Soup Week

So last Monday I mentioned how we were having Soup Week at the Harper House and boy did we ever!  We had lots of soup this past week, lots and lots of soup.  It was fun...and different...and something we'll probably never do again. :)  Only because (as you would imagine) it was just a lot of soup to intake in a small amount of time.  But it was fun to try some new soup and add (or delete) from the recipe box!

We started out Soup Week with a soup we were familiar with because it's one of our favorites.  My Mom makes Soup for the Slopes and we both love it so we figured we would start with something we knew was a win.  Not to mention it was a last minute decision to have soup for the week so we had to start with something I already had the ingredients for since I didn't do my grocery shopping until Monday night. Every day from there, we tried out new soups that we've never made before.  And just to make it easy with 2 working people in our house, they were all crockpot soup recipes. 

So here you have it...the Harper's Soup Week:
          Sidenote: Yes, these are pictures of the actual soup we made, not google image pictures. :)

Recipe - Soup for the Slopes

Ingredients
1 lb. hot sausage (browned & drained)
2 cups diced potatoes
1 chopped green pepper
2 (16 oz) cans red kidney beans (light or dark)
1 quart water
1 (16 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. thyme, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper, 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
I also add 1 (16 oz) can of corn

Put all ingredients in crockpot, cover and cook all day on low.

Recipe - Buffalo Chicken Soup

Ingredients
6 cups milk
2 (10.5 oz) cans cream of chicken soup
1 (10.5 oz) can cream of celery soup
3 cups cooked chicken
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup ranch dressing (or bleu cheese)
1/2 cup hot sauce (I use Frank's Red Hot) & you can increase/decrease to your taste

Put all ingredients in crockpot & cook on low for 4 hours.

Recipe - Crabby Soup

Ingredients
2 cups crabmeat (I put in more)
2 cups milk
2 cups half & half
3 tablespoons butter
2 strips of lemon peel
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
salt & pepper to taste
2 tablespoons dry sherry (I found in the wine section @ Martin's)
1/2 cup saltine crackers

Put all ingredients except sherry and crackers into crockpot and cook on low for 3-5 hours.  Just before serving, put in sherry and crackers to thicken.  As a variation, add cooked shrimp to this about 30 minutes before serving time.

Recipe - Pizza Party Soup

Ingredients
1 (14 oz) jar of pizza sauce
3 empty jars (from above) of water
1 green pepper, seeded & chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 (16 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained
2 already-cooked Italian sausages
1 cup sliced pepperoni (sliced in quarters)
8 fresh basil leaves or 1/2 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 to 1/3 cup dried pasta
shredded mozzarella cheese (to add before eating)

Put in crockpot and cook on low for 7-9 hours.  30 minutes before serving, put in dry pasta and turn to high.  Garnish the top w/ the mozzarella cheese.

Recipe - Northern Bean Soup

Ingredients
1 (15 oz) can navy beans
1 (15 oz) can great northern beans
1 (16 oz) can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup sliced carrots, cooked (or they can be raw if you cook long enough)
1 (16 oz) can of corn
1 (4 oz) can green chile peppers
1 cup tomato juice or V8
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or vegetable stock
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder

Put all ingredients in crockpot, cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours.

Recipe - Asparagus Soup

Ingredients
2 pounds fresh asparagus
5 cups chicken broth
6 green onions, chopped
2 cups cubed peeled baking potatoes
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp. seasoned salt
1/4 tsp. chopped fresh parsley

I will tell ya this recipe said to puree the vegetables after cooking for 5 hours, but we thought that sounded gross so we just put all the ingredients in the crockpot, covered and cooked on low for 5-7 hours.

Results

Out favorite was still probably Soup for the Slopes (oldie but goodie!), but we also really liked the Pizza Party soup and Nothern Bean soup.  Ryan also said the Buffalo Chicken soup "had great flavor."  He told me the Crabby soup would be fine never making an appearance back in the house. :)  But he did admit that he thought it was the lemon he didn't like in it.  I thought it was good.  If you need any more details on our fabulous soupy week, leave me a comment! 

Oh...and Sunday was our day of rest...and leftovers. :) 

And just so you know, don't invite us over for soup anytime real soon. ;)