Beefy Bean Soup

This is my winter, chili alternative. It is a little less spicy than chili which makes it a GREAT soup for kids. It reheats wonderfully for leftovers and freezes well too.

Beefy Bean Soup
1, 29oz can tomato puree
1, 14.5oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup water
1 can beef broth
2 cubes beef or chicken bouillon cubes
1 t basil
1 t dried oregano
1 cup uncooked, whole wheat macaroni noodles
1, 16 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1, 16 oz can great northern beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 pound ground beef
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 t minced garlic (wet or dry)


Brown beef, celery, onion and garlic together until meat is no longer pink and veggies are tender. Drain.

Combine meat and all other ingredients into crockpot. Cook 4-5 hours on low. The longer it cooks the softer the noodles will be.  Makes 8 servings or enough for a family of 3 to have lots of leftovers.

Perfect Pulled Pork

5# boneless pork butt shoulder

1 1/2 tsp paprika
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water
buns

Combine all spices in a small bowl and rub evenly over meat. Place meat in 6 qt crock pot. Pour water over top. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 4-5 hours until pork is tender.

Place pork on large cutting board and let rest (cool) for 15 min. Pull, slice or chop to serve. Serve in buns with BBQ sauce.

This makes a BUNCH of meat! So be ready for some yummy leftover sandwhich meat!

Why share?

If your family is like ours we eat at home the majority of the time. I prefer to eat at home because a) I know what's in our food b) I have control over the fat, sodium and preservatives in our meals and c) it saves money!

Most days I have a little helper in the kitchen so the recipes we make can't be too exact, too complicated OR take too long. Our prep time is limited to my patience and a 2 year old attention span. Ease and simplicity dominate our kitchen.

I started this blog as motivation for me to continue to try new recipes. I love to share the BEST foods we make and hope you find some dishes that you and your family enjoy as much as we do!

If you have a favorite recipe please send it to me as we would love to give it a test run.