I'm offering a tip on how to freeze stuff to maximize freezer space. I put this under another thread too. Below this are some of my favorite soup recipes:
Soups, pulled pork, chili and stews (basically anything that spreads out in a baggie when you lay it down):
Cool down what you are freezing, put portions into a freezer ziploc bags, lay them flat on top of each other on a sheet pan, and once they are frozen take them off the sheet pan and just stand them up. No need to waste precious freezer space with bulky storage containers. Once you've thawed and eaten the contents, wash them and reuse. This is also great if you forget to make something for dinner, you can just take a bag of whatever out of the freezer and thaw it by boiling it in water.
Chicken Noodle Soup:
Soup:
2 chicken breast, boiled until done (about 10 minutes), cubed or shredded
8 cups chicken broth
1-2 additional cups water
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
¼ onion, chopped
Ground pepper
1 cup dry orzo or any other small pasta
1 bay leaf
Combine all the ingredients above in large pot, except pasta
Bring to boil
Turn to medium low
Simmer at least 1.5 hours, add pasta after 1 hour
Meatballs:
¾ lb lean ground beef
3 tsp seasoned bread crumbs
Pepper, salt, dried basil or oregano
Mush together with hands in a bowl
Roll small meatballs (larger than a marble)
Drop into soup, they will cook in there
Serves 8, or 4 with leftovers to freeze.
Beef Barley Soup:
1-2 lbs of lean strips of beef, or cubed stew beef
8 cups beef broth
1-2 cups water
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
¼ onion, chopped
Ground pepper
1 bay leaf
1 cup dry barley
Combine all the ingredients above in large pot, except barley
Bring to boil
Turn to medium low
Simmer at least 1.5 hours, add barley after 45 minutes
Apple Butternut Squash Soup
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 butternut squash, about 3 lbs., peeled, seeded & cut into 1" cubes (way easier to peel if you cut it in chunks and roast it first at 400 for 15 minutes until fork-soft)
6 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
4 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored & chopped
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
4 pinches of Spanish saffron threads, or 1 tsp sweet curry (optional), or 1tsp all spice (optional)
2 cups 1% or 2% milk
Brown sugar to taste
Salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste
Directions
In a large soup pot, over medium heat, melt butter and saute' onion, stirring occasionally, until tender, 4 to 6 minutes.
Add the squash and broth, bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low.
Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender when pierced with a fork. (if you roast the squash first, just put it in the broth with the apples, and follow below)
Add chopped apples, saffron or curry (if desired) and nutmeg.
Simmer until the apples are tender, stirring occasionally. Using a food processor, blender or immersion blender, puree the soup in batches until smooth.
Be extremely careful not to overfill the processor/blender container which could cause severe burns.
Return the soup to the pot and stir in half and half. Season, to taste with salt, pepper and brown sugar.
Sorry, one more soup recipie, I found the White Bean Turkey Chili I make, although it's more like a soup than a thick chili, and I don't use 5 cups of cheese.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/white-chili-with-ground-turkey/detail.aspx
I have others, but I have to locate them.
