Slow Cooker Ham, Broccoli, and Cheese Soup

 I was just thinking to myself that the world can't possibly have enough slow cooker ham and potato soup recipes. This was a grave injustice that deserved remedy. That, and I had a bag of potatoes that was about to turn into compost if I didn't use them soon. This is about as utilitarian a soup as you'll ever find. There are no real surprises or innovations here, other than maybe the use of American cheese slices. This is just solid winter fare. This will fill you up and keep you warm. This is not the soup you need right now. It is the soup you deserve. I think that might have been from Batman. I don't know, it's been a long week. Anyways, it's easy to make and it's good. It's also flexible. Leave out the ham, add sausage. Go vegetarian and leave out the meet but add some carrots. Go wild. As always, notes are in blue.

Slow Cooker Ham, Broccoli, and Cheese Soup

Ingredients

• 8 cups cubed (about 1/4") potatoes (peel them if you want, we never bother)
• 1 cup sweet onion, finely chopped
• 1 lb. frozen broccoli
• 4 ounces cream cheese (we use neufchatel)
• 1 lb. ground ham (this may be a problem to find. We use ground ham from Toohill Seed & Beef Service. If you can't find it or are unable to order it, substitute an equivalent weight of ham you chop up yourself.)
• 8 slices American cheese (if this seems horrifying, just substitute 8 ounces of shredded cheddar or Velveeta)
• 3 cups water or chicken stock
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon Gateway to the North seasoning from the Spice House. (if you can't/won't get this spice blend, you can make do with whatever spices you enjoy)

Directions

1. In a large (5-6 quart) slow cooker, add the potatoes, then layer the cheeses over the potatoes. 
2. Add all other ingredients over the cheese.
3. Cook on LOW for 7 hours, stirring every couple hours.

Good Times!

Slow Cooker Zesty Taco Soup

You are all probably aware of how excited we were about getting a big box of goodies from Dos Rios Taco Meat. We were especially excited about the Chile Verde flavor, since it's not available right now in our area. Keep in mind there's absolutely nothing stopping you from browning up your own ground beef and adding your own seasoning, but I am inherently lazy and am enamored of the concept of heat and eat meat (say that five times fast). This recipe is literally just dumping ingredients into a pot and heating them until it is hot enough to serve. That's the magic. This soup has a little bit of a zing to it as the meat has some jalapeno already in it. Much like anything I cook in the slow-cooker, this is not much to look at. However, it smells and tastes wonderful. This is absolutely a perfect dish for the wet and cold weather we've been having lately. If you live somewhere that is warm and dry, I don't want to hear about it. I'm not sure what else to tell you. If you use the Dos Rios meat, there's virtually nothing to do with this recipe other than throw everything into a pot and applying heat. Granted, that's really all cooking is, but here you at least won't have to cook and drain the beef. Since I'm a swell guy, I included stovetop cooking instructions. I just keep on giving. As always, any notes are in blue.

Slow Cooker Zesty Taco Soup

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Dos Rios Chile Verde Taco Meat, defrosted
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (10.5 ounce) cheddar cheese soup (you could certainly use nacho cheese soup if you had it on hand. We had cheddar, so that's what we used)
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) fire roasted tomatoes, undrained
• 1 can (15. 5 ounces) white hominy, drained
• 8 ounces (about half a jar) salsa (we went with a hot, thick and chunky Chi-Chi's salsa. Feel free to use whatever floats your boat)
• 1-1/4 cup chicken stock (you could use just water, but we've really been enjoying using stock)
• Optional: sour cream and black olives to garnish after cooking.

Directions

1. Put everything in a large (around 5 quart) slow cooker. 
2. Stir to combine.
3. Cook on LOW for 5 hours. 
   
4. Add any garnishes

OR

1. Put everything in a large (around 5 quart) Dutch oven
2. Stir to combine
3. Cook on the stovetop on medium heat until it starts to simmer, stirring occasionally.
4. Add any garnishes

We worked the numbers, and it looks like this is about 275 calories per cup. (This does not take into account any sour cream you add)

Good times!

Product Review: Jen's Family Table Bolognese Classic Pasta Meat Sauce

 Disclaimer: This product was provided to me by the company. However, the review is based entirely on the merit of the product. 

I received this Bolognese sauce along with some other meat chubs from Dos Rios Taco Meat and Jen's Family Table. I will admit I was a little taken aback at the concept of heat and eat meat sauce. My pasta sauce takes hours to make and is undeniably the Best Ever. Could a frozen chub compete? Would it be fair to compare them? No, it wouldn't. My sauce is made for people I know with tastes that I am familiar with. The people at Jen's Family Table are cooking for a vast number of people they have never met before. That's when I decided what I'd compare it to: The meat sauce you get at a family restaurant. You know what I'm talking about, that brownish-red meat sauce that tastes vaguely like cinnamon. This set the bar extremely low, since I absolutely hate that style of meat sauce. So with that in mind, here we go:

The Wife was in a rush to eat and had already emptied out the chub.

The packaging is simple and efficient. There is no question as to what you're getting here. Let's take a look at the back:

Nutritionally, it's not bad at all. If you ate the whole pound, you'd be out 455 calories. This is an important consideration for me, since I try to limit my intake to 1600 calories a day. Calorie-wise, this is a guilt free sauce for me. The sodium is a bit up there, but that's down to the nature of the product. I don't think it can be helped and honestly, the sauce does not taste salty at all. 

With that out of the way, let's talk ease of preparation. This is where this product truly shines. It's precooked. If it's defrosted, you're only looking at a few minutes in the microwave for a piping hot sauce. You could certainly warm it up on the stovetop as well, but we were all about speed tonight. It was literally just emptying the chub into a bowl and slapping it in the microwave for about two and a half minutes.

Now comes the important part; how does it taste? I was pleasantly surprised to find there was no cinnamon flavor at all. This was, as advertised, a "thick and meaty" sauce! You could actually taste the spices. Nothing overpowering, but there was definitely something going on. We felt that it stood on its own and did not need anything extra.  We decided to serve it over some cheese tortellini and The Wife's Eggplant Parmigiana. 

Winner, winner, chi...wait. That won't work.

This sauce held up wonderfully. It clung well to the tortellini and eggplant and did not break down during the meal. The Wife and I both agreed this is certainly a product we'd keep in the freezer for a quick midweek meal. I would definitely use it in my lasagna to cut down on prep time.