July Recipes

Crock Pot Potato Soup
6-8 potatoes, cubed
2 carrots, cubed
2 stalks celery, cubed
1 med. onion, chopped
5 c. water (and I add some chicken bouillon cubes for flavor)
Some parsley or cilantro leaves/flakes – whichever you prefer (occasionally, I use dill weed)
Salt and pepper to taste

Pour in crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours or until vegetables are done. If you want creamy soup, one hour before serving, add one can of evaporated milk. If too thin, add some instant mashed potato flakes!

It makes a lot of soup for one person, so I divide it up in plastic containers -- one day I'll add some cooked broccoli to it, one day it might be diced ham....you can do anything with it you want.

Instant Potato Soup Mix
(I used to take this to work -- also use it to thicken my potato soup!)

2 cups instant mashed potatoes
1½ cups instant milk powder
2 TBSP instant chicken bouillon
2 tsp dried minced onion
1 tsp dried parsley
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp dried thyme
1/8 tsp turmeric
1½ tsp seasoning salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix. Store in air tight container.
To Serve: Place ½ cup instant soup mix in a soup bowl, cup or mug. Add one cup of boiling water and stir until smooth.

Shrimp Soup
(I'm lazy - I put it all in the crock pot, except the shrimp, hominy and tomatoes, and let it cook until the veggies are done - then add the tomatoes, hominy and shrimp.) I've left the original cooking instructions, but I haven't the time to set and watch the stuff!

1 TBSP olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
2 minced cloves garlic (I usually just use garlic powder)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder (taco seasoning is good, too!)
2 cans chicken broth (I use about 4-5 cups water with chicken bouillon)
1 can hominy, drained and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes, drained (for a different flavor, you can use the liquid from the tomatoes in place of some of the broth)
1 pound peeled shrimp

Heat the oil in a soup pot over medium high. Add the onion, celery,
carrot, garlic, oregano, cumin and chili powder and cook, stirring
occasionally, until vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the broth, hominy and tomato and bring to a boil; immediately
reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes to allow flavors to develop. Stir
in the shrimp and simmer until shrimp is just cooked through, about 4
minutes.


Crockpot Pizza Casserole
(The lady that gave me this recipe uses low-fat meat or ground turkey and low-fat/low-salt soup and wheat pasta and it tastes just as good!)

1 pound ground meat browned and drained (I use ½ beef and ½ ground Italian sausage)
3 oz Pepperoni
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup undiluted
1 Onion chopped
½ Green Pepper, chopped
12 oz shredded parmesan cheese
8 oz Rigatoni pasta cooked 5 minutes and drained—I’ve used any kind of pasta handy - - even speghetti
14 oz can pizza or spaghetti sauce

Mix together ground meat, onion, green pepper and pizza sauce

Layer in crock pot in following order:
Half of the meat mixture
Half of the cooked pasta
Half a can of the soup
6 ounces of cheese
Half of the pepperoni slices
Top with any other ingredients you like such as mushrooms, olives, etc.
Repeat layers.
Cook on low heat for 4 hours. About an hour before serving, sprinkle top with mozzarella cheese