Hearty Tomato Bean Soup

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.  

 

 

I know, you all don't want to hear about summer's end, but Tuesday officially marks the start of autumn. We've already had a few days this week where I had to break out a cardigan to keep the chilly air at bay, and I could also hear the crowds from the first Notre Dame home football game, so I'm saying farewell to summer and hello fall! Which also means we're ushering in soup season, and that makes my little heart so happy. I just love how cozy these days feel this time of the year. There's something so comforting when there's a nip in the air, the skies are overcast, and there's a pot of soup simmering on the stovetop. I did think about making a pot of chili earlier this week, and while we did have a big dip in temperatures, it wasn't big enough to justify something so spicy and heavy as chili. I still wanted something tomato based though, so I scrolled through Golden Blossom Honey's recipes until I found a perfect soup to help transition between seasons and landed on this Hearty Tomato Bean Soup recipe and knew it was going to be an immediate winner.  

 

 

This simple soup is light, yet hearty. There aren't any heavy ingredient to weigh the tummy down, but it is high in plant protein and fiber, so it is still quite filling. The spices add a lovely warmth to the soup, but the honey adds a touch of overall sweetness to the recipe making it an inviting soup for shifting from summer eats into fall ones. I think the recipe is perfect as is, but if you wanted to bulk it up or add meat, crumbled or smoked sausage would blend in easily. This soup is great for lunch, or pair it with a crusty bread, side salad, or grilled cheese for a complete dinner. 

 

Ingredients

3 cups onions, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3 cans (28 ounces each) tomatoes, chopped with their juices

3 cans (16 ounces each) pinto beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans (13 3/4 ounces each) beef broth

1/4 cup GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

5 to 6 drops of Tabasco sauce

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE 

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

What soups are you looking forward to cooking this autumn? 

Spring Carrot Soup

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.

 

 

 

The temps are rising, the daffodils have popped up, and the rain showers are in full effect here, and while it is officially spring, I'm not ready to get my hopes up yet that the cold days are finally behind us. The weather has been nothing short of insane this past year, so I'm keeping my soup pots on standby in anticipation of a few more days of needing a hot bowl for comfort on a chilly day. While I was searching for some Easter recipes last month, I came across this Spring Carrot Soup recipe on Golden Blossom Honey and thought that not only would it be a nice starter to an Easter dinner, it would make for a perfect transitional soup between seasons.  

 

 

This is a soup that I think can be eaten either hot or chilled, so that's why I group it in with the transitional recipes to shift from one season to the next without much fuss. It's light, creamy, and refreshing, which makes it a perfect first course to your holiday (or any!) meal. Hit it with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of chives for extra pizzazz and added color that's especially pleasing to the eye. This is a soup that can be eaten paired with a side of your favorite bread or rolls for a satisfying lunch, or add a salad to make it a full dinnertime meal. Head to the farmer's market for the freshest carrots and enjoy the flavors of spring in this soup all season long! 

 

Ingredients

1 bunch of carrots, about 1 pound

1 baking potato

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup chopped shallots

4 cups vegetable or chicken broth

2 tablespoons SOUTHERN BLOSSOM HONEY

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

black pepper to taste

Garnish

plain yogurt or sour cream

chopped scallions or chives

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE 

 

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

Is it starting to feel like spring in your area?   

Lentil and Sausage Soup

 Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.

 

 

 

Every once in awhile, I like to make homemade mac and cheese for dinner. My daughter and I are good with making a full meal out of the noodles and cheese, and my husband will eat it like that without complaint, but he usually prefers to have a meat mixed in with his portion to consider it a complete meal. I'll buy smoked sausage when I am planning on having mac and cheese for dinner because it's easy to heat and add to his bowl. The problem is, smoked sausage usually comes with 2 links to a package, so we end up with way more meat than he'll eat in one sitting. If I don't feel like freezing the extra link, I find a soup recipe to use up the remainder. So after our mac and cheese dinner this week, I planned to use up the extra sausage and the last bits of an open bag of lentils in my cupboard to make a pot of Lentil and Sausage Soup, which is another great Golden Blossom Honey recipe. 

 

 

I am always looking for delicious and comforting soups during the colder months of the year, and this one fits the bill perfectly. It's hearty on its own, but it's also what I like to call a dipping soup because we'll serve it with a side of bread or dinner rolls to dip into the soup to soak up some of the liquid and give the bread flavor instead of using butter or oils. I usually never use water when making soup because I prefer to use a broth or stock as the liquid base, so I did swap out the water in the recipe and replaced it with chicken broth. If you're going for a vegetarian version, you can omit the sausage and use a vegetable broth instead. We've almost reached the winter finish line, but don't be in a hurry to put the soup pots away just yet. There's still a stretch of cold weather ahead, so keep the pot and this recipe on standby to get over the last few dregs of the season cozily and with a fully belly. 

 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

6 ounces smoked sausage, cut into 1/2-inch chunks

1 small fennel bulb, trimmed and coarsely chopped

1/2 cup onion, chopped

2 carrots, diced

3 large cloves garlic, minced

6 cups water

2 tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

1 1/4 cups green lentils, rinsed

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE 

   

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

What are your favorite "dipping soups"?   

Italian Vegetable Soup

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.

 

 

 

Happy New Year!  If there's anything I can say about the weather these past few months, I'd say quite unpredictable! From heavy lake effect snows hitting us in November, to almost beachy weather at Christmas, and now we're back to icy roads and shoveling the drive several times a day, it's been one of the wildest winters I've experienced in recent years. Jason's saying to hell with interest rates and has been scouring Florida and Texas real estate because he's already over it lol. I can hold out though. Our store will be closed the next 2 months (cause nobody is visiting an outlet mall on Lake Michigan in the winter), so I've been putting my heated blanket to good use. Yesterday it was super nippy out, so I thought I would get my household chores done, make a hot pot of soup, then get cozy under my blanket and spend the rest of the night eating said soup and catching up this month's book club selection- The Compound, which I'm really enjoying, if you're wondering. The soup I went with was Italian Vegetable Soup from Golden Blossom Honey because during these cold and flu months, I want to keep my immune system in tip top shape. This soup is loaded with vitamins and minerals, so I figured it's a great way to keep my body on the up and up while keeping my tummy full. 

 

Don't let the long ingredient list fool you. You should already have most of it on hand as they are kitchen staples. All I had to run out for was fresh Parmesan and Swiss chard leaves. With a good veggie chopper, you can make quick work of this recipe. From start to finish, you can have everything done in under an hour. This soup does have ham as an ingredient, which my daughter and I don't eat, but it was easy enough to sautee that separate from the onions then add it to my husband's bowl upon serving. Speaking of my husband, he's not usually a huge soup eater, but he did ask for seconds on this Italian Vegetable Soup, so I'd call this recipe quite a success upon that request. Additionally, even with his second helping, there is enough left over to reheat for dinner tonight. Two nights of healthy meals for 3 people that's not only delicious but budget friendly shoots this recipe straight to the top of my favorite winter soups. A great recipe find and the perfect way to start the New Year off right! 

 

Ingredients

1/2 small green cabbage, rinsed and sliced

6 Swiss chard leaves, rinsed and sliced

1/4 cup cooked ham, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped

1/2 cup onion, finely chopped

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 ribs celery, chopped

2 large carrots, chopped

2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 small zucchini, diced

1 (28) ounce can Italian tomatoes, chopped, with their juice

1 tablespoon GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

6 cups vegetable or beef broth

1 (19 ounce) can white cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup rice, uncooked

salt and pepper to taste

Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE 

 

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

What books do you have on your TBR list for January?  

Split Pea Soup

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.

 

 

It's officially autumn, so that makes it officially soup season in my book. We do still have a few more warm weather days to get through, then it's time for all the good comfort things that the season brings, like knitted throws, chunky sweaters, hot tea, and lots and lots of soup. As much as I love soup and make it frequently throughout the year, I have never in my 45 years made split pea soup. I don't know why either, because peas have always been a favorite veggie of mine, and I'd eat them every night for dinner if my family wouldn't complain about the repetition. I usually have to find creative ways to sneak them into our dinners, like tucking them into fettuccine, shepherd's pie, steamed as a side dish, and so on. We had a few chilly, rainy days last week, so I hopped over to my favorite recipe resource, Golden Blossom Honey, to look for a few new soup ideas to test out and finally decided to give their Split Pea Soup recipe a try. 

 

If you're a big fan of soups that are jam packed with lots of different veggies, then this Split Pea Soup is going to shoot straight to the top of your favorites. Obviously the peas are the main draw here, but potatoes, onions, celery, and carrots added in give so much bulk and flavor variety to this recipe, it could also be called vegetable soup for those days that I want to sneak more peas by my family without them getting suspicious that we're "eating peas for dinner again? ugh!" Sometimes you gotta be sneaky like that. And I don't even feel an ounce of guilt since there are so many nutrients in this soup, that knocks the guilt away from my word play deception. Served with a side of crusty rolls, this is the ultimate chilly weather comfort food if there ever was one. 

 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup fresh carrots, diced

2 cups russet potatoes, peeled and diced

2 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 cup onion, chopped

1 stalk celery, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 cups vegetable or chicken broth

2 tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

1 cup dried green split peas, rinsed and drained

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper to taste

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE 

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

Is it still hot in your area, or have the autumn temperatures started to move in? 

Curried Broccoli Soup

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

I think that I am so over this summer, my body is starting to crave the comfort foods of autumn. My family raised their eyebrows last week when I made a big pot of chili and expected them to eat it for dinner on a 90 degree day. They knew better than to say anything, but I don't think they were too pleased with my dinner choice that day. This week I was really wanting some broccoli and cheddar soup, but I also wanted to be a decent human and not subject them to hot foods on sweltering days. Still wanting soup though, I decided to scour my trusty friend's recipe index over at Golden Blossom Honey for a cold soup that might get me over the cravings, and just so happened to stumble upon a little gem of a recipe. This Curried Broccoli Soup is the most perfect soup that can be served without any issues during the warmer months of the year when soup isn't at the forefront of anyone's thoughts when it comes to meal options.

 

Even on the hottest days, you can serve up this soup without any complaints. It's light, cool, and refreshing, so it won't leave you feeling weighed down, which is a blessing in itself when the sun is trying to melt everything in its path. This is a sweet and savory soup, so it's a 2 for 1 where flavor profiles are concerned. Since it is pureed, I would suggest this soup for lunch over dinner since it's not overly filling, or as an appetizer if you wanted to serve it as a dinner course. It would pair nicely with a slice of crusty bread, or even with some garlic toast. I realize that we're more than halfway through the hellish heat of summer days, but it's not over yet, so you're going to want to save this recipe to get you through the last stretch of heat before autumn approaches and we can move on to heartier comfort soups. 

 

Ingredients

1 large head of broccoli, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 medium onions,chopped

5 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 Tablespoon GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

1 teaspoon curry powder

1/4 teaspoon grated orange zest

8 ounces plain nonfat yogurt

 

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

 

  

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

What are you serving for dinner on extreme heat days?   

Spring Carrot Soup

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

Spring is finally here and I am loving the longer, brighter days that have been presenting themselves to us. I've also noticed that my tulips and hyacinths are just starting to peek through the ground and that makes me excited that the world will be in colorful bloom in just a few short weeks. But even with the sunny days, there is still a nip in the air, so it's not time to shelve all of the soup recipes yet. There are so many great soup options that are perfect for spring days that still have a bit of a bite in them, like this Spring Carrot Soup. This is a Golden Blossom Honey recipe that you'll be glad to have on hand throughout the season.  

This is a light soup that won't weigh you down, but you'll still feel full and satisfied after a bowl. For there being minimal ingredients, it's packed full not only in flavor, but in nutrients also. Like with most Golden Blossom Honey recipes, this is another that doesn't take a lot of prep or cook time. I actually made the first half the night before, then added the milk and reheated the following day for lunch. So this is a great make-ahead meal if you know you're going to be short on time the following day. While this recipe is written to eat the soup warm, I ate a bowl cold, fresh out of the fridge and found that I enjoyed it equally, so it will transition perfectly into the summer months for those who love a cold soup as well. 

Ingredients

1 bunch of carrots, about 1 pound

1 baking potato

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup chopped shallots

4 cups vegetable or chicken broth

2 tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

black pepper to taste

Garnish

plain yogurt or sour cream

chopped scallions or chives

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

What's your favorite springtime soup? 

Sausage and White Bean Stew with Polenta

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

Punxsutawney Phil predicted 6 more weeks of winter recently and the only positive I'll take from that prediction is we get to enjoy stew and soup season a little longer. While my husband isn't a big soup eater in the warmer months, I do eat it year round. Because of that, I usually like to break out the recipes that I know he'll enjoy during the cold months of the year so I can save my favorites for the warmer months and not feel guilty if he opts to eat something other than what I make then. Jason will try to put sausage in any and every soup or stew, so he's lost his chili making privileges at home. He's ruined 2 good batches of chili by putting sausage in the pot, knowing that it's something that I, nor or daughter, will eat. Alas, even though he's not allowed to make chili anymore, I did find a Sausage and White Bean Stew with Polenta recipe on Golden Blossom Honey that I would be more than fine with him cooking any time he pleases. 

Even though Jason wants to believe he's a master chef, he's not very good in the kitchen. Breakfast foods I can trust him with, but anything else is always hit or miss. However, this is a recipe that I'm pretty sure that even he couldn't mess up if he tried. There are minimal, easy to prepare ingredients tossed into this stew and it's so quick to get it to all come together, there really isn't time for him to randomly add extra spices or ingredients that he assumes will just all work out (usually, it doesn't lol). That way you know that it's going to come out perfect every single time. For a vegetarian version, you could replace the sausage with sauteed mushrooms or even seitan or tofu and still have a delicious and hearty stew. Any way you prepare it, it's a nice cold weather comfort food. If we're going to be hanging on to these wintry conditions for an extra month, we might as well make the best of it with tasty stews like this one, right?

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil

3/4 pound Italian sausage, casings removed, cut into 1-inch chunks

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 (16 -18 ounce) ready-made plain polenta roll

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

How do you feel about Punxsutawney Phil's prediction? 

Mushroom Soup with Scallions and Sherry

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

Do we want to talk about this cold snap that's upon us? Jason left for Florida earlier this week and I'm not even jealous because it's not nearly as warm there this winter as it was last year. Ok, maybe I am a little jealous, but we aren't getting any snow here so I'm not too mad about his adventures this month. I do eat a lot of stews and soups when the temperatures drop below freezing, and I will say that my soup pots have been in constant use this month. We've already made made chili, potato soup, broccoli soup, and even piping hot ramen, but to finish off the week, I decided to make this Mushroom Soup with Scallions and Sherry that I pulled off of Golden Blossom Honey's recipe index. 

 

I like to make these types of lighter soups when it's just myself and my daughter at home because of the ease of preparation, the short cook time, and because it's filling as-is since neither of us need extra heavier ingredients to feel satisfied. I love the earthy tones of this soup and think that it pairs well with a hot black tea for lunch or a red wine for dinner. If my husband were home when I cooked this, I would have added ground sausage to his portion, or even shredded chicken since soup isn't a full meal for him unless there's some kind of meat mixed in. So if you're the same, those are a few good options to consider to bulk it up a little. If you like a more creamy soup, pour in a little heavy whipping cream towards the end of your cook time. I served mine with some sliced ciabatta bread and topped off the soup with sliced parts of a green onion. This isn't necessary and will add a touch more onion-y flavor to the finished dish. But it added visual appeal to the soup with the pop of green against the browns in the bowls so I just went with it. If the Farmer's Almanac is to be trusted, it looks like my area will be a little below average on temperatures for the remainder of winter, so this is a recipe that we'll definitely be keeping on hand to help keep the chill off the bones for the rest of the season. 

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons butter or margarine

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup scallions (white part only), finely chopped

1 pound mushrooms, sliced

4 Tablespoons cream sherry

1 Tablespoon GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans low-salt chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

Have the temperatures been running below average in your area this winter? 

Roasted Tomato and Harvest Vegetable Stew

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

Anybody else welcome autumn with a sigh of relief and a huge smile? The first day of fall here was gloriously cool and rainy, a welcoming contrast to the months of heat we are coming down from. In other words, it's FINALLY soup season! Normally we'd kick off the season with a huge pot of chili, but veggie soup was calling my name this week so we went with Roasted Tomato and Harvest Vegetable Stew instead. This Golden Blossom Honey recipe is another fantastic find for your summer's end garden haul. 

Don't let the lengthy ingredient list fool you. This isn't a stew that takes all day to prepare. Just a little chop time, then the rest comes together in under 30 minutes. The veggies and spices together make a perfect pot of stew, but the addition of feta really took this recipe to a whole new level. I don't normally add any kind of cheese to my vegetable soups, so a whole new flavor experience was unlocked for my palate this week. Definitely something I'll be adding to my veggie based soups from now on. One thing that I did change in the recipe was I added in a can of tomato sauce because I like a thicker broth. This is not necessary though and didn't change the flavor profile at all, but just a suggestion for those like me who like a thicker broth like I do. Overall, this is a delicious and hearty stew that we're going to return to time and time again all autumn and winter long.

Ingredients

2 pounds plum tomatoes

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium onions, coarsely chopped

3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1 medium yellow squash, cut into 1-inch chunks

1 medium zucchini squash, cut into 1-inch chunks

1/2 pound fresh string beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch chunks

1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1-inch chunks

2 1/2 cups frozen corn, or fresh cut from the cob

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

 CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

What will be the first soup or stew you make this autumn?

Chilled Almond Soup

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items. 

 

Don't mind me while I sit in the darkness of my air conditioned house and avoid the outside world for the next few weeks. Hot doesn't even begin to describe the heatwave washing through the Midwest. Hell would probably be more accurate. I've been waiting until well after the sun goes down to get my mail and take my dog for a walk, and even then I still come back in feeling overheated and sweaty. Needless to say, I'm using my oven as little as possible lately and we're eating as many cold dishes as we can find. When the temperatures get this hot, I like to look for light eats that aren't going to sit heavy in my stomach, but can still pass for a full meal, like this Chilled Almond Soup. This is a recipe that I found on Golden Blossom Honey many months back, but kept skipping over it because it wasn't something that I had ever tried before and wasn't quite sure if I was going to like it or not. I mean, grapes in a soup isn't something that's common here in the US, so that had me raising my eyebrows at first.

 

The ingredients did intrigue me though, enough that I did a little digging on this soup and found that it's actually quite popular in Spain, where it's called Ajo Blanco. It's a creamy soup packed with so many flavors, perfect for a meal starter or as a full meal in itself. I made it on one of our hottest days so far this season and loved that it was light and refreshing. The soup alone was quite strong in flavor, but it was missing something. So, I made sure to eat a grape with my next spoonful and was shocked to find that it does change the flavor profile quite a bit. I'd honestly never expect the soup ingredients and the grapes to compliment each other as they did, but they blended together beautifully! The croutons gave it added texture and crunch, rounding out the recipe deliciously. This soup is so perfect for a hot summer day, but I will recommend not serving it for date night or eating it on your lunch at work because the garlic is strong in this recipe. And garlic breath really doesn't win many friends LOL. But if you're shut in your home avoiding the heat like I am, it's one of the best chilled soup recipes I've ever made, so I'd recommend adding it to your hot weather meal plan this season. 

Ingredients

Soup:

1 (7-8 ounce) loaf day-old crusty French bread, crust removed, bread cut into 3-inch lengths (reserve one 3-inch length for topping – see below)

1 cup blanched slivered almonds

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 cup chicken stock

1/3 cup dry sherry

2 tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Toppings:

1 cup seedless green grapes, halved

reserved bread cut into 1/2-inch croutons

1 tablespoon olive oil

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE 

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

Are you experiencing hotter than average temperatures in your area?

 

Chicken & Cauliflower Soup

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items. 

 

 

Do you want to know what instant regret tastes like? Canned soup. It's not something I ever make, but we seem to always have some in the house because my husband can't pass up a good deal if he sees one. I think he bought a case of Campbell's Chicken Noodle last winter when it was on special and it's been sitting in our pantry untouched since then. Fast forward to last week when we were battling Covid and our appetites started to return, but the energy for cooking was still lagging, my daughter and I thought maybe we'd like some soup, so I pulled out the bargain priced soup for a quickly made meal. "Why does this taste like a mouthful of salt!?" Allison complained as she dumped her bowl into the trash. Most people get upset about losing their taste while battling Covid, but at that point, we were both wondering why we hadn't gotten so lucky. I ended up pulling up this Chicken & Cauliflower Soup from Golden Blossom Honey to make up for the canned mistake we never should have made in the first place.

 

 

I know it's easy to just pop a top off a can of soup when that's about all the energy you have when you aren't feeling well, but honestly, this soup didn't take that much more effort than the canned variety. It not only tastes 1000x better, but offers way more nutrition for a healing body as well. Thankfully we're all cleared up from the covid cooties now, but I'll still be keeping this recipe on hand for quick lunch and dinner options for the remainder of the winter and spring months. Because who needs a can of regret when you can have a belly full of this soup instead?

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

2 (13 3/4 ounce) cans chicken broth

3 cups water

1 pound chicken tenders cut into 1-inch pieces

2 bunches red Swiss chard, leaves only, washed well, drained and chopped

1 head cauliflower, broken into florets

1/2 cup orzo

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

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Barley, Beef and Kale Soup

Disclosure- I received the mentioned product courtesy of the sponsor for the the purpose of this review. All opinions are genuine, based on my experience with the product, and have not been influenced by promotional items.

 

 

"Hot Soup. Where They Got It?" I tend to watch that Bad Lip Reading football clip on YouTube once a year, usually in the fall when football starts back up again, and every time we have soup for dinner I have that quote just floating around in my head. I love hot soup year round, but it is especially inviting when the first nips of cold hit the air as the season changes. I could eat soup 7 days a week from now until spring if my family would let me make it for lunch or dinner that often. Unfortunately, their love of soup doesn't run as deep as mine, but with the right recipes, I can get away with it 2 or 3 times a week. Jason is obsessed with Zuppa Toscana, and I have an amazing knock off recipe for it that I make at least once a month. Because it calls for kale and because a bunch of kale from the market is usually way more than we need for one recipe, I always end up with enough leftover to make a whole other batch of soup. As I was scrolling through Golden Blossom Honey last week, I happened upon a recipe for Barley, Beef and Kale Soup and thought it would be a fantastic recipe to keep on hand for using up the extra kale leftovers I have on the weeks that I make Zuppa Toscana. 

 

 

You can buy lean beef cubes in the meat department ready to pop into this soup, but I had some NY strip steaks in the freezer that were approaching their best by date and thought I'd cut those up and use in this recipe. I wasn't sure how that was going to play out, but once it was ready and served, the husband complimented the whole thing. "This is really good soup. All of it. The meat is really good, too." I know grocery budgets are tight for everyone these days, so I was pleased to find another recipe on the website that I could make substitutions where needed without affecting the flavor of the finished dish compared to the original recipe. It's those subtle changes that can help keep grocery costs maintainable while still keeping true to the flavor of Golden Blossom Honey's original recipes that have made them a staple in my weekly meal planning. If you're looking for a new soup recipe that's affordable, delicious and filling, say no more. Just copy this recipe, grab some dinner rolls or a loaf of crusty bread and you're going to be good to go!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

3/4 cup onion, chopped

1 pound lean beef cubes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

3 (14 ounce) cans beef broth

2 tablespoons GOLDEN BLOSSOM HONEY

2 cups carrots, diced

1/2 cup barley, uncooked

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced

1/2 pound fresh kale, coarsely chopped

salt and pepper to taste

CLICK HERE FOR FULL RECIPE

 

 

You can find this recipe, as well as many more delicious recipes right on the Golden Blossom Honey recipe page! Be sure to follow Golden Blossom Honey on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products and promotions.

If you like this recipe, be sure to come back every Friday, where I feature a new recipe from Golden Blossom Honey, and be sure to Pin It on Pinterest! 

   

What is your favorite way to incorporate kale into your recipes?