An Unplanned Surprise

As I mentioned before, this week we weren't feeling well. Dh only wanted soup for Shabbot, and I wanted a semi meal for the rest of us. Instead of defrosting some traditional chicken soup out of the freezer, I experimented with a combination of veggie chullent and soup, and it came out really amazing! Three out of the four kids ate it too (which is about as good as it gets here, I think the only things all four eat are pasta, cottage cheese & bananas. One doesn't even like hot dogs anymore!)

Veggie Chullent Soup (made in a 4 quart crock pot)

2 cups cooked barley & beans (my MIL had given me this frozen to make veggie soup with)

3 carrots, peeled and diced

1 onion, diced

2 celery stalks, chopped big (because yours truly doesn't like celery, so it needs to be big enough for me to avoid eating it by accident :x)

1 potato, diced (could have put in a second one)

your favorite kneidel (matzah ball) recipe

"Saute" onions in the crock pot with a bit of olive oil and a sprinkle of sugar for about an hour. Stir once or twice and watch they don't burn.

Add the cooked grains & beans (I'm sure you could have put in the barely raw, but I had it already prepared so I didn't). Add chopped potato, celery & carrot and fill pot with water. Cook on high several hours. Prepare kneidel mixture and place in fridge.

About an hour before Shabbot (or serving on a regular day), for kneidal and add to the boiling soup. Wait for it to reboil again and then switch to low.

This came out really, really good and I will be doing it again sometime. Friday night we all had it as soup, and Shabbot lunch there was soup on the top and the bits on the bottom were yummy and chullently. There was about half a ladle leftover from the whole pot.

Cheater's Veggie Noodle Soup

The weather was kind of cold today. I was not feeling well. The only thing I *really* wanted was some nice veggie noodle soup, but I had no energry for all the prep (and no veggies in the house). I almost went down to my local store to buy some "cup o soup" (not frugal, lol), when I came upon an idea. I'm sure it's not an original idea, it came out really well and I thought it would make a good topic for my new blog.

Ingredients:
Frozen mixed veggies (I used corn, green beans, carrots, peas)
Cooked pasta
Soup mix (I know, bad, but I use the MSG free one and honestly, otherwise it's just veggies, pasta & water)

Directions:
Cook noodles & set aside. Add frozen veggies to pot of water, boil, and simmer. Add a bit of soup mix and salt to taste. I cooked mine about 40 minutes or so. When it's serving time, put a bit of pasta in a bowl and ladle soup over.


I wouldn't say it was the best I've ever made in my life, but it was really good and the kids all ate it. It also brought back fond childhood memories of... you guessed it... cup o soup :)