i'm making up another soup "recipe" :)

last night for supper, we had perogies with bacon. i would have fried up some onions, too, but i thought i was all out. {tears}

i only used about 2/3 of the package of bacon last night. the rest i threw into the freezer, to be used later for some as-yet-unspecified culinary concoction.

well, gentle readers, that "unspecified culinary concoction" is now specified.

huzzah!!!

it's cold, it's snowy, it's a day at home. and i wanted to cook. but i find that i run out of ideas for supper by late afternoon, and i end up staring into the fridge, freezer, pantry, and contemplating take-out. (last night i dreamed little caesar's closed and we were unable to get cheap pizza!! the horror...) so i have decided to go back to weekly menu planning and slow cooking (er...cooking slowly? blerg!). so this afternoon, when i started working on lunch...

i came up with supper.

i ran over to the freezer and pulled out the leftover bacon from last night. after a little cheer, i tossed it into the pan with... you guessed it... bacon fat!!! what was food like before some genius mind realized that bacon fat is amazing?!?!? couldn't have been very good, i don't think. but that's just me. and i love bacon. a lot. it's just so... so... bacony... {drools all over keyboard}

{puts out drool-induced electrical fire on keyboard}

and... we're back.

where were we? ah, yes. bacon.

so, i began frying up the remaining bacon, which i had actually cut into smaller pieces last night. so that's going on the stove, and i decided to go potato hunting in my kitchen. and in the process, i found...

onions!!!!


again, i heart onions. they just fill a dish with flavour, and yet they're so simple and easy and versatile and yum-tastic.

especially when they're fried in bacon fat. {wink}

i was going to use them for a soup creation, but as i was looking at the bacon and onions there in the pan, i started thinking... stew? pasta? a different soup?

in the end, i went with my original idea. and here's what i threw together:

Mexican Lentil and Bacon Soup


so, like i said, i used 1/3 lb of bacon, cut into smaller pieces, and fried in bacon fat with 1 diced onion. while cooking, i added a little bit of mexican flavour. el yum!

i poured the bacon and onion into the slow cooker, being (somewhat) careful to not dump in copious amounts of liquid beauty fat. i then added some diced tomatoes, and mixed it all together.

pour in some lentils. the amount? um... i don't know... a cup... ish??? till it looked right. let's go with that.

mix it all together.

at this point, i threw in some mexican seasoning and a touch of cumin.

throw in some frozen spinach, and some chicken broth, and a little bit of water, and...

voila!!

i'll post later with the results... but it smells pretty good already!

UPDATE #1: i just sampled the broth. if it tastes this good when it's done cooking, i would take a bullet for this soup. it's just. that. good. will update with final results later. :)

lentils. yes, again. but they're good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

so, for those of you who don't know yet, by which i mean, those of you who obviously live under a huge rock of some sort, by which i mean, those of you who have never read this blog before (teehee), i love lentils. i know, some of you may think that's weird, but they're delicious and healthy and (just as thrilling for a poor single mom of scottish descent) cheap cheap cheap. soooooo...

i whipped up a little something this evening for supper.

ok, i whipped up a big something this evening for supper.

i give you....

Lentil and Sausage Casserole
1 onion, chopped
2 medium potatoes, cut into pieces... i don't know what you would call that... diced? does that sound right??
3 italian sausages, sliced into discs
lentils. i just dumped them in. i guess it would depend on the size of your dish, but since they're the main ingredient, be generous.
1 can diced tomatoes (i used the ones specifically for brushetta, since they've already got garlic, oil and herbs in them.)
feta cheese. i like it, so i used about 2/3 of a container, but i don't remember the size of the container.
salt, pepper, bay leaves, chili powder, parsley
water to cover, plus more if needed.

1. throw the ingredients into the casserole dish. except the can of tomatoes. open the can, then dump in the contents, and discard (recycle, please!) the can.
2. season as you see fit.
3. bake at 375F until potatoes are cooked. approx 1 hour (but then again, you're reading the woman who never looks at a clock, so just check on it periodically. oh my goodness, why do i bother posting my recipes here, with instructions like this?????)


REVIEW: wonderful! i really just made this up this afternoon because i was craving sausage and lentil, but didn't feel like making soup, and i had the feta and everything else, so i literally just tossed it into a big casserole dish and threw it into the oven. and it was so good, everyone, yes, everyone had seconds. including asher, and he doesn't like eating much anymore. but the kids inhaled theirs, and yes, i'll admit, i inhaled mine, too. i'm not too proud or girly to admit it. because it was just. that. good. i was really quite impressed with this, actually.

i made a huge batch, so even though we all had seconds, there's still a fair amount left. i plan on freezing the leftovers, just like i did with the leftover chili the other night (oh, yeah, i should post that "recipe"... but really, other than my not-so-secret ingredients, do i really have to? chili's gotta be one of the easiest things in the world to make, and it's never quite the same twice... but still, if you're lucky, i'll share.)

this is how i manage to feed us healthy food on very little money. i pick up good deals, shop in bulk, splurge on a couple things when i can... and make enormous amounts, and freeze the leftovers. that way, later in the week (or one some evening when i'm exhausted and/or broke), i can just toss it into the oven for a while to defrost and voila! another supper! or serve with fresh homemade bread and voila! lunch! so many ideas here, and they're all scrumptious!

anyway, that was dinner tonight, and we all loved it. you probably would, too. :)

Lentil Soup

3-1/2 medium potatoes, chopped
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 pound polish sausage, sliced
1/2 package lentils
salt & pepper to taste

1. Place the potatoes, tomatoes, onion, garlic, and sausage in a large pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook 15 minutes.
2. Stir lentils into the pot. Add more water if necessary to just cover all ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and continue cooking 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender.

Serves 6
prep time: 15 mins
cook time: 35 mins
total time: 50 mins


this is what i'm making for supper today. i can't wait. although, i've read some of the reviews, and they said to cook it longer to let the flavours mix (personally, i think stews should be cooked a long time, anyway, for just that reason. but that's me.) and to let the lentils fully cook. we'll see how it goes. i'll post the review after supper.

(if you click on the title of this post, it will take you to allrecipes.com and you can see the nutritional information, for those of you who like to know that stuff. and there's links to related recipes... that site is so addictive sometimes. LOL) 

UPDATE: ok, so, you should know my culinary stylings well enough by now to know that i rarely (if ever) follow a recipe exactly. this was no exception. i used 4 large potatoes, i didn't mesure the lentils so i have no idea how much i dumped in (yes, dumped. it was a lot), and i added a few herbs and spices to it. thyme and parsley, and since i'm too lazy to walk across the kitchen to grab some garlic and press it and put that into the pot and then wash the garlic residuals out of the press... i used garlic powder instead. beyond that, i pretty much stuck to the recipe. although i thought it needed a touch more salt, but that's ok, i just doused mine in salt, and left the kids salt-less. 

REVIEW: wonderful!!! the kids and i all have seconds (although since i had asher's which he barely touched, i think i had thirds. LOL) whatever, we all loved it, there's TONS leftover, and i can't wait to have it again!! this will definitely become a regular in our house. i TOTALLY recommend it. enjoy! :)

mmm... lentils...

yes, i know it may seem a little odd to some of you, but i like lentils. love them, actually. and so do the kids. all of them. and so does charlie, it would seem. but that's a whole other story. anyway, i posted a recipe the other night for lentil and spinach soup, which i stole (and had to alter a little bit, admittedly) from Jamie Oliver. and oooooooh, is that soup good!!!

but!

would it surprise you to know that i have more lentil recipes up my sleeve? ok, granted, one isn't much of a recipe. it's a lentil casserole i learned from a friend in bible college, and always remembered it, even though i didn't make until about 10 years later. i'll admit, i was a little scared. scared that it wasn't really as good as i remembered. scared that the kids would hate it. scared that i would screw it up somehow (though how, i don't know, since it's the absolute simplest recipe ever!! and there's the lentil and sausage soup that the kids love. we just had some leftovers tonight and it was to die for. seriously. i would take a bullet for this soup. ok, maybe i'm exaggerating a little bit. but not much, gentle reader. it's just that good.

i'll start with the lentil casserole, since you can just click on "lentil and sausage soup" above, and it will take you to the recipe. so, here's the recipe for the casserole.

oh, wait! before i start, let me remind you that i "learned" this recipe by looking at what my friend had made. not watching while he made it, just looking at the finished product. so yeah, there really won't be much for quantities. i just add till it looks right.

Dave's Lentil-icious Casserole

• some lentils. k, lots of them, since they make up the main part of the dish. but it's soooo worth it, so go nuts with them. i'd say, fill the casserole dish about 1/2 to 2/3 full with lentils, cooked.
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• feta cheese
• garlic
• olive oil

preheat oven to 300 to 350F. (why do i even bother posting my own recipes here? LOL)
add lentils, tomatoes and generous amounts of feta into casserole dish. throw in some crushed garlic. drizzle with olive oil. not too much, mind you. just some. (wow, even i want to cry reading that line. LOL) maybe 1-2 seconds of pouring. hope that helps. mix together.
toss into the oven and bake... till it looks done. not too long, though. say, 30 mins? keep an eye on it. you'll know when it's done.
enjoy.

ok, now to be honest, i cheat. it's just easier. instead of using a can of plain ol' diced tomatoes, i use a can of bruschetta tomatoes. it's awesome. it already has olive oil, garlic and herbs mixed in. so really, when i make this casserole, it only has three ingredients. super easy. and perfect for when you're rushed. i think the other short-cut you can take is to use a can of lentils. they're already cooked, so you don't have to worry about that. i don't use them, though, due to the high amounts of salt in canned beans. and really, lentils are probably one of the easiest, quickest beans to cook, so it doesn't really take much more work.

and really, this has to be one of the simplest and yummiest recipes i have. it's also pretty cheap. i figured it out once, and i can make this casserole for less than $5. the biggest expense is the feta, but i love feta, so i consider it worth it. and really, i use feta in a lot of other things (eg, spinach salad and my favourite pasta sauce... which i might also post, since it's just that good), so i get good value from this "decadence."

again, i thought of posting the lentil sausage soup recipe, but it's kind of long, and i already linked to it, twice now, so i'll just leave it for now. but seriously, check it out, because it's delicious! everyone here loves it. i've made it twice already and bram asked me tonight if i could make it every night.

mmmm... lentils...