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     One tradition that we have for Christmas Eve is to keep our meal simple.  We generally have a couple of kinds of soup.  I shared a post about this here.  Soup is such a warm hug type of food, or comfort food in other words.  

       Recently we had a women's Christmas Dinner and Program at our church.  I am on the planning committee for these activities and our committee decided to have a buffet of soups for the dinner.  If you haven't ever been to a soup buffet, I also wrote a post about that on this post.   We had about 9 different kinds of delicious soup and the night was wonderful! 

       My contribution to the buffer that night was two kinds of soup.  One was the ever popular Taco Soup, with toppings of tortilla chips, sour cream and cheese.  The other was this Salmon Shrimp Bisque that I came up with as an alternative to the much more expensive Lobster Bisque. 

        Whenever I come up with a new recipe and try it on people, I am always a nervous wreck.  What a relief when I discovered that this soup was practically all gone by the end of the night! Whew! 

        I actually made this soup in my Instant Pot.  I was able to sauté the veggies in it and then after everything was mixed together, I used the Instant Pot as a Crock Pot to simmer the soup in until it was time to serve it!  One pot equals less mess and I love that.  Not only that, with the lid on the Instant Pot, transporting the soup was an easy task. No spills! 

      If you don't have an Instant Pot, you can always use your Crock Pot and simply start the vegetables in a skillet on the stove. 

     I haven't decided if I'm going to make the switch from clam chowder this year and go with this bisque or stick with tradition.  My son is also doing a duck for Christmas Eve this year, so things are going to be a bit different than the norm.  That's okay though, as long as we keep the reason for the season in mind and spend it with as many loved ones as we can,  I know that it will be a great Christmas. 

     So, if you want to try this Salmon Shrimp Bisque for the holidays, or anytime, here is the recipe! Click on  it for the PDF. 
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     I know, I know!  You can get on Pinterest and find loads of recipes for meals in a jar.  If you haven't looked, meals in a jar are shelf stable meals or desserts put together in canning jars.  They are generally shelf stable for about a year (or more) and they are a great way to have something quick to fix in a pinch AND meals in a jar make terrific gifts! All the preparer has to do is add water and any other perishables that the recipe may call for.

     Last week, I taught a back to basics jam making class to our church women's group.  Each class that was taught had optional crafts associated with them. I decided that for my class I would also offer a meal in a jar as the optional "extra!"    Well, the class went really well, we made a batch of strawberry jam, and I handed out samples of blackberry jam in these tiny jars! They were adorable as well as delicious! But, I digress...

     This soup in a jar recipe is one that I have had for a long time and I have tweaked it to be more to my family's taste.  The original recipe didn't even have garlic in it!  I mean, how can you have chicken noodle soup without garlic?  The ingredients are ones that you probably already have in your pantry, and if not, they are super easy to find and inexpensive.  And yet, when the soup all comes together, it tastes great!  My son and my husband both go back for seconds! Sure, it isn't your homemade noodle, grandma's handed down recipe, but it isn't bad at all for something really quick and convenient to make.  As you can see in the picture, I include a can of chicken with my gift, or pair the chicken with the jar in my pantry.  After that, all you need is 5 cups of water! 

     When you put the ingredients together in a jar, you will want to seal it to preserve the freshness of the noodles and the herbs and spices.  I used my Food Saver with an attachable jar sealer to do that.  I love this machine and sealing the jars is quick and easy! I purchased my Food Saver at Costco.  Be sure that you get one that is compatible with the jar sealer attachment. 

    I made labels for the tops of the jars by printing them on the Avery site.  You can use my pdf here. 

     I also made a recipe card that you can print, trim and attach to your jar.  It tells you how to prepare the soup from the jar.  Just click on it, open it and save it to print.

    Here are the directions for putting the soup mix together.  Isn't it great that it is in a pint jar? I love to use a wide mouth pint jar in order to hold enough noodles.  As you put your noodles into the jar, be sure to shake them down so that you fit in as close to 2 cups as you can.  Honestly, I shopped all over to find wide mouthed pint jars at the best price that I could for my class.  The best price I found was at Target, in store, not online! They were pretty hard to find though.  I bought the last boxes at two of the Targets that I shop at.  So, good luck! 
    If you don't have a Food Saver, you could simply put on the lid and use it within 6 months.  Or you could put in an O2 packet to help keep it fresh longer.  

    I mounted the soup recipe onto some decorative cardstock and trimmed it with decorative edged scissors and tied it to the jar with Baker's Twine.  I went old school! Sometimes that still works best!  
​      Everyone in the class had a great time and I was so pleased with how everything turned out. Do you have favorite "recipes in a jar" that make great gifts or quick meals?  Send me the link to your favorites in the comments below! 

Did you know that tomorrow is National Home Made Soup day? In the winter soup is a wonderful meal to whip up for dinner, or any other meal really!

If you live where we live you'll know we had winter last week and now it seems we're kind of in spring mode (I want the rain to come back!) However, in most parts of the country it is still cold, perfect soup weather!

No matter where you live, we have a roundup of some of our favorite soup recipes from the blog for you to use! Choose any one of these soup recipes for your National Home Made Soup day dinner (or soup day lunch, or soup day breakfast!)

First up is this delicious Vegetable and Ham Bisque my mom made. You can buy the cute pumpkin tureen if you want, but the soup will taste delicious no matter what! All those yummy veggies and ham hocks sound so perfect for a cold winter's day!

If you're really in a ham mood, you could also try this Ham and Cheese Broccoli Soup! This soup is simple to make, and so delicious. Doesn't ham and broccoli sound like the perfect soup combination?

Sometimes there is nothing like Chicken Noodle Soup. This recipe I shared with you is a pretty darn good chicken noodle soup recipe, if I do say so myself!

Or, if you want something with a Mexican food flair, you can try my Chicken Taco Soup! This just might be the recipe I go with for dinner tomorrow because chicken tacos as a soup is really one of the best things to ever happen.

Or... I might try this Pumpkin Sausage Soup! You know I can't resist a good pumpkin anything, and that definitely includes a pumpkin soup! My mom made this pumpkin sausage soup and it is also a great option for those of you following a Keto diet!

If you're a big curry fan (like me!) then you could go with this delicious Coconut Curry Soup! The curry really gives this soup a depth of flavor that can't be beat on a cold winter's day!

You could also go international with this delicious Ecuadorian Encebollado Soup Alicia made for you! Alicia said they come home with cans of it every time they go visit Ecuador, but here she made it from scratch so you could try it too!

Sticking with international we'll round out this roundup with this delicious Irish Stew! Stew is perfect on a cold winter's day, and just look at the picture of this Irish stew! If that alone doesn't make your mouth water for it then... maybe you aren't feeling well and some soup would be really good for you!

Well, that is our soup roundup! I hope you find the perfect soup recipe for you to try out for tomorrow, and happy National Home Made Soup Day!

     Over the last few years, I have seen a lot of recipes for different types of coconut chicken and curried chicken soup.  Many of them require mushrooms, which I am not a big fan of, and fresh ginger which I don't always have on hand.  So, eventually, I came up with my own recipe for Coconut Curry Chicken Soup that is easy to put together and you will probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry and freezer.  
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There are some nice fresh veggies in this dish, lots of chicken and the curry and coconut flavors compliment each other so nicely, as well as the hint of ginger! It is the perfect soup to comfort you during cold winter months, or even  sort of cool Phoenix days! 
     I love my recipe because it is simple and not to spicy but extremely tasty.  If you are in the mood for something a little spicier and maybe more authentic, there is a good Epicurious recipe here.  But, I think you will love this recipe.   Remember, you can always add more veggies or change them out for something else.  Add mushrooms if you love them!  I was eating a bowlful for lunch and I was thinking a few potato cubes or some rice might be nice in it. I might try that next time I make it. 
​     Enjoy!
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Here are some other soup posts you may enjoy: 

• ​Pumpkin Sausage Soup-Keto Style
• Renny's Homemade Chicken Soup
• Encebollado
• Tips for Hosting a Fabulous Soup Buffet Party