Soup | One Hundred Dollars a Month

Easy Crock Pot Recipes – Sausage Lentil Soup

April 22, 2013 2 Comments

A big thank you to reader Tara who sent in her favorite lentil soup recipe. I adapted it a little so we’d have plenty extra for leftovers.

We love soup around here and I especially like using my crock pot so I don’t have to babysit the stove top all day long. Here is the recipe. I hope you like it, we sure did!

Ingredients

6 cups beef stock
2 cups lentils, rinsed
2 cooked kielbasa sausages, sliced
1 can {15 oz} diced tomatoes
3 carrots, chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup cooked rice {optional}

Directions

Place all the ingredients in a crock pot {except the rice} and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours. Stir in cooked rice right before serving.

**NOTE** If you are a vegetarian– you can swap out veggie stock for the beef and skip the sausage– you may want to add additional salt though. Thanks Tara, this recipe was awesome!

My favorite Crock Pot - Crock-Pot Cook’ N Carry 6-Quart Portable Slow Cooker

My Favorite Slow Cooker Cookbook - Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook: 1400 Best Slow Cooker Recipes!

Filed Under: Crock Pot Recipes, Recipe Tagged With: Easy Crock Pot Meals, lentils, recipes, Soup

Top 10 Soup Recipes

April 18, 2013 5 Comments

Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli Soup {Copy Cat Recipe}

Baby it’s cold outside!

A heaping bowl of hot soup sounds good on a day like today. Here are my top 10 favorite soup recipes.

Stay warm,

Mavis

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Corn Chowder with Bacon, Potatoes and Chives

Black Bean and Corn Soup

Rustic Pea Soup with Ham

Vegetable Soup with Beef

Creamy Chicken Soup

Taco Soup

Fully Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Guinness Beef Stew

Filed Under: Recipe Tagged With: Easy Crock Pot Meals, one hundred dollars a month, recipes, Soup

St. Patrick’s Day Recipe – Guinness Beef Stew

March 4, 2013 10 Comments

Guiness Beef Stew

Did I ever tell you the Handsome Husband is Irish? Well one of his favorite soups is Guinness Beef Stew. This classic stew is great to serve anytime of year, but especially on St. Patrick’s day with a chuck of Irish Soda Bread for dinner.

I’ve tweaked this recipe over the years, and this one is my favorite. I hope you like it.

Ingredients

2 lbs beef tips, cut into 1″ chunks
1 pound potatoes, chopped
3 large carrots, sliced 1″ thick
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
6 cups beef broth
1 cup Guinness Stout
5+ tablespoons Olive Oil {I use Zoe}

potatoes carrots onions

Directions

Saute beef, carrots, potatoes and onions in olive oil over medium heat until nicely browned. Add Guinness, beef broth and simmer soup for 2 hours, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and serve.

irish pub recipe cookbook

Looking for more recipes for St. Patrick’s Day? Check out The Irish Pub Cookbook. It’s packed with all sorts of deliciousness.

Filed Under: Recipe Tagged With: recipe, Soup, St. Patrick's Day

Easy Crock Pot Soups – Vegetable Soup with Beef

March 3, 2013 Leave a Comment

This morning I planned ahead and tossed a bunch of goodness in to the crock pot before heading out to the garden to shovel bark. After a long day of working in the garden it’s pretty awesome to walk in to the kitchen to find a crock pot full of hot soup waiting for you.

Plain and simple, this soup rocks!

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef, buffalo or venison browned
1 onion, chopped
1 can {15 oz} black beans, drained {kidney or white beans work too}
2 large carrots, chopped
1/2 cup rice, uncooked {I used jasmine rice}
2 cans {15 oz each} stewed tomatoes
4 cups beef or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon parsley flakes
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes {optional}
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 bay leaf

Directions

Toss everything in your crock pot and cook over low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Discard bay leaf prior to serving. Serve with a bread and butter if you have it.

Find More Recipes in our Recipe Index

My favorite Crock Pot – Crock-Pot Cook’ N Carry 6-Quart Portable Slow Cooker

My Favorite Slow Cooker Cookbook – Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook: 1400 Best Slow Cooker Recipes!

Filed Under: Crock Pot Recipes, Recipe Tagged With: beef, crock pot recipes, Mavis, one hundred dollars a month, recipes, Soup

Easy Crock Pot Recipes – Taco Soup

February 13, 2013 9 Comments

I made a batch of taco soup this morning for dinner tonight and it turned out awesome! I had a big bowl of of the stuff for lunch, and it was mighty tasty if I do say so myself.

You probably already know by now how much I love my crock pot. Yep, I pretty much want to marry it because it makes dinner time so easy. If you don’t own a crock pot, you need one. Seriously. Everyone should own one. Well, unless of course you live in a yurt in Mongolia and don’t have electricity.

Here is my recipe:

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef, buffalo, venison, chicken, possum {whatever you make tacos with}
1 onion, chopped
2 cups pinto beans soaked overnight, or 2 {15 oz} cans drained and rinsed pinto or black beans
2 cups corn kernels
1 cup pasta sauce
2 cups water
2 {14.5 ounce} cans peeled and diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons DIY Taco Seasoning or 1 {1.25 ounce} package taco seasoning mix

Directions

Cook the ground meat over medium heat until cook thoroughly and browned. Stir in tacon seasoning and let rest for a few minutes. Add all the ingredients to the crock pot, cover, and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

Serve warm with tortilla .

Go HERE for more Easy Crock Pot Recipes

My favorite Crock Pot – Crock-Pot Cook’ N Carry 6-Quart Portable Slow Cooker

My Favorite Slow Cooker Cookbook – Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook: 1400 Best Slow Cooker Recipes!

Filed Under: Crock Pot Recipes, Recipe Tagged With: easy crock pot recipes, recipe, Soup, taco

Easy Crock Pot Recipes – Fully Loaded Baked Potato Soup

February 6, 2013 18 Comments

Last week Robin from SoCal mentioned she served loaded baked potato soup for dinner. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. After 3 attempts I finally came up with a recipe I not only LOVE, but my family loves too.

This recipe for loaded baked potato soup is perfect for a busy weeknight or any weekend you plan on tooling around in the garden all day, and don’t want to cook when you finally come inside. The best part {in my opinion} are the toppings. Load your soup up anyway you like it and dig in!

Ingredients

3 pounds baking potatoes, peeled, cut in 1/2 -inch cubes
1 quart chicken broth
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup butter
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 cup milk {I used 1%}
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives {topping}
1 /4 cup sour cream {topping}
8 slices bacon, cooked & crumbled {topping}
1/4 cup cheddar cheese {topping}

Directions

Combine the potatoes, chicken broth, garlic, butter, salt and pepper and cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours until the potatoes are nice and tender.

Once the potatoes have softened, gently mash them {do not puree, as you still want the potatoes to be a wee bit chunky} and stir in 1 cup of milk.

Ladle soup into bowls and top with sour cream, bacon, chives and cheese.

Yummalicious!

My favorite Crock Pot – Crock-Pot Cook’ N Carry 6-Quart Portable Slow Cooker

My Favorite Slow Cooker Cookbook – Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook: 1400 Best Slow Cooker Recipes!

Filed Under: Crock Pot Recipes, Recipe Tagged With: easy crock pot recipes, potatoes, recipe, Soup

Easy Crock Pot Recipes – 13 Bean Vegetarian Soup

January 10, 2013 8 Comments

Easy Crock Pot Recipes 13 Bean Vegetarian Soup

For the last two nights we’ve been feasting on a giant pot of 13 bean vegetarian soup. This soup is super hearty and perfect for these chilly winter nights we’ve been having. The recipe is simple. Just rinse the beans, place all the ingredients in the crock pot, and turn it on. It doesn’t get any easier than that folks.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients

29 ounce bag Bob’s Red Mill 13 Bean Soup Mix
1 large onion, chopped
3 celery ribs, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups frozen corn
8 cups vegetable broth
2 {14 1/2 ounce} cans diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Directions

Rinse beans in warm water and add to your crock pot. Add all other ingredients, stir, and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Serve warm with a crusty hunk of bread.

Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or freeze soup for later use.

My favorite Crock Pot – Crock-Pot Cook’ N Carry 6-Quart Portable Slow Cooker

My Favorite Slow Cooker Cookbook – Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook: 1400 Best Slow Cooker Recipes!

Filed Under: Frugal Living Tagged With: Easy Crock Pot Meals, easy crock pot recipes, Soup

Crock Pot Soup Recipes – Chicken, Ham, Chili, Chowder and More

November 24, 2012 4 Comments

Corn Chowder with Bacon, Potatoes and Chives

Rustic Pea Soup with Ham

Olive Garden Pasta E Fagioli Soup {Copy Cat Recipe}

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Vegetarian Chili Recipe

Italian Chicken Pasta Soup

French Onion Soup

Have you tried any of these awesome possum crock pot soups yet? Do you have a favorite? My two are corn chowder and chicken tortilla soup.

Stay warm,

Mavis

Filed Under: Recipe Tagged With: crock pot, crock pot soup recipes, recipe, recipes, Soup

Simple Storage Tips – How to Freeze Soup, Sauce, and Puree

October 3, 2012 26 Comments

One of the ways I’m able to keep our grocery budget so low is by freezing our extra fruits and vegetables during the growing season. I also like to make large servings of soup in my crock pot during the week as well. Knowing I have the option to pull a hearty soup or pasta sauce from the freezer when I’m having a busy day {or week}, is a huge stress reliever.

How to Freeze Soup, Sauce, and Puree

Fill quart sized zip baggies with 2 cups of soup, sauce or puree and seal.

Lay bags flat on a cookie sheet and place the cookie sheet in the freezer on a flat surface.

Once the contents are frozen solid {I usually wait 24 hours} stack them on a freezer shelf or in a freezer basket.

If you have a large quantity of soup to freeze, you may also want to use a large baking pan to stack your bags in while they are freezing. I have used this method before with various produce, purees, and soup as well and it works great.

So what do you think? Am I just a total weirdo with too much time on my hands?

Or do you freeze your excess soup and purees too?

~Mavis

Thinking about investing in a FoodSaver machine? Here are a few Amazon links if you are interested.

FoodSaver Vertical Vacuum Sealer
FoodSaver Advanced Design Vacuum Sealer

Filed Under: Frugal Living Tagged With: frugal living, simple storage tips, Soup

Easy Crock Pot Recipes – Italian Chicken Pasta Soup

October 1, 2012 9 Comments

Since school started over a month ago, I’m been using my crock pot about twice a week now for dinner time meals. And why wouldn’t I? The weather is getting colder, everyone is coming home at different times, and it’s so stinkin’ easy to take 5 minutes out of my day to toss a few items in the crock pot for a hot dinner everyone likes.

If you haven’t dusted yours off yet from storing it all summer, now is your chance. This recipe for Italian Chicken Pasta Soup rocks. And seriously, it takes only 5 minutes to prepare.

Ingredients {adapted from Betty Crocker}

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts {I used frozen}
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup pitted ripe olives, cut in half
2 cloves garlic, minced
48 ounces chicken broth
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup uncooked small shell pasta { I used mini bow tie pasta}
1 teaspoon Italian seasonings {I used McCormick’s blend}
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Place all of the ingredients in a large crock pot, stir, cover, and cook on the low setting for 8 hours or on the high setting for 4 hours. About 20 minutes before serving the soup, use two forks to shred the chicken in the crock pot. Add pasta, stir and continue to cook in the crock pot for 20 minutes or until the pasta is tender {be careful not to overcook it}. Ladle soup in to bowls and serve.

Looking for more slow cooker recipes? Check out Art of the Slow Cooker By Andrew Schloss. There are over 80 recipes in the book ans it has great reviews. Plus, Amazon currently has it in stock and ready to ship.