Gretchen's Lentil Soup

My friend, Gretchen, found this recipe on the back of a Stonyfield yogurt container and made it for dinner. It was easy to make, inexpensive, healthy, and her kids scraped their bowls clean. I couldn't wait to try it! Of course, I had to convert it to a crock-pot recipe. ;)

5 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 stalks celery, chopped
4-5 carrots, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp chili pepper
2 cups lentils
2 quarts chicken stock

juice of 1 lemon
2 cups whole milk plain yogurt

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, optional

Add all to crock-pot, except lemon juice and yogurt. Cook on low for 6 hours. Turn crock-pot off and add lemon juice. Stir gently. Garnish with a generous dollop of yogurt and a bit of fresh parsley.

ETA: I served this to my kids with cornbread for lunch. They licked their bowls clean. I kid you not. This soup is delicious!

B & B Soup

(aka Bean & Bacon Soup, but we thought that name was too boring.)

1 (16 ounce) package dried navy beans
9 cups water
1/2 pound bacon
2 onions, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
4 teaspoons chicken bouillon
1 bay leaf
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
4 cups water

1.Cook the beans on HIGH in 9 cups of the water for one hour. Drain, rinse, and dump back in crock-pot. (If you soak & rinse your beans, you can skip this step.)
2.Cook the bacon to your desired texture (soft or crisp, whatever you prefer) and drain except for 1/4 cup grease. Coarsely chop the bacon. (In a pinch, I used a jar of real bacon bits instead and used 1/4 cup butter for the next step. It was fantastic this way.)
3.Add the onions and celery to the reserved grease and bacon and saute until soft, do not drain. Add the chicken base or cubes, 4 cups water, beans, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and cloves, and cook on LOW for 6 hours.

Serve over cornbread.

The kids (and adults) all loved this soup. Everyone asked for seconds. Great flavor!

Super Quick Stew

1-2 lbs. stew meat
2 cans Italian diced tomatoes
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 packet of onion soup mix (and water required) *
1 small bag frozen mixed veggies
1 small bag frozen broccoli

*can substitute 1 family-size can of french onion soup

Dump it all in the crock-pot and leave on low all day. Super simple. Super delicious!

BBQ Sausage & Rice

2 cups uncooked brown rice
4 cups water
1 pound kielbasa sausage, thinly sliced
1 red onion, chopped
1/4 cup dark molasses
1 Tbs. brown sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 (10 ounce) can tomato sauce
1/4 cup barbeque sauce

Add all to crock-pot and cook on LOW 4-6 hours.

Split Pea Soup w/ Drop Biscuits

This is super easy and delicious. You're going to love me for how simple this is to make!

1 lb. bag split peas
8 cups water
1 heaping Tbs. salt
1 tsp. (at least) pepper
1 bay leaf
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks chopped celery (but only if you're in the mood; they're not necessary)

Add all to crock-pot and set to low for 6 hours. Then add:

1 small bag frozen peas & carrots (because sometimes you just don't wanna chop any more veggies!)

Cook for another hour or two. Use immersion blender to pulverize about half of those poor peas. I put it straight into my crock-pot and whirl away.

Make drop biscuits per instructions on a box of Bisquick. Use melon-baller to make tablespoon-sized biscuits. Cook 8 minutes in 450* oven. Drop a handful into each bowl of soup. Yum!

Honey Ham w/ Spicy Veggies

1 C. orange juice
1 Tbs. ground coriander
1/2 C. honey
1 Tbs. chili powder
1/2 tsp. each: salt & pepper
1/2 C. chicken stock
3 Tbs. EVOO
1 large red onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 poblano pepper, diced
4 zucchini, sliced
2 C. frozen corn kernels
2 lbs. cubed ham
2 cans black beans, drained & rinsed
zest & juice of 1 lime
1/4 C. fresh parsley

Add all to crock-pot and cook on LOW for 4 hours. Serve with jasmine rice.

This recipe was crock-pot converted from this cookbook:

Neil Diamond Chicken

She got the way to move me, Cherry

She got the way to groove me. Cherry baby.

3 Tbs. EVOO
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/2 Tbs. thyme
1/2 tsp. each: salt & pepper
1 red onion, finely chopped
5 celery ribs, diced
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 C. dry white wine
4 C. chicken stock
2 C. brown rice

Add all to crock-pot and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours. Then add:

1 C. dried cherries

Set to warm for an hour or more.

This recipe was scrock-pot converted from this cookbook: