Hamburger Soup for Slow Cooker Saturday

Hi folks. Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. It's wicked cold and nasty here in Ontario. So I did what any wussy Canuck would do, I stayed inside all day with a warm blankie. Luckily I had nothing pressing to do today so I was able to just putz around the house in a ponytail, pajamas and puppy teasers, also known as slippers. After a week of running around like a crazy mama it was incredibly nice to chill out and be a bit lazy today. Or a lot. Don't judge!

I have to say the last month has been trying on my blogging. Those of you who blog may have noticed I am not my usual visitaholic self. Life has been crazy busy so my blogging has taken a bit of a hit. I think we've adjusted into our new routines now so life should ease up a bit. Which means I'll have more time for things like blogging, housework, the horse, and cooking up a storm. I was able to get in tons of visiting today so I am finally starting to feel back to normal. Routine for me equals more recipes for you. Win-win if you ask me.

Soup is not my fave thing to eat. I have to admit I am not much of a fan of most soups. If you were to ask me if I like soup I would tell you no. Yet a friend was telling me about a recipe like this and then by chance I happened upon a similar one in a new crock pot recipe tin I received for Christmas. I set it aside and forgot all about it. Then today I made up tacos for lunch and had some hamburger left. I was trying to think of what I could make for Slow Cooker Saturday with hamburger and this popped into my head. I needed a couple of ingredients but luckily that's the bonus of having older kids. I sent my son out into the cold to pick up the things I needed while I stayed warm and cozy in the house. Hey man if you wanna eat here at the Bee household sometimes you gotta pull up your bootstraps and go out in the cold. The price you pay for a scrumpious  meal. Seems like a fair trade to me. But then again I am the one sitting in the warm house, with a blankie, in a ponytail, pajamas and puppy teasers right.

Hamburger Soup a la Toasty Warm Lunatic:


CLICK HERE FOR PRINTABLE RECIPE

Recipe adapted by Crock-Pot

Ingredients:

1 pound of lean ground beef
1 cup thinly sliced carrots
1 cup sliced celery
1 package of dry onion soup mix
1 package of Italian salad dressing mix
Salt to taste
3 cups boiling water
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon brown sugar
3 cups farfalle noodles, cooked
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
Fresh parmesan for garnish (optional)
Fresh parsley for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Brown your ground beef in a large skillet or pan. Make sure you break up the meat well. Drain fat.

Place your carrots in the bottom of your slow cooker.

Place your celery on top of the carrots.

Now top with the cooked beef, soup mix, salad dressing mix, and salt.

Now add your water, tomatoes with juice, tomato sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Mix well.

Turn your slow cooker on low and let cook for about 6 to 8 hours.

Now stir in your cooked pasta and parmesan cheese. Cook for another 15 to 30 minutes on high.

Sprinkle with fresh parmesan and/or parsley if desired.

Serve with a smile.

Tips and hints:

If you are pressed for time don't bother cooking your pasta ahead, just toss it in the slow cooker for about an hour/ hour and a half. Just saves you crucial time if you would rather hang with your kids or watch the real housewives of wherever.

The recipe calls for 2 cups of pasta but I used three, if you like soup you may want to stick to 2. I do not like overly liquidy things so 3 to 4 cups works better for me.

I added sugar but you don't have to. I just like things like this to have a bit of sweetness to them. Feel free to omit it. Maybe you are sweet enough without help, me not so much.

Make sure you remember all slow cookers cook differently. So I would always check your food at the lower recommended time on any slow cooker recipe. Also if you tweak things in recipes it can affect your cook time as well. Better safe than sorry and all that jazz.

After making this my thoughts are it would be really good with beans in it. Some nice black beans would be lovely in this.

The verdict is it was pretty good. For soup. I mean it's no chocolate souffle or anything. Sometimes we all need to put on our big girl panties and eat like adults. Except on days where the Lunatic declares it an unofficial snow day. Then you can eat turtles, after eights, rockets, potato chips, pistachios, gum drops and drink pepsi all day long. Not that I did that or anything. *rubs her tummy*

Toodles and smoochies.xx