"Centsible Soups" Part 1- Chicken Sausage and Lentil Stew

Fall is the perfect time for soup. The weather is getting chilly and a warm bowl of healthy, filling soup is the perfect end to a good day around here. Not to mention it is easy to use with a crock-pot and not much makes me happier than easy meal prep and freezing left-overs from a doubled recipe to save for another day. Or if the hubs is 'lucky' he gets some leftovers the next day, too. 

I didn't make much soup while single because there was only one of me, and I didn't want to eat soup for days on end. Nick ate soup straight from a can, but we are committed to not doing that due to sodium levels, some completely crazy ingredients, and the BPA in the can. So, this is where this blog series comes in. I thought it would be lots of fun to try out several new soup recipes over the next several weeks, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, those for the crock-pot and those for the stove top. Blogging about these successes and failures is a way to keep me accountable, to keep me trying new soups.

Lentil and Chicken Sausage Stew  

1 carton (32 oz) reduced-sodium chicken broth (or frozen homemade stock)

1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained

3 fully cooked spicy chicken sausage links (3 oz each), cut into 1/2 in slices

1 cup dried lentils 

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 celery rib, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp dried thyme

Combine the ingredients in a 4-5 qt slow cooker. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or until lentils are tender.

Photo courtesy of simple-nourished-living.com

My thoughts? I would make it again, but I am hopeful that we find some we like even more. It seemed a tiny bit bland and Nick agreed. I think it is because I substituted the spicy chicken for turkey sausage instead (which does not go with my no foods with hydrogenated oils in them, but it is the last thing on hand). The turkey wasn't spicy, and I didn't add it until after work so the flavors weren't 'mixing' quite as long. I had never made a lentil stew or soup before and was pleased that I liked the taste and texture. These provide lots of healthy fiber! I did not add the celery since I didn't have any, and I used frozen cut carrots instead (just guessed on the amount). I also used frozen chopped onions from Kroger, so this meal was easy to prep. Open a few cans, snip a few bags, dump, measure, cut, and voila dinner at the end of the day! 

Original recipe from Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking Magazine Oct/Nov '11

Nutrition Facts: 
Serving Size: 1.5 cups
231 calories, 4 grams fat (1 gram saturated), 33 mg cholesterol, 803 mg sodium, 31 grams carbs, 13 grams fiber, 19 grams protein
Diabetic exchange: 2 lean meat, 2 vegetable, 1 starch

a little update... A BIG GOAL!

August 8th?! I knew we had been busy, but I had no idea we've been so busy that I haven't posted for over 4 months!! Here's the biggest highlights of the last few months... 

August: our friends from OH came in for the state fair so he could compete in a sheep-shearing contest. We so enjoyed our time with them. It's always an encouragement to spend time with like-minded kindred spirits. 

September: started teaching part-time, my birthday- Nick took the day off and made it super special!

October: Our one-year anniversary! How crazy is that!? God was sooo good to give me this man!

November: New roof. I'd been praying for hail so we could get a free roof thanks to insurance and God answered those prayers. For us a new roof also meant painting the house a new color- loooots of work!

December: Christmas is coming! I've had my shopping done since November. It helps that I'm making all our gifts this year in order to save money. We had a good friend pass away who was N's adopted grandma. We made a quick trip to Louisville for that and were able to see some good friends and their new baby.


We've been trying to save like it's our J-O-B. We've been cutting some expenses and this month have decided to spend next to nothing apart from our utilities, mortgage, and food (even that was lowered this month when I realized how much I have in the freezer). We've decided this is a good exercise in being content and in being frugal since we are still trying to save toward a specific goal... We were inspired by this blog post on a no-spend month. I think we're going to try to have them a bit more often. Hard when you're trying to decorate a new house, but so worth it when you have a big goal in mind.

Big goal??

I've picked up some daytime babysitting jobs and the latest adventure is opening an Etsy shop. I know people talk all the time about not having any luck with theirs. Honestly, I'm not trying to use it to make crazy, big bucks. Rather, we are using any funds, along with whatever else I make from teaching, babysitting etc to put towards adopting. We knew when we got married that we both had wanted to adopt for several years. We figured we would wait for several after marriage, but the Lord seems to be directing us to pursue this sooner than later. With the cost of an international adoption averaging 35k for one child we have decided we need to be saving and earning as much as we can.

We don't know when we would come home with a child. Adoption is TONS of work, paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork. We also know we want to do this without debt, so it may take longer than we would like to have a decent amount towards this goal. 

Please consider checking out my Etsy shop. I don't have much up yet, but you can bookmark it and come back later as more will definitely be added. You can spread the word that this is going directly toward adoption (straight into its own separate account at a separate bank than the rest of our banking) which will encourage others to stop by. This is not about making money for the sake of money, but really trying to get one step closer to giving a child, a child of our hearts, a home.

My favorite item up now would make a simple and fun baby gift even. Check it out at my Etsy shop, ChildoftheHeart.