French Fry Soup

French Fry Soup

It's a little bit of a glorified (Fast) version of potato soup that I came up with last winter.

Ingredients:

2 Tbs Olive Oil
1 Tbs Butter
1 medium Onion, chopped
1 bag of frozen French Fries (The healthier the better...)
2 qts chicken broth (I used these great boxes of Rachel Ray's Natural Chicken Stock)

Melt your butter with the olive oil in the bottom of a heavy stockpot over medium low heat.

Chop your onion (don't cry too hard), and saute in the hot oil/butter mixture until transparent and starting to turn golden. (They should just about melt in your mouth)

Add your bag of frozen french fries and your chicken broth/stock and bring to a boil. Then let it simmer for about 15 minutes, to cook the potatoes.

Mash your potatoes up to the consistency you prefer (Or really pulverize it in the blender, if you want CREAMY.... I prefer some chuncks in mine), and serve with yummy, crusty, toasted bread.

Variations on a theme: You can use any frozen french fries you like, but I highly recommend the less "processed", closer to the garden varieties. Some that we have used, all from Trader Joe's: Garlic French Fries, Chipotle French Fries, Sweet Potato French Fries

Sometimes I add some Basil... but then it is less "French Fry" soup.

Now, I have to say, this particular batch of French Fry Soup that I used for the photos (the last time I made it) was going to be another experimental batch... we were going to try a bit with a dollop of blue cheese dressing on top when serving (Since most of our family dips their french fries in blue cheese dressing instead of ketchup), and my son was going to try a squirt of ketchup (Since he's more traditional). Sad story.... we didn't get to try it yet, because I had to throw the soup out. We had to leave the house unexpectedly before dinner, so I tossed the soup in the crockpot on low to keep it warm.... but when we returned to the house hours later, we discovered that the crockpot had come unplugged (a slightly pesky outlet...),the soup was cold, and potentially hazardous. :( So, not only did we not get to try our experiments, but I had to come up with something else to feed my tired family.... ERGH! Next time I make it, I'll post an update with our findings.

Blessings~

Our favorite Pizza....

Well, this blog hasn't gotten as much use as my TOS Crew reviews blog, but I'm going to try to remedy that. One of my "Crew-mates" introduced me to the world of "memes", so I'm joining my first with this "Works For Me Wednesday" post.

Due to frantic Friday evenings getting out to AWANA, last year was the year of the frozen Schwann's pizza. This year, in trying to "Save some dough", I decided to try making my OWN dough. I searched for a recipe for "Quick Pizza Crust" and found this . I have played with it and modified it over the months, so what follows is my version of quick and easy and TASTY pizza, with no preservatives, and only whole wheat goodness! (Editing to add in another variation that we like right now!)

Friday's Fabulous Fast Fixin's(aka Speedy Pizza)
This recipe makes enough to fill two large rectangular bar pans from Pampered chef(I suppose it would work for two round pizza stones, too, but I don't have any of those, so we eat rectangular pizza!)

• 4 1/2 tsp yeast
• 2 tsp sugar(I used Florida's Naturals)
• 2 cups warm water
• 5 cups whole wheat flour OR 2 cups whole wheat flour, 2 cups white wheat flour, and 1 cup cornmeal (This is our current favorite crust combo)
• 4 Tbs olive oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese(Optional)
• 2 tsp dried basil OR 1/4 cup Sesame Seeds (Optional)
  
• extra olive oil
  

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Set the timer for 10 minutes.
Mix the flour, salt, cheese, and basil in a medium sized bowl, while the yeast is "activating".
When the timer goes off, the yeast mixture should be "creamy", if it is,
Add the yeast mixture and the oil to the dried ingredients, and beat until smooth.
Split in half (I save one half in an airtight container or ziplock baggie for another night)
Let the dough "relax" for 5 minutes, so that it will be easier to roll out.

Shape your pizza, and brush with the extra olive oil, then add the rest of your desired toppings. My kids aren't fans of red sauce, so we tend to go with some combination of the following:
(We always have cheese and sauteed onion slices)

• meat of some sort (leftover meatballs(sliced), rotisserie chicken, slices of Al Fresco chicken sausages, etc...)
• sliced grape tomatoes
• roasted red pepper strips
• slices of calamata olives
• sauteed mushrooms
• steamed broccoli
• minced garlic

Pop it into the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Be sure to let it cool a couple of minutes after baking, so that nobody burns the roof of their mouth.

So... this is what works for us, and I thought I'd share! :) You can find out what works for other families at We are THAT Family which is hosting "Works For Me Wednesday" posts

Blessings~
Lis