Italian Night Soup

This thick, hearty soup was served at a church function and we all BEGGED (on our KNEES) for the recipe.  It’s delicious hot, my husband thinks I’m nuts, but I think it’s delicious cold, too.  You can probably only reheat it once because of the noodles, but good luck having leftovers.  I have modified it just a bit (to make it my own, of course).

Preheat: --
Category: Soup, Italian, Partially Homemade

Meat, cooked (I have used ground turkey, cut-up pork chops and both were amazing)
6 c. Water
1 can Diced Italian-style tomatoes, undrained
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
1 box Hamburger Helper – Lasagna
1-2 Tablespoons Olive oil
Zucchini, diced
Carrots, diced
Onion, diced

1.  Cook the meat in a small soup pot.  Or if you spill everything, like me, use a large soup pot.  Drain fat if necessary and set aside.  Also, I like to drain the juice from the can of tomatoes in to cook with the meat.  Yum!

2.  In the soup pot, add the olive oil and add diced vegetables.  Sauté until soft.

3.  Add the cooked meat, the water, the diced tomatoes, the Hamburger Helper seasoning packet, and the noodles.  Boil for 10 minutes, or until noodles are al dente.

4.  Turn the heat down to simmer and allow the soup to thicken for 5-15 minutes.  This is the perfect amount of time to throw together some AMAZING HOT BISCUITS (my mom’s recipe) and bake them!

Crockpot Beans (revisited!)

My friend Jolinn shared her recipe for crockpot beans with me about two years ago.  They were soooooo good!  But my kids wouldn’t eat them!!  So last night, as I was pouring beans and water and salt and pepper into the crockpot, I thought to myself, “What if we switch up the seasoning a little?”  So I did.  My kids CHOWED DOWN their lunches today!  First time in a week that they’ve really eaten their food!  My really picky eater said he loved it, so that tells you something.  :)

I have leftovers for another 2 meals for us, and two containers for my husband to take to lunch!

Preheat: --
Category: Crockpot, Beans, pictures

This recipe can be cut or multiplied easily.  Leftovers are AWESOME, AND you can make healthy, homemade refried beans by mashing them (not to mention far CHEAPER than the store!).

8 cups Water
4 cups Beans (Pinto are my fave, but you can use Great Northern, Black beans with this recipe… also, for chili, you can do a mix of Pinto, Great Northern, Kidney beans and have your beans uncanned!)
1 Tablespoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Pepper
1 Tablespoon Cumin
1/2 Tablespoon Garlic powder (you could use fresh garlic, too)
1 Tablespoon Onion powder (fresh onions minced are yummy, too!)
1 Tablespoon Chili powder

1.  Throw everything into the crockpot.

2.  Give it a quick stir.  Be sure to break up those powders if you use them!

3.  Set the crockpot on high for 8-10 hours.  Nine hours is about the sweet time.

4.  To eat it like us, serve it hot with a scoop of hot, cooked rice, with a Tablespoon of Reduced fat sour cream, and 1/8 cup Grated Extra Sharp Cheese.