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!

Honoring Peaches

Better words fail me - so I'm going to post what my sister-in-law Christine said...

To all our family and friends, today is a very special day of remembrance. Today is the birthday of someone who meant the world to my family, myself and everyone who knew her, Peaches. 
Peaches left us to be with the Lord earlier this year and left behind a hole in our hearts that will never be filled. She was the heart and soul of our family and had a way of making even the worst of days seem "not too bad". She was a light in our lives that will never go out, a constant reminder of hope and love.

While she was here with us, Peaches was the ideal example of living life to honor God. She gave away everything she had to give to others emotionally, physically and financially until the day she died. It was often noted that if you needed it, she'd give you the "shirt off her back". She was a passionate monthly contributor to organizations whose goals were to spread the word of God and allow people to have a second chance at life.

In her honor, my family and I have decided to try and raise some funds to donate on her behalf. In addition to the money we will donate as a family, we thought we would try and include some of our other friends and family and those whose lives were touched by Peach.

Growing up, Peaches was the cook of our family. She was the one to get "dinner on the table", both literally and figuratively, for most of my childhood. Sitting and watching her cook was a show and she was always prepared to add a plate for anyone in need. To think of families without the blessing of someone like her to help them through tough times is what inspired the cause.

We are asking that if you have a moment, please remember the person in your life who gave freely of themselves and asked nothing in return. Someone who made your life as it is now, possible. Peaches was that person for me.

If you have been blessed by someone, and would be willing to donate, please consider donating towards our "Virtual Food Drive" to honor Peach. A donation as simple as $5 can make a difference or, if you are feeling generous, donate what you would consider to be the cost of a meal for one night for a family in need.

100% of the money raised goes to a wonderful company called "Feeding America". With one in six Americans still relying on the help of "Feeding America" for food, they are the leading domestic hunger relief organization in America with food banks serving every state. Helping feed 37 million Americans each year, they are the the leading provider of food assistance for Children and Elders in America.

Here is the direct link to our "Honoring Peaches" page for you to donate easily and quickly.

----------> help.feedingamerica.org/goto/HonoringPeaches <----------

Thank you in advance for doing this. It is a small thing to honor a big hole in our hearts. We miss you Peach!