Chicken, Butternut Squash and Rice Soup

 This recipe I found on this website here: https://karenmangum.com/chicken-butternut-squash-and-rice-soup/

The only change I made when I cooked it today was to use a Tablespoon of Italian Seasoning Instead of Herbes de Provence because of my Rosemary allergy.  I bought a Costco Roasted chicken and tossed the breast meat into my Kitchen Aide with the paddle to quickly shred the chicken.  I bought the butternut squash already peeled and cut up at Trader Joes and I'm looking forward to having this for my packed lunch at work tomorrow.  The rest went into my freezer for future enjoyment.

• Chicken, Butternut Squash and Rice Soup
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup diced white onion
• 3 ribs celery, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 3 medium carrots, diced
• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled and diced
• 1 cup uncooked rice blend
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 Tbsp Herbes de Provence
• 2 large handfuls of baby spinach
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Heat oil in a large stockpot placed over medium-high heat. Add onions and celery; saute until onions are translucent, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and saute another 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add chicken broth, carrots, butternut squash, rice, chicken, bay leaf and Herbes de Provence, stirring to combine.
2. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until rice is tender, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the spinach to the soup, and stir gently until combined. Taste and season with salt and pepper (plus any extra Herbes de Provence seasoning, if you would like) as needed.
4. Serve warm. Store in a sealed container and refrigerate for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Italian Turkey Sausage, Arugula and Potato Soup

 This weekend has been a weekend of cooking soup.  While it wasn't exactly Fall weather here in September in this High California desert, it was cooler than it has been and the air-conditioning worked well.  I have been trying to restock my freezer soups with leftovers from my weekly soup night, but we haven't had many leftovers lately, so I decided to cook up five different recipes and freeze them for lunches and such.  This first one is actually the last one I made and it was loosely based on one I found in a cookbook on my shelf titled The Ultimate Soup Bible by Anne Sheasby.  I deleted a few of the printed ingredients from that recipe and added a few of my own.

Ingredients

1 T. olive oil

1 cup diced onions

2 stalks celery sliced

2 cloves garlic

2 pounds yellow potatoes, diced

2 carrots sliced

6 cups chicken broth

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp pepper

1 T. Italian Seasoning

1/2 T. Favorite all-purpose soup seasoning (I used Tatyana's)

1 pound ground turkey sausage, browned and drained

4 ounces arugula

Directions

1.  Heat olive oil in pot, and cook the onion until translucent.  Add in the celery and garlic and cook 1-2 minutes more.  Add potatoes, carrots, chicken broth, salt, pepper, and seasonings.  

2.  Bring to a boil and let cook until potatoes and carrots are soft. Add sausage and cook 5 minutes more.

3.  Remove from heat and stir in arugula. Freeze for eating later or Add toppings of choice (cheese, etc. and serve)