Soup and a Great Investment

Hearty Homemade Beef and Vegetable Soup 

1 lb ground beef

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 large onion

1 clove garlic (minced)

1 can kidney beans or pinto beans

2 cans (14 oz each) chicken broth - about 4 cups

1 can chopped italian tomatoes

1 can tomato paste

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup frozen peas

1/2 dried italian seasoning

Heat oil in a 4 1/2 quart Dutch oven or soup pot over Medium Heat.  Peel and coarsely chop the onion, adding it to the pot.  Add raw beef and brown.  Drain any fat.  

Add garlic.  Drain beans and add them with the broth, tomatoes (with the juice), tomato paste and 2 cups of water.  Raise the heat to HIGH and stir.  

Add corn, peas and seasoning.  Cover and cook until boiling.  Reduce heat, simmer 5 to7 minutes.  

Serve with warm cornbread or grilled cheese sandwiches!

Lu's take on this soup?  Its yummy!  I got this recipe out of my favorite cook book Cheap.  Fast.  Good!  By Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross..  This has got to be the best cookbook that I have ever seen!  So many good and cheap recipes!  Go here for another recipe from this book!

This soup is good, quick, easy and cheap!  All of my favorite words!  I do not use a garlic clove- just because I didn't have any the days I made this.  I never use a whole onion- I'm THAT cheap-and it was fine.  I also just use a bag of frozen mixed veggies instead of the individual bags of each type of veggie.  I love the fact that this recipe includes kidney beans!  Such a wonderful addition to this soup!  It adds more to the soup than just the typical veggies!  

Enjoy!  And go buy this book!!!!  :)  

Friends, Corn and Black Bean Salsa

The other day, my friend Ashley and I invaded Sharon's house for a photo shoot!  Sharon takes wonderful photos and she asked us to come over so that she could get some shots of our baby's hands and feet.  The morning turned into more of a photo shoot of cute baby bums and cloth diapers, but we had fun!

Sharon is such a wonderful host and had some wonderful assortment of healthy snacks!  I was so impressed!  She had a wonderful salsa out to eat with healthy chips (as she called them).  It looked so yummy!  By the time I went and looked at the snacks, it was close to lunch so I just grabbed a few carrots and a cracker, but I went home and told Hubbie about the salsa and decided to make it soon!

Well, I am such a foodie, I couldn't think of anything else that week, food wise, and had Hubbie get the ingredients for me that very night!  I finally made the salsa yesterday and man! it doesn't disappoint!

CORN AND BLACK BEAN SALSA

• 1 can white corn (drained)
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes (do not drain)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (drained)
• 1 can black beans (drained)
• 1 bunch of fresh cilantro…finely chopped
• Mix everything together in a bowl and let chill for a couple hours.  This salsa will keep in refrigerator for a few days.
  

I made cheese quesadillas and served them with sour cream, guacaomole and this salsa.  What yummy and cheap lunch!  

And since Sharon suggested marinating chicken breasts in this, that is exactly what I did for Sunday's lunch.  While I was getting the boy's breakfast, I got out the crockpot, sprayed it with PAM and then put a small amount of the salsa in the bottom of the pot.  Then I placed 4 small chicken breasts on top on the salsa.  I then poured a little bit more on top of the chicken breasts with the remainder of the liquid from the storage container.  I set on HIGH so that it would be ready in 4 hrs.  

Once we got home, I shredded the chicken breasts.  I took tortillas and we made burritos with some of the shredded chicken/salsa mixture, sour cream and cheese.  I wished that I had had some green peppers and onions.  It would have been so yummy in the burritos!  We ate these burritos with the other half of our yummy Wholly Guacamole and the remainder of the corn/black bean salsa!  

Thanks Sharon!