Mashed Potato Soup

 A few weeks ago I was blessed with the chance to spend some time with a couple of my college roommates.  It was so great to see them and catch up on life!  My junior-year roommate HeidiMichelle treated us all to a wonderful dinner of potato soup.  It was so delicious!  Some day in the future I will definitely have to blog it.  As she was telling me how she makes it, I was reminded of a soup I have made on occasion but have not yet posted—mashed potato soup.

While HeidiMichelle’s soup starts with fresh potatoes, I start this one with leftover mashed potatoes.  Consequently, there is no real recipe as your seasonings will depend on the mashed potatoes with which you start.  I started with a version of my Thanksgiving mashed potatoes, so I didn’t need a lot of extra seasoning.

If your mashed potatoes are really stiff like mine, you’ll want to put a little water in the bottom of the pot as you reheat them so they are less likely to burn.

I used frozen broccoli cuts.  Chopped broccoli would have been a little better for bite-sized pieces, but I was just using what I had on hand.  You can also use leftover sautéed broccoli or fresh broccoli that has been steamed.

If you want to include meat, bacon, sausage, or ham would work.  I used leftover ham, and it was excellent!!  You can also use the meat as a topping to stretch it (like I did here).  To make meatless mashed potato soup, simply omit the meat.

One important key to making this soup is to make sure you don’t let it boil after you’ve added the milk.  You don’t want the milk to curdle.  Of course, with my four kids running around and needing my attention, I often accidentally let it go to a slow boil.  It still tastes good, just doesn’t look as pretty.

Mashed Potato Soup

Water

Leftover mashed potatoes

Broccoli, leftover sautéed, frozen chopped, or fresh cut and cooked

Ham, bacon, or sausage, cooked and diced or chopped

Shredded cheese, cheddar or cheddar/jack blend

Milk

Salt and pepper, if necessary

Cover bottom of medium or large pan with water.  Add mashed potatoes.

Heat over medium, stirring often until water is incorporated and potatoes are thinned down and hot.  Stir in broccoli and ham.  Continue to heat until broccoli is no longer frozen.

Add a large handful or two of cheese; stir until melted.  Add milk, stirring thoroughly until desired consistency.

The soup will thicken as it cooks and sits.  Take care not to let the soup boil.  Add salt and pepper if needed.

A Sunday Post? Yup! One More Tip from My Meat Manager!

As our regular readers will know, we rarely post on Sunday.  A Sunday post means there is something important that we think you need to know ASAP.  Well, that’s the case today!

If you did not read Friday’s “Getting the Most from Your Meat Counter” post, go back and read it now before you continue.

I returned to my Raley’s meat department on Friday in order to pick up my knives.  (Don’t know what I’m talking about?  Go back and read Friday’s post.)  While I was there, my amazing meat department manager told me another great money-saving tip!  He said all grocery stores are lowering the price of hams right now.  As summer approaches, demand for hams decreases.  Consequently, stores want to get rid of all those hams to make room for more summery meat (steaks, ribs….BBQ meats), so the price of hams will keep going down until the stores’ inventory of hams is cleared out.  I imagine these prices wouldn’t be advertised, as they would be dependent upon each store’s inventory.  So be sure to check next time you’re at the store.

A good-priced ham is definitely something we Near to Nothing girls can’t pass up.  You can easily get multiple meals and lunches out of one half-ham.  What can you do with a ham?  We have a few suggestions:

• Quiche
• Ham and potato soup
• Split pea soup
• Grilled ham and cheese sandwich
• Ham and cheese quesadilla
• Omelets

Oh, and my knives are wonderful!!  My utility knife sliced right through a tomato yesterday.

Leftover Ham: Quiche

Sumiko mentioned that we're going to be together for Easter this year.  It's always a nice treat to be together for holidays since we live over 300 miles and 5 hours apart.  In discussing our menu, we were tempted to break away from the traditional Easter ham, but after some consideration, we decided to stick with tradition.  Our reasons:

• Hams (including spiral hams, which we like) are usually one sale before Easter.
• They're easy to make. Most are already cooked and require only reheating.  When you want to keep it simple so that you're able to actually enjoy your day, this is important.
• They produce a lot of leftovers.  

It's that last point that I want to focus on today.  We're planning on having Easter dinner on Saturday so that we can actually enjoy Sunday without being stuck in the kitchen all day.  Not to mention it can be stressful trying to get a huge meal together after being at church all morning.  Instead, we're hoping to enjoy each other and the sunny, 70-something degree weather we're supposed to have on Sunday.  After church we're hoping to get pictures of our kids dressed up (it's not easy to get a 6-year-old, three 2-year olds, and a 9-month-old sitting still and all looking at the camera at the same time, let alone smiling, but we're going to be adventurous and try it!), go for a hike, etc.  We figured leftover ham sandwiches would be perfect to pack for a picnic lunch after church!

Ham is so diverse - sandwiches aren't the only things leftover ham's good for.  It makes great soup, omelets, breakfast burritos, etc.  The latest thing I've tried is ham and cheese quiche.  It's a great way to use up leftover ingredients other than the usual ham and potato soup, which is great (but gets a little old if we have it too much)!

Ham and Cheese Quiche
1 9-inch pie crust
1 cup ham, diced
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup onion, chopped and sauteed
1/4 cup green bell pepper, chopped and sauteed
4 oz. can diced green chiles
2 eggs
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper, to taste

Line pie crust with foil; bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes.  Remove foil and bake an additional 5 minutes.

Place ham, cheese, onion, green bell pepper, and chiles in baked pie crust.

In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, salt and pepper; mix well.

Pour egg mixture over ham.

Bake at 400 for 35 to 40 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  If the crust begins to brown too much, cover only the crust with foil.  Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting.