As the name suggests, this hearty soup is quick, easy, and very, very good. Our recipe tester’s comment: “I’m definitely making this at home.” Now that’s a compliment worth having, because she’s prepared a lot of recipes in her time.
The recipe also makes plenty. Plan to serve this to a crowd of hungry leaf-rakers, if you’re lucky enough to be hosting such a crowd in your back yard. Or lure a bunch of energetic friends with an offer of dinner, and pass out the rakes when they arrive. Just be sure to have steaming bowls of soup and mugs of cider on hand when the work is done.
With any luck, this may become an annual tradition!
Quick and Easy Italian Vegetable Beef Soup
Fix-It and Forget-It, Revised & Updated, page 36
Makes 8-10 servings
Prep. Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 6-8 hours
Ideal slow-cooker size: 6-qt.
1 lb. ground beef, or turkey, browned and drained
3 carrots, sliced
4 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 small onion, diced
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
¾ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
15-oz. can diced Italian tomatoes, or 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
6-oz. can Italian-flavored tomato paste
4 ½ cups water
1 quart beef broth
1. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.
2. Cover. Cook on High 6-8 hours, or until potatoes and carrots are tender.
It doesn’t get much easier than this, folks. This is a must-have meal to pull out of your hat when the crunch is on. Continue Reading...
We love to dig into a bowl of chips and dip on Sunday afternoons when we’re watching the big game on TV, especially when the dip is warm and cheesy with a bit of kick to it.
This Mexican Chip Dip Olé is chocked full of zip thanks to the green chilies and jalapeno peppers (don’t like that much kick in your dip? Cut back on the chilies a bit).
We brown the ground turkey and onion in a skillet before throwing it in the slow cooker with the rest of the ingredients. Sure it’s an extra step but that caramelized meat and onion adds such great flavor to this snack. Often we brown a larger quantity of turkey all at once, stick portions of the meat in freezer bags, and store them in the freezer. That way, we can skip the first step of browning the meat next time we make this dip in our slow cooker. It’s already done!
Now, that big ol’ block of Velveeta doesn’t always get that much respect, but it does add a lovely creamy, cheesiness to a dip like this one. Honestly, we could barely stop eating this dip when we first made it a couple of weeks ago. It is just one of those delicious guilty pleasures we all need occasionally.
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Let’s be honest, there are a zillion recipes for chili out there and, in the end, no chili is like Mom’s chili. But who has time to stand over a pot and add four different types of beans and an array of spices at varying moments throughout the cooking process? Here’s a quick and easy stove-top recipe for chili. In fact, it’s called Quick and Easy Chili. Don’t worry, we made sure “quick and easy” did not mean “without taste.” Serve it with Lemon Bread and be sure to have a copy of both recipes on hand when Mom asks for them.
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