Broccoli Cheese Soup

I love making this soup, because you can make it on the stove in about a half hour or cook it all day in a crock.

12 cups water
20 ounces chopped broccoli (or if you're me, much more)
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
4 teaspoons salt
pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons garlic powder
16 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
1 cup cold water

Bring water to boil.  Add broccoli and onion; boil 10-12 minutes or until onions are transparent.  Add seasonings, milk, cream, butter, and cheese.  Stir until cheese melts and soup has a creamy texture.  Mix together flour and cold water for a thickener.  Add to soup, stirring rapidly and cook until soup is thick.

Enchilada Lasagna

This recipe is a mix between an Enchilada Stack and Mexican Lasagna. It was super easy to make in the Crock-Pot. I'm going to post the recipe as a I made it for dinner, but below add suggestions for how I would change it next time I make it. Please be sure to read the notes under the recipe.

1 pound ground beef, browned and drained
1 small onion, diced fine
1 large can red enchilada sauce
6 large flour tortillas
2 cups shredded cheese

Once meat is browned and drained, return to pan and add onion. Allow to cook another 1-2 minutes. In the meantime, spray the Crock with cooking spray. Add a couple spoonfuls of enchilada sauce to bottom and spread into an even layer. Add remaining enchilada sauce to meat and onion mixture, stirring ingredients together. Layer a tortilla on top of the sauce in the crock. Layer enchilada mixture. Repeat the layers twice more. Add cheese on top of sauce layer, then another tortilla. Repeat until out of ingredients. Add cheese on top. Allow to cook in Crock on low for 4-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours. To serve, try cutting the lasagna into pieces then scoop out. Top with ingredients you'd put on enchiladas (sour cream, jalapenos, taco sauce, salsa, etc.) Could serve with refried beans or Spanish rice for sides.

Notes: Making it this way was too acidic for me, so I recommend finding something to cut the enchilada sauce back a bit. Maybe combining with some sour cream or a can of tomato soup would help.

If everyone in the family enjoys refried beans, olives, or Spanish rice, it would be good to add these to the layers. It would make it more filling and eliminate the need for side dishes.

Adding cheese to each layer would make it yummier (I didn't, because we didn't have enough).

You could also substitute shredded chicken or pork for the ground beef. Any meat will do as long as it is cooked before adding it to the layers. If making chicken enchiladas, I would recommend using 1 small can of enchilada sauce and 1 can of cream of chicken soup.

Cheesy Baked Potato Soup

I whipped this up for dinner last night in the Crock Pot and it almost fed 5 adults with large servings. It's been too hot in Southern California to want to use the oven or stove, so the Crock is coming in handy. Triple digits in late-September is definitely not cool!! The previous night, I made Enchilada Lasagna which I will be posting immediately after this.

1 stick salted butter (or unsalted butter and 1/2 tsp salt)
1/2 medium onion, fine dice
12-14 medium Russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-2" chunks
2 Tbsp or 3 cloves minced garlic (I used the jar kind)
1 small can chicken broth or 1 3/4 cups water with 2 chicken bouillon cubes
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cups milk
1 can cheddar cheese soup
2 tsp garlic salt (or garlic powder if it has enough salt)
2 Tbsp dried parsley
bacon bits, to taste
Shredded cheddar cheese

I think I used a 4 quart Crock Pot and it was about 2/3 full when done. Cut butter into pats and place on bottom of crock. Turn on high and cover with a lid to melt the butter. Peel and dice potatoes while waiting. Once butter has melted, add onion and garlic. Stir together then add potatoes. Next add chicken broth, 1 cup milk, and pepper. Stir until all potatoes are coated. Reduce heat to low and cook for 4 hours (or keep on high for 2 hours). Add cheddar cheese soup and let cook on low for another 1 1/2 hours (or high for 45 minutes). Using a potato masher, mash the larger chunks of potatoes to get a smoother consistency. Add another cup of milk, garlic salt/powder, parsley, bacon bits, and stir well. If you are going to eat this immediately, I would recommend adding shredded cheese then serving. Since we ate in shifts, each person added cheese to their bowl before eating.

Since this is designed as a baked potato soup, it would be appropriate to garnish with sour cream, more bacon bits, chives or green onions, and shredded cheese. It's a matter of personal preference.