Cooking in a German Snow Storm

Last week here in Germany we thought Spring had sprang, apparently Spring was just screwing with our emotions because our 50 degree weather just turned into four inches of snow.  Michelle’s yoga class was cancelled, school was let out early and I was released early from work.  So today, even though I still have BBQ Chicken in the fridge, I decided to make Chicken Tortilla Soup. 

 

 

Just one problem; when the weather rolled in the grocery stores closed and I didn’t have any tortillas at home for the tortilla part of the soup.  I didn’t even have any tortilla chips so I settled for the non-traditional noodles.  I bowtie noodles for lunch and had some left over so I tossed them in, and it wasn’t too bad! 

 

 

Having the girls home meant I had some help in the kitchen.

This wasn’t some of that mentioned help! ;-)

Michelle was home today too; since it was her much loved yoga class that was cancelled.  Her little fridge was over-stocked with left overs so that’s what she and Jamison ate for dinner.  Gotta love little German fridges.

 

 

 

Kerrie went all out with Savory Vegetable Beef Soup.

 

 

 

She had this to say, “To start I just wanted to say I do not know how to stick to directions... AT ALL! Or is it I just want everything to be my way? hmm. Well I have been pretty good and only substituting types of meat. (for this meal)”.

I think I am going to start doing more substituting when it comes to these recipes too.  I’m not a big fan of pork chops, roasts, or steaks in my recipes.  So when they call for pork, I will either add pre-cooked ham or chicken breasts (since I don’t like dealing with bones).

Kerrie also said, “Well here is to another day of amazing crock-pot food!  Last night for dinner we had Vegetable Beef Soup. Delicious, Hearty, and Flavorful. Speaking of flavor, recipe calls for Thyme. I personally am not a fan and would either use less next time or totally veto it. Mike on the other hand said it is the best soup he has ever had and would not change a thing! So there ya have it we will be having a lot of this in the future!”

 

 

That’s what this challenge is all about, trying new recipes, finding ones you love and having dinner ready at the end of the day.  Win, win, win.

 

Here is the recipe that Kerrie used to make Savory Vegetable Beef Soup.

 

Savory Vegetable Beef Soup

(ORIGINAL RECIPE)
Chop (1) Onion and Chop (2) Cloves of Garlic. Brown in pan with Ground Beef (2 lbs). Divide between bags.

(What Kerrie Used)
1 lbs of Stew Meat per bag.

(2) Whole Carrots chopped per bag
(2) Celery Stalks chopped per bag
(3) Red Potatoes chopped per bag
(1) Can V8 Split between bags
(1) 28oz. can Diced Tomatoes SPLIT between bags
(1) cup Green Beans (Fresh or Frozen) in each bag
(1/2) TBSP Worcestershire per bag
(1/2) cup Beef Broth per bag
(1) tsp Parsley per bag
(1) tsp Basil per bag
(1/2) tsp Thyme per bag
(1/2) tsp Salt per bag
(1/2) tsp Pepper per bag
(1) tsp sugar per bag

Cooking: Place in crockpot with 1 1/2 Cups of Water and 1 3/4 cups Beef Broth. Cook Low 8 hours.

Enjoy!

 

If you would like to share a slow-cooker/crockpot recipe with us this month please email me!  We will be doing 30 days of cupcakes next month! 

The recipe for the Chicken Tortilla Soup can be found at Loving My Nest!