Baked Potato Soup by Jackie

Ingredients:
1-(2lb.) bag hash brown potatoes, or 6 left over baked potatoes (remove skin and chop)
1/2 c. celery, chopped
1/2 c. chopped onions
1 1/2 (14 1/2 oz.) cans chicken broth (21 3/4oz. total)
2 c. milk
1 garlic clove, pressed
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 c. light sour cream
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1-8 oz. package diced ham or 6 slices of cooked and crumbled bacon

Assembly:
Mix celery, onion, chicken broth, milk, garlic, sour cream, ham, salt and pepper in a gallon size Ziploc freezer bag.  Add  potatoes and mix. Remove all air from bag, seal and lay flat on a cookie sheet to freeze. Place cheddar cheese into pint size freezer bag and freeze.

Serving Day:
Place thawed mixture from gallon freezer bag into 6 qt. pan. Simmer for 15 minutes.  Sprinkle cheese on top of each serving. 

* This recipe is adapted from Pampered Chef "Main Dishes" Cookbook.

Smoked Sausage Chowder by Beth

Ingredients:
1 lb. fully cooked smoked sausage, thinly sliced and halved
1 med. onion, chopped
4 c. potatoes, diced
2 lg. carrots, sliced
1/4 c. butter
3 c. water
2 tsp. parsley
1 1/2 tsp. basil
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
1 can corn, drained
1 can creamed corn
8 oz. half and half
Assembly:
In large stockpot, brown the sausage and onion with the butter.  Add potatoes, carrots, and water.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 min or until potatoes are tender.  Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients.  Cool.  Pour into gallon freezer bag.  Lay flat to freeze.
Serving Day:
Thaw in fridge.  Heat on stovetop until heated through. 

Fire Roasted Tomato Bisque

This recipe is from: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/fire-roasted-tomato-bisque

One day I went to Panera Bread with friends and tried their tomato soup and I was in love!!  The problem was I can't recreate a dish (I wish I could), so I began searching online.  I ran across this recipe on FoodandWine.com and thought it sounds hearty and delicious.  I made this adding extra vegetables and haven't turned back!  I make it in big batches and freeze it in portions my family will eat.  I pair this with a chicken parmesan grilled cheese or grilled cheese with roasted mushrooms and onions smothered in smoked chipotle Gouda!  

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 medium carrot, finely chopped
• 3 celery rib, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
• Two 14 1/2-ounce cans diced fire-roasted tomatoes, drained
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• Salt and freshly ground white pepper
• 1/2 cup garlic or cheese croutons, for garnish (optional)
• 
  

Assembly:

Chop the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic cloves.  Melt half of the butter in a large stock pan.  Add the vegetables, continue stirring until soft and brown, but not burnt.  Add flour and stir for about a minute until the flour is fully incorporated.  Add the broth or homemade chicken stock, roasted tomatoes, tomato paste and sugar.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cover until vegetables are soft.  
Once the vegetables are soft, use an immersion blender to blend to the consistency you desire.  I prefer on the chunky side, so I blend less.  Continue blending if you prefer smooth.  Lastly, add the heavy whipping cream, 2 TBSP butter and salt and pepper.  

To bake:

Thaw in a bowl in the frog overnight.  Place in a sauce pan and bring to a simmer to reheat and ENJOY!  If you think last minute I want Tomato Bisque, place the bag in cold water to help quickly begin the thawing process enough that it can be broken into chunks.  In a sauce pan, add enough water to cover the bottom, place the chunks in, cover with a lid.  Stir occasionally until its thawed and warmed through, then ENJOY! 

Max and Erma's Chicken Tortilla Soup by Tiffany

Ingredients: 

• 2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans Cream of Mushroom Soup

• 2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans Cream of Chicken Soup

• 2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans condensed cream of celery soup

• 2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans cheddar cheese soup

• 2 (15 ounce) cans chicken broth

• 1 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes (or you can use 1 can of Rotel and skip the can of green chiles)

• 1 cup salsa 

• 1 (4 1/2 ounce) cans green chilies 

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 4 fresh garlic cloves, minced

• 1 teaspoon chile powder

• salt and pepper, to your taste

• cooked chicken breasts, cut into small chunks

Assembly: 
Mix all ingredients together

Serving Day:
Thaw all overnight in the 'fridge. You can either add both bags of soup and bag of chicken to a crock pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours or you can add to large soup pot, heat to a boil and then simmer for 1 hour. Top with tortilla strips.

Baked Potato Soup by Jackie

Ingredients:
1-(2lb.) bag hash brown potatoes, or 6 left over baked potatoes (remove skin and chop)
1/2 c. celery, chopped
1/2 c. chopped onions or green onions with tops thinly sliced
1 1/2 (14 1/2 oz.) cans chicken broth (21 3/4oz. total)
2 c. milk
1 garlic clove, pressed
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 c. light sour cream
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1-8 oz. package diced ham or 6 slices of cooked and crumbled bacon

Assembly:
Place celery, chicken broth, milk, garlic, salt and pepper in a gallon size Ziploc freezer bag.  Add  potatoes and mix. Remove all air from bag, seal and lay flat on a cookie sheet to freeze. Place cheddar cheese into pint size freezer bag and freeze. Freeze ham or bacon in pint size freezer bag. Place all 3 bags into 2 gallon freezer bag to keep it all together.  Have container of sour cream in fridge to go with this recipe.

Serving Day:
Place thawed mixture from gallon freezer bag into 6 qt. pan. Add ham and sour cream and heat until boiling. Simmer for 15 minutes.  If using bacon, sprinkle on top of each serving, along with the cheese. 



* This recipe is adapted from Pampered Chef "Main Dishes" Cookbook and was a rerun of earlier recipe made by Wendy.

White Chicken Chili by Beth

Adapted from Taste of Home Feb/March 2001

Ingredients:
1 lb. chicken breast, cut into bite-size cubes
1 med. onion, chopped
1 T. oil
2 cans (15.5 oz) Bush's white chili beans (with mild chili sauce)
1 3/4 c. chicken stock
7 oz. can green chilies, chopped
1 1/2 t. garlic powder
1 t. salt
1 t. cumin
1 t. oregano
1/2 t. pepper
1/4 t. chili powder
1c. sour cream
1/2 c. whipping cream

 Assembly:
In large saucepan, sauté chicken and onion in oil until chicken is no longer pink.  Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.  Meanwhile, in gallon size freezer bag, dump in the next 9 ingredients (beans though chili powder).  Add chicken and seal.  Gently squish bag to mix ingredients.  Freeze upright (with seal side up).  In quart size freezer bag, dump in sour cream and whipping cream.  Seal and squish bag to mix.  Also, freeze upright.

Serving Day:
Dump frozen soup base into crock-pot (you may need to run warm water on outside of bag to loosen easier from the bag).  Cook on low all day (8-10 hrs).  Place sour cream packet in the fridge while soup base is cooking all day.  If it's not thawed completely, microwave on a low setting just until thawed.  Add sour cream contents to soup.  Turn to high for about 10-15 min, or until heated through. 

**To NOT use a crock-pot:  Thaw both bags completely in the fridge.  Pour soup base into large stockpot.  Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 min.  Remove from heat; stir in the sour cream mixture and serve immediately.

Rerun: Sante Fe Soup by Jen

http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2014/12/rerun-sante-fe-soup-by-jen.html

Re-Run Sante Fe Soup by Jen

http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2013/04/re-run-sante-fe-soup-by-jen.html

Taco Soup by Jackie

Ingredients:
1lb. ground beef (browned with minced onion and drained)
1 pkg. taco seasoning (or 3Tblsp. Homemade Taco seasoning)
1 (16oz.) can tomato sauce
1 can corn, drained
1 can kidney beans, drained
2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
2 empty diced tomato cans of water

Tortilla Chips, crushed
Shredded cheddar cheese

Assembly:Add taco seasoning to browned meat. Pour all ingredients in gallon size Ziploc bag.  Lay flat to freeze.

Serving Day:Thaw. Place in large pot. Simmer until warm. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and crushed tortilla chips.

**I used the homemade taco seasoning found at this link:  http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2015/05/jackies-homemade-taco-seasoning.html 

Italian Turkey Soup by Jackie

Adapted from:  http://www.artandthekitchen.com/2013/10/italian-turkey-burger-soup.html/

 

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs. ground turkey breast (2c. cooked)

1 1/4 c. onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 tbsp. olive oil

3/4 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. pepper

2 1/4 cups carrots sliced

2 1/4 cups celery sliced

1 can diced tomatoes (28 oz) undrained

1 can diced tomatoes (14 oz.) undrained

4 1/2 cups beef broth

6 tbsp. tomato paste

1 1/2 tsp. basil

1 1/2 tsp. oregano

1 1/2 tsp. thyme

3/4 tsp. chili pepper flakes

 

Assembly:

Heat olive oil in large skillet.
Add ground turkey, salt, pepper, onion and garlic to skillet and saute until turkey is cooked through.

Place meat into gallon size Ziploc freezer bag.

In same skillet add carrots and celery and saute just until slightly tender, not soft.

Pour into bag with meat.

Add tomatoes, beef broth, tomato paste and all the herbs to skillet and bring to a boil.

Pour into bag with meat & veggie mixture.

 

Serving Day:

Thaw completely.  Pour into a large soup pot.  Stir. Simmer on low heat for 30- 40 minutes.

 

Cream of Wild Rice Chicken Soup by Beth

Adapted from Light & Tasty magazine, Oct/Nov 2001

Ingredients:
1 large onion, chopped
1-2 carrots, shredded
1-2 celery ribs, chopped
1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. flour
1/4 t. seasoned salt
1/4 t. pepper
8 c. chicken broth
3 c. cooked wild rice (I used entire 6.2 oz. box of Uncle Ben's instant wild rice)
2 c. cubed, cooked chicken
1 c. evaporated milk
Chives, for garnish

Assembly:
In large stockpot, sauté onion, carrots, and celery in butter until tender.  Stir in flour, salt, and pepper until blended.  Gradually add broth.  Bring to boil, stirring frequently, over med-hi heat.  Boil for 2 min or until thickened.  Remove from heat, add rice and chicken.  Cool until warm.  Pour into gallon size Ziploc bag.  Lay flat to freeze.

Serving Day:
Thaw in refrigerator.  Heat and serve.

Rerun: Sante Fe Soup by Jen

Original recipe with comments can be found at http://freezerfriendz.blogspot.com/2013/04/re-run-sante-fe-soup-by-jen.html

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs. ground chuck, beef or turkey
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can red beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel chilies & tomatoes
1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
1 pkg. of Taco seasoning mix
 

Assembly:

Brown meat, drain as needed, place in crock pot add dry pkg. mixes; add each can – including juice. Cook on low overnight or on high for 6 hours.

Serving Day:

Freezer Friendz – Thaw soup, stir, heat and enjoy!

Optional: Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, taco chips or cornbread.

Chicken Fiesta Soup by Amy (adapted from Once-a-Month Meals)

Ingredients:

• 3 cups chicken, cooked and shredded
• 15.25 ounces canned corn - drained
• 2 cups of enchilada sauce ( mild or medium)
• 8 ounces chopped green chiles
• 14.5 ounces canned diced tomatoes, don't drain
• 14.5 ounces chicken broth 
• 1 cup sweet onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin 
• 1 teaspoon chili powder 
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• Additional desired toppings such as corn chips, sour cream and shredded cheese.  

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and place in a slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Serve with corn chips, sour cream and shredded cheese (if desired).

Freezing Directions:

Place chicken in a gallon size freezer bag.  Combine remaining ingredients and place in freezer bag. Ensure bag is evenly mixed.  Remove as much air as possible, label & seal.  

Serving Day:  
Thaw. Place in a slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Serve with corn chips, sour cream and shredded  cheese (if desired).  

Italian Beef Tortellini Soup by Beth

Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef
1 med. onion, chopped
2 t. garlic, minced
4 oz. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 T. Italian seasonings
3/4 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
2 cans (15 oz) Italian style diced tomatoes
3 1/2 c. beef broth
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed
Package frozen cheese tortellini

Assembly
In skillet, cook ground beef, onion, and garlic over med/high heat.  When the meat is about halfway cooked, add the mushrooms and continue to cook mixture until the meat is browned; drain.  Place the meat mixture and remaining 6 ingredients in a gallon sized freezer bag.  Seal and lay flat in freezer.

Serving Day
Thaw bag in fridge.  Pour contents in large stockpot.  Heat up soup until hot.  Meanwhile, boil tortellini as directed on the package.  Once the soup is hot, add the drained tortellini.  You may need to add more water if the soup is too thick.  Add additional salt/pepper to your taste.

Cheesy Broccoli Soup by Jen

Ingredients
2 medium onions, chopped
6 cups water
5 chicken bouillon cubes
20 oz. frozen broccoli
3-4 cups of fine egg noodles
2 T butter 16 oz. Velveeta cheese, cubed
4 T Milk Salt & Pepper to taste

Assembly
Bring to boil chopped onions, water and chicken cubes. Add frozen broccoli bring back to boil. Add noodles. Cook until noodles are tender. Remove from heat. Add butter, cheese, milk, salt/pepper Soup will thicken as it cools. If making this soup to freeze, let soup cool before putting in large Ziploc bags to go into your freezer. Fills a gallon Ziploc bag full. I would double bag the soup in the freezer.

Serving Day
Thaw, Heat and Serve.

Note: Made this recipe 1.5 times for 10-12 cups of soup serving 6 adults. If you go by the recipe it makes 6 small bowls. Kids ignore the broccoli because of the yummy noodles. :-) 

Re-run Santé Fe Soup by Jen

Ingredients:

1 ½ lbs. Ground chuck, beef or turkey

1 can whole kernel corn

1 can black beans

1 can pinto beans

1 can red beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can petite diced tomatoes

1 can Rotel’s chilies & tomatoes

1 pkg. Of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing Mix

1 pkg. of Taco seasoning mix

Assembly:

Brown meat, drain as needed, place in crock pot add dry pkg. mixes; add each can – including juice. Cook on low overnight or on high for 6 hours.

 

Optional: Serve with sour cream, shredded cheese, taco chips or cornbread.

Serving Day:
Freezer Friends – Thaw soup, ADD Ranch dressing packet to soup, stir, heat and enjoy!

Spicy Chicken Soup by Amy

Ingedients:
1 - 16 oz. jar mild chunky salsa
2 cans of diced tomatoes
2 cans of chicken broth
2 cans of black beans - drained
1/2 t salt
1 t ground black pepper
1 t garlic powder
2 T dried parsley
1 T onion powder
1 T chili powder
1 onion - chopped
3 cloves garlic - chopped
6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 - 15 oz bag frozen corn

Assembly Day:
Put all ingredients in ziploc bag EXCEPT for the chickent broth and the corn. Freeze.

Serving Day:
Put  FROZEN ziploc bag ingredients in crock pot and cook for 8 hours.  When the contents are thawing in the crock pot, stir in the chicken broth.  During the last 30 minutes of cooking time, add the corn.  Serve with cheese, tortilla strips and sour cream.

Sausage Minestrone by Jackie

*adapted from Erica Drake's earlier recipe

Ingredients:
1 lb Bob Evans Italian Sausage Roll
1/2 cup onion
2 (15.5 oz) cans cannelloni beans
1 (32 oz) box beef broth
2 3/4 cups water
11/2 cup fresh carrots, sliced
1 cup fresh celery, sliced
1 cup small, uncooked pasta (I used Datini.)
Parmesan cheese (optional)

Assembly:
Cook onion and sausage in a large soup pot until sausage is done.   Add all remaining ingredients, EXCEPT for the pasta.  Mix and bring to a boil.  Simmer on low heat for at least an hour to bring out the flavor.  Cool soup completely.  Pour soup into a gallon size Ziploc freezer bag.  You may find that you have a little that won't fit.  If this happens, either put the rest in a quart size bag or keep it in the fridge for lunch. :) Place pasta in a Ziploc snack bag and place in pantry until serving day.

Serving Day:
Thaw soup.  Cook pasta.  Add noodles.  Warm on stove top or in microwave.

Optional - Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

*Serving suggestion:  Serve with salad and Italian bread.

Acorn Squash Soup by Jen

Recipe from: Taste of Home 2002 Quick Cooking Annual Recipes

Prep/Total Time: 30 min.

Yield: 6 Servings (I doubled this recipe to serve 6 adults)      

        

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
• 1/2 teaspoon Dill Weed
• 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
• Dash cayenne pepper
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
• 3 cups mashed cooked acorn squash
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 5 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

Assembly: 

• In a large saucepan, saute onion and celery in butter. Stir in flour, bouillon, dill, curry and cayenne until blended. Gradually add broth and milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Add the squash, salt and pepper; heat through.
• In a blender, process the soup in batches until smooth. Pour into bowls; sprinkle with bacon. Yield: 6 servings.

Serving Day:

Thaw, Heat through, garnish with bacon and serve.

Southern Living Turkey Chili by Amy

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon of vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 pound of ground turkey
1 Tablespoon of chili powder
2 teaspoons of ground cumin
3 Tablespoons of tomato paste
1 (28 oz.) can of diced tomatoes
3 cans of kidney (dark and light) and chili beans - 1 of each - rinsed and drained- except for the chili beans
2 cups of chicken broth
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of pepper

Assembly:
1. Saute chopped onion in hot oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat for 5 minutes; add garlic - 1 minute.

2. Add turkey, chili powder, cumin, salt , and pepper - cook, stirring often, until meat crumbles and is no longer pink.

3. Stir in tomato paste - 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes.

4. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes.

*For your meal, I did not put in the chicken broth.  You will need to thaw the chili and add the broth.  Bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally - 30 minutes.