Cream of Mushroom Soup for Two

No one in this house enjoys mushrooms but me... Well, my daughter loves them raw, but doesn't want any cooked ones in her food. The worst part about this is that I LOVE mushrooms, crave them even. I must get my fix every once in a while. I had a pack of mushrooms in the fridge that had to be consumed before they died. Pressed for time and starving I concocted this cream of mushroom soup. It did it, I was pleased, I had my mushroom dose! I fed the soup to the mushroom hatin' kids, didn't tell them what it was, and they ate it ALL! Suckers!! I think its a texture thing and not a taste thing. That gives me the liberty to make some cramy mushroom sauce next time we have pasta... poor Papa Tomata, he'll be all alone hatin' on the mushrooms!


Ingredients
small container fresh mushrooms (1/2 lb)
3 cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp dried onion flakes
1/4 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp fat-free cream cheese

Directions
- Add mushrooms, broth, onion flakes, and thyme in a medium pot and bring to a boil. Let simmer for about 10 minutes until mushrooms are soft.
- Remove from heat and stir in cream cheese.
- With a hand mixer, puree the soup.

Nutritional Data
1 WW point
77.4 cal
0.4 g fat
2.5 g cholesterol
12.9 carbs
1.8 g fiber
5.6 sugars
6.5 g protein

Asian-Style Mushroom Soup

You might find a lot of soup recipes on this site during the winter months as I always make some to warm up. We have soup mostly every day, especially since our little guy is so fond of all types of soup.

This soup was not a winner with the kids, nor was it with the mushroom-hatin' man... but it didn't stop me from cooking up a batch. I personally love mushrooms, and now I have some delicious soup to last me the week for lunch! Hope you enjoy it... and if you don't like mushrooms, you could always omit them and switch them with broccoli or double up the other vegetables in the soup (especially the Napa)!

Ingredients
(6 servings)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, cut in half and sliced
1 small carrot, julienned (about 3/4 cup)
1 garlic clove, chopped or minced
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced or grated
1 small red bell pepper
5 cups beef broth
1 tbsp Soya sauce
2 cups Napa cabbage, chopped
8 large mushrooms, sliced (approx 200 gr)

Directions
- In a large pot, heat oil. Add onions and carrots and cook for 5-10 minutes until softened.
-Add red pepper, garlic, ginger and cook another minute.
-Add beef broth, soya sauce, mushrooms and napa and bring to a boil while covered.
- Once boiling, and mushrooms and Napa are softened but still have a little crunch, remove from heat and serve.

Nutritional Data
1 serving = 1 cup
1 WW point
61.2 cal
2.9 g fat
5.5 g carbs
1.3 g fiber
4.3 g protein

Celeriac Soup

I kept seeing this strange looking root vegetable at the supermarket and decided to buy one. Turns out this strange looking vegetable is Celeriac. They call it celery in Hungary, and call what we know as celery English Celery. Basically, celeriac is celery root. After reading up on it, I found out that it is very popular in Europe, and uncommon and usually hard to find and expensive in North America. It's strange to think of a root vegetable as expensive, especially since 1/2 a Celeriac in Budapest cost me 0.60$. I decided to make soup with it. I love creamy soups more then chunky soups, so I tend to puree all my soups. This way I can often sneak in some good vegetables and pass them to the kids without them knowing... and my little critics think they are so clever... who's clever now?!
I wasn't sure what to expect, but this came out wonderfully. This soup tastes exactly like a cream of celery soup, just 10 times better then the stuff that comes out of a can ;) Hope you enjoy it!


Ingredients
(4 servings)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
300 g celeriac, peeled and cubed(aprox 2 cups cubed)
4 cups vegetable broth
1 medium potato
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
4 celery tops with leaves, whole, not chopped
fresh parsley, 2 tbsp

Directions
- Heat oil in a medium pot. Add onions and cook 3-4 minutes.
- Add celeriac cover and cook 5 minutes to soften
- Add potatoes, broth, bay leaf, parsley, and celery tops
- Bring to a boil, cover and simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes or until celeriac and potatoes are soft.
- Remove celery tops and bay leaf and discard.
- Let soup cool and puree it with a hand mixer.

Nutritional Data
1 Serving
2 WW Points
115 cal
3.5 g fat
18.4 carbs
2.8 g fat
1.9 g protein

Butternut Squash and Carrot Soup

I made this soup tonight, and it was delicious. It was approved by the little critics, which is always good. One little critic even attempted to lick the bowl, which made a nice mess on the table and his shirt... but back to the recipe.


Ingredients
(makes 9 cups)

1.5 lbs butternut squash, peeled, cubed*
1 lb fresh baby carrots (or garden carrots, peeled, sliced)
1 large onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1.5 tsp thyme
8 cups chicken broth
fresh ground pepper to taste
salt to taste

Directions

- Place all ingredients in a large pot.
- Bring to a boil and boil until veggies are soft.
- Let cool until warm (not hot).
- Puree with a hand mixer.

* To make it easier to peal, place squash in a steamer for approx. 5 mins.

Tips
-For a thicker soup, use 7 cups broth, or vice versa, for a thinner soup, use 9 cups.
-For a creamier soup, add 1/4 cup of fat-free cream cheese before using the hand mixer.(will affect nutritional data).

Nutritional Data
1 cup serving:
2 WW points
125 Cal
2.7 g fat
15.4 g carbs
1.2 g fiber
11.2 g protein