Healthy Start - Navy Bean soup

One of the biggest things I see with my friends with new or growing families, is that they tend to eat a little less healthy then they should because it just isn't convenient to drop everything and cook a full dinner. So, McDonalds Happy Meals become the easy alternative between newborn check-ups and their toddlers swim lessons.

I have decided to start preparing early, as in, I have been preparing easy store, freezer food meals for several years now, and my drive to continue throughout my pregnancy and parenthood has only increased. I don't have kids yet, but enough of my friends have little ones that I've helped out with, that I understand things a little more intimately about sleep deprivation than most non-parents. Most days in the first couple months you don't get enough sleep to remember to brush your own hair, let alone time to cook, or clean.

When I was growing up, my dad would put together meals in the morning, then halfway through his day, he'd come home, put them all in a pan with lots of water, and simmer them. When he came home from work about 2 hours later, he'd toss bread in the oven, and in 15-20 minutes, dinner was ready. One of my FAVORITE recipes was his Navy Bean and Bacon soup! Over the years, I've tweaked the recipe a little, and because I wasn't feeling up to it, hubby made this last night without much direction.

This soup can be eaten straight from the crock pot, or stored in shallow freezer and microwave safe containers and frozen. This is a great meal option to send with your SO to work during the week that isn't the cheap cafe down the road.

Time:
     Prep: 10-15 minutes (soaking beans the night before prep)
     Cook: Overnight
Ingredients:
16 oz dry navy beans
1 can corn (not drained)
2 cans chicken broth
1-1.5 lbs bacon (cooked, broken up)
1 can of water
2-3 cloves garlic (peeled smashed)
       Note: if you do not have fresh garlic, a 1/2 tsp of garlic powder will work

Directions:
You will need a crock pot or slow cooker with high and medium or low heat.

Soak your beans in water the night before you plan to prep this, I tossed them in a bowl on Friday before I went to bed, and we made the soup Saturday afternoon.

Add drained beans, 2 cans chicken broth (you could substitute veggie broth), 1 can undrained corn, and 1 can of water to the stock pot, turn on high heat. While this is heating up, peel and smash the garlic with a broad blade knife, add these to your soup. Cook your bacon to a point where you can crumble it a bit, add this to the crock pot. simmer on high for about 2 hours, turn to low while you go to bed, or work, or wherever you need to go (about 8 hours). Keep covered.

In the morning, package for freezer or work enjoyment. Refrigerate the work or school portions immediately in shallow containers. When you serve this, it can be on it's own, or it is fantastic with french bread or garlic bread. I myself and thinking about a serving with a few cressant rolls. YUM!
 

Crock Pot Spaghetti

TOTALLY AMAZING

6-8 hours

1-2 lbs ground beef 

1 jar/can of sauce (I used Prego Original)

1 can beef broth

herbs and spices to taste 

     I used: 1 tsp of each of the following

          Basil, Parsley, Cilantro, and Oregano

handful of spaghetti noodles

Directions, brown beef, add herbs and spices, and sauce, pour all of the content into crock pot, put on lid, simmer for 6-8 hours (until ready to eat) 

1 hour before eating/serving, add noodles and 1 1/2 cut water, 30 min before serving, remove lid.

Serve with bread or toast, and other "spaghetti sides"

YUM!

 

Adaptations

We all have to make them. Things that most people take for granted make others queezy, or envious.

Whenever I'm feeling down and under-the-weather, Chocolate is suggested. Which is all fine and dandy, until I tell them I'm allergic...well, intolerant, technically.

Simple things like candy bars, and chocolate milk, icecream, cake, and coffee have to be assessed, to figure out how much chocolate is in them...

I can have chocolate, so long as I also have a BIG glass of 1 or 2% milk on hand.

So I adapt, right? Blondies!

I found a recipe to make my own!

Granted, I love my chocolate, but I hate the ache it give me, so I will adapt and improvise!

Here is where I found it:

Simply recipes

Their's look much better than mine are likely to turn out (they are in the oven now...)

I omitted the butterscotch chips, and chocolate chips or almonds, or walnuts, simply because I do not have any on hand... and I like to test a recipe with the basics, before adding other stuff. (though, I might do M&Ms when I do them next)

 

3 bean chili

For some reason, summer makes me crave 2 things.

Fruit and Spicy

I can't get fruit right now, so instead, I catered to my spicy craving.

Homemade, 3 bean chili

Recipe as follows:

Ingredients

1 1/3 C Pinto Beans

2/3 C Navy Beans

1 2/3 C Black Beans

2 Lbs of ground beef (you could use stew meat)

1 Can Swanson's Beef broth

1 Can whole yellow corn

1 package of McCormick chili seasoning

soak beans overnight.
place beans in crock pot on high with enough water to cover about an inch over the top of the beans.
pour in the can of beef broth and the can of corn and package of chili seasoning
let simmer for 5 hours, or until beans are soft.
brown the beef, and add it in (add the grease too, it helps flavor)
Simmer an additional 30 min, add cheese on top and any other things you like with chili.

Serve on it's own with some cheese and sourcream, or over hotdogs or fries.

Let me know if you try it..
 

A lot going on...

Consumer behavior: Boring

Core Fusion: Exhausting, but invigorating

A wedding:

A gas crisis: ran out of gas, and out of money to get gas, and needed to be in school, but couldn't afford to get there... a friend rescued us.. again. Thanks Amy.

A stress induced panic attack: See above

A painful chiropractic adjustment: Just as it sounds.

First hot temperatures in several months, and they are consistent.

Salsa, beans, and jam galore... Pictures on hubby's comp, will link when I get them from him.

New feather earrings:

Chicken and dumplings for the first time:

French Onion Soup, for the first time, ever, making or eating:

And much more...


See? A lot has been going on.




 

Pesto!

Here is my Pesto Recipe!

2 cups of chopped basil
1/2 cup of olive oil ( try to use extra virgin olive oil, but not needed)
1/3 cup pine nuts, walnuts, or peanuts (mine used peanuts, it's what I had)
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup Parmesan (see note below)

Most Pesto recipes use Parmesan or a similar cheese, I didn't have it on hand, and you don't want to add it if you plan on freezing the pesto. If you freeze this pesto, it works great to portion it into an ice-cube tray, then once they are all frozen, pop them out, and into a small tupper-ware container or plastic bag. Then when you want to use it, you can add Parmesan when you thaw them out, how do you do that without the mess? pop one of these cubes in a shot glass, and thaw in the fridge.

This makes 7 individual portions.

Here is mine:

The picture doesn't do it justice!

Here is my hubby's take on it:
"Extreamly flavorful, everything that bland is not."

4 star, 5 with Parmesan

Hope you like it!

MM mm Veggies!

Today was the first farmers market of the season!

And, I just got my last paycheck of the school year... a whole $99.00

So where did we go? what did we do?

We were responsible adults, and we paid bills, then we went hog-wild on the local Farmers Market!

 Basil, Parsley, and Oregano

 Cucumbers, red onions, green onions, sweet onions, broccoli.

Mt hood Strawberries, snap peas, and fresh garlic

Yep, be jealous!

Over the next few days, I'll show you what I make with all this goodness, and the recipes to make it!