Vegetable Pork Soup

A perfect, hearty soup for a busy fall day.  

Ingredients:

1 lb. Cubed pork

¼ cup dried lentils

4 cups water, divided

¼ cup italian dressing

salt and pepper to taste

2 T. chicken bouillon

6 medium carrots

2 stalks celery, diced

6 med. Potatoes

1 medium onion, chopped

¼ cabbage sliced thin and chopped

Directions:

Brown the pork if desired. Place the pork, lentils, 2cups of water, Italian dressing, salt and pepper into a crock pot. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. When pork is done, turn crock pot on high, adding about 2 more cups of water and chicken bouillon. In a separate pan cook celery and carrots together until done. Boil potatoes until just tender. Don't overcook. While potatoes, celery, carrots are cooking, add onion and cabbage to the crock pot. Cook until translucent and soft. Drain the other vegetables and add them to the crock pot. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Recipe created by Marilyn Hendrickson (my mother)

Garden Vegetable Soup With Ground Beef

Ingredients:

1 lb hamburger
1 1/2 quarts water
1 c. chopped onion
1 c. potatoes
1 c. cabbage, shredded
2 crookneck squash, sliced
2 small zucchini, sliced
3 carrots, sliced
3 tomatoes, diced
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp basil
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp salt

Directions:

Brown hamburger. Drain. Cut all vegetables bite size. Put everything together in a big pot. Cook 1-2 hours. Remove bay leaf.

You really can add as much or as little of each vegetable as you prefer, but this is what i mixed up and is shown in the picture. original recipe found here... http://hayleesfood.blogspot.com/2009/04/hamburger-soup.html
This is from my friend that lives across the street. She brought it to me when we had our baby and made it more like what I posted so I followed what she made for us rather than her original recipe because we liked it so much.

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients:

1 lb (or less) ground beef (or sausage)

1 quart (28-32 oz canned) tomatoes

1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce

1 can (8 oz) tomato paste

1 tsp salt

2 Tbsp parsley

2 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp garlic powder (or 1 1/2 tsp crushed, real garlic)

Directions:

Brown meat. Drain grease. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes. Cook pasta according to package directions. Serve. Yum.

Blonde Brownies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 3/4 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 (11.5 oz) package milk chocolate chips

Directions:

Mix melted butter and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix just to combine. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into greased 9x13 baking pan bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool completely and cut into bars.

These were a pleasant surprise. The dough reminded more of cookie dough, but the bars turned out more like a brownie. Not as "blonde" as I expected, but definitely a moist, brownie texture. They were delicious and very easy to make!

Creamed Corn

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh corn, cut off cob if possible
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper

Directions:

Cut the kernels off the cob, then using the back of the knife, scrape the cob. Melt the butter in a saute pan, then add the corn (only use the sugar if using frozen corn). As you stir the corn, gently mash some of the kernels, and cook over medium heat for about five minutes. Add the cream, and cook, stirring frequently, until the starch from the corn thickens the cream. Salt and pepper to taste.

You can make an alternative version by turning the heat up high after adding the cream so it will caramelize. Excellent either way. I made this last night and thoroughly enjoyed the simplicity. I used canned corn and NO SUGAR.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I will be making this tonight...it is a family favorite. I prefer to use a quart of my own canned tomatoes but you can use store bought as well. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups water or chicken broth (I always use chicken broth)
2 T. sugar
3 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or cut into bite-size pieces

Directions:

Combine in large saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. And you are done!

Serve with:
Sour cream
Avocado
Grated cheese
Tortilla chips

***this is one of the many recipes I use my pre-cooked chicken...buy a few pounds of chicken, and cook it that day so no thawing is required. Shred or cut into bite-size pieces and then freeze in divided up portions. I usually freeze about 2 cups per bag...this saves me a lot of time in the future and makes cooking a little more feasible on a daily basis. I especially like to do this with bone-in chicken so that it is removed from the bone when I go to eat it and it is cheaper!!!