Amazing Taco Soup / Food Storage Taco Soup, Zuppa Toscano Soup

Here is a soup recipe Emily makes for us.

Emily came up with this recipe. She named it Amazing Taco Soup. I named it Food Storage Taco Soup. Lincoln loves this and can do it himself.

Amazing Taco Soup
from Emily Johnson

1 can black beans-drained and rinsed

1 can kidney beans-(")

1 can tomato soup concentrate

2 16 oz. cans undrained stewed tomatoes (We use Mexican style)

1 can corn-undrained

1 foil pack taco seasoning

Mix together and heat. (This can be done in a crock pot or stove top.)

Stir in cooked, browned ground beef (1/2-1 lb.) or the "fake" hamburger in food storage cans.

Can serve with chips, cheese, sour cream, corn bread... You know the stuff.
Thank-you, Emily

This is my favourite pan lid. (Thrift store find.) I knew exactly what it was! It is ridged and shaped to fit... ANY PAN. Small 1 cup pan to large stock/soup pan. I wish there was a brand on it, but I'll take what I can get. Keep your eyes open for one. You will enjoy it.

Have you ever seen these before? They are TUPPERWAVE by Tupperware. I sold Tupperware in the 90s just because of these. While I don't cook much in them, I use them A LOT for re-heating. This is 2 layers (There are 3) with soup in each one. I still find these at yard sales, etc. (which is great because all my kidults want a set). My collection recently came in handy for a ward Relief Society dinner. Keep your eyes open for these, too. (Let me know if you have questions.)

On Tuesday I went to lunch with a friend. We went to Olive Garden and I got the Zuppa Toscano soup. I really enjoyed it, and made it on Wednesday. i came up with this after reading about 20 recipes (with their 300 reviews.)

Copy Cat Zuppa Toscano Soup (Olive Garden)

1/4 - 1/2 lb. turkey italian sausage (can use spicy)

olive oil (or other cooking oil)

1 yellow/white chopped onion (about 1 cup)

1 1/2 tea. minced garlic

2 1/2 table. chicken base

2 large potatoes (I used yukon gold) Cut in 1/2 length way and then slice very thin. Like about 1/8" in. You can try to the slicing side of your grater, but it tends to jam

2 cups kale leaves (or spinach)

1/3 - 2/3 cup half & half (or cream)

Parmesan and/or Romano cheese

In a soup pan, brown and break up sausage. Add small amounts of oil as needed to keep meat from sticking. Remove sausage and set aside while

browning onion. Then add garlic and stir about 1 more minute.

Put sausage back in and add the chicken base, 1 quart water and potatoes. Simmer 15-30 min., or until potatoes are tender. (You can add 2 more cups of water if you need more for your potatoes or if it is too thick.)

Add the kale, and cream. Simmer on low about 5 minutes.

Serve topped with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.

(Somewhere in my computer is the picture of the ingredients.)

I am really torn about how I feel about this soup. First of all, only Doug and I ate it. (Emily does not eat potatoes, Hilary, Lindsay and Leslie-sausage and Mark, onion. David does not eat soups often.) Doug and I both liked it. (And Doug does not like sausage or ANY leafy green veg.)

#1 Turkey sausage has 75% less fat than regular sausage. Since much of the flavour comes from fat, I needed a bit of oil to keep it from sticking, and the herbs were intensified. I used 1/2 lb. and really only needed 1/2 of that.

#2 Kale does not have a lot of flavour, so Doug could eat it. Spinach would work as well and I would know what to do with left-overs. (But the kale was cheap. $1.28 bunch)

#3 It did taste like Olive Garden's. It was good. Doug liked it (Such a good sport to try my projects.) and liked the left-overs on Thursday.

#4 Now, the problem. Even though I liked it, and it was good, I really don't think I want it again . Weird, huh? Plus, at the end of dinner last night...I threw away the left-overs. I rarely do that. (I hope Michael did not read that.) (Just so you know, I figured out how to make those tiny letters myself.) Now you have it. I am not even saving the recipe, and I do not know why.

I am trying 1 more soup recipe next week. If I don't talk to you before Monday, Happy Olympics, Happy Chinese New Year and Happy Valentine's Day.

Olive, Onion and Cheese Bread

Just a new and successful recipe I tried for the holidays.

Olive, Onion and Cheese Bread

Mix

1/2 cup softened butter (1 cube)

1/2 cup mayonaise (I used light)

Stir in-gently

8 green onions-sliced

1 can (8 oz.) mushrooms stems and pieces-chopped finer

1 can (4 1/2 oz.) chopped olives (I used sliced)

2 cups grated mozzarella cheese

(Filling can be made ahead, but bring to room temp. before using.)

Split 1 loaf of unsliced french bread length wise. Now frost the bread halves with your cheese filling.

Bake @ 375* for 15-20 mins. Or until melted and lightly browned. Cool about 5 mins. and then cut into slices.

On New Year's Eve Doug and I went to Macey's Grocery Store to pick up our

6 FOOT SANDWICH! (An annual tradition unless New Year's Eve fall on a Sunday.) Anyway, they were demoing this recipe. It was not ready to be sampled, yet, but it sounded right. So, we picked up a few things.

It was easy and good. Problems? "I want a piece with no olives." "EWW. Mushrooms?" "I don't like onions." Everyone else liked it. To make this a bit more festive for Christmas, I will add some finely chopped red peppers. Enjoy. This one gets copied into my cookbook. (More about the rest of the new ones later.)

I will do my drawing on Monday when I blog. (Each picture will be assigned a number, and one of the kidults will pick a # out of a bowl.) Good Luck, Super Followers!