[Albion Wilde]

Easy comfort food recipe while watching your weight. I have been losing weight by eating mostly veggies and mild fruits, with minimal meat and dairy. I love this flavorful soup whenever I get a craving for potato chips, fries, hash browns, etc. It has fewer calories than fried but satisfies potato cravings! I make an entire bag of potatoes and divide the soup into pint containers for the freezer, or share it with friends.

Genovese-Style Potato Soup

INGREDIENTS

5 lbs (1 bag) Yukon Gold potatoes
32 oz (1 box) chicken broth
1 cup milk or yogurt
1 large carrot
1 small to medium yellow onion
3 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 stick butter
2-3 tsp salt, to taste
1 tsp black pepper
1/4 C dried chopped parsley (or 1/2 C finely chopped fresh Italian parsley)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

PREPARATION

Peel the potatoes and cut in half. Boil for 20 minutes or until a fork inserts into the center of the largest chunk.

Meanwhile, warm the chicken broth in a saucepan until almost boiling. Add milk (yogurt) and stir; turn off heat.

Drain the finished boiled potatoes, then return them to the pot. Add the broth mixture and mash by hand (or in a mixer bowl or food processor and return to pot) until almost smooth.

Strip the heaviest strings off the celery stalks; peel carrot and onion. Chop to small dice.

Warm the olive oil in a skillet; chop garlic to fine dice and add to olive oil.

Increase heat to medium and add the diced celery, carrot and onion. Sauté, stirring frequently, until dice are softened.

Add all the sautéd vegetables and oil to the mashed potato mixture in the pot. Add salt, black pepper and butter; stir thoroughly over warm heat until butter is melted. Finally, stir in parsley and remove from heat.

Divide into servings for table or freezer. Sprinkle a pinch of cayenne on top of each serving.

[bgill]

Homemade Household Cleaners:

Distilled vinegar: helps cut through grease, eliminate stains, & has antibacterial properties.

Baking soda: clean and deodorize surfaces.

Castile soap: a vegetable & oil based liquid soap used as a natural cleaning agent.

Citrus fruits: rinds of oranges, lemons, & grapefruits consist of a natural property called limonene, which helps cut through oily residue & will leave your home smelling fresh & clean.

Citrus-Scented Vinegar
Mason Jar
Lid
Vinegar
1 grapefruit
1 lemon

Wash and dry the fruit. Using a knife, gently slice off the rind of the fruit. Place the rinds into the jar and fill the jar with vinegar. Seal the jar tightly and store in a dark, cool cupboard for one to two weeks. When ready, pour vinegar through a strainer to filter the rinds. Vinegar is ready for use.

Microwave/Stovetop Degreaser
2/3 parts water
1/3 part vinegar
3 t baking soda
4 t Castile soap
8-10 drops essential oils (lavender, orange blossom, mint)
Spray bottle

Floor Cleaner
1 C water
1 C vinegar
4 tablespoon of Castile soap
8-10 drops of essential oils (i.e lavender, orange blossom, mint)
bottle

All-Purpose Cleaner
1 C water
1 C vinegar
8-10 drops of essential oils (lavender, orange blossom, mint)
Spray bottle

Don’t forget about cleaning your fruits and veggies: Baking soda scrub for whole produce. for lettuces, etc. make a solution of baking soda and white vinegar in water. add lettuces chute up or small pieces. swish around for a couple of minutes, drain and cover with water and rinse again.

[V K Lee]

Thanks, AW. Love hot cream potato soup; never thought to add yogurt rather than milk LOL Although do add sour cream to mashed potatoes. Normally cream potato soup would be eaten with crisp brown toast and crisp fried bacon bits. A meal in itself. Just as cream tomato soup is eaten with popped corn floating on top and chocolate ice cream is eaten with Fritos (which helps to curb the lactose intolerance to a small degree)

[CottonBall]

Sounds delicious. Do you find the potatoes take on a strange texture when frozen and then thawed? Perhaps they are mashed enough that it isn’t an issue.

[CottonBall]

I just noticed the name, I wonder what makes it genovese-style? The parsley? I was kind a looking for basil or something. Or maybe salami :-)

[CottonBall]

Here’s another healthy soup. I found a recipe for a riboletta years ago, and make it all the time. Seems like I spend half a day chopping vegetables. But I figure it has to be healthy. One can always leave out the bacon and the extra bread and the Parmesan as well. It still has plenty of flavor, from the herbs and the veggies and especially the tomatoes.

This is more like how I make it, with pancetta which I substitute bacon for
https://afoodcentriclife.com/ribollita-hearty-tuscan-vegetable-soup/

This looks to be a healthy version
http://totallifestylemanagement.com/healthy-italian-food-tuscan-riboletta/