Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Chicken Gnocchi Soup

Earlier this winter, a good friend of mine at work told me about THIS recipe and said it was just "out of this world" good. No, this is not from The Pioneer Woman, but from what I know of her, she would LOVE it. The first time I tried it at home and I absolutely loved it. Very rich flavors and the gnocchi add such a nice bite (literally). I had never bought gnocchi before--but they are similar to a potato dumpling. I purchased them from Dillon's in the dry food aisle that has the italian pasta and sauces. Although I loved it at first bite, my critics weren't so sure. Especially of these "round things" floating around in their soup bowls.

A couple of months later, we had a family reunion at our house and I decided to make two different soups and have sandwiches. I pulled out the Chicken Gnocchi soup recipe and everyone loved it. Even my kids were a bit more enthused.

That brings us to last night. Again...a couple more months down the road. It was a high of 32 degrees on this March day with cold, drizzling rain. And I had gnocchi and chicken on hand. So, here we are...and I can safely give this dish a 5 star rating after the seconds each child and Steve had last night. Does this go to show the more you introduce something to your children, they will soon begin to like it??? Hmmm...

This is from the Copykat recipe site, which is a fun website to visit and check to see if some of your favorite dishes/recipes are listed that you may find in restaurants. This particular recipe is a knock-off from the Olive Garden.

Corn Chowder with Chilis

A couple of fine days this past summer, our family found ourselves shucking sweet corn, cleaning it, taking it off the cob, then bagging it up to be frozen. Don't get me wrong...it was a wonderful time of bonding. But about after the 90th quart, we were already to be done. Now you did read it right--yes, we have a TON of sweet corn. It is taking up almost 2 full shelves in our stand up freezer in the garage.

So naturally, when I saw this corn chowder recipe, I was intrigued. Not only do I love soup when the weather changes, I love it when I can find a soup that incorporates something I already have on hand. You guessed it. CORN!!!!

Besides the simplicity of this recipe, it is just plain good. All of the flavors of bacon, onion, corn, and cream together with the spicyness and bite of the peppers, is just awesome! And comforting. And, I really needed to make a double recipe of this because the kettle was clean after we got done with it.

Definitely a recipe that I will be adding to my rotation of soups throughout this cold weather season. Three out of four kiddos loved it and Steve thought it was great. Our unexpected dinner guest, Great Grandma Nikkel, thought it was good too---although she had Natalie refill her ice water a few times...

Oh my Richness...

If you like mushrooms, you will love A Tasty Recipe: The Mushroom Soup. There is really no need to explain much about this soup. It is chock full of mushrooms, flavor, and cream. Absolutely so rich, I did feel like I needed to ask for forgiveness eating the bowlful that I did. A Tasty Recipe: The Mushroom Soup is that RICH.

Both Steve and I thought it was delicious. I knew the critics would be split. I could not even get Kourtney to try it, Kassidy had one bite, Landon ate a few bites, and Natalie finished off her bowl and Kassidy's bowl. Granted, I put very little soup in their bowls. To the majority of the critics' delight, we had grilled cheese sandwiches with A Tasty Recipe: The Mushroom Soup. Now looking back, I think a nice light turkey sandwich would be a better pairing.

The key to A Tasty Recipe: The Mushroom Soup is that you eat VERY little of this soup even though you want to inhale the whole kettle full. Seriously, this is a wonderful side. The recipe does not make a lot, so along side a green salad and sandwiches...excellent! It is very filling just in itself.

If this soup were $$$, it would be a million. A Tasty Recipe: The Mushroom Soup is just that rich. And as I said, you will love A Tasty Recipe: The Mushroom Soup if you are a mushroom fan in any sense of the word.

Soup and Pie Potluck

Yesterday after church, our Sunday School class all got together for a Soup and Pie Potluck. It was so much fun! And we had such an unbelievable spread of food. I think we had about 5-6 different kinds of soup and 5-6 different kinds of pie. YUMMO! I sent out an email asking each family to either bring a soup or a pie, which ever they make or feel like making. And it just worked out super. We had plenty of soup and plenty of pie. Don't get me wrong, the Soup and Pie Potluck was definitely a 5 smiley star event!



For those of you who don't know who Pioneer Man is, I have pointed him out to you. See how happy he is when there's yummy food, fun, and fellowship? Hi Steve!!Look at all those smiley stars!! We are so thankful for our Sunday School Class! Love ya! And not just because you made all those yummy soups and pies...really.



I am sure that you can imagine how excited I was to see Italian Meatball Soup on her website this past week. Since I did NO cleaning whatsoever on Friday, I decided I would really be on top of the preparation for all of the weekend's recipes. It worked out well. I made the meatballs and stuck them in the fridge, cut up all the veggies except for the potato, and stuck them in the fridge, chopped my parsley and added it to the bay leaf and peppercorns and stuck the little container in the fridge also. I was ready now to make my soup when Sunday morning came!


I got up pretty early so the soup would have time to boil, simmer, and what not before I put it in the crockpot for after church. There are quite a few steps to Italian Meatball Soup . I think it is really good. Like really good in a "have your girlfriends over to eat" kind of way. Steve woke up to the strong smell of the meatballs (fresh parmesan cheese in them) and herbs boiling in beef broth. I think he would have preferred to wake up to the sweet smell of cinnamon rolls baking, however. I don't know if that did him in or what, but he did not like the soup. My kiddos ate the chicken and noodle soup that was at the potluck and very curtly turned up their noses at Italian Meatball Soup.



I liked it. I will maybe make it again. Although it is a lot of work if I am the only one to eat it. And furthermore, not one person asked me for the recipe... hmmm, so I'm not too sure how big of hit it was.

Cauliflower Soup

****Update: Added cooked egg noodles to the leftover soup for lunch today and everyone thought it was better than it was the first time*****

"Wow Mommy, it is five minus outside!" This is what I heard from the back seat as I was driving my girlies to school this morning. Not only that, my coffee did not even make it from our house to the middle school without turning cold. We're talking a few blocks, baby it's cold outside!

PERFECT soup weather. I mean perfect. Nothing is more comforting than a big bowl of soup on a "five minus" day! The Cauliflower Soup was very good. It is somewhat of a potato soup type, but without the potatoes. So I have to think it's gotta be healthier for all you health conscious, starch monitoring people. Loaded with cauliflower, carrots, and celery, you are getting a bang for your buck with the veggies. Never mind the butter and cream...it's all good. We need the calcium, right? We ate this soup with french bread and orange wedges tonight. The kids pretty much loved it. Half of them had seconds and Steve said to add it to the recipe file.

PW strikes again!!

Sherried Tomato Soup

Oh my goodness... it is SO cold here. The high is less than 10 degrees the next few days. On Monday afternoon, my kiddos were still on Christmas break and Steve took the day off. After many trials and tribulations of finding enough warm coats, gloves, hats, and boots, they finally made it outside to do a little bit of sledding in our dusting of snow that was left.

Soup never sounded so good and The Pioneer Woman posted a blog about 4 different soup recipes that she loves. So I set out for this week to at least try a couple of them. I am not a HUGE fan of tomato soup, but for some reason the comfort of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches appealed to me. So I set out to our local food market to pick up the ingredients. I found everything except the fresh basil, which I really think would have added a lot to this recipe. Regardless, the recipe was awesome!! If you like tomato soup even a little, you will absolutely love this soup! Sherried Tomato Soup

Did my kids like it you ask??? Yes!! Three-fourths of them did, which I call pretty much success. Paired with the grilled cheese sandwiches it was definitely a meal I will make again and again on a cold winter's day. And Steve loved it too!

Thank you Pioneer Woman for this recipe I am adding to my list of meals!!!

Now, which soup to make next??? Hmmm...maybe the cauliflower.