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?
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Beef and Barley Soup |
Final Score:
Beef and Barley Soup: 96
Tomato Basil Ravioli: 81
Review by Roberta
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Slow Cooker Cream of Mushroom Soup |
Recipe:
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Prep time/ease of ingredients (10 pts)
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Likeliness of making it again (30 pts)
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Overall flavor (50 pts)
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Value $ (10 pts)
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10
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30
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48
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10
|
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10
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30
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50
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10
|
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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”! |
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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.
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Cordon Bleu Soup |
Recipe:
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Prep time/ease of ingredients (10 pts)
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Likeliness of making it again (30 pts)
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Overall flavor (50 pts)
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Value $ (10 pts)
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10
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30
|
50
|
10
|
|
10
|
20
|
40
|
10
|
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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!
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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!
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Final Score:
Cordon Bleu Soup: 100
Pinto Bean Chili: 80
Another perfect score! Review by Jessica.
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Coconut Thai Soup |
Recipe:
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Prep time/ease of ingredients (10 pts)
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Likeliness of making it again (30 pts)
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Overall flavor (50 pts)
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Value $ (10 pts)
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6
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10
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40
|
8
|
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8
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30
|
45
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6
|
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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.
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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.
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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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