Best Ham & Bean Soup

This recipe comes from my dear friend and forever neighbor, Kristi (you know, the chicken enchilada rock star)! I make this delicious ham and bean soup every year after Chirstmas and Easter with our left over Honey Baked Ham. Best. Soup. Evah!

Kristi's Ham & Bean Soup
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup chopped onion
2 cups diced ham
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
4 cups ham stock (recipe to follow) or chicken broth
2 cans great northern beans, not drained
4 Tablespoons tomato sauce
pepper

*Here's a link to a good ham stock recipe.  I do half water and half chicken broth to boil the ham bone, but otherwise I follow this recipe to make my ham stock.
www.food.com/recipe/ham-stock-107885

• Make ham stock or if using only chicken broth, skip this step.
• Heat oil in large soup pot. Add carrots, onion, celery and onion. Saute 4 minutes. Add ham and saute 2 minutes. Add garlic and saute 1 minute. 
• Add 3 cups of stock. Bring to a low boil for 10 minutes. Stir one or two times. 
• Meanwhile, in a blender, combine 1 can of beans and tomato sauce. Process until smooth. Add remaining 1 cup of stock to smooth mixture. 
• Add to pot. Add remaining can of beans. Bring to a low boil. Lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes. 
• Ladle into bowls and serve :-)

Enjoy!

~The Lemonista

Christmas Tree Bento Lunch & Homemade Broccoli Cheese Soup

If I had to narrow today's theme down to one word, it would be BROCCOLI.  Yes folks, you heard me correctly.  This healthy veggie seems to have gotten a bit of a bad rap, but I'm here to vindicate this delicious green.  Many Moms tell me that their kids won't eat broccoli.  I agree that broccoli takes some Van White sales tactics and enthusiastic encouragement, but have you tried calling is something different?  In our house, broccoli is known as "baby trees."  My kids line the florets up on their plates and marvel at the cuteness of their little tree farms.  I let them dip it in ranch or cheese dip and today I used steamed broccoli to create a Christmas tree Bento lunch.  If all else fails, try masking this vegetable into some luscious homemade broccoli cheese soup...now who can resist that???

  Christmas Tree Bento Lunch

  

• The tree is made from steamed broccoli florets.  I steam them just so they are not hard, but not until mushy.  Run them under cold water to stop the cooking and retain the fresh green color.  I formed the florets in a triangle shape and wrapped with leaf lettuce.  The leaf lettuce keeps the broccoli seperate so it does not touch or flavor the other food. 
• The tiny colorful ornaments are royal icing decorations from Fancy Flours.
• The star is cut from a carrot and decorated with a star food pick.
• The fruit salad on either side is pineapple chunks and red grapes.
• The tree trunk is a stack of Wheat Thin crackers.
• The gifts are Colby jack cheese squares decorated with food picks and two royal icing presents from Fancy Flours. You get two of each in this assortment, so I used my two presents today.

Now for an easy homemade broccoli cheese soup that is so tasty!

You will need:

In a stockpot melt butter and cook onion, garlic and sherry until softened.

Add frozen broccoli and chicken broth.  Simmer until tender (about 10 min).

Reduce heat and stir in cheese cubes until melted.

Dissolve cornstarch in warm water. 

Add Cornstarch/water mixture and cream. 

Stirring until thick. 

Season with salt and pepper. (taste to see if you want to add any more).

Serve!

Oh, and don't forget that this soup would be great served in a bread bowl!
This post will show you how~
http://thelemonista.blogspot.com/2010/10/soup-in-bread-bowl-easy-meal-that-will.html

Broccoli Cheese Soup
1/2 cup butter
1 white onion chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 16oz package frozen broccoli
1 cup whole cream or half & half
16 oz Velveeta cheese, cubed (Velveeta Light will also work).
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 cup warm water
salt & pepper to taste.

In a stockpot melt butter and cook onion, garlic and sherry until softened.  Add frozen broccoli and chicken broth.  Simmer until tender (about 10 min.).  Reduce heat and stir in cheese cubes until melted.  In a separate bowl, dissolve cornstarch in warm water.  Add Cornstarch/water mixture and cream, stirring until thick.  Season with salt & pepper to taste and serve. 

Enjoy!

~The Lemonista

Rockin' White Chili, Orange Slice Bento & Some Fall Phoenix Blooms.

My kid sister makes the best White Chili I have ever tasted!  What I love most--IT'S QUICK & EASY!!!!
A one pot recipe that you literally open cans and dump, this gem can be ready in minutes and feed a crowd if needed!  Now my sister is a gifted artist and would tell you to keep as many of the ingredients white in color to stay true to the name, but I kind of just go with what I've got on hand (and what I love to eat!)

You will need


Pour all ingredients in stock pot. 


Stir over Medium heat until cheese melts.


Chili is done!


Serve with a dollop of Sour Cream and Tortilla chips (even though they are not white, we love Doritos with this chili)
My chili bowl (I realize that I have a romance with my dishes)



You can also add any of your favorite Mexican toppings, such as green onion, black olives, more shredded cheese...etc...

I've tied some sheets around the kids swing set to set up a little fort while I cook.  Grin.  I soooo remember how much I enjoyed a good fort as a kid!


The Lemonista has hooked up her lil' lemondrops with a popcorn and lemonade.


Moving on to some Bento.  I recently found these little Paperchase Pantry Peepers Bento boxes at Borders.  I LOVE them.  The rectangle shape is so fun to work with. 

Here's Elyse's orange slices this morning in one of my new boxes. The little decorations are listed as Bento food dividers on ebay. They are reusable plastic with animated characters that say happy little messages in Japanese (hmmm....wonder what they say???)




The thermos container holds leftover white chili!


I will leave you today with a few photos of what's blooming in the Lemonista's garden.  Here are the pansies we put in last weekend.  Just look at their smiling faces....makes me swoon. 


And my true joy


The roses have started their fall bloom and they are simply glorious!! I'm off to cut some of these and place them in a vase next to my kitchen sink.


White Chili
14oz (ish) jar of Medium Salsa (I do mild for the kids)
14oz can chicken broth (my big box of broth is in the photo since I use a lot of this stuff)
2, 15oz cans Great Northern beans or White Kidney beans, drained (whatever you can find)
2, 12.5oz cans Chicken Breast, drained (I get the Kirkland brand at Costco)
1 Tablespoon ground Cumin
Chopped cilantro (almost a whole bunch, no stems)
2 cups grated  Monterey Jack cheese (I had cheddar jack and that works fine too)

Combine all ingredients in large pot.  Stir over medium heat until cheese melts.  Serve with crushed tortilla chips and a dollop of sour cream. 

Happy Tuesday Y'all!!!

Soup In A Bread Bowl ~ An Easy Meal That Will Impress!

Want an easy dinner that will make you look like a rock-star chef?  Have I got the meal for you ;-)  Even my kids are impressed by these. 

Soup In A Bread Bowl

This looks complex, but really it's just store bought soup and frozen bread dough.  It's simple to make--really!

Start off with buying some of Rhodes white or whole wheat frozen bread dough at the grocery store.
http://www.rhodesbread.com/products/view/814
This is such a wonderful product.  You literally just let it thaw, rise and then bake! 
You get three frozen loaves of dough in a package.  I cut one thawed loaf of bread dough into two pieces for bowl size bread and into thirds for cup size bread.  Shape the cut dough into a ball with floured hands.  Place the shaped dough on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and let it rise until it doubles in size.  Then bake in the oven per the instruction on the bag.



When you remove your fresh fantastic smelling bread from the oven, rub the tops of the hot bread bowls with butter.  Then, using a serrated knife, cut open a top (like carving the top of a pumpkin) and pull out some of the bread inside to make room for the soup.  Be careful not to puncture the bread bowl while cutting (or your soup will leak out the hole).
Place baked bread bowl on a plate. 
Heat up soup in the microwave or a sauce pan and pour into the bread bowl.  I buy Safeway's Signature Cafe Soups http://shop.safeway.com/corporate/safeway/shop/signature_soups.asp  both the Pacific Clam chowder and the Baked Potato soup work really well in the bread bowls, but many other flavors would be great too.   These soups are also sold at Vons. 

Place cut top off to the side for dipping.  Sprinkle soup with desired toppings and serve!

Soup Toppings:  Salt & Pepper, shredded cheese, bacon crumbles, green onions and for any extra bread--honey butter. 
I always whip up a little honey butter when I make these to smear on the extra bread...YUM!

http://thelemonista.blogspot.com/2010/10/bee-happy-eat-honey-butter.html

Enjoy :-)