Soup to Warm Your Tummy

Poor Man's Stew

I am watching snowflakes dance in the wind!  It is the Monday before Thanksgiving and I am working from home today.  Kids our off for break and I volunteered to work from home to make sure the house doesn't burn down!  I am an excellent multi tasker; hosting conference calls, writing emails, yelling at kids and cooking a pot of soup for tonight's dinner!  Let's see my husband do that without missing a beat!  LOL!

This soup was a favorite when I was a kid.  There were two dishes named Poor Man when I was growing up.  There was the Poor Man's Steak (hamburger helper type dish but homemade over rice) and Poor Man's Stew, which I am going to show you how to make now!  This one was my favorite!

Poor Man's Stew

The above picture shows nearly all you will need for this recipe...

• 2 lbs hamburger (I use 85/15 blend)
• 48 ounces beef broth
• 2 cans of cheddar cheese soup
• bag of baby dutch potatoes sliced to a 1/4 inch
• 4 carrots sliced to a 1/4 inch
• 1 rib of celery (not shown yet) chopped
• 1 medium yellow onion (not shown yet) chopped
• slosh of olive oil
• salt, pepper and garlic powder

There's my onions and celery browning with the slosh of olive oil!  Remember to chop them small so they are not identifiable for picky kids!  Brown nicely till you can smell them cooking.

Next add your hamburger and sprinkle your salt, pepper and garlic powder on the beef as it browns.  I like to season the beef as it brings out more flavors of the meat. And the seasoning seems to stick around and not get watered down later.

Once the meat is cooked and is crumbly add your carrots and mix and let cook for another minute or two.

Add your broth and both cans of cheddar cheese soup.  Stir well and then add the potatoes. Cook on medium high heat till your potatoes are done (roughly 15-20 minutes).  Let the soup stand and skim off any fat that rises to the top.  Don't get too caught up in skimming... fat = flavor.

And there you go!  We are having this tonight with some garlic bread and hopefully eat by the fireplace!  It is pretty chilly here in Chicagoland and Soup/Stew and a roaring fire will make it all better!