Slow Cooker Chicken Pea Soup

Ingredients for chicken pea soup

I love making chicken soup (or caldo, for the Spanish speakers).  I can add any ingredients.  I can use a recipe, subtracting whatever ingredients that I don't have at hand or don't want to use.  Chicken soups can be made over a hot stove in a cold winter's night.  They can also be cooked in a slow cooker on a hot day.

The ingredients for this chicken pea soup are simple:

--1 lb. of chicken breast tenders

--1 whole onion cut up in large pieces

--1 can of sweet peas

--1 can of cubed potatoes

--about 3 cans of cream of mushroom

--about a tsp. of rosemary

--3 tsp. of diced garlic

--about a tbsp. of sea salt

First ingredients to chicken pea soup

Before adding any ingredients into the crock pot (slow cooker), I asked my oldest to spray the dish with Pam.  Then, I placed the raw chicken in one layer.  All the wet and dry ingredients went in afterwards.  Then, I just mixed the concoction until all the veggies were submerged.  This recipe is very much like the one I shared back in August, Slow Cooker Beef Stew.

Slow cooker on high for 5 hours

After all the ingredients were placed in the slow cooker, I set it on high.  My timer was set at five hours.

Creamy chicken pea soup
 

The end result was a delicious, thick chicken pea soup.  Because I was feeling under the weather, the white rice I made to accompany it came out a bit mushy.  It was still a wonderful addition to this soup.  I would have liked brown rice, but we ran out.

Well, thanks for reading about how to make  

chicken pea soup in the slow cooker. 

I hope you enjoyed this blog entry as much as I enjoyed writing it.

 

What about you, my readers? Do you like chicken soup? What would you add or subtract from chicken soup?  Soups are so versatile.  Try one, and you'll love their simplicity.

May God bless you with His peace and wisdom, my beloveds.

This has been an entry for Saturday Spreads. I hope you enjoyed it!

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

This is my trusty slow cooker.

By now, if you've been reading my blog, you know that I love using my slow cooker (crock pot).  It is a very good friend to the cook who wants to prepare something and then "forget" about it.  It's all in the preparation of the ingredients for the desired recipe.  Once the crock pot is turned on, the food practically cooks itself.  That's why I like making stews in my slow cooker.

This is about a pound of beef stew meat.

Cubed meat is perfect for a beef stew.  You can also use cubed chicken for a hearty soup with the same ingredients pictured below.

These are the other ingredients for beef stew.

For this beef stew I used the following ingredients:

--2 cans of creamy mushroom

--1 envelope of Lipton Onion Mushroom

--3 small potatoes cubed

--about a cup of cut up carrots

These are cubed potatoes.

I cubed the potatoes and placed them in water.  Doing that keeps the potatoes from turning color.

Pam spray is very useful.

The only thing I don't like about using a crock pot is the cleanup.  Scraping the stuck on food is not a chore I like.  That's why I chose to spray the crock pot with Pam.  It really did help the cleanup later.  The food did not stick as much to the crock pot.

The meat is placed first in the crock pot.

I scoured the internet to see how to make a good beef stew or chicken soup in a crock pot.  Most, if not all, recipes said to put the meat in first and pile on the other ingredients.  That ensures that the meat will cook thoroughly.

The cream of mushroom was added in next.

I poured in the cream of mushroom on top of the meat.  I wanted the liquid ingredient ready for the powdered ingredient pictured below.

This is a very delicious ingredient.

Onion mushroom Lipton package was tossed in.

I stirred the liquid and the powder.  Then, I added the carrots and potatoes.

Potatoes and carrots were added.

I submersed the carrots and potatoes into the liquid.  This would insure that the vegetables would get cooked.

My concoction was ready to be cooked.

I adjusted the setting to high.

I set the timer to 5 hours to make the beef stew.

This is how the stew turned out.

I'll tell you somethin' about this stew.  It was scrumptious!  The meat came apart easily.  No knife was needed.

I made some brown rice.

I made some brown rice to accompany the beef stew.  Yes, white rice can be used, too.  I just wanted a healthier alternative.

I threw in brown rice to my bowl of beef stew.

I had fun making and eating this simple beef stew.  It was hot outside when I made it.  Yes, summertime is not the best time for beef stew.  The beef stew was hot when we ate it, but there are times when one wants to eat something different.  After all, we were inside with the air conditioner blasting away!

Well, thanks for reading about how to make  

beef stew in a crockpot. 

I hope you enjoyed this blog entry as much as I enjoyed writing it.

 

What about you, my readers? Do you like beef stew? What would you add or subtract from beef stew?  Stews are versatile.  Try one, and you'll see.

May God bless you with His peace and wisdom, my beloveds.

This has been an entry for Saturday Spreads. I hope you enjoyed it!

No Takeout Challenge Update #4

I've kept my slow cooker busy these past few weeks.

This week was definitely a challenge.  I am tired.  I've made more meals this week than I have in a long time.  I took a day off on Wednesday.  Hubby had to pick up the slack.

 Normally, we would have bought takeout.

Hubby heated a pizza and steak fingers.  I had made a gravy out of a can of cream of mushroom.  He also made macaroni.  It was like a cafeteria.  Seriously, that's the way he cooks.

Chicken cooked in crock pot.

Earlier this morning, I set some chicken tenders in cream of mushroom.  I added a can of carrots and a can of potatoes.  I had a seasoning packet of herbs for a chicken meal.  All I had to make was the brown rice that would accompany my crock pot compilation.  We ate it for dinner tonight.

As we have moved away from buying takeout, I am planning other changes.  I'm thinking of what we can remove from our diet.  I'm thinking what to add to our diet, too.  All these baby steps are for the benefit of my family's health.  The incremental changes have been easier to digest.

Hubby is the only one still drinking his Pepsi.

Since we've had no takeout for a month, my kids have drank no soda.  That's a plus because I don't need their bones to go brittle.  Also, I have controlled what fats they are digesting because I use olive oil.  I would like to move towards coconut oil, but it's expensive.  Still, I want to incorporate it.

I have been drinking orange juice instead of soda.

Another change, at least for me, is to get away from "orange juice."  I'm hearing about flavor packs being added to orange juice.  I don't need any more chemicals in my body.  It will be hard on my kids because we all like cranberry juice.  My oldest loves apple juice.

We are still drinking lots of water.

All of my kids are extremely slim.  I am thankful to God that they are not overweight.  I do want them, though, to be at a healthy weight.  Buying fresh fruits and vegetables is my goal.  Being able to afford to buy them is another; no matter what, we need to keep buying them.

My kids love bread.  White bread is bad for us.  We buy Iron Kids bread.  I would like to buy more whole wheat bread.  Is it possible for my kids to eat wheat bread?

I also want to buy more grass-fed meat.  It's also expensive.  I do want to eat this meat, though, because it is healthier.  I want to eat meat free from antibiotics and hormones.  I've felt healthier after eating such meat.

I want us to move away from buying processed snacks.  Goldfish and cookies are delicious, but we don't need the empty calories.  We need nutritious foods.  I'm thinking that alternatives like carrot sticks are in order.

Those are some of the plans for the next month of August.  I pray that God will keep helping us in our resolve. 

Thanks for reading this update.  I appreciate all your tips and prayers.  I hope to share more tips in the coming weeks to aid others in this challenge of going without takeout.  Stay tuned!

I've accepted this no-takeout challenge, which began Friday, July 1st to December 31st.  It is not easy, but I know it is worth it.  I want the many benefits that can come from not eating out.  If you want to know more about this challenge, you can visit the SIX Month Money Challenge Facebook page.  If you would like to join, please "like" the page and join the yahoo group that accompanies it, as well.

How about you, my readers?  How often do you buy takeout?  Have you ever tried not buying takeout?  What's the longest you've gone without takeout?  I encourage you to see how you can cut out takeout.  I think it's worth a try.  The benefits are endless.

May God bless you all with His wisdom and peace.

This entry has been part of the Family Fun Fridays series.

Easy Slow-Cooked Pinto Beans

I cook pinto beans in a slow cooker.

As you can see from the picture above, I am not blogging about yet another pie.  I had used almond milk in my lemon pudding, and it did not work.  That's why I decided to write about how I make pinto beans.  I used to make them on the stove at times, but I burned them one too many times.  I turned to using the slow cooker (crock pot).

Raw pinto beans are stored in air tight container.

I sort beans by hand, not spread out on a dish.

These are samples of my rejects.

I've researched online and have never see pictures of beans that are rejected.  Above and below are samples of my rejects.

Shriveled, crushed beans are rejected.

I sort beans until I come up with about two cups.

I don't throw away the bad beans; I keep them.

I keep the bad beans in case the kids want to make some arts and crafts like bean bags or maracas.  I read on the internet that they can go in the compost.  I fear my compost bin would sprout bean plants. Tee hee hee!

After sorting, I poure beans and water in a tall bowl.

I poured 6 cups of water in with the beans in a large bowl.  I did not always soak my beans.  Now, I soak them for at least an hour; some people soak them longer.  I soak the beans because they now come dirtier than ever.  I heard that it helps dissipate the gassiness of the beans, but I haven't noticed a change.

I cover soaking beans so no dust and/or insects fly inside bowl.

After an hour, I drain out the dirty water.

I rinse the beans before putting them in the crock pot.

I pour about six cups of water in crock pot.

I make sure to plug in crock pot.

Yes, I have forgotten to plug in the crock pot.  I'm not the only one.  Some of my dear friends have done the same thing.  That's why I try to be merciful to other cooks who make similar mistakes.

I set my crock pot so beans will cook slowly.

I usually cook my beans overnight while I am here in the house.  I don't believe in leaving the house with any small appliance on.  With this method, it usually takes about ten hours for the beans to cook.

I sometimes cook the beans faster.

Sometimes, I will set the beans to cook from the morning.  This method takes about five hours.  Regardless of what method is chosen, I usually check (or hubby does in the morning) to see if the beans need more water.  Beans expand, soaking up the water.

Tip: Spots on beans means they aren't finished cooking.

Beans without spots are ready for a few dashes of salt.

At this point, when beans have lost their spots, a cook can add many ingredients.  Salt is the very basic ingredient.  Next week, I hope to post about recipes using pinto beans with lots more ingredients.  I'll let you know how it turns out.  Stay tuned!

Well, thanks for viewing the pictures and 

reading about how to cook pinto beans.

 

I hope you enjoyed this entry as much 

as I did in compiling it.

 

What about you, my readers? Have you ever made pinto beans? Do you cook them over a stove?  Or do you use a slow cooker?  I hope you make them regularly, like I do.  They are nutritious and cheap to make.

My beloveds, may God bless you with His peace and wisdom.

This has been an entry for Saturday Spreads. I hope you enjoyed it!