• ½ lb of bacon – diced
• 2 cups of frozen corn (thawed) or 1 can of cream corn
• 1 large potato – cubed
• ½ an onion – diced
• 1 can of chopped green chili or 4-5 fresh seeded and chopped
• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup
• ¾ cup of water
• 3 cups of light cream or milk
• salt to taste

Cook the bacon. Remove from the skillet and drain on paper towels. Remove half of the drippings. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the potato and water and cook until tender but not mushy.

Process the frozen corn in a food processor or blender until broken up but not a puree. Add to the potato mixture along with the mushroom soup, green chili, the cream and salt.

Simmer on low for 10 – 15 minutes. Adjust salt if necessary.

Garnish each bowl with the bacon bits. This soup goes great with corn bread or just tortilla chips on the side.

Enjoy!

If you ain’t sweatin, it ain’t chili,

Chuckwagon 505

• 1 16oz bag of Great Northern Beans
• 1 small head of cabbage – shredded
• 1small onion – chopped
• 2 carrots – chopped
• 3 stalks of celery – chopped
• 6 cups of chicken broth
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 lb kielbasa or sausage of choice
• 1 teaspoon of basil
• ¼ teaspoon powered garlic or to taste
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1½ cups of small pasta such as Ditalini

The night before or early in the day, sort the beans and remove anything foreign. (Rocks, bad beans, pieces of stem)Then wash them thoroughly. Soak them in hot water about two inches above beans.

While your beans are soaking, wash and shred the cabbage. I pressure mine for about 30=45 minutes. Or cook it in a pot until its tender. Drain and set aside in a bowl.

The next morning or that afternoon, drain the beans. Rinse and add fresh water. If using a pressure cooker, boil them for about 15 minutes to soften any loose skins. Then skim them off before pressuring.

Add the carrots – celery and onion when water has cooked down to ½ the depth of the cooker. Pressure them for about 45 minutes or cook until tender.

(This is a prehistoric method of knowing how long to pressure anything but it works for me every time. It’s simple – when you have a strong scent of what ever you are pressuring, remove the cooker from the heat, place in the sink and run cold water over it. When you no longer hear “hissing”, carefully remove the weight and lid and check the beans. If you misjudged, just pressure for a while longer.)

Remove the casing from the sausage, slice and then quarter the pieces. In a large stockpot, brown the sausage, and then add the cabbage, beans, garlic, basil, tomatoes and broth. Simmer for 30-45 minutes. Add the pasta and cook until it’s tender. Adjust salt and pepper if necessary.

Serve in bread bowls or with crusty bread. Enjoy!

Hint: You can make this soup in your crock-pot. It will take all day, which makes it great for those busy working mothers (like Shellie)

Soak the beans overnight and have the rest of the ingredients cut. Throw everything except the pasta in your crock-pot in the morning and enjoy when you get home and want nothing more to do than put your feet up and relax! (Don’t forget to add the pasta before those feet go up)

If you ain’t sweatin, it ain’t chili,

Chuckwagon 505

PS. Be very careful, this is so good you can hurt yourself by eating way too much! Trust me, I’ve been there.

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This White Bean Soup is one of my favorites. Not only is it quick and delicious, it’s also good for you. And it has just a little bite to it that gives it a southwest taste that I find hard to resist. Let’s make a pot…

• 3 cans of White Northern beans – drained
• 1 lb of breakfast sausage – reg or hot (not links)
• 1 medium onion – chopped
• 2 stalks of celery – chopped into small pieces
• pinch of red chili flakes
• 1 bay leaf
• ¼ teaspoon thyme
• ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 2 quarts of chicken stock
• salt and pepper to taste

Brown your sausage in a large stockpot. Drain off any excess fat.

Add the onion and celery. Cook on low until tender.

Add the beans, tomatoes, chicken stock and spices. Taste for salt and simmer for 30-45 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf. With a potato masher, make a couple passes around the pot mashing some of the beans to thicken the soup a little.

Serve with a loaf of homemade bread or crusty rolls. Put another log on the fire and enjoy.

If you ain’t sweatin, it ain’t chili,

Chuckwagon 505

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• 1 large onion chopped
• 4-5 medium potatoes ( to save time I microwave them: then peel and cube
• 2 quarts chicken broth
• 3 cups roughly chopped leftover turkey
• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• ½ cup quick cooking barley or rice
• ½ cup pasta (any shape you happen to have)
• 2 carrots chopped fine
• 2-3 stalks of celery chopped
• 1 cup frozen corn or 1 can drained
• 1 cup frozen peas or 1 can drained
• ½ tsp powered garlic
• 4-5 chopped green chili or 2 cans if you don’t have fresh frozen
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp each oregano and basil
• salt and pepper to taste

In a large stockpot, cook onion on low until translucent. Add chicken broth and heat to a simmer. Add soups and slowly whisk until they are completely mixed in the broth.

Add remaining ingredients except for the pasta. Simmer on low at least an hour, but make sure to stir often it scorches easily. The longer you cook it the better the flavor.

Because of the size and shape of the pasta you use, check package for cooking time. Make it the last ingredient, cooking it directly in the soup.

As you can see, this recipe makes a large amount of soup, plenty to feed a large group or to put into containers to freeze. Every time you warm it, the flavor only gets better. Enjoy.

If you ain’t sweatin, it ain’t chili,

Chuckwagon 505

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