Turkey Soup

I started my new additional part-time job last week. It's super busy there and I don't have much time to eat, check my email, surf the net or write blog entries while I'm there. Very different from my other pt job.

Working 3 nights a week and every Saturday is forcing me to use all my free time for laundry and cleaning the house. Boo! In an effort to get some healthful food into our bodies during the week I am going to try to use my more crockpot and find some make ahead recipes that I can freeze.

Last week I made some turkey soup and split pea soup. The recipes came from Fix-It and Forget-It Lightly.

The turkey soup didn't turn out exactly as I had expected - there's not much broth for it being in the soup section of the book. But it was easy to make and a satisfying dinner and lunch the next day. One thing to note about this book is that all the recipes are for different sized crock pots - 4, 5 or 6 quarts. I have a 6 quart-er so there's some math involved in adjusting recipes. User beware! If the crockpot is not filled up at least half way, the food is likely to dry out or burn.

Ground Turkey Soup

1 lb. ground turkey
1 c. onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
15 oz. can kidney beans, drained
1 cup carrots, sliced
1/4 c. rice, uncooked
1 quart low-sodium diced Italian tomatoes
2 cups green beans
1 tsp. parsley flakes
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 bay leaf
3 c. water

1. Brown turkey in a large skillet.
2. Combine with remaining ingredients in a 5-6 quart slow cooker.
3. Cover. Cook on low 8-9 hours.


Just before cooking...