Tag: Lots of Leftovers

Jalapeno Cheddar Soup

This is another decadent cream-based soup based on a Harmons deli soup recipe. It makes quite a lot. (Check out the tomato basil soup also.) I’m so glad the deli director at Harmons was always happy to share any recipe you’d ask for, because everything that Harmons makes is so amazing. Anyway, at the hot soup bar, you can find their turkey cheddar jalapeno soup. I adapted it to use chicken (cheaper and more convenient), cut the broth in half, and I also added more ingredients so it wasn’t so much broth in relation to chicken. It also calls for a lot of butter–I feel like I cut it in half the last time I made it (to 1/2 c.), and it was good.

This soup is great, spicy, and best with chips and cheese on top. Depending on how spicy it turns out, you may need to add sour cream. This is another soup where we freeze the leftovers in gallon bags–sometimes the potatoes can get a little mushier after thawing, but mostly it heats up and tastes just fine. And this soup still has a thin broth instead of a thick gravy like a stew–so I put cheddar and sour cream on top of the soup for the picture, and of course they both just sank right in. Haha. 

If you’re making this gluten free, make your roux with the cornstarch instead of flour.

Make it a meal with:

  • Corn Muffins
  • Tortilla Chips
  • Grapes

Jalapeno Cheddar Soup

  • Servings: 15?
  • Difficulty: medium-hard
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Spicy and delicious–you can freeze leftovers in gallon bags.

Ingredients

  • 1 c. Butter (or 1/2 c. for less oil on top of the soup)
  • 1/2 c. Flour (or 1/4 c. cornstarch)
  • 6.5 lb. Chicken Breasts, cubed
  • 1/4 c. Canola Oil
  • 1 Onion (.6 lb.)
  • 2 Tbsp. Minced Garlic
  • 1 Red Pepper (3.25 oz.), diced
  • 1 Green Pepper, diced
  • 1 Jalapeno (1 oz.), diced
  • 1/4 c. Water
  • 1 oz. (about 1+ Tbsp) Member’s Mark Chicken Base
  • 1/2 gal. Chicken Stock (2 boxes)
  • 1 qt. Cream
  • 2 qt. Milk (8 cups)
  • 1/2 Tbsp. Salt
  • 1 tsp. Black Pepper
  • 1/2 Tbsp. Red Pepper Flakes
  • 3 large potatoes, peeled and diced  
  • 1 lb. sharp or extra sharp cheddar, grated
  • 1/2 bag Frozen Corn

Directions

In a separate pan from the stock pot, create the roux by melting the butter and adding the flour or cornstarch to cook. In the large stock pot, brown the chicken. Add oil, onion, garlic, peppers, and jalapeno and cook until onion is translucent. Add water, stock, base, cream, and milk. Add salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes and bring to boil. Add potatoes and cook until they’re done (about 15 minutes). Reduce heat and add roux and cheese. Stir until soup thickens and cheese melts, then add corn. Adjust seasonings as needed (add more red pepper flakes to make it spicier). Serve with sour cream, extra cheese, and crushed tortilla chips on top.


Tomato Basil Soup (huge batch)

Oh man, this soup is so glorious and rich. It does take a fair amount of time and cream (probably one of the reasons it’s so delicious), so we’ll often look for cream to go on clearance and then freeze it for making this soup or ice cream in the future. This soup is adapted from a deli recipe at Harmons, so get out your scale for this recipe. I’m so glad the deli director at Harmons was always happy to share any recipe you’d ask for, because everything that Harmons makes is so amazing. I did adapt it to make it a little easier and cheaper for certain ingredients, and to add chicken and pasta. This soup is fantastic when served in a bread bowl or with bread in general–dip your bread in it. Or grilled cheese. Delicious. (Also try the Jalapeno Cheddar Soup recipe adapted from Harmons.)

You can add chicken and/or tortellini to the soup, which we usually do. Take note that this soup does require an immersion blender (unless you make a tiny batch and blend it up in your regular blender). We usually make a giant batch and freeze leftovers in gallon bags, so it always takes longer to make than I think. But it’s so worth it. And it’s wonderful to have in the freezer for an easy meal or in case a friend is sick and needs a quick meal.

*This is purposely a huge recipe–we basically make it once or twice a year, fill several gallon bags (a single batch fills 3-4 gallon bags. If we double the recipe, we get 7-8 gallon bags), place them in metal disposable pans, freeze them in our large freezer, and eat them throughout the whole year.

If you’re making this gluten free, just don’t add the tortellini. You could potentially cook some gluten free pasta separately and put it in the bottom of each person’s bowl before adding the soup. But it’s pretty great as it is.

Make it a meal with:

  • Bread Bowls, French Bread, or Garlic Bread
  • Grapes or Jell-O
  • Green Salad

Tomato Basil Soup (huge batch)

  • Servings: About 45
  • Difficulty: medium-hard
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You need a scale and an immersion blender. Freeze leftovers in gallon bags.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 c. Olive Oil
  • 2 lb. Yellow Onions, diced (buy close to 3 lb.)
  • 2 oz. Garlic, minced
  • 2 oz. Salt
  • 0.6 oz. Ground Black Pepper
  • 6 c. Water
  • 3 lb. Fresh Tomatoes, cored and diced (buy a little over 4 lb.)
  • 2 large (102 oz.) cans Diced Tomato (I’ve also sliced whole tomatoes after Sam’s Club stopped carrying the large diced can)
  • 6-8 lbs. Chicken Breasts, cubed (optional) (like a pack of fresh chicken breasts from Sam’s Club)
  • 2.5 qt. Heavy Cream 
  • 2 lb. shredded Italian Cheese 
  • 2 c.+ Parmesan (like the cheap powdered parmesan)
  • 0.8+ oz. dried Basil
  • 40-60 oz. Frozen Tortellini (optional)

Directions

In a very large stock pot (at least 12 qt.), heat oil over medium heat. Sauté garlic, onions, salt, and pepper until translucent. Add water, fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, and basil. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cooking for 40 minutes or until thickened. Remember to stir periodically, scraping the bottom so it doesn’t burn. If using chicken, cook the chicken in a separate large pan while the soup simmers, and keep the chicken separate until the end. Once the soup is thickened, add cream and cheeses. Puree with a stick blender. Add more cheese, salt, or basil to taste–I often add more of all–but remember that the basil flavor will get stronger as it sits. Add chicken and tortellini at end to heat through before serving. If your soup pot is really full, keep the chicken and tortellini separate and add them to the bottom of each person’s bowl before serving. Or divide the soup into two large pots and add the chicken and tortellini.
 
To freeze leftovers: Ladle two ladles full per person into a gallon bag. We usually do 12 ladles so we get a meal plus lunch the next day for our family of two adults and 3 small children. When we double the batch and use two giant pots, we get 7 or 8 gallon bags for the freezer after our dinner and lunch, depending how many leftovers we want in the fridge (if it’s a single batch, it’s about 3-4 gallon bags). Then we place the bags in disposable metal pans and take them to the freezer.
 
To reheat: Remove a bag from the freezer and let it thaw overnight or microwave it a few minutes to thaw it a little. It’s okay if it’s not totally thawed. Just get it thawed enough to get in a big pot or even an electric skillet if it’s really frozen and won’t fit in a pot. Heat until it’s your desired temperature. No need to add water or anything else.

 


Country Fried Chicken

Jeff prefers chicken without bones, so I searched out a country fried chicken recipe and found this one on favfamilyrecipes.com. I’ve made it several times, and it’s great. The breading does often fall off while you’re eating it. But it’s delicious. The gravy is also very good, but you need to incorporate every bit of brown that you can get out of the oil so that it has the most flavor. It takes a lot of time, but it’s nice to make every once in a while.

If you’re making this gluten free, of course just switch out the flour for gluten free flour. It turns out delicious. The picture below is gluten free. I’ve even made it dairy free by adding 2 Tbsp. lemon juice to 2 c. almond milk for the buttermilk and using almond milk in the gravy.

Make it a meal with:

Country Fried Chicken

  • Servings: 8
  • Difficulty: medium-hard
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Very delicious, but it takes a fair amount of time and milk.

Ingredients

  • 4 Chicken Breasts, halved
  • 2 c. Buttermilk (or 2 c. milk + 2 Tbsp. lemon juice)
  • 3 Eggs
  • 1/2 c. Milk
  • 2 c. Flour (or gluten free flour with xanthan gum)
  • 1 Tbsp. Paprika
  • 1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
  • 1/2 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Oil for frying

Gravy

  •  1/4 c. Reserved Pan Drippings (get every bit of brown that you can)
  • 1/4 c. Reserved Flour Mixture
  • 2 c. Chicken Broth or Stock (or 2 tsp. Members Mark Chicken Base and 2 c. water)
  • 1/2 c. Milk
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Carefully pound each chicken breast half flat without tearing, with each chicken piece about the size of your hand or slightly smaller. Place chicken in a gallon bag and pour buttermilk over. Press as much air as you can out of the bag, seal, and place in refrigerator for at least 3 hours (or overnight).

In a shallow dish, whisk together eggs and milk, set aside. In a separate shallow dish, stir flour, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, and salt and pepper. Set aside about 1/4 c. of this dry mixture for the gravy later.

Remove chicken from Ziploc, shake off excess buttermilk, and dredge each piece evenly with four mixture. Lightly shake off excess, dip in egg/milk mixture, then place back in flour mixture, giving it a double coating of flour. Place chicken on a cookie sheet until ready to fry.

Preheat 1/4 inch of oil in electric skillet until reaches 350. Add each piece of chicken to the oil without overcrowding (you may have to do this in batches) for about 3-4 minutes on each side or until crispy and golden. Place cooked chicken on a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet to catch excess oil. Place in warm oven (about 200-degrees) until ready to serve.

For gravy: Drain off all but about 1/4 c. of the oil from the pan. Whisk reserved flour mixture into the oil until the flour has absorbed the oil. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Whisk constantly and reduce heat to a simmer. Once the gravy starts to thicken, slowly add milk (you may not need all of it) to thin to desired consistency, whisking constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over chicken and mashed potatoes.

 


Sweet Pork

This sweet pork comes from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe, and is a lot like Cafe Rio’s. It’s amazing, and we’ve made it for several large group events and birthday parties. Plus, pork shoulder is often on sale for 99 cents, so the meat is surprisingly cheap (although the sauces make it more costly).

It makes a lot, and we usually freeze the leftovers in quart bags to use in the future. You can use the sweet pork to make into sweet pork burritos or salad.

Make it a meal with:

And luckily this one is naturally gluten free.

Sweet Pork

  • Servings: A LOT
  • Difficulty: medium
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Great for big gatherings, and it freezes well.

Ingredients

Seasoning

  •  1 Tbsp. cumin
  •  1 Tbsp. Paprika
  •  1 Tbsp. Onion Powder
  •  1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
  •  1 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
  •  2 tsp. Salt
  •  1/2 tsp. Black Pepper

Pork

  •  3-5 lbs. Pork Shoulder (or boneless sirloin pork roast, but it’s not as good)
  •  1 c. Root Beer or Cola
  •  1 c. Green Salsa (aka salsa verde. Herdez is great, but use Mild–medium is surprisingly hot)

Sauce

    •  2 c. Red Enchilada Sauce (Rosarita is good)
    •  1/2 c. Brown Sugar
    •  8 oz. Chopped Green Chiles
    •  1 c. Green Salsa

Directions

For seasoning: Combine all the seasoning ingredients together in a small bowl. Measure out 2 Tbsp. of the mixture and save for later. Cut the pork roast into large chunks (4-6 inches) and rub the remaining seasoning mixture (not the reserved 2 Tbsp.) evenly over all sides of the pork.

For pork: Add the soda and green salsa to the slow cooker. Stir to combine. Add the seasoned pork. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or high for 5-6 hours until tender. Transfer the pork to a cutting board or pan and shred. Discard all but 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid in the slow cooker, then add the shredded pork back.

For sauce: To the pork in the slow cooker, add the 2 tablespoons of reserved spices and the rest of the sauce ingredients, then stir to combine. Cover and cook on high for 15-20 minutes until heated through.


Strawberry Bacon Salad

This is a nice summery meal, and it makes lots of leftovers. You can use prepackaged candied pecans, but I usually make my own because I can make a lot–and they’re much cheaper. The coating from the candied pecans does tend to dissolve off in the leftovers, though. Haha, that’s if you don’t secretly sneak all the candied pecans before dinner–they’re too tempting! Sometimes the red onion can be a bit much, so we often opt for green onions instead. You can opt to add feta cheese, but we found that the salad didn’t need it, with the salt from the bacon. And this salad is delicious, but it does take a fair amount of time to make.

For the salad in the picture, I just used one package of spinach, 1 pound of strawberries, a package of bacon, 1 bunch of green onions, a rotisserie chicken, and I made my own candied pecans. And I used Kroger Poppy Seed dressing, much cheaper than Brianna’s.

And luckily the poppy seed dressing is gluten free, so this one is naturally gluten free.

Make it a meal with:

Strawberry Bacon Salad

  • Servings: 6-8?
  • Difficulty: medium
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Delicious and summery–try not to eat all the pecans before mealtime. Haha

Ingredients

  • 1-2 (8 oz.) pkgs. Spinach
  • 1-2 lb. Strawberries, sliced
  • 1 pkg. Bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • 1 small Red Onion, diced OR 1 bunch Green Onions, sliced
  • 1 Rotisserie Chicken, broken down into pieces OR 4 Chicken Breasts, cubed and cooked
  • 2 c. Candied Pecans (prepackaged or using recipe below)
  • Brianna’s or Kroger Poppy Seed Dressing

Candied Pecans

  • 3 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
  • 1/4 tsp. Salt
  • 1 Tbsp. Water
  • 1/4 tsp. Vanilla
  • 2 c. Pecan halves

Directions

Place the spinach in a very large bowl, then place the rest of the ingredients on top, except the dressing. We generally don’t toss the salad because everything falls to the bottom of the bowl. Each person can add dressing as desired.

For candied pecans: In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, salt, water and vanilla. In a heavy frying pan on medium-high heat, toast pecans until they smell nutty and brown. Be careful because once they’re toasted, they can start to burn quickly. Pour the liquid over the nuts and mix to coat. Spread nuts on wax paper or Silpat to cool and harden.


Kalua Pork

Michael got this recipe on his mission from a Hawaiian family, and we’ve made it a lot since then. It’s great and very easy for large gatherings, and your house smells delicious all day. Plus, pork shoulder is often on sale, even as low as 99 cents a pound. Kalua pork is a little greasy, though, so take note. We often serve it on rice, but it’s also great on hamburger buns or Hawaiian sweet rolls.

And good news, this one is naturally gluten free.

Make it a meal with:

Kalua Pork

  • Servings: 12?
  • Difficulty: easy
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Very easy and great for large gatherings.

Ingredients

  • 5-6 lb. Pork Shoulder/Butt (boneless if possible, but bone-in is fine)
  • 1 Tbsp.+ Sea Salt
  • 1 Tbsp. Liquid Smoke
  • 1 bottle Hawaiian BBQ Sauce (optional)

Directions

Combine ingredients and cook on low in oven at 200° or in crock pot on low for 14-20 hours. May season with more salt afterwards, if needed. After cooked, pull apart with fork and serve on rice with BBQ sauce (if desired). You can place the pork back in the crock pot to keep it warm, but remove most of the liquid or it will be very fatty.


Cowboy Surprise

I think in the strictest sense, cowboy surprise basically meant whatever the cowboy had ended up in the pot. But we’ve standardized it a little more (although not with terribly exact measurements), occasionally adding some extra stuff from our fridge like leftover bell peppers or vegetables. It’s kind of like a fancy Hamburger Helper, haha. But it’s pretty cheap and makes lots of good leftovers.

If you’re making it gluten free, I find that gluten free rotini holds up the best. But any gluten free pasta does tend to fall apart eventually, especially with stirring or after microwaving as a leftover. And condensed tomato soup does have flour, so make sure to use the substitute.

Make it a meal with:

  • Corn or green beans
  • Fresh Fruit

Cowboy Surprise

  • Servings: 8?
  • Difficulty: easy
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Fast and easy, and it makes lots of leftovers.

Ingredients

  • 3 c. Macaroni (uncooked) (or gluten free rotini)
  • 1-2 lbs. Hamburger
  • 1 Onion, minced
  • 2 tsp. Minced Garlic
  • 2 cans Tomato Soup
    • For gluten free, use:
    • 16 oz. Tomato Sauce
    • 1 Tbsp. Sugar
    • 2 Tbsp. Cornstarch
    • 1 tsp. Salt
  • ½ c. Ketchup
  • 1 heaping Tbsp. Brown Sugar (about)
  • ½ tsp. Chili Powder
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 2 c. Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Directions

Cook the pasta and drain. To save a pan, you can cook the rest in that same pan, then add back the macaroni. Cook hamburger and onion, then combine remaining ingredients in pot on stove and heat. Make sure it’s sweet enough. Add cheese at end. For gluten free, make sure to adjust flavors as much as possible before adding pasta because it will fall apart more easily with stirring.


Chicken Enchiladas

Haha, these enchiladas are certainly not authentic–Wait, Mexican cooks don’t use Cream of Chicken soup?–but they are delicious, and you likely have all the ingredients on hand all the time. And one pan makes quite a few leftovers if you want easy lunches for the week.

I’m still working on a gluten free version of this that tastes good. For a while I wasn’t able to handle dairy, so I tried vegan sour cream and GF Mission tortillas, and it was terrible. And the tortillas turned to mush. When I was able to handle dairy again, I tried it with corn tortillas, but then it tasted very much of oil from the tortillas. I think maybe I’ll try making my own gluten free flour tortillas before I attempt this again.

Make it a meal with:

Chicken Enchiladas

  • Servings: 9?
  • Difficulty: medium
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Mild, delicious, and makes lots of leftovers.

Ingredients

  • About 3 lb. Chicken Breasts, cubed
  • 1 Onion, minced
  • 2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup
  • 1/3 can Water (or chicken broth)
  • 1-2 c. Sour cream
  • Flour Tortillas (about 6)
  • Grated Cheddar Cheese

Directions

Cook cubed chicken. Add onion and cook until translucent. Mix in soup and water until bubbly and well mixed. Add sour cream to the sauce/gravy last. To assemble, spoon a little sauce and chicken in bottom of greased 9×13 pan. Then cover with a layer of 2 tortillas. Then spoon on a layer of sauce and chicken. Then a layer of 2 tortillas. Then a layer of sauce and chicken. Then 2 tortillas (for three layers of tortillas total). Finally, a thick layer of cheese on top. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes till cheese is melted and slightly brown. Optional: Top with salsa for extra flavor.