ÿÿ
First, a little history: as soon as DH sank his teeth
into Cream Cheese Chicken, he started asking for the
stuff 4-5 days a week! ÿIt practically became an
obsession for him--he thought it was the best main
dish he had ever tasted. ÿI even made it with beef and sliced mushrooms
instead of chicken. ÿSo I tried to come up with a
lower-fat ÿsubsitute and the result was a quick and easy
soup. ÿThis is not ÿcheap , but tastes so good you can
serve it to company. And it goes together pretty
quickly. Here is the general idea:
ÿAnd how much you use of anything depends on how many
people you are feeding. ÿI usually end up with about a
gallon.
Start with 3-4 cans of Swanson s fat-free chicken broth or a
quart and a half ÿof homemade broth (I dont use beef
broth even with the steak--tried it and it is too
strong and salty) ÿ
To the hot ÿbroth, add and mix well:
A package of Hidden Valley ÿRanch Dressing mix
One package of Knorr s Leek Soup Mix
Half a package of onion soup mix (optional)
Let these cook on low for a few minutes while you
sautee your ÿmeat in a skillet. (I cut it into thin
slices or small bite-sized cubes so it cooks quickly)
I use either boneless skinned chicken breast or ÿa
well-trimmed tender cut of one small steak as the meat
in this, and usually a small amount (one half a large
breast or one small steak) will make enough soup for
us for 2 main meals and a bowl for lunch for Billy.
There s no reason you couldnt use ground beef.
Add the meat to the broth kettle and let simmer (stirring
often because the ranch and Leek soup mix might cause
it to stick) ÿAdd a package or so ÿof frozen mixed
vegetables. ÿ Sometimes I sautee sliced mushrooms with
the meat and add them.
Combine an 8 oz pkg (1/3 lower fat) ÿPhiladelphia ÿCream
Cheese with some hot broth and mix until smooth, then
add to kettle. ÿFor more volume and added flavor, add
a can of Campbell s Chicken With Herb Soup mixed with
a can of water or milk. ÿWhen this is all heated, you
can serve the soup.
This is hearty, delicious, soup. ÿIt is even better
the second day. ÿWhile it is not fat free, it is lower
than many main dishes and is low in simple carbs, but the veggies give it plenty of high fiber complex carbs. ÿIt
IS NOT low in sodium, unfortunately. ÿBut ÿif you fool
around with the ingredients, you can do almost
anything you want with the basic recipe. ÿBilly wants
me to try ÿusing it as a base for fish or seafood
chowder, and I think this would work.
OF COURSE the " SLT" in the name stands for our original source of good CreamCheese things, SLTrawick (Sharon) ÿ[:)]
NightOwlOh my gosh....this sounds sooo good. I m giving it a try since it s been down around freezing (30) everynight this week. :)
Just got through finishing up the turkey soup that I made from the bones/meat of the turkey from christmas.
So as soon as everyone wants soup again (they said...NO MORE SOUP...LOL). We will diffently try it.