Soup Week

Andi's working long hours this week, so I officially declared it "Soup Week" at our house. I love, love, love the warm comfort of soup -- especially as cooler temperatures set in. Most soups are also easy to make and have an "everything but the kitchen sink" forgiveness, so they're great for using up pantry ingredients. I like to make a big batch of soup for dinner and freeze the leftovers in smaller quart-size Ziplocs for fast lunches. Having leftover soups stocked in the freezer will come in handy when Baby Boy arrives in a few weeks and that's exactly why I selected the soups listed below. I've made them all before, I know they're tasty recipes and they freeze great, too. PERFECT.

Monday
Tomato Tortellini Soup
I've been a big tomato soup fan since I was a little kid and this fancied-up version hits the spot when I'm craving something more than a can of Campbell's. I've made this tomato tortellini soup recipe a million times. Okay, more like 20 times. I usually leave out the sun-dried tomatoes because I'm not a big fan of them, sometimes I add in a can of diced fire-roasted tomatoes or trim back the amount of half-and-half depending on what I have in the fridge. It always tastes delicious, so you can't go wrong making your own adaptations.

Tuesday
Crock-Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup
This is my favorite "Mexican" soup recipe. It's got a kick of spice, but nothing too extreme (I'm a sissy when it comes to spicy foods) and any soup with crunched-up tortilla chips, cheese and sour cream on top are big winners in my book. I've found the best way to cook the chicken is to boil it on the stove and add it to the slow-cooker in the last 30 minutes of cook time so the shredded chicken is soft and moist.

Wednesday
Crock-Pot Loaded Baked Potato Soup
This recipe takes a few minutes to prepare due to the sauteing of onions and garlic on the stove-top and peeling and chopping of potatoes (vs. other dump-and-run Crock Pot recipes), but it's worth the effort. Crumbled bacon, sour cream and cheese on top make it a really comforting meal.

Thursday
Copycat Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Soup
I'm not usually a fan of "meaty" soups and I almost never order this when I'm dining out at OG. (That is, on the rare occasion I get to eat at Olive Garden because my mean husband will never go there with me. Life's hard, isn't it?) That said, this soup is really tasty and different than the soups I usually make. It also uses up all those ditali noodles I buy for Tory and she never eats.

Friday
Cheesy Vegetable Soup
This one's pretty straight forward. I considered making this Weight Watchers Vegetable Soup but it's pretty "healthy" and last time I made it, no one really liked it but me. So, add in some cheesy-ness and it seems to please the crowd. This recipe's great with a crusty piece of French bread to wipe the bowl clean.