"Dill"icious salmon chowder!

 

We have not discontinued our Saturday soup-making tradition, but I assumed that people were getting bored with the recipes and I stopped posting them.  I have since had two requests for this recipe, so I will go ahead...

This would be a great way to use up leftover cooked fish.  It was a nice Spring-tasting soup which turned out to be about 250 calories per serving.  Six servings.

Salmon-Dill Chowder

1.  Sauté 2 chopped onions, 12 button mushrooms, 2 Yukon gold potatoes, chopped, sliced, 2 cloves minced garlic and 1 bell pepper, chopped, in 1 Tbsp. olive oil until the onions are limp.

2.  Add 1 bunch of fresh dill, chopped, and 3 cans of reduced fat chicken broth.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are soft.  Blend until smooth.

3.  Add 1 additional Yukon Gold potato, chopped, cooked fish which has been "chunked" with a fork(we used 2 salmon fillets),  and a half package of frozen peas.  Bring to a simmer and cook until potatoes are done.  Don't overcook--you want the peas to have a nice, fresh pop to them.

This was not the prettiest soup we have ever made--the dill gives it kind of a greenish tint, but it was delish!

This past Saturday we made a huge pot of cowboy stew.  Let me assure you that no cowboys were  injured in the process.    This is a recipe that we have made for years, but I have tweaked it to reduce the calories.  It made 12 servings, each 200 calories.

As with many soups, it is even better the next day (and the next) as the flavors really come together.

Cowboy Stew

1.  Brown 2 lbs. lean ground beef (or ground turkey).  Drain, to remove the fat, then rinse with hot water.  This does a good job of reducing the fat in ground beef, but isn't necessary if you are using turkey.

2.  In a large stock pot, sauté 3 chopped onions and 2 minced garlic cloves in 1 Tbsp. olive oil until the onions are limp.  Add two cans of Rotelle tomatoes with peppers, 4 cans of diced tomatoes, 2 quarts of hot water and 3 heaping Tbsp. beef soup base.   Add hot sauce (we like Tapatio) to taste.  Add salt and pepper and blend until smooth.

3.  Add to the soup base the hamburger, 1 can whole kernel corn (with liquid), 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained, 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained, and four Yukon gold potatoes, diced.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for about thirty minutes. 

This can be as spicy as you want, but don't fear the heat--Aubrey loved it and asked for it two days in a row!  So it has been kid-tasted and kid-approved!

Creativity

I am happiest when I have a project (or three) in the works.  My parents were apparently very successful at convincing me that idle hands are the devil's workshop because I actually feel sinful when I sit and do nothing.  Provident people keep their 72 hour kits handy so that in an emergency they can grab them as they flee for their lives.  I also keep a series of "kits" handy so that I can grab one quickly in an emergency:

From left to right, they contain my cut-work tablecloth project, my crewel embroidery supplies, my crocheting and my cross stitch.  Sewing and smocking projects are kept elsewhere in my lair.  My current "while watching TV" project is a cross stitch sampler.  I have no idea what I'm going to do with it when it's finished, but it's a quote from Elder Wirthlin that I found very inspiring:

Does everybody know about "Stitchpoint?"  You can choose your font, enter your text, and it will automatically graph it for you.  Very handy when making bumper stickers for the house!  Here is the link:

http://www.stitchpoint.com/eng/tool/alph/_alphabet_generator.php?gclid=CNOI9__04JECFQY8YQodfi7CXg

Without being on Facebook, Twitter or MySpace I am still able to waste a considerable amount of time goofing around on the computer.  My addiction (besides the furniture section on craigslist) is craft tutorials.  For about a year now I have been building a file of things I want to do someday, based on my internet treasure hunts.  Interestingly, many of my favorites come from Australia.  Here is a pictorial of some of my favorites.  It's not all just idle dreaming--you will recognize some of them as completed projects:

If you see anything you like, leave a comment and I will happily give you the link to the tutorial.  Or, if any of my grandchildren see anything they like, they can just ask for it. 

I have a theory about zucchini

I don't think anyone really likes zucchini.  I think anyone who says they do is just showing off.  If people really enjoyed the taste of zucchini there wouldn't be so many ways to disguise it; breaded and fried zucchini,  zucchini bread or (gag!) zucchini jam.  My mother once sweated over a batch of the latter and forever after tried to convince us that it tasted just like pineapple.  It didn't. 

Somehow, a bunch of baby zucchini ended up in the produce drawer of my refrigerator.  (Someone was probably showing off at Trader Joe's.)  I waited quite a while, hoping they would go bad.  But even without Debbie Meyer's Green Bags, they stayed pretty fresh and today my German guilt got the better of me.  Enter Bill and Linda's Soup Recipe #4...

Tomato Zucchini Soup

In a small frying pan, heat one tablespoon of olive oil and sauté one onion, chopped, and one teaspoon minced garlic until the onions begin to soften.  Pour the onions and garlic into a deep saucepan and add the following; two cans of diced tomatoes (I like Hunt's brand with Italian seasoning), two cans of chicken broth, two cubed Yukon gold potatoes (skins on), a bunch of fresh basil, chopped, and salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until potatoes are soft.

While the tomato mixture simmers, reheat your small frying pan and add the following (without adding oil); one small can of whole corn, drained, and four baby zucchini, chopped small (about the size of corn kernels).  Stir frequently while the veggies pan-roast and brown a little.  Turn off the heat before they burn!  

When the potatoes are cooked, blend the tomato mixture until smooth.  (Or leave it a little chunky if you prefer.)  Add the corn and zucchini and simmer together for another ten minutes.  Makes six servings, 130 calories per serving.

While enjoying our lovely soup tonight, Bill commented that it tasted just like V8 juice.  So, there you go!