"Centsible Soups" Part 2- Crock-Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

It's good for what ails you... At least that's what I'm always being told about chicken noodle soup. I was hopeful that this recipe would be a keeper because I'm all about soups, especially soups that are supposedly going to help keep me healthy or help me get healthier faster. It didn't disappoint!

I modified a found recipe and made it my own with organic broth and chicken, skipped the can of cream of chicken soup, and doubling or halving some ingredients. As you may be figuring out by now I NEVER ever follow a recipe perfectly. It's a fault of mine. So, even if I write down 5 cups I may only have 4 on hand, so I just add a little less of everything else. Today I had PLENTY of broth and decided to double it so it could be frozen or sent with Mr. Fantastik to work. You're probably also learning I am fairly obsessed with cooking extra for freezing! 

So, I gathered my ingredients and threw it in the Crock-Pot around noon. Five hours later we were ready to devour it along with some warm from the oven bread for the hubby. And it made LOTS, folks (filled my 5 quart Crock-Pot). If you want a normal amount, I would suggest cutting the recipe in half. 

 This was after we had dished some up. It really did fill up the 5 quart Crock-Pot.

Chicken and Noodle Soup
8 cups of chicken broth (I used Pacific Organic Low Sodium broth)
1 cup onions, chopped fine (used frozen variety from Kroger)
1/2 cup celery, chopped fine
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup green onions, sliced
1 bag of frozen corn (16 oz) (You can use canned corn, I just happen to despise it)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 1/2 cup Egg noodles (I have now found whole wheat noodles and am excited to try them next time)
2 cups cooked chicken chopped/shredded (I used Coleman Organic from Costco. I had cooked an entire chicken in the Crockpot a few months ago, shredded my meat, and froze it for a recipe just like this one.)

Add everything but the noodles to the Crockpot and cook on low for 5-6 hours. Add the noodles during the last hour and be sure and switch to high. 

You may be wondering how this was 'centsible' if I used organic broth and chicken. I was pleasantly surprised to find the Pacific broth on sale at Kroger for $1.70 less than Wal-mart's normal price. This made it even cheaper than buying the same amount of broth from Swanson. I also like buying Pacific brand because it is not in the cans with BPA.

Also, I did pay more for my meat, but at $2.29/lb it didn't break the bank. I was able to get more meat than I used for this recipe and also made some chicken stock I've already used. 

"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.

Budgets, Finances, and Sacrifice

Budgeting is one of those things that we have a love/hate relationship with. We created a budget based on Nick's income before we were even married. We met at Panera one afternoon and sat down with calculators, bills, paystubs and Dave Ramsey's free budget tool to create a zero-based budget. There were headaches, tears, and some needed laughter to relief stress. Money seems to have the power like none other to cause stress and mess with emotions.

As we have been married a whopping 10 months, money has continued to be a source of blessing and a source of occasional angst. Our budget has been re-vamped multiple times through new benefits, new deductions, renting to owning... each time it seems to be a bit easier, but no more loved.

Nick and I use an Excel worksheet that he created (I married one smart man!), and I try to enter every single purchase. Tedious? Yes. Sometimes obnoxious? Yes! Worth it? YES! It causes me to pause before I buy that pair of shoes that I simply 'love' or those new fixtures for updating the bathroom. Honestly, it can hurt at times. Learning the art of depriving myself for the good of myself/us/future kiddos is painful. I look at that budget and see places I wish there was more money or even ways to be saving more for the future, but then I am reminded of God's goodness and Nick's care.

We are a one income family. (I work part-time, but we put that money aside for the future.) It doesn't make much sense to most people. We are young and don't have kids. I loved teaching full-time, BUT Nick and I decided that at this time our marriage was worth this sacrifice. I recognize that I am blessed with a man who desires me to make the home and our marriage a top priority. With our relationship and marriage being more important that having extra money we find it super helpful to be intentional about how we spend our money. We HAVE to budget!

Why I love budgets:

It allows for freedom! Money can enslave you if you let spending or debts get out of control.
 
It allows you to save money for things you really desire or need down the road.

It insures that you are on the same page with your spouse i.e. no one partner is spending thousands of dollars on boating expenses when you can barely pay your utilities.

It allows you to see how well you really can live on one income or what you may think of as not enough even with two incomes. 

It shows you how to give sacrificially.

It helps you see where to cut back.

It opens your eyes to how much emphasis is put on material goods in your household.

It helps you set goals for the long-term and is extra rewarding when those goals are met.

Resources on budgeting:

Money and Marriage God's Way by Howard Dayton, Crown Financial Ministries.

Mint.com Nick and I are old-fashioned and like using our worksheet, so that the world wide web doesn't have all our information. I've also found that entering things in myself makes me that much more aware and conscious of when I am spending money too freely.

Crown Financial Ministries Spending Plan Tool  This is very similar to the free tool Dave Ramsey offers that helped us create our first budget as a couple.

The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey  A book that gives helpful information in how to knock out debt, set-up an emergency fund, and plan for the future.