Hamburger Soup

Hamburger Soup
From Set for Life Cookbook

1/2 pound Ground Beef
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks Celery, diced
4 Potatoes, cubed
3 Carrots, diced
2 16 ounce cans Tomatoes
2 cups Cabbage, chopped (optional)
1 c. Corn
1/4 c. Brown Rice, Noodles or Macaroni
4-6 cups Water
1 large Bay Leaf
2-3 tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce (optional)
Pepper to Taste

In larege pan brown ground beef with onion.  Drain well.  Add reamining ingredients.  Soup should not be too thick so add more water if needed.  Bring to a boil.  Lower heat, and simmer about 1 1/2 hours.  Remove bay leaf before serving.

Slow Cooker:  Brown ground beef with onion.  Drain well.  Put all ingredients in slower and simmoer on low all day.

Approximately 12 servings.  

Taco Soup with Black Beans

Taco Soup with Black Beans
Fix it and Forget It Cookbook

1 lb. ground beef
Small onion or 1-2 T. dried onion
28 oz. can crushed or diced tomatoes
15 1/4 oz. can corn, undrained
15 oz. can black beans, undrained
15 1/2 oz can red kidney beans or pinto, undrained
1 envelope Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
1 envelope dry taco seasoning

Toppings:
Tortilla Chips
Shredded Cheese
Sour Cream

Brown ground beef with onion, drain fat.  Combine all ingredients and cook on low in crock pot for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.  If you forgot or don't have time to use the crock pot, just combine in big pot and simmer on stove for about 15 to 30 minutes.

Dottie's Creamy Steak Soup

Dottie's Creamy Steak Soup
Fix It and Forget It Cookbook
(I don't know why the title is what it is because it uses hamburger not steak)

1 lb. ground beef (Smith's 1.59/lb)
half of onion, chopped (Smith's .50/lb)
12 oz. can V-8 vegetable juice
2-3 medium potatoes (.99 10 pound bag Ream's)
Can of cream of mushroom soup
Can of cream of celery soup
16 oz frozen mixed vegetables or vegetable of your choice
2 tsp. salt
Pepper to taste

Saute hamburger and onion, drain fat. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook on low 8-10 hours.

Chicken and Vegetable Dumpling Soup

Chicken and Vegetable Dumpling Soup
From mykitchencafe.blogspot.com

*Serves 6

Chicken and Broth:
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
2-3 chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds) (1.89/lb Macey's)

Vegetables:
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 large carrots (6-7 baby carrots), chopped (2 pound bag .99 @ Ream's)
1 onion, chopped
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup frozen peas (.89 Ream's)

Dumplings:
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme or sage
1/2 cup sour cream (1.00 Smith's)
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil

In a large pot, boil the chicken broth, water and chicken breasts until the chicken is cooked through and tender (about 15 minutes). Remove the chicken from the pot, reserving the broth in the pot, and shred the chicken with two forks. Set the chicken aside and keep the broth warm on the stove.

While the chicken is boiling, in a large skillet, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the celery, carrots and onions. Saute for about 6-7 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add the vegetables to the hot broth in the pot after the chicken has been removed. Add salt, thyme and pepper to the vegetable/broth mixture and stir to combine. Heat the soup to a simmer.

In a small bowl, blend ½ cup cold water and 1/4 cup flour with a wire whisk until smooth. Whisking vigorously, slowly add the flour mixture into the hot vegetables and broth and whisk until well combined. Add ½ cup frozen peas and the reserved chicken and cook, stirring gently for one minute.

For the dumplings, in a medium bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine sour cream, milk and oil. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined (don't overmix, it is ok if there are a few dry spots of flour here and there).

Heat the soup to boiling and drop teaspoonful amounts (the dumplings should be fairly small, they'll expand while cooking) of dumpling dough into the boiling soup, covering the entire surface of the soup (don't make more than one layer of dumplings). Reduce the heat to simmering, cover and let the dumplings cook for 15 minutes. Do not lift the lid of the pot while the dumplings cook.

When the dumplings have cooked fully, remove the lid and gently stir the dumplings to break them apart. Serve.