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Thursday, March 12, 2009

Soup-er Easy Dinner!


After a few warmer days, we had another chilly day yesterday. It was the perfect day for soup! I have a recipe from my friend Linda that requires SO little prep, and the final product is delicious. (As it was cooking yesterday, it smelled so good that we invited my parents over to share!) Add some homemade bread, and you have a yummy meal.


1 can Progresso Minestrone (I used the 50% less sodium.)
1 15 oz. can petite diced tomatoes*
1 15 oz. can white corn (I used low-sodium.)
1 15 oz. can black beans
1 15 oz. can mixed vegetables (I used low-sodium.)
1 pound ground beef (cooked), beef for stir fry/stew (raw), ground Italian sausage (cooked), or any other meat that fits your tastes -- You can even go meatless, and it's still wonderful.


Mix all of the above ingredients without draining any of the cans. Put it in the crock pot on low for 6-8 hours, and it's soup! We had ours with some beef sirloin for stir fry (half price at Kroger last week!), and it was excellent. The meatless version of this soup is a great meal to keep in your pantry for nights when the unexpected happens. You can mix all of the cans, simmer for 20 minutes on the stovetop, and have dinner.


* My crockpot cooks really hot, so I added an extra can of diced tomatoes to keep the soup from being too thick.

For more great Crock Pot recipes, visit Crock Pot Wednesdays hosted by Dining with Debbie.

4 comments:

Tami said...

Great idea for a cheap and easy meal! I often doctor up a can of soup with some of my own vegetables, spices, and whole grain pasta to get something a little heartier. You can make this meal even cheaper by not adding meat (and like you said, it will still taste great!).
Cutting back on meat sometimes is a great way to save money. I just started working on a non-profit campaign called Meatless Mondays. We're trying to encourage Americans to skip eating meat once a week to help their health and their finances. One day without meat a week cuts your saturated fat intake by 15%, which reduces your risk for many preventable illnesses like diabetes and stroke.
You should check out our website! We have lots of delicious recipes that are light on the wallet but full of flavor. www.MeatlessMonday.com

Jennifer said...

Great idea, Tami! We try to go meatless twice a week. My husband watches his cholesterol, so it's good for that. It's also good for the pocketbook. We do pizza one night and beans another night. Thanks for the website!

Michelle said...

What a great idea and a terrific way to use some pantry items. That's the great thing about soup - you can use what you have on hand and the results are usually (!!) delicious. Thanks for sharing this. I can't wait to try it out.

Unknown said...

What GREAT!!! additions to a canned soup. THANKS!!! Geri