For all you foodies out there, yesterday was National Homemade Soup Day. On a cold winter day, nothing is better than a bowl of homemade soup.
A family favorite around my house is Hamburger Vegetable Soup. It has enough meat to keep the hubby happy and lots of vegetables (carrots, corn, green beans, peas, and celery). I love the recipe because I can throw it in the slow-cooker and have dinner on the table when the hubby gets home from work.
HAMBURGER VEGETABLE SOUP
Dissolve bouillon in water. Add all ingredients to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.
The next time the weather is cold and rainy, mix up a batch of Hamburger Vegetable Soup and stay warm.
Here is the recipe card (Hamburger Vegetable Soup) to add to your collection.
Slow-cooker Chili
Brrrrr. It is cold outside! Here in Florida we will barely get above freezing. On days like today, I am thankful to be able to stay at home and not have to get out and face the elements. Yes, I know that it is colder in other parts of the country, but one month ago it was 85 and I was wearing shorts and flip-flops. I know, I know, pull up my big girl panties and deal with it.
Now back to the topic at hand…
It is time to make something for dinner that will warm you from the inside out. I have two options for you. The first is Gumbo that was originally posted last year. I also have a new recipe for you today – Chili. Now, I am not talking about “five-alarm” chili that burns on the way down, but a mild to medium heat chili.
This is my take on my mom’s chili. I am not sure where the recipe originally came from. Continue reading “Slow-cooker Chili”
Slow-Cooker Chicken Stock
If I were to tell you that you could make chicken stock in the slow-cooker while you sleep with ingredients that would usually be tossed in the trash, would you try it? Well, that is what I am doing today!
In my freezer you can find a bag of chicken bones and scraps ready to make stock when I get enough, then it hit me – use the left over rotisserie chicken carcass and stop saving bits and pieces and never having enough when you need it. When I buy a chicken, I cut the meat off and serve it to the family (no eating drum-sticks for my kids). Then I put the pieces in my slow-cooker with 1 Tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and 8 cups of water. Turn it on high and 8 hours later drain the broth and there you go.
If you do not have balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar also works well. The vinegar helps to break down the bones so it releases the nutrients.
As always, feel free to print the recipe card and add it to your collection. Chicken stock Recipe Card
Where did time go…
I know that I have been away from my blog for a while, but I am trying to keep many plates spinning at the same time.
Since purchasing my new van in May (read that story here), I have put over 10,000 miles on my van. Considering I am a stay-at-home mom that does not work outside the home and can go days without leaving the house, that is a lot. Those miles consist of 4 trips to Alabama to help my dad with his rotator cuff and his surgery; 1 trip to the DC area to visit my sister / family vacation, 1 trip to Tennessee for AHG summer camp, and 2 trips to Florida to look for a new house. In the last 66 days I have only spent 23 days in my own bed.
Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that in July my dear sweet hubby was laid off from his job in North Carolina. You remember this job. The one that the company paid to move us across country for earlier this year. Only to lay him off less than a year later without warning. The positive note to all of this is that he was able to find a job quickly. However, it is in Florida. So we are in the midst of preparing for another move once we find a house. Two moves in one year is no fun!
While all of my belongings are in North Carolina, I am spending my days in a VERY SMALL motel room. Since we did not receive a relocation package with this job, and are thankful to have a job, the budget does not allow for much more. This means I am also homeschooling in the motel room while trying to keep a dog quiet. As my husband says “Have books, will travel”. This also means that I am without a kitchen. Currently I am living on meals that can be cooked in a slow-cooker, or microwaved, so a lot of convenience type foods. My morning are spent teaching and my afternoons and evenings house hunting.
I forget how much I abhor house hunting. I have spent countless hours riding around town with the realtor looking a house. I think I could write an entire post on the “joys” of house hunting and horrors that I have seen. I will sum it up by saying that realtors who write the house descriptions must have a very vivid imagination.
My goal is to find some time between all of this to write more, so please be patient with me. I will return soon.
Recipe Cards
Where do you go for your favorite recipes?
Once we would go to our trusty recipe box, now we spend hours hunting for them on the internet and pinterest, hoping that when we want them we can find them again. Many of us, including myself still have a recipe box that we use. I spent some time this past weekend trying to update mine with those recipes that my family likes. I am fortunate that my husband and kids like to cook and often do, but they only use the recipe box and without recipes it makes it harder for them/me.
Well this got me thinking… would you like the recipes I shared already typed up onto recipe cards so all you have to do is print them? I spent some time typing them all up for you. All you have to do is print them onto card stock and cut them out. Each page has two recipes the top one is 4×6 and the bottom one is 3×5 so they will fit most boxes that are out there. I hope this helps you. So take a few minutes and go back and look over the recipes that I have posted and print your favorite recipes and add them to your recipe box.
