Creamy Vegetable Stew

Oh, if I could but make this picture look as good as this stew tasted! It would have helped if I hadn't taken the picture on my lovely green counter top, but done is done and you'll just have to take my word for it until you try this stew yourself. And trust me. It's worth it!

Not only is this soup inexpensive to make, it's also low-calorie! I was actually surprised by just how low-calorie when I counted it up this morning. It's a thick, creamy, rich-tasting soup that just satisfies your hunger on a cold, rainy Sunday (which is when I made it). Serve this soup with a grain, like White-Wheat French Bread, and you've also go yourself a complete protein in one meal.

Make ahead tip: I have eaten this soup fresh the day I made it, as well as reheated the next day for lunch. This is even better the next day, so if you need a quick meal, make some of this the night before. Just stick it in the fridge overnight and reheat it for supper the next day. Or, if you prefer, just cook the veggies in broth in advance and refrigerate. Reheat and finish preparing just before serving.


Creamy Vegetable Stew
(150 calories per 1-1/2 cup serving. Makes about 5 servings.)

4 c. chicken broth (1 box)
1 large carrot, diced
3 small red potatoes, diced
2 stalks of celery
2-3 c. frozen cut green beans
2 Tbsp dried minced onion
(i.e. dehydrated onion flakes)
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp. Nature's Seasons (or Salt/Pepper to taste)
1/4 tsp. dried basil, crushed
2-3 Tbsp. corn starch, dissolved in cold water
1 c. light sour cream

Pour chicken broth into a large soup pan and place over medium heat. Peel and chop potatoes and carrot. Trim and slice celery. Add to chicken broth and simmer for about 5 -10 minutes.


Add frozen green beans, Nature's Seasons, and basil. Continue cooking until all vegetables have reached desired tenderness.


Spoon corn starch into a small bowl or measuring cup. The more corn starch you use, the thicker it will be. Add enough cold water to dissolve cornstarch and pour into simmering pot while stirring.

Add light sour cream, and continue cooking a few more minutes until stew has reached desired thickness. If stew is too thick, add a little water. If not thick enough, dissolve a little more cornstarch into some cold water, add, and simmer another 2 minutes.

Fun Fridays: French Bread Pizza

French bread pizza is one of The Honey's favorite quick and easy convenience meals. It's super easy because I can just buy a loaf of french bread at the store and throw the toppings on. However, when I first started making it we had a lot of soggy bread under the sauce, and I just couldn't stand that. I have soggy bread issues. Big ones.

So, I tried everything I could think of to overcome the problem - even broiling the tops before baking! The one thing that I have found that works the best is to butter the bread before putting on the pizza sauce. Voila! A moisture barrier! Of course, when the butter melts it just removes the barrier, but it pretty much takes care of the soggy bread issue for me.


French Bread Pizza

1 loaf french bread
Spreadable margarine or butter
Garlic salt
1/2 - 3/4 c. pizza sauce or pureed Italian style diced tomatoes
shredded mozzarella (about 2 cups)
pizza toppings (i.e. pepperoni, green peppers, mushrooms, etc.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice a loaf of french bread in half lengthwise.

Place bread, cut sides up on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil. Spread margarine or butter along the cut sides, and sprinkle with garlic salt.

Spread pizza sauce on top of the margarine.

Sprinkle half the cheese on the bread (about 1/2 c. per side).

Top with your favorite pizza toppings (i.e. pepperoni, mushrooms, etc.)

Sprinkle remaining cheese over pizza toppings.

Bake in at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, or until cheese in melted.

Peanut Butter Paradise Pie

Yesterday was The Honey's birthday. He's not a big cake eater and has recently raved about a peanut butter pie someone brought to work, so I wanted to make something along those lines for his birthday dinner. I looked at a couple recipes in a cookbook I got from church, and I wasn't thrilled with either one. So I decided to make up my own. How hard could it be, right?

When we were eating this after dinner last night, I asked the family what we should call it. Horse Lover named it Peanut Butter Paradise Pie, and the name has stuck. It was so delectable that when I called The Honey at work this morning he had to tell me again just how good it was. We're having the rest for dessert tonight!


Peanut Butter Paradise Pie
(Calories per serving: don't know, don't care!)

1 Oreo pie crust
1/2 bottle Reese's Magic Shell ice cream topping
12 mini Reese's PB cups
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1 small pkg. instant vanilla pudding
1/2 c. milk
1 8-oz. container Cool Whip light
Extra Reese's cups, crushed for topping (about 4)

Open your Oreo pie crust and Reese's Magic Shell topping. Shake the Magic Shell bottle well before using.

Drizzle a little less than half the bottle of Magic Shell topping into the pie crust.

With the back of a large spoon, spread the Magic Shell around to coat the bottom and sides of the crust as evenly as possible. Place in freezer to chill while preparing the pie filling.

Cut 12 mini Reese's cups into fourths. Set aside. Eat a couple of the extra ones for fun.

In a medium bowl, combine peanut butter, vanilla pudding mix and milk. Stir until creamy.

Mix in the Cool Whip by adding about 1/3 of the container of Cool Whip at a time to the peanut butter mixture. This will make sure it gets blended evenly.

Finally, stir in the chopped Reese's cups.

Spoon into the chilled pie shell.

Drizzle with a little extra Magic Shell and crumbled Reese's cups. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Store any leftovers in the fridge.