How to- Alton Browns Lentil Soup in the Crockpot

So this last week i was suuuuper broke. Boss messed up my time off and i ended up with a $78 paycheck... so what to do? scour the cabenates for stuff to cook up! I found Alton Browns fabulous recipe, but didnt have all of the ingredients, but most of them. i also had to work so i tossed it all in my 4 quart crockpot. This came out AMAZING! I also baked up some white bread for sammiches and to dip...

Soup Ingredients Ingredients 

1  finely chopped onion
3 chopped carrots
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 cups lentils, picked and rinsed
1 can diced tomatoes
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
2 cans water (with tomato can)
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground toasted cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
I put the lentils in the bottom and tossed everything on top. I let it cook over night, about 10 hours, and its about perfect.

Homemade Sandwich Bread

2 cups lukewarm water

2 Tbls. sugar

1 Tbls. dry active yeast

2 Tbls. butter, softened

5 1/2 cups all purpose flour + more for kneading the dough

1 Tbls. kosher salt

Yields 2 standard loaves

Proof the yeast

Put the water and sugar in a large mixing bowl.

Whisk vigorously to dissolve the sugar. (Yeast eats sugar, so consider this

its appetizer before you add the flour.)

Toss in the yeast.

Whisk again to dissolve. Walk away from the bowl for 5-10 minutes to give

the yeast time to work.

After 5-10 minutes, there should be a thick, creamy layer on the surface of

the water.

Make the dough

Toss the flour and salt into the bowl with the yeast.

Cut your soft butter up into a few pieces (to make it easier to work into the

dough evenly).

Toss the butter in with the flour.

Mix well to combine the ingredients. If you’re using a stand mixer, use the

dough hook. (I use a stand mixer to knead my dough, but I always get it

started by hand to keep the flour from flying all over the place.)

Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes.

It’s ready when it’s formed a smooth ball that feels elastic-y when you touch

it.

Other signs the dough has been kneaded enough: Very little of the dough

will stick to the dough hook when you pull it out of the bowl…

…and there will be very little dough actually sticking to the sides of the

bowl.

The first rise

Round the dough up into a ball. Put it in a large, lightly greased bowl

Coat a piece of plastic wrap with a little oil. Loosely cover the bowl with it,

oil side down.

Let it sit in a warm place for about an hour, or until it’s doubled in size. If

you check it after about 15 minutes, you should notice that it’s started to

grow:After about an hour, your dough should be doubled in size.

Form the bread loaves

Punch the dough down. (Basically, just poke it a bunch and smoosh the air

out of it.)

Knead it a couple of times (I do this in the bowl) and form it into a neat ball.

It should be smooth and tacky, but not sticky.

Sprinkle a little flour on a board. Set the dough ball on the flour.

Whack the ball in half with a bencher or a large knife. Each half will become

one loaf.

Let the loaves rise like this for about an hour, or until they’ve doubled in

size.

About 15 minutes before your hour is up, preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Bake the bread

When your loaves have doubled in size, pop them into your preheated 350-

degree oven for 35-40 minutes

Let them cool for 5 minutes in the pans. Then, with potholders, tip the

loaves out of the pans and let them finish cooling on a rack.

If you can bear it, let them cool to room temperature before slicing. When

you slice bread that’s hot out of the oven like this, the remaining loaf can get

a little gummy

I pulled this recipe from another website but the darn this is so full of ads and spamware, my poor laptop almost bit it twice, and it CRASHED MY Iphone... so I wont be promoting it here... sad because the recipe is REALLY good. I did two loaf folding techniques, one traditional, and one where i broke the dough into 4 parts, rolled flat and then rolled them up and let them rise. This worked out really nice, and looks cool!

How to spend all of your monies in 3 days

First off my T button still is acting funny, so sorry if I dont catch all of the silly typos. its amazing how many times you use a T. This week has been an expensive one for me. I thought I was good and bought a beautiful pair of boots to get around town in. I love them and will wear the shit out of them like I do my brown ones, but if I had known what was to come I would have waited.  My Union randomly decided I needed to pay them $266 in a week or they would cancel my membership and so fire me from selling shoes from my corporate department store. I was up on my dues, so Im not sure why the squeeze... but its paid. Then I paid the water bill, and there apparently was a typo and I over paid by like $50 it turns out... which will be good for later but GEEZE... Now I get to get the car worked on and pay the ticket i go for expired tags.... lol... plus the phone bill was almost $100 more then usual (have to ask them about THAT)

All in all Im broke... good thing I have Christmas figured out for the most part!! 

But this is a great excuse to use my delightful dried goods that I got for my birthday so long ago. I also have part of a turkey which will become soup and enchilada's this week, then im really excited about making this wonderful looking recipe from Crockpot 365. Here if you dont feel like clicking the link.

2 cups lentils, rinsed
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced carrot
1 onion, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes (with juice!)
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups hearty torn greens, like kale or chard (if you'd prefer spinach, stir in before serving)
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth (optional: add another 1 to 2 cups of broth if you'd like before serving)

The Directions.

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Put the rinsed lentils into the bottom of an empty insert. Add the diced celery, carrot, onion, and garlic (if you have a food processor, it might be helpful to use). Add the entire can of diced tomatoes, and add the seasonings and torn greens. Stir in the broth (I used chicken, but any broth will work just fine).
Cover, and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or until the lentils are soft. If you'd like to stretch this to feed more, or for a thinner soup, feel free to add more broth. 

Serve with grated Parmesan cheese, if desired, and a hunk of garlic bread.

This will be perfect as I have everything already except canned tomatoes, which are CHEAP!! I have been growing Dinosaur Kale, which is the best of the kales in my opinion. They have the most texture, perfect for soups.

Sorry so whinney, feeling the pressure and instead of freaking out about classes as I prolly should be, this is what Im obsessing over. Geeze Im weird.

If your looking for something interesting to listen to, check out the Studio 360 podcats, which are free, weekley and AMAZING. As Im typing this I am listening to a special on I Love Lucy, and Curt Andersen is talking to people who worked on he show, playing clips, talking to feminists about their veiws- positive and negative- about it, just so good!!! Most people know Im SO IN LOVE WITH PODCASTS!! Their free-ness, the stories, the time filling :3

Work, School and Work

So we are moving into midterms, so I asked my lovely manager to lessen my hours, so I can study and work on projects. Of course he doubled my hours and I work 6 days out of 7. If this keeps up I may have to quit, which I dont want to but school is WAY more important. Schools going, as usual, my digital media teacher isnt a fan of my idea's, this seems to be the thing. but I usually pull it off. It started raining this week, and was beautiful!! I love the rain, even if I have to wonder through it between buildings. The garden is looking awesome for fall! Spider plants are going crazy this year, and Im glad, their one of my favorites

Went to the hardware and garden store with the Aunties, and of course fell in love with a christmas dino display! :D Afterwards I hung out with them, as it was my only day off, and got the CAR ALARM INSTALLED!! Yay!! So I had a deal with the alarm guy to do a mural in exchange for the alarm, but he ended up having someone else do the mural cheaper? So I am going to do some ads for him I guess. Weird clients. but the Darlene is safe!! 

 In honor of the rain, I made lentil soup! :) So yummy!!! I have been ,unching on it all week for lunches and dinner.

Vegi Soup and Castor's Home!

Last night was a sad night. No Castor. :( No Matisse :( But I did try Telway Sliders and they were not to bad! :) I will be returning for the little 2.225 for 4 deal they have going. But I picked Castor up today from his neutering, and he even got a tattoo out of it! lol. Im registering him with a cat club as well so I have some sort of proof of ownership. Im weird...

Anywho, making some Vegi Soup out of things from my freezer and fridge. Its in the crockpot, imagine that.

4 cups chicken broth
2 carrots sliced
2 celery sticks sliced
1 red onion sliced rough
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can of water
2 cups frozen corn
2 cups frozen pea's
2 cups frozen green beans (I used french style, but any will work)
1 potato diced large
italian seasoning
1 bay leaf

One chicken, one goal

So I bought a 5 dollar chicken from Trader Joes. My goal for this chicken? See how much I can get out of it :) Today I took it apart, removed the thighs, legs, and wings. I took off one breast for Black Bean and Chicken Salsa Soup. Again stolen from A Year of Slow cooking

--1 pound chicken (I used frozen breast tenderloins) 
--1 cup dried black beans (or 2 cans, drained and rinsed)
--4 cups chicken broth 
--1 cup sliced mushrooms
--1 cup frozen corn 
--1 jar prepared salsa (16 oz)
--1 1/2 tsp cumin 
--1/2 cup sour cream (to stir in at the end) 
--shredded cheddar cheese, avocado slices, cilantro (all optional) 

updated 12/15: Pace salsa is pictured in the ingredients. Pace, and many Campbells products are now no longer being classified as "gluten free"---please read all labels and use your best judgment when making choices to feed your family. You can read a discussion about the labeling, here.
The Directions. 

You will need a 4 quart or larger.

If you know you are going to make this the night before (yay for meal planning!) soak the blackbeans in enough water to cover and another 2 inches overnight. In the morning, drain the water and rinse the beans.

If you don't have super hard water or live in a super high altitude, you can quick soak the beans by pouring boiling water over them and let them sit for an hour or two. I did an hour, but 2 would really be better if you have the time. 

Drain and rinse the beans. Add to the crockpot. Put in the chicken, and add the broth and salsa. Pour in the corn and mushrooms, and add the cumin. Stir, but don't disturb the beans---let them stay at the bottom of the pot, closest to the heating element.

Cover and cook on high for 9 hours. Yup. High. For 9 hours. It took a crazy long time for the beans to soften, but they did. 

If you are using beans you soaked overnight, canned beans, or pre-cooked beans, you can cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5--similar to normal soup-cooking time. 

If you'd like to thicken the broth (I did this), you can use your immersible blender (I love that thing) to blend a bit of the beans and chicken. If you don't have one, scoop out 2 cups of the soup and carefully blend in your traditonal blender. Stir the mixture back into the crockpot.

Stir in the 1/2 cup of sour cream before serving, and garnish with shredded cheese and avocado slices. 


I dont think I used a full pound. But One breast down, lets see how many meals come from this :)

Pizza Soup

So, still eating like a poor girl :) To mix it up with my yummo 16 Bean soup, Im also making Pizza Soup. I had some Breakfast Sausage in the fridge from when it was on sale for 99 cents a lbs (woot!) And yesterday when I went to pick up my check from Vinny at the Pizza Shop, I picked up the other ingredients. The Recipe is from 365Crockpot :)

--1 jar (14 oz) of pizza sauce
--3 empty jars full of water
--1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
--1/2 red onion, chopped
--1 cup sliced mushrooms
--1 cup baby tomatoes, cut in quarters (or 1 can diced tomatoes, drained)
--2 already-cooked Italian sausage (I used chicken Italian sausage)
--1 cup sliced pepperoni, sliced in quarters (Hormel turkey pepperoni is labeled gluten free)
--8 fresh basil leaves, chopped (or 1/2 T dried)
--1 T dried oregano
--1/2 to 1/3 cup of dried pasta (if your pasta is tiny, use 1/3 cup. if it's big, do 1/2. I used 1/2 cup Trader Joe's brown rice penne)
--shredded mozzarella cheese (to add later)

The Directions.

Use a 5 or 6 quart crockpot for this recipe. Serves 4 hungry adults, or 2 hungry adults and 2 kids with enough leftovers to feed them all again.

Wash and prepare veggies. Dump them into the crockpot. Cut up the sausage into small pieces--I sliced, then cut the pieces in fourths. Add to crockpot. Cut up the pepperoni, add it, too. Add basil and oregano. Pour in the pizza sauce, and follow with three empty jars of water.

Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours. Everything in this is already cooked, so you are really only heating through and allowing the flavors to meld.

Thirty minutes before serving, add the dry pasta, and turn to high. My pasta only took 20 minutes to soften quite nicely.

Garnish/top with shredded mozzarella cheese


This soup came out amazing!! I was eh the first day, but the second day and on the flavors were deep and delicios!! And I ate off it for a week! 

Broke, but happy

So after returning home from California, I realized a few things. 1. I havnt shopped for food in 2 weeks. B. I have worked in a week and a half. and 3. I have no monies. Time to empty the fridge and cupboards!!! Enter the crock pot. I heart my crock pot. So I currently have a concotion in there that is this, lol:

1 package 16 bean soup (bought a few months ago during a stock up session)
1 seasoning packet that came with said soup
water
3 cloves garlic
ground black pepper to taste
lemon pepper to taste
1 TBLS curry powder
1 TBLS Red Pepper flakes
Salt

I soaked the beans over night, rinsed and added to the crock pot. I then added enough water to cover the beans with an additional 1-2" water covering. I chopped the garlic and threw it in, and mixed in the seasoning packet. about 3 hours in I got bored and dumped the other seasonings in. May add more curry later. But yay! and came out pretty good, hurrah for beans :) **It came out fantastic! Yumm-o!

I also made no-knead bread to go with it.
(from Steamy Kitchen)

3 cups bread flour (I like Harvest King bread flour)
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon fine table salt (or 3/4 tablespoon of kosher salt)
1 1/2 cups warm water

Covered pot (five-quart or larger cast iron, Pyrex, ceramic, enamel...something that can go into a 450F oven.)

directions:

1. Mix dough: The night before, combine all ingredients in a big bowl with a wooden spoon until the dough just comes together. It will be a shaggy, doughy mess. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours on countertop.

2. Shape & preheat: The dough will now be wet, sticky and bubbly. With a wet spatula, dump the dough on a floured surface. Fold ends of dough over a few times with the spatula and nudge it into a ball shape. You can use your hands if you like, just keep your hands wet so that the dough does not stick. Generously dust a cotton towel (not terrycloth) with flour. Set dough seam side down on top of towel. Fold towel over the dough. Let it nap for 2 hours. When you've got about a half hour left, slip your covered pot into the oven and preheat to 450F.

3. Bake: Your dough should have doubled in size. Remove pot from oven. Holding towel, turn over and dump wobbly dough into pot, using your hands to get the dough off the towel. Doesn't matter which way it lands. Shake to even dough out. Cover. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover, bake another 15-20 minutes or until the crust is beautifully golden and middle of loaf is 210F. Remove and let cool on wired rack. If not eating right away, you can re-crisp crust in 350F oven for 10 minutes. Best way to eat it? Smear a warm slice with some good butter (Kerrygold and Lurpac are both found in your grocery stores, usually on top shelf)

It came out REALLY good! Im very happy. Its a plain white bread, with a crispy crust, so next time I would like to add something like olives, sundreid tomatoes, garlic, rosemary, etc. Also, I dont own a Dutch oven so i used my big stock pot, and all was well. my biggest worry was my own self doubt and keeping the kitten away from the oven. LOL!