Soups

I was intending to post the soup I made every week, but because of Christmas, things were crazy and some of the Tuesdays in December we ate canned soup or something else. I will try to post them from now on because each week I hope to try a recipe I haven't made before.



This is split pea soup from this past Tuesday. I have always hated split pea soup. Quinn wanted me to make it once this year, and since we hadn't been grocery shopping since before Christmas, I didn't have the ingredients to make anything better. As I was dishing it up, Quinn was surprised that I had a bowl for me. But I bet you can guess which bowl was mine! It wasn't as bad as I remembered as a kid, but once a year will be plenty for me. I just used the recipe from my Betty Crocker Cookbook.

I made this soup a couple of weeks ago, and it was really good, so I thought I would take this chance to post the picture and recipe.

OLIVE GARDEN ZUPPA TOSCANA

1 lb ground Italian sausage, sweet
1 ½ tsp crushed red peppers (less if you don't want it too spicy)
1 large diced white onion
4Tbsp bacon pieces
2 tsp garlic puree
10 cups water
5 cubes of chicken bouillon
1 cup heavy cream
1 lb sliced Russet potatoes, or about 3 large potatoes
¼ of a bunch of kale

Sautee Italian sausage and crushed red pepper in pot. Drain excess fat, refrigerate while you prepare other ingredients. In the same pan, sautee bacon, onions, and garlic for approx 15 mins. or until the onion is soft. Mix together the chicken bouillon and water, then add it to the onion, bacon and garlic. Cook until boiling. Add potatoes and cook until soft, about half an hour. Add heavy cream and cook until thouroughly heated. Stir in the sausage. Add kale just before serving. Delicious!

For a bonus, I just thought I would throw in this picture of Clayton, he just looked so cute sitting on Daddy's lap sucking his thumb.