomatoes, 1 can tomato sauce, and spices. Leave chunky or mix in a blender for a smooth sauce.

Step 4: Pour the sauce over the meatballs. You can do this before or after cooking them, if you do it after simply return to the oven for 3-5 minutes to heat through.

Mmmm don't these look fabulous!?

Step 5: Boil the diced potatoes for 10-15 minutes, until soft when poked with a fork. Drain and return to the cooking pot.

Step 6: Add milk, butter, sour cream, and spices (maybe some cheddar cheese too?) a little at a time, mixing with a potato masher or hand blender, until desired consistency is reached.

Step 7: Scoop a hearty pile of potatoes onto a plate and dollop with extra sauce. Add a meatball, and dive on in!

This is seriously a total bliss flavor combination. Reminds me of childhood and home every time. Definition of comfort food, with less fat and tons more goodness. I'm lucky to have such a good cook to come home to.

What food(s) reminds you of childhood?

Less than 5: Big-kid Ramen

Another in my "Less than 5" recipe series. All recipes beginning with that title will have less than 5 ingredients and/or cost less than $5. Bonus for ones that also take less than 5 minutes. =)

 

Ramen used to be the greatest after-school snack ever. Then in college, it was pretty much a daily staple. At 10-20 cents per pack, the good people of Ramen keep poor college kids worldwide from starving. When I started graduate school, and started taking this blog more seriously, I figured Ramen was no longer part of my life. I had graduated to frittatas, lasagna, and white bean chicken chili. Big kid food. 

But then in my masters study, my Taiwanese advisor had Ramen for lunch nearly every day. She just fancied it up by adding a handful of fresh spinach and an egg. Well of course I had to try it, as the chicken-salt smell of Ramen is hard to resist. Adding veggies ups the nutritional value (which previously was negative zero) and an egg or tuna will bump up the protein.

It turns out to make a decently healthy meal, for way less than a dollar per serving. Ever since then, when I have a random Ramen craving, I give in with the justification that at least it's "big kid" Ramen. Now you can too!

Ingredients:

1 package Ramen noodles

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables or spinach

1 egg

Spices (I used parsley, parmesan, and red chili pepper for kick)

Step 1: Heat the noodles and water for 3 minutes in the microwave. Let stand for another 3 minutes.

Step 2: Add the vegetables and egg. Break the yolk so it doesn't explode. Microwave another 3 minutes.

Step 3: Stir in seasoning packet and spices, enjoy!

The chili flakes gave it a nice bite of heat, and I like the frozen mixed veggies because of the corn and carrots' sweetness. You can get creative with this. Use tofu, beans, tuna, chicken. Any cooked vegetable will work well. I'm partial to the chicken flavoring only, but there are beef and shrimp flavorings too. For 0.10 (noodles) + 0.10 (egg) + 0.10 (frozen veg) = $0.30 not a bad meal!

What do you put in your Ramen?

Three egg omelets

Omelets are an always popular breakfast item. Usually reserved for the weekends or a restaurant, I wanted to show you how easy they can be. As explained in my Ham & Greens Frittata post, the difference between and omelet and a frittata is that a frittata has all the ingredients mixed into the eggs, it is all cooked together, and not folded up. An omelet is partly cooked, and then the ingredients are added in and the eggs are folded around the other ingredients. Most are intimidated by the flip, or fold technique. However, with a few simple tricks you can make a fluffy protein half-moon like a pro chef in no time.

Ingredients:
3 eggs (large, fresh, and room temperature if you can)
1/2-1 cup chopped veggies of choice
Meat and or cheese if you like
Vegetable spray, olive oil, or here I use coconut oil for the pan

Step 1: Add 1 tbsp coconut oil (olive oil, etc) to a warm frying pan. Saute and veggies or fully cook any meat you are adding. Set to the side to keep warm.

Step 2: Break all three eggs into a bowl and lightly whisk. You can use one or two whole eggs and the rest egg whites if you are concerned about cholesterol, or use egg substitutes. They should work just the same.

Step 3: Now the (not so) tricky part. Pour the eggs into the pan. You can wait to add the other ingredients until the last minute, or just add them on top of the eggs like I did. When the egg starts to cook (you will know by the change in color and texture) push it down the sides of the pan with a spoon or spatula. Mix up the egg in the center a little too. This helps to get the egg to cook on the bottom.

Step 4: Wiggle the pan around as you use the spoon or spatula to push the cooked egg to the center, and tilt it to get the uncooked egg to run up the sides. Repeat until most of the egg is cooked. Then, using a spatula or spoon, flip the egg in half, covering the fillings. It's a great idea to add a sprinkle of cheese first for a gooey inside at the end!

Step 5: Let cook for another few minutes, then flip and cook a few more. This is just to ensure that all the egg inside heats enough to cook fully.

Sprinkle with a bit of cheese, and enjoy! You can use whatever type of vegetables or beans you like here. Onion, mushroom, greens, zucchini, and peppers work great

Of course, for the carnivore in the house I had to make a ham & bacon one too. All breakfast meats are amazing in omelets as well. Get creative, try any combination that sounds good. And don't worry about not getting the half-flip perfect. Worst case scenario, you still have some delicious scrambled eggs.
Either way, break an egg and enjoy!

What is your favorite dish to make with eggs?

Under 100 Calories per Bowl: Cruciferous vegetable soup

I'm always a big fan of recipes that help "clean out the fridge or pantry", and if they are healthy as well then bonus! We all have some assorted cans, boxed, half bag of frozen mixed vegetables, etc. that have been sitting around since approximately we moved into whatever abode we inhabit. Even the most strict, list-making, meal-planning, leftover-eating of us have odds and ends we need to try to use up before expiration dates. It is especially hard with produce. I have a bad habit of buying everything that's on sale, I want to cook eventually, sounds healthy... and then I have a fridge packed full of five-day-old veggies beginning to wilt and lose nutrients. Sad face. 

That's why this soup is fantastic! You can mix and match what vegetables you add based on what you have waiting to be used, and choose whatever protein and grain is in the half-empty box in your cupboard. There is of course a few caveats. You need a huge ratio of veggies to other stuff, and a large portion of it must be water. IF you are going for a filling, vegetarian, healthy, low-cal, low-fat soup. Try to choose mostly cruciferous vegetables and/or leafy greens, as those pack the most nutrients and fiber for the least carbs and calories. And limit the beans and the grains to one cup each. If you have a "meat tooth" feel free to throw in some cooked shredded chicken or steak.

Ingredients:
1 whole head green cabbage, shredded
1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1/2 bunch kale, chopped
1 cup fresh spinach
1 cup barley
1 cup pinto beans
1 can diced tomatoes
Garlic salt
Lots of water (stock or bouillon for extra flavor)

Step 1: Chop all your veggies and add to the crock pot. Add the grain (barley) and protein (beans) as well as diced tomatoes. You can sub fresh chopped tomato or tomato sauce, or get rid of it. I just super love diced tomatoes in all the things.

Step 2: Cook on low for 4-6 hours, until veggies, barley and beans are tender. Add any other seasonings you like. Enjoy for under 100 calories per bowl as often as you are hungry!


*Disclaimer: I do not recommend crash diets like the cabbage soup diet where this is all you eat all day, but I do believe that soup before a full meal will help dampen hunger and make it easier to eat healthy and manage a healthy weight.

	Nutrition Facts   12 Servings Amount Per Serving   Calories 94.1   Total Fat 1.0 g       Saturated Fat 0.2 g       Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4 g       Monounsaturated Fat 0.2 g   Cholesterol 0.0 mg   Sodium 766.7 mg   Potassium 412.5 mg   Total Carbohydrate 18.8 g       Dietary Fiber 5.1 g       Sugars 1.2 g   Protein 4.2 g   Vitamin A 42.4 %   Vitamin B-12 0.2 %   Vitamin B-6 10.1 %   Vitamin C 73.5 %   Vitamin D 0.0 %   Vitamin E 1.5 %   Calcium 7.6 %   Copper 5.7 %   Folate 21.8 %   Iron 8.9 %   Magnesium 9.1 %   Manganese 19.7 %   Niacin 5.6 %   Pantothenic Acid     3.7 %   Phosphorus     7.5 %   Riboflavin 6.2 %   Selenium 6.0 %   Thiamin 7.5 %   Zinc 4.2 % *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.