Food Porn | Elephant Soup

This is the 2nd installment in my new "Food Porn" series. :) I hope you guys are enjoying it so far! Like my last recipe - this one also incorporates ye ole crockpot. I actually mixed all the ingredients (minus the vegetable broth) in a ziploc bag and froze it the night before. Then - when I got up the next morning all I had to do was cut open the baggy and toss (gently) in the block of soup (lol) and turn the crockpot on low. Done!  It was very satisfying to come home to a hot bowl of this soup after a long day of working in a building with no heat! NOM & BRRR. Here she be...

Elephant Soup

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion - diced

2 green onions - chopped

2 red bell peppers - chopped

4 cloves minced garlic

1-28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

8 cups vegetable broth

1 teaspoon of chili powder

1 teaspoon of black pepper

1/2 teaspoon of ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon of celery salt

1 cup uncooked brown rice

1 cup peanut butter (add very last)

sour cream (topping)

Directions:

Add all the ingredients into the crockpot minus the peanut butter and sour cream. (Yes - I said peanut butter) Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. When the soup is done stir in the peanut butter and cook on high for 20-30 additional minutes. Lastly - put some sour cream on top yo! 

Food Porn | Vegetarian Lasagna Soup

Oh lawd - I have been gone for a while now. :/ How embarrassing! I've been so busy working, taking care of kids, cleaning house, going to weddings (seriously - so many Fall weddings), and keeping a regular exercise routine lately. I'm going to make a special effort this weekend to come up with a weekly blogging schedule. (I promise this time) So...as Sir Elton John always says...the bitch is back. ;)

Earlier today - Mr. Cherry and I decided to invest in a nice crockpot. We found a Hamilton Beach crockpot at Target on sale for $24.99. It says $29.99 online...so I guess we got a good deal! We have decided to collect some good recipes from Pinterest and cook them in the crockpot during the day while we are at work. Crockpot + easy online recipes = saving time and money! (hopefully lol) The batch of food I made tonight will probably last us several days. Silas was not very pleased with it though - he says next time he doesn't want cheese on top. What kind of kid doesn't like cheese? Ugh.

Anywho! Here is the recipe y'all...

Vegetarian Crockpot Lasagna

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 bag of vegetarian crumbles (We purchased the Quorn brand)

3 cups of vegetable broth (this ended up being 1.5 cans)

1 cup of water

1 tbsp of garlic paste (it's in the refrigerated produce section)

1 tbsp dried parsley

1 tbsp dried basil

1/2 cup chopped onion (this annoyed me - I hate chopping onions!)

1 - 28 oz can of diced tomatoes

1 - 6 oz can of tomato paste

1 cup of V8 juice

2 cups of uncooked shell pasta

pepper and salt to taste (I'm not a huge fan of salt, so I used it sparingly)

Directions:

First I dumped the can of tomatoes and the tomato paste into the crockpot. Then I poured in the broth, veggie crumbles, garlic paste, parsley, basil, chopped onion, V8, and salt & pepper. 

This meal can be cooked quickly (the method we chose tonight) or slower. (if you need more time)

So this means you can cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours...or on high for 4-5 hours. Our lasagna took 4 hours to cook tonight. 

Around the 3 hours and 30 minutes mark - we added in the water and uncooked pasta. I then covered it back up and let it simmer 30 more minutes.

Lastly, I sprinkled a healthy amount of cheese on top lol. Next time I will refrain from doing this to Silas' bowl. ;)

I hope everybody is having a wonderful weekend! We are finishing painting our bedroom tonight...so I'm off to paint! Oh...and happy Doctor Who day!

The Secret Sisters @ Standard Deluxe

Last night - India, Matt, and I had the pleasure of going to go see "The Secret Sisters" at Standard Deluxe in Waverly - AL. It was fantastic.  -----> Their website here <-----

Photo credit decca.com

This traditional country music group consists of two lovely sisters...Laura and Lydia Rogers. (I adore the name Lydia btw) They are actually a somewhat local band - coming from Muscle Shoals, AL. Laura's voice reminds me of Mama Cass Eliott's voice a bit. (I'm a big The Mamas & The Papas fan) India and I were really stoked about the show all week. Her favorite song is "Tomorrow Will Be Kinder" - I was unaware until last night that it was inspired by our 2011 tornado outbreak in Alabama. The crowd got very quiet when they sang it - it was beautiful.  -----> View short video I took <----- I took a longer one - but you can hear India yelling about a spider she saw on the cooler during it. LOL

November's Lust-worthy Items

It's seriously November? What the heck man...now I'm just getting angry. This year is flying by! Lots of exciting things are coming up soon! Brad's wedding, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Miri's 1st birthday in January! (Did somebody say My Little Pony invites?)

The following items can all be found on Etsy - I have an addiction remember? ;)

Vintage Sterling Wedding Set

$135 at EternalElementsShop on Etsy

Custom Look What I Did

$40 at WhatchawantDesign on Etsy

Handmade Minky Blanket

$8 (sale) at mintandarrows on Etsy (I snatched it up)

3 Yard of Silver Garland (for baby Miri's room)

$9 at caitlinwilhelm on Etsy

American Apparel Ariel Pullover

$40 at Cakeworthy on Etsy

Recycled Fabric Headband

$5 at mynameiskorrine on Etsy

How is your week going so far? I'm pumped up for Friday - I am going with the hubby and my sister to see the "Secret Sisters" show in Waverly. Excite! Photos?