Chunky Vegetable Soup

Recipe from Southern Living. Makes 35 cups.



2 lb ground chuck
1 small sweet onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 (14 oz) cans low-sodium beef broth
3 (29 oz) cans mixed vegetables with potatoes, rinsed and drained
3 (14 1/2 oz) cans diced new potatoes, rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz) can sweet peas with mushrooms and pearl onions, rinsed and drained
2 (26 oz) jars tomato, herbs, and spices pasta sauce
1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes with sweet onion

Cook ground chuck and onion, in batches, in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat, stirring until meat crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain well, and return to Dutch oven. Stir in salt, pepper, and beef broth; bring to a boil.

Stir in mixed vegetables and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer at least 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Bev's Famous Meatloaf

Recipe from Southern Living. Makes 10 servings.



2 lb. lean ground beef
1 lb. ground pork sausage
18 saltine crackers, crushed
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp yellow mustard
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar, divided
1/2 cup ketchup

Preheat oven to 350. Combine first 8 ingredients and 1/4 cup brown sugar in a medium bowl just until blended. Place mixture in a lightly greased 11 x 7-inch baking dish, and shape mixture into a 10 x 5-inch loaf.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Remove from oven, and drain. Stir together ketchup and remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar; pour over meatloaf. Bake 15 more minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 160. Remove from oven; let stand 20 minutes. Remove from baking dish before serving.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

What Southern kitchen can go without fried chicken?! This recipe comes from Southern Living and makes 4 servings.



1 (3 3/4 lb) cut up whole chicken
3 cups buttermilk
2 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
2 cups all-purpose flour
vegetable oil

Combine chicken and buttermilk in a large nonmetal bowl; cover and chill 8-12 hours. Drain chicken, discarding buttermilk.

Preheat oven to 350. Combine salt and pepper; sprinkle half of salt mixture over chicken. Combine remaining salt mixture and flour in a large zip-top plastic freezer bag. Place 2 pieces of chicken in bag; seal bag, and shake to coat. Remove chicken. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken.

Pour oil to depth of 1/4 inch in a large skillet. Fry chicken pieces, in 2 batches, in hot oil over medium-high heat 5-6 minutes on each side or until browned. Place chicken on a wire rack in a jelly roll pan.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done.

Chicken and Dumplings

Both of these recipes come from Southern Living.



Classic Chicken and Dumplings

1 (3/4 lb) whole chicken
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 1/2 tsp salt, divided
3/4 tsp pepper, divided
1 tsp chicken bouillon granules
3 cups self-rising flour
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
1/3 cup shortening
2 tsp bacon drippings (2 tsp butter plus 1/4 tsp salt may be substituted)
1 cup milk

Bring chicken, water to cover, garlic powder, thyme, 1 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper to a boil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 1 hour. Remove chicken; reserve broth.

Cool chicken 30 minutes; skin, bone, and shred chicken. Skim fat from broth. Add chicken, bouillon, and remaining 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper to broth. Return to a simmer.

Combine flour and poultry seasoning in a bowl. Cut in shortening and bacon drippings with a pastry blender until crumbly. Stir in milk. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll to 1/8 inch thickness; cut into 1 inch pieces.

Drop dumplings, a few at a time, into simmering broth, stirring gently. Cover and simmer, stirring often, 25 minutes.


Easy Chicken and Dumplings

1 (32 oz) container low sodium chicken broth
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 (10 3/4 oz) can reduced fat cream of chicken soup
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
1 (10.2 oz) can refrigerated jumbo buttermilk biscuits
2 carrots, diced
3 celery ribs, diced

Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Increase heat to a medium-high; return to a low boil.

Place biscuits on a lightly floured surface. Roll or pat each biscuit to 1/8 inch thickness; cut into 1/2 inch wide strips.

Drop strips, 1 at a time, into boiling broth mixture. Add carrots and celery. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent dumplings from sticking.