Gifts In a Jar - Slow Cooker Country Bean Soup Mix

Two of our Soup Mixes ready for their recipe cards and ribbons.

This soup is great!  It can start out its life in a jar after sitting in your pantry where it has rested since you got together with a group of friends to make up some freezer/pantry meals or it can all come together for the first time in your slow cooker.

This past Christmas, we needed gifts for teachers, bus drivers and mail delivery persons.  After preparing a few jars of this recipe, I still had enough of everything left over to make our own meal!

I was glad I did.  Everyone really liked it.  And you know me, I love the simple recipes best!

If making this in a jar for storage, just add all dry ingredients to a Quart Jar.  When ready to cook, add contents of a jar, 6-8 cups water, browned turkey sausage and a 26 oz can of crushed tomatoes to a 6 quart Slow Cooker.

Slow Cooker Country Bean Soup
3 cups dried beans, any combination (for a prettier gift, use 1/2 cups of 6 different beans or even layer two different types of beans 1/2 cup at a time)
2 T dried minced onion
1 T dried parsley flakes
2 tsp beef bouillon
1 tsp dried minced garlic
1 tsp dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp pink Himalayan sea salt
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

Layer beans in 1 quart jar.

In small baggie, mix onion, parsley, bouillon, garlic, basil, oregano, salt pepper and red pepper flakes.  Tie with twistie tie.  Place on top of beans in quart jar.  Seal jar with appropriate tight-fitting lid.

Include tag when gifting:

Slow Cooker Country Bean Soup
1 Jar Country Bean Soup Mix
6-8 cups water
1 26 oz can diced tomatoes
8 oz smoked sausage links, browned and sliced

Remove seasonings from jar and set aside.  Dump beans in large bowl and cover with water.  Soak overnight.  Drain beans in strainer and discard water.  Rinse beans until rinse water runs clear.

Brown sausage links in skillet, and slice.

Combine soaked beans, water, tomatoes, sausage and contents of seasoning packet in slow cooker. Cook on low 6-8 hours, until beans are tender.

Soup can be made thicker by using a potato masher to mash some of the beans and replacing mashed beans in slow cooker during last half hour of cooking.

Slow Cooker Picadillo

A few years ago, I tried a stove top Picadillo recipe.  It was the green olives that tempted me. 

I LOVED it!  Even if the green olives would not have been in the recipe, I would have still enjoyed the meal.  Sadly, like usual for me, I misplaced the recipe.

Today, I merged two different recipes to try to recreate the Picadillo taste.  Sadly, although it was an okay taste, it wasn't the "I CRAVE THIS!" recipe I'd been hoping to locate.  I felt this needed more seasoning, to include salt as it seemed to be missing something . . . . I might also decide, should I make this again, to increase the amount of chopped olives to closer to a full cup,

I am posting what I did now so that I can compare it as I continue my search for that crave-worthy winner of a recipe.

Slow Cooker Picadillo

1 lb ground beef
26 oz crushed tomatoes
10 oz tomato sauce
1 onion, finely chopped
16 green olives, finely chopped
1 tsp olive brine
1 green pepper, finely chopped
15 oz black beans (I used some I had soaked overnight)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

In skillet, brown burger.  Place burger and all other ingredients in slow cooker.  Stir well.  Cook on low 6-8 hours.  Serve by itself or over brown rice.

Slow Cooker Chicken (and Alphabets) Soup

This is an old entry that I never put in "publish" status, so, don't mind the references to a much younger Miss Mia!

With the incredible cold spell we had going on during the early part of the week, I was ready for some warm soup.  Miss Mia and I decided a chicken noodle type soup would be perfect - especially if we used Alphabets instead of noodles.  This was also a good way to get some "school" in when I let her measure the various items for the soup . . . . It was nice having her home from school on those below 0F days, but at the same time, she was going a little stir crazy since she'd only just returned to classes after Christmas Break!

I actually made this recipe and split it in two so we could have a freezer meal for later this winter.  I'll give the measurements and you can dump 'em all in a 6 quart Slow Cooker - or be like me and split it between the slow cooker and a freezer bag.

Slow Cooker Chicken (and Alphabets) Soup

2 packages baby carrots, chopped bite size or smaller
1 head celery, chopped bite size or smaller
1 tsp minced garlic
2 onions, chopped
1 tsp rosemary
2-4 skinless boneless chicken breast (depending how chicken-y you want your soup)
2 32oz boxes chicken broth
2 cups water
2 tsp Italian Seasoning
1/2 of a small box Alphabets noodles (you could use more if you like lotsa noodles in your soup)

Dump everything but the Alphabets noodles in slow cooker.  Cook on low 6-8 hours (depending on which of my slow cookers I use, 6 hours might be long enough, but 8 hours might be better in the other, check your chicken to see . . . . Chicken should simply fall apart when poked with a fork).  Shred chicken using two forks (again, I am lazy and shred the chicken in the slow cooker.  My Hubster removes the chicken to a plate where he shreds it and then dumps it back in the slow cooker).  Dump in Alphabets noodles and cover.  Cook an additional 10 - 15 minutes, until noodles are cooked.

-frozen chicken can be use - the cooking time will be closer to the 8 hour time frame (again, depending on how hot your slow cooker cooks on Low).
- freeze soup in one gallon freezer bag.  lay flat in freezer.  when ready to cook, remove from freezer in am and place straight in slow cooker (take out of freezer bag), no need to thaw. 

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

Here's an easy one for you.

So easy, even the Hubster can make it!

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

1 jar salsa (I used one of my pint sized Zesty Zucchini Salsas I had canned)
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 cup chicken broth (optional, depends how runny you want your chicken filling)

Place the 4 skinless boneless chicken breasts in slow cooker.  Dump salsa and brother over chicken  Cook on low 6-8 hours (depending on how hot your slow cooker cooks).  Use two forks and shred chicken.

Use over rice, in tortillas, over lettuce . . . or by itself!