3 Bean and Ham Soup - Gluten-Free

It's been a while since I've made a soup THIS delicious.  No, seriously.  My husband is very honest.  He tells it like it is....even when I don't want to hear it.   He said, and I quote, "Usually your soups are just, well....they just taste 'blah.'  (Gee, thanks honey! LOL)  This time, however, I heard "wow, this is good!" at least 6-7 times.  It was so good there are absolutely no leftovers after the second night!  Not a drop.  I'm pretty sure he licked his bowl clean as well...just sayin'!

How did I make this delicious magic happen?  It complicated, really.....no, not really.  Honestly, I grabbed some beans from my cupboard, took a ham bone from Christmas out of my freezer and added in some veggies from my fridge.  The rest, well, it magically just all came together PERFECTLY!  I would give this soup a 10/10.

Am I suggesting you make this instantly?  Why, yes.  I certainly am.  You can drool over the pic first, but then off....off you go!  Go make this! ;)

Servings: 8-10 Servings

Ingredients:

1/3 cup dry black beans

1/3 cup dry black-eyed peas

1/3 cup dry pinto beans

water to soak the beans in

1 ham bone

1 cup chopped red onion

3/4 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

2 Tbsp. minced garlic

2 tsp. salt

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 tsp. Herbes de Provence

1/4 tsp. pepper

4 cups unsalted chicken stock

6 cups water

Directions: (You will need a 6 quart or larger slow cooker for this recipe)

The night before you want to make this, place your beans (sorted of course) in a pot and cover them with water by a few inches.  Let them soak overnight.  In the morning, drain and rinse them.

Place your drained and rinsed beans into the crock.

Add in the ham bone with the onions, carrots and celery.

Next, add in the garlic, salt, basil, onion powder, herbes de provence, and pepper.

Finally, add in the chicken stock and water.

Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or HIGH for 4-5 hours.

Remove the ham bone, scrape off all meat and discard any bone, cartilage or fat you find.  Place all of the meat back into the soup and stir.

Serve and Enjoy!

White Bean and Chicken Chili - Gluten-Free

This soup came about from leftovers I had from making my Fall Harvest Soup!  I actually had an entire other batch of the soup prepped and ready for a demonstration and it was cancelled a few hours before it was to begin.  I didn't want to make a whole other batch, so I improved and made something completely different!  Boy, and I happy I did!!!!

This "chili" I'm calling "chili" because it tastes like chili, but is the consistency of soup.  It has an incredible amount of flavor and is just the right amount of spicy for a good chili!  It is delicious all on it's own, but my husband felt it was even better with some "fixings."  I used a sprinkling of Mexican blend shredded cheese, a dollop of non-fat plain Greek yogurt and a few crushed tortilla chips.  YUM!  You can decide how you want to eat your chili!

Just a note: If you don't have better than bouillon, use chicken broth.

I hope you enjoy this deliciousness!

Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:
2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken, cut into bite-sized chunks
1/2 cup Navy beans, soaked overnight, rinsed
1/2 cup Northern beans, soaked overnight, rinsed
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1 1/2 cups onion, chopped
14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
10 oz. can diced tomatoes with lime juice and cilantro
5 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz. tomato paste
I Tbsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
8 tsp. better than bouillon chicken
8 cups water

Directions: (Use a 5 quart or larger slow cooker for this)

*Make sure you've soaked your beans overnight previous to starting this recipe.

In the bottom of your crock, place the chicken, navy and northern beans.

Add the carrots and onions

 and both cans of tomatoes.

 Add in the minced garlic

and tomato paste.

Next, add the cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper.

Sprinkle the better than bouillon over the top

 and add the water.  Give it a stir.

Cook on LOW for 8-10 hours, or on HIGH for 4-5 hours.

Enjoy!

Hodgepodge Goulosh

Why hodgepodge?!  Well, because I used all the leftovers from my Walking Tacos....and I mean ALL of them!  You know what became of it?  A delicious meal....that cleaned out my fridge!  (Oh, how I love when that happens!)

If you're like me, you probably already have some Salsa Ranch Chicken with Black Beans in your freezer.  So, defrost it, make some Beef Taco Meat, enjoy Walking Tacos, then make this with your leftovers!

Hodgepodge Goulosh

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. (or so) of Beef Taco Meat, or seasoned ground beef

1/2 lb. (or so) of Salsa Ranch Chicken with Black Beans

1/2 cup tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup onions, chopped

16 oz. can Pinto Beans

10.75 oz can Condensed Tomato Soup

1 tsp. Oregano

1 beef bouillon cube

1/8 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

2 1/2 cups water

1/2 lb. macaroni pasta, uncooked.

Directions:

Place the beef and chicken in the bottom of your crock.

(I decided to add the chicken upon my husband's suggestion later, so that's why you don't see it here!) 

Add the onions and tomatoes,

add the beans.

Add the tomato soup.

Now, add all of the spices and bouillon cube.

Lastly, add the water and give it a stir.

Cook on LOW for 6-7 hours or on HIGH for 3-3.5 hours.

1/2 hour before serving, add the pasta and stir.

When the 1/2 hour is up, serve and ENJOY!

Beer Chili

I can't remember how the Beer Chili idea came to be.  I think one of you mentioned it recently, but I'm not positive.  Either way, it was a very good idea!  This was a delicious and very fulfilling Chili.  The aroma all day was WONDERFUL!  On first taste, I could really taste the beer.  It was scrumptious!

If you're a real beer conosour, (unlike me) you can really cater the flavor of your soup with the type of beer you use.  I used a New Castle my husband had in the fridge downstairs, but I'm sure a darker beer would be lovely!

I think you'll find you have all the ingredients (or most) right in your pantry/fridge already!  I did.  With a little help from my little helper, we whipped this up in no time.  If you have hectic mornings like me, you'll want to prep everything the night before and assemble it into your crock.  Put it into your refrigerator and then in the morning, place the crock into your slow cooker base and turn it on.

This Beer Chili was on the spicy side.  If you don't want as much spice, you can cut the cumin and chili powder in half.

You may wish to serve this with some delicious sweet corn bread muffins like I did!  Here is the recipe I followed.  I had ALL of the ingredients and didn't have to spend a penny! :)  Yay!

Beer Chili

Ingredients: (Serves about 4)
1/2 lb. Ground beef, browned with salt and pepper
1 large onion, chopped
1 15.25oz. can black beans
1 14.5oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies
4 oz. tomato sauce
1 12oz. Beer (you choose the type)
1 beef bouillon cube
1 Tbsp. Garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder

Directions:

Get your beef cooking with some salt and pepper while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.

Place you onions into your crock.

Next, pour in the black beans and diced tomatoes.

Add the tomato sauce, bouillon cube, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin and chili powder.

Now, add the beer!

Finally, add the ground beef and stir.

Cook on LOW for 7-10 hours or on HIGH for 4-5 hours.

Enjoy with some yummy cornbread!

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

THESE.  WERE.  SO.  SO.  SO.  SO.   GOOD!!!!!!!!!  Wow!   My Vegetarian friend Sara REALLY liked these, and her husband John had seconds!  I'm so happy everyone enjoyed them!

If you're a meat lover, I PROMISE, you won't miss the meat here!  These were so fulfilling and packed with amazing flavor!  You will be incredibly proud of yourself for preparing such an amazingly healthy meal for you family!

I will tell you, these do take a bit longer to prepare than most of my recipes.  However, it's SO worth it!  I cooked my brown rice while giving getting my babes ready for bed, then once they were in bed, I did everything else.  It was really VERY easy!  I put all my beautifully stuffed peppers in the insert last night, then put the insert in the crock this morning and let it cook!  Voila!

I've been saying this a lot lately, but you HAVE to try these!!!!  You will most likely need a 6.5 Quart or larger Slow Cooker to make 6 of these, but you can always do 4 at a time too in a smaller slow cooker.

Depending on the size of your peppers, you will have leftover filling.  Save it and eat it up as a snack later!

The side you see pictured here is a 3 bean salad I put together which I adapted from another recipe. It was also equally as awesome!  Here's how I did it:
Drain and rinse 1 can Cannelloni Beans, 1 can Red Beans and 1 can Black Beans.  Finely mince 1/2 Jalapeno, seeded, mince 1 red onion, mince 2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro and add 1 cup corn to the beans.  Mix together 1/2 cup Olive Oil, 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, 2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice, 1 Tbsp. lemon juice, 2 tsp. sugar, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. pepper and 1 Tbsp. garlic powder.  Pour over the bean mixture and mix.  Chill overnight.

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

6 Peppers, tops cut off and seeds removed (I used 2 red, 2 yellow and 2 orange)

1/2 can Black Beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 can Cannelloni Beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup uncooked brown rice, cooked according to directions on the bag/box.

1 large heirloom tomato, chopped

5 oz. chopped spinach, thawed, drained

1 1/2 cups shredded mozarella

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. onion powder

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 Tbsp. dried parsley (or use 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley)

1 jar Marinara Sauce

Directions:

Spray your slow cooker insert with non-stick spray.

Just to clarify, cook 1 cup of uncooked brown rice according to the directions on the bag/box.

To the cooked rice, add the beans, tomoato, spinach, mozarella, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and parsley.  Mix well.

Your peppers should look something like this...

Stuff your peppers with your rice mixture.  Really press it in there and pack them nice and full!

Pack your stuffed peppers into your slow cooker insert.

Pour your jar of marinara sauce over and and around your stuffed peppers.

Cook on LOW for 6 hours, or on HIGH for 3.

Serve with the remaining sauce to spoon over your peppers.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooked Baked Beans

I grew up eating my Meme's (grandma's) awesome baked beans.  (Although I just found out they actually came from her mother-in-law, my Gran Meme) I think I may have eaten more of them than anyone else in my family!  ;)  They are definitely a staple in our family!  I've been wanting to make them for a long time, and finally decided to take the plunge....and challenge.....in my slow cooker!!!!!

I was so impressed with how these turned out!  They tasted JUST like my Meme's!  My mom had them today and was also impressed with how good they were and how much they tasted like my Meme's!  They were overall, a HUGE hit at our Baptism Party today!

These don't take a lot of time to prep, but they do take a long time too cook to perfection!  Use patience and enjoy the wonderful aroma in your house while they cook!!!!!!

You will really enjoy making these for your family, family gathering or party!  They're sure to be a hit!

This makes a large batch.  I had a party of about 18 people today and have about half of them left!  I'm going to freeze mine and use them for the next party!  You will need a 6 Quart or larger Slow Cooker for this amount.

Slow Cooked Baked Beans

Ingredients:

12 or 13 oz. Salt Pork, chopped into small strips (It was one package, Hormel Salt Pork....can't remember the ounces!  Sorry!)

1 large onion, chopped

2 lbs. Michigan Navy Beans (if you can't find Michigan, just use Navy Beans!)

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 cup Ketchup

3 Tbsp. Mustard

7 cups Water

Directions:

Sort your beans to make sure there are no rocks/bad beans.

Soak them in water overnight, with at enough water to cover them plus 4"

In the morning, drain and rinse your beans.

Spray your Slow Cooker Liner with non-stick spray.

Place half of your salt pork at the bottom.

(Sorry for the blurry picture :( )

Add half the beans

Top that with half of the onions.

Mix together the Brown Sugar, Ketchup and Mustard.

Pour half of this over the onion layer.

Repeat this process with the remaining salt pork, beans, onions and sauce.

Pour in your 7 cups of water.

Cover and cook on LOW for 12+ hours.  (I don't know how long it would take on High)

You will know these are done when your mixture has turned nice and brown and has thickened.  If you want them thicker, turn the Slow Cooker to HIGH and leave the lid off for an hour or more.

ENJOY!!!

Salsa Ranch Chicken with Black Beans Leftovers

The leftovers were JUST as good as the original dinner last night!  There are so many possibilities here, but here are two options we went for!

My husband had it wrapped in tortillas.

(My tortillas were on the "old" side and they all ripped!  Grrr!)

I decided to go for the mixture over Tortilla Chips!

(It's what baby wanted, really!)

So, be creative!  Make those leftovers exciting!

Happy Slow-Cooking!

Hope

Salsa Ranch Chicken with Black Beans

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  This was seriously, INCREDIBLY good! It was SO easy to make as well, which is why it has now made it's way to one of my FAVORITE Slow Cooker Meals of all time!  I cannot wait for you to try this!  It was PACKED with flavor and so simple.  I can't say enough about it!  Because of that, I'm going to get RIGHT to the recipe tonight!  Mmmmmmmmmm......LOL

(I would like to give a special thanks to Mandy Beth Bryce for providing the original Salsa Chicken recipe!  I just changed it a tiny bit!  Thanks again Mandy!!!!)

P.S. This is great served in Tacos, Walking Tacos, on soft tortillas, or scooped up with tortilla chips!  YUM!!!  It would be a great tailgate recipe!!!!!

Salsa Ranch Chicken with Black Beans

Ingredients:

2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts (or about 1 lb.)

1 packet low-sodium taco seasoning

1 packet dry ranch dressing

1 cup (or more) salsa

1 can condensed Cream of Chicken soup

1 can black beans, drained

Sour Cream and Shredded Cheese to add on top!

Directions:

Place the chicken breasts in the bottom of the Crock Pot Slow Cooker and sprinkle with the taco and ranch packets.

Mix together the salsa, Cream of Chicken soup and black beans.

Pour the mixture over the Chicken.

(I used a Reynolds Slow Cooker Liner to save on clean up time!)

Cook on LOW for 5-6 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours.

Shred the Chicken and stir it in the sauce.
Serve over rice or on a tortilla
with some shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream.
Enjoy!