Sausage Pumpkin Soup

This is a filling, awesome tasting soup, full of flavor, rich and robust, it’s a great soup for a blustery night.  I make mine with Spicy Bob Evans Sausage, you can make it with Italian Sausage as well, I prefer it without cream, hubby likes his with cream.  

And no, you don’t taste the pumpkin, it just gives the soup bulk and richness. It’s a great soup, trust me.  ~ Jan

1 pound pork sausage I like Bob Evans Spicy, or you can use Italian Sausage
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/4 pound fresh mushrooms sliced, or a can of mushrooms drained
2-3 large cloves of garlic, minced 
15 ounce can pumpkin 
4 cups chicken broth 
1 Tablespoon of Italian Seasoning - I use a heaping tablespoon
1/2 cup heavy cream or just add cream to individual bowls 
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a large pot, brown the sausage along with the onion, mushrooms, when almost browned, add garlic.  i don’t add the garlic in earlier because it burns easily; drain fat. Add the pumpkin and broth. Cover and simmer 20-30 minutes.

Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.

After it simmers you can add 1/2 cup heavy cream and simmer for a few minutes longer, or, if you’re like me, I like it with just the broth, so I don’t add cream to the entire recipe, instead I put hubby’s soup in a bowl and stir in a couple of tablespoons of cream.

Makes 8 cups or 8 servings 
Can be frozen

Carbs aren’t high in this soup, I would guestimate them to be 4-5 carbs per bowl depending on serving size.

The BEST Low Carb Chili EVER

 

I’ve tried so many recipes for low carb chili over the years and this is by far the best.  It’s so yummy, you don’t even miss the beans.

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. Bob Evans Spicy Sausage
1 medium onion
1 bell pepper (red or orange)
4 oz. cream cheese (1/2 brick) 
1 can of Rotel Tomatoes
2 cans of petite diced tomatoes (I prefer the ones with green chiles) 
1 pkt. Brooks Chili Mix Dry Seasoning
1 can drained and diced water chestnuts (optional) - I don’t add these 
1 can Beef Broth
1-3 cups chopped cabbage (I use coleslaw mix) - just add however much cabbage you want

Variation:  You can add one can of kidney beans, drained, or a half a can, or even a fourth of a can, just read the label for the carb count

Brown hamburger, onion and pepper.  Stir in the three cans of tomatoes and cream cheese, cut cream cheese into small cubes so it melts easily and cook until it’s blended.  Sometimes it’s necessary to whisk this mixture so that the cream cheese blends well and doesn’t appear curdled. Don’t just put all the ingredients in your crockpot and omit this step, you don’t want to end up with lumps of cream cheese when your chili is finished.

Put the rest of your ingredients in a crockpot, add the above ingredients and simmer on low all day or on high for 3-4 hours.

I don’t have a carb count for this, I would guestimate about 7-8 per bowl, this makes a large amount of chili.

Chips:

Brush both sides of low carb tortillas lightly with olive oil or just spray with Pam, add a little sea salt or taco seasoning, bake on oven rack at 350, watching carefully and turning often until brown and crispy

UPDATE  3.15.16

I made this chili, used an entire bag of coleslaw mix, 2 cans of beef broth because I used so much cabbage and I forgot the cream cheese.  I liked it even better this way, it tasted more like my original chili recipe.  I used a can of Rotel and 2 cans of diced tomatoes.  I may also add a can of green chiles to this...

 

Low Carb Buffalo Chicken Soup

Perfect for today where wind chill is going to be in the double digits below zero.  

I Breathe I’m Hungry posts the most amazing recipes, you can grab this Buffalo Chicken Soup  here...

The Best Broccoli Cheddar Soup

This is an excellent broccoli soup, even if you’re not eating low carb.  I used a recipe from DJ Foodie, one of my favorite low carb bloggers, to make this broccoli soup for lunch.  I slightly altered the original recipe, it’s a keeper, low carb friends...

1 Tablespoon butter, melted
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
4 small garlic cloves, minced
large pinch of dried thyme
2 cups chicken stock
1-12 ounce bag of steamed broccoli
8 ounces cream cheese, warmed and softened
1/2 lb. sharp cheddar cheese grated
lots of fresh cracked pepper

Cook broccoli in microwave as package directs.

Meanwhile, sauté the butter in a large  heavy pot, I put on the lid so that the onions sweat quickly and become transparent, adding the thyme as you cook them.  Stir in minced garlic after onions become translucent, as they can burn quickly.

Stir in the softened cream cheese and the chicken broth, whisking to blend.  If your cream cheese isn’t thoroughly warm, it will tend to clump, but don’t worry, I have a fix for that.

Stir in the cheddar cheese, and stir constantly until all is bubbling.  Add the broccoli, then take an immersion blender, and blend the soup, leaving some chunks of broccoli as shown in the photograph.  This will smooth out the cream cheese and make the soup thick.

It’s an amazing recipe, thanks so much for sharing DJ Foodie.  It would also be good with the addition of fresh mushrooms.

6 Servings - DJ Foodie published the following nutritionals, 334.64 calories per serving, 7.72 grams of carbs.  Mine would be a bit higher, as I added olive oil and possibly a bit more broccoli.  This soup is worth every carb, it’s perfect on a cold winter day!

I served mine with Pork Rinds, not exactly crackers, but they were salty and crispy, it worked well.

Enjoy ~ Jan

Here’s a linke to DJ Foodie’s Original Recipe

Photo courtesy of DJ Foodie

 

Chicken Bacon Crock Pot Chowder

 

Peace Love and Low Carb has a must try recipe.  The ingredients are wonderful, chicken, bacon, cream cheese, did I mention bacon?  And it’s a crock pot recipe, so it’s set it and forget it!  What’s not to love?  You have to check this out.

Grab the link here...

Photo courtesy of Peace Love and Low Carb

A collection of fall soups featured in I Breathe I'm Hungry...

One of my  favorite sites, I Breathe, I’m Hungry, posted a collection of 10 Best Soups for Fall.  This Roasted Broccoli and Cheddar looks amazing, without the bread, of course.  But what would be good with it is the infamous Low Carb Red Lobster Biscuit version that I’ve made countless times, I’ll post the recipe for it soon.

Meanwhile Here’s the link to these great soups from I Breathe I’m Hungry and while you're on her site, scroll down in her right sidebar to subscribe to her mailing list,  you will love what she posts  ~ Jan

Photo from Closet Cooking

Linda's Cauliflower Bisque

 

One of the very best low carb sites is Linda’s Low Carb Recipes.  This woman is famous in low carb circles for her homey, great tasting recipes.  I’ve never made one of her dishes that wasn’t outstanding.

Here’s a link to her Cauliflower Bisque, it’s a “must try” at my house this week...