Over Christmas, we were at my parent's house and my sister said something about not liking one dish meals. I was shocked! I'd say about 50% of the meals I make are one pot wonders! She's really healthy, and her point was that she likes to eat a greater ratio of veggies to other food groups. And I guess she'd be right if you're talking about a boxed or canned one pot meal. I'm sure the veggie to, say, meat or carb ratio... or worse yet sodium ratio of a boxed meal isn't very good. BUT, she should fly out to eat with us more often, because one of my favorite things about one pot wonders is that I can hide veggies. But shhhh... don't tell Jack. Or Mike for that matter.
Now, this soup isn't the most healthy option, because of the Velveeta and ground beef. Mike's not really a soup guy, but can get behind most anything that refers to a hamburger... especially if I throw the word Velveeta in (since for him, Velveeta is, in fact, the perfect food). And since we're cleaning out the pantry and all I had some stuff I needed to use up, this was a great option for us. I was able to throw in handfuls of random veggies I had in the fridge/freezer without taking away from the cheesy goodness for my boys.
Ranch Cheeseburger Soup
1 lb. cooked ground beef (I seasoned it with some garlic and a pinch of chili powder)
1 lb. velveeta, cubed
3 c chicken stock
1 can condensed broccoli cheese soup (any condensed soup would do!)
1 onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 T ranch dressing mix (homemade recipe coming soon!)
Handful of leftover broccoli, chopped
1 c frozen zucchini, grated
1 c frozen corn
1 c cooked rice
Place all ingredients in a large crockpot. Cook on low 6-8 hrs. You don't really want to do it on high if you can help it, because the cheese will curdle. This makes a very thick soup. If you want to thin it out, stir in milk or sour cream, and serve!
We decided to serve ours in a bread bowl! Here's my go-to recipe:
Olive Oil Bread (can use for bread bowls, pizza dough, buns, bread, etc)
2 T active dry yeast (or two packages)
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 teaspoons salt
1 T sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 c whole wheat flour (or replace with unbleached all-purpose flour)
4 c ubleached all-purpose flour
cornmeal
1 egg white
water
In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes. Add salt, sugar, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture and mix well with dough hook. (You can mix by hand with a wooden spoon if you don't have a stand mixer.) Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time.
When the dough has pulled together, turn it out on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 6 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.
Punch dough down, and divide into equal portions. This recipe makes:
- 2 standard sized loaves
- 6 round loaves
- 15ish sandwich buns (depending on the size)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place stoneware or another baking sheet in the preheating oven.
Shape each portion into a loaf (logs for standard loaves, round for buns and bowls, etc). Place loaves on lightly greased baking sheets sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk. In a small bowl, beat together egg white and 1 tablespoon water. Brush the loaves with the egg wash with a pastry brush. Transfer loaves to preheated stoneware.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Brush with remaining egg mixture, and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire racks.
It seems like a lot of work, but really, most of it is spend waiting on dough to rise. This is definitely a kids are cooperating and we're staying home all day kind of meal, but there's something very satisfying about baking your own bread.
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