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March 18, 2012

March Madness Round 2 Soup Results

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In an effort to keep up with the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament here are the second round results from the Soup Bracket.  A surprise?  Beef and Barley continues to kill it.  Who knew that a beef and barley soup would win 2 rounds in a row?

Beef and Barley Soup


Recipe:
Prep time/ease of ingredients
(10 points)
Likeliness of making it again
(30 points)
Overall flavor (50 points)
Value $ (10 points)
Beef and Barley Soup 2
10
30
48
8
Tomato Basil Ravioli Soup
8
25
40
8
Recipe 1 notes and review:  I have to admit that when I first read
the name of this recipe, I turned my nose up at it.  Barley? 
Isn’t that an ingredient in brewing beer?  I know it is used in many other things, but
that’s the first thing that came to mind! 
This soup was fantastic.  I have
been looking for ways to incorporate things like lentils and whole grains in
our diet, and this is a great option. 
The meat was very tender, and not at all chewy, and both the lentils
and barley held up well, adding great texture and flavor.  And nothing is easier than dumping
everything into the crockpot and walking away.  This one will make it into the monthly menu
again for sure!

Recipe 2 notes and review:  I love a good tomato basil soup.   The recipe I normally make is done on the
stovetop, so this was my first exposure to preparing a soup in the
crockpot.  The prep was somewhat
similar to the stovetop, but again, nice to be able to walk away and let it
do its thing.  The flavor was pretty
comparable to other tomato basil soups, but not over the top awesome for
me.  I really love the idea of adding
ravioli into the mix – if not everyone in the family enjoys the soup portion,
they can always nosh on the pasta.  A win-win
situation! 

Final Score:

Beef and Barley Soup:  96
Tomato Basil Ravioli:  81
Review by Roberta

Slow Cooker Cream of Mushroom Soup

Recipe:
Prep time/ease of ingredients (10 pts)
Likeliness of making it again (30 pts)
Overall flavor (50 pts)
Value $ (10 pts)
Busy Day Chicken Taco Soup
10

30
48
10
Cream of Mushroom Soup
10

30
50
10
Recipe 1 notes and review:

Sooooo easy to do; truly a “dump” recipe! Except for
trimming the fat off of the chicken thighs, there is nothing to do. I was
really surprised at how great this tasted–it was light, but had a great
depth of flavor!

Although I made it
exactly as written, I love how easy this is to tweak, based on the type of
salsa, tomatoes, &/or chiles used! I think that many people have these
ingredients in their pantries; as long as you have the protein, can be made
spur of the moment. Very affordable.

I brought it to work
for my lunch, and several colleagues asked for the recipe, based on the aroma
alone!

This is definitely a
“make again”–my husband says “the sooner, the better”!

Recipe 2 notes and review:

Love the step of
sweating the onions w/ butter in the microwave–so effective and so easy!

I chose to sauté a few
of the mushrooms and use for garnish instead of leaving them raw–I just
prefer the flavor in this rich soup.

Quick to make,
especially on “High” setting.

The cost is very
affordable, especially since I purchased the ‘shrooms on sale.

Overall flavor, this is
the winner. I loved BOTH soups, and the Taco Soup is more “figure
friendly” with the fiber of the bean, etc. However, the depth of flavor
and creamy texture of the Mushroom Soup was amazing! I am a sucker for creamy
soups! I would definitely consider preparing this as a first course for a
holiday dinner like Christmas or Easter.

Final Score:

Busy Day Taco Soup:  98
Cream of Mushroom Soup:  100
Holy high scoring game!  Both winners in my book.  Review by Beth.
Cordon Bleu Soup

Recipe:
Prep time/ease of ingredients (10 pts)
Likeliness of making it again (30 pts)
Overall flavor (50 pts)
Value $ (10 pts)
Cordon Bleu Soup
10

30
50
10
Dried Pinto Bean Chili
10

20
40
10
Recipe 1 notes and review:

This recipe is a new family favorite! YUMMY! Easy to put together, includes ingredients I almost always have on hand, sooo good! 
Recipe 2 notes and review:

This was very good, just seemed to be missing something. We all enjoyed it for sure and it was a great value! 

Final Score:
Cordon Bleu Soup:  100
Pinto Bean Chili:  80
Another perfect score!  Review by Jessica.

Coconut Thai Soup

Recipe:
Prep time/ease of ingredients (10 pts)
Likeliness of making it again (30 pts)
Overall flavor (50 pts)
Value $ (10 pts)
Red Beans & Wild Rice Stew
6

10
40
8
Coconut Thai Soup
8

30
45
6
Recipe 1 notes and review:
This looked SO gross.  I cooked it the minimum amount of time the recipe said but when I mixed in the sausage at the end it just made it kinda mush together. It looked pretty unappetizing. That being said it tasted really good! It has a good flavor and I loved the wild rice. It made a lot so I felt it was a good value. I bought the wild rice in the bin section at Smiths and that was kinda a lot but I couldn’t find plain wild rice any where else so I marked it down a little for that. Remembering to soak the beans the night before made me have to put off making this because I’d forget. I have another recipe that makes beans in the crockpot and you don’t soak them the night before.  I didn’t try that because I wanted to follow the recipe exactly. 
Recipe 2 notes and review:
this was SO good.  Oh man! SO good. I did have a hard time finding the lemon grass but other than that everything else was easy.  It cooked up easy and the only problem was that there wasn’t enough.  This is a recipe that should be doubled because it’s just so yummy. It was yummy as it is but I also cooked rice and we served this soup over the rice just to make it more of a meal.  I preferred it without the rice but it tasted good with it too. This is a keeper for sure.  

Final Score:

Red Beans and Wild Rice Stew:  64
Coconut Thai Soup:  89
I like her honesty, “this looked SO gross!”  Review by Becca.

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Hi, I’m Karen. I know that dinner time can be less than relaxing. Busy schedules and cranky kids and a hundred other things can lead to weariness when it comes to putting dinner on the table. I can help! I make homemade, family-friendly slow cooker and Instant Pot dinners and share the recipes with you.

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