Soup Time...

Ahh...fall...cool weather...soup time...
I was just reading my cousin Katie's blog and she started a soup recipe swap. So here is my new favorite soup. Please try it and tell me what you think, then add your own favorite soup recipes as a comment, or post it on your blog!

Fifteen Minute Soup
1 can (16 oz) great northern beans
1 cup water (I did 2 cups)
1 teaspoon (or cube) Beef or Chicken bouillon* (I did 1 tsp of each)
2 cans (16 oz) tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp garlic salt
1 Tbs oil, marg, or butter
1 package (10 oz) chopped spinach
1/2 cup macaroni (elbow or any other shape)

1 In a saucepan, saute onion in butter. Add all ingredients except spinach and macaroni. Heat until liquid comes to a boil.

2 Stir in and break up spinach, bring to a boil again.

3 Stir in macaroni and simmer until macaroni is tender, 6-10 minutes.

Makes 4-6 servings
Cals per serving: 106
Fat per serving: 1 gram
Prep time: 15 minutes

When I made it, I didn't have the frozen spinach, but I had a 12 oz bag of fresh spinach. Travis just chopped it up, and we put it in. It seemed like a LOT of spinach, but it cooked down to nothing...Also, some of my kids are squeamish about tomatoes, so I often run them (or part of them) through the blender...Travis loved this, even though it had no meat in it. He thought it might be good with Italian Sausage, too.

*I thought it needed more liquid, so I added another cup of water, and put in 1 tsp chicken bouillon, AND 1 tsp beef boullion and it gave it GREAT flavor (I learned that trick from Cowboy Grub's vegetable soup-they use half beef and half chicken broth)
I also cooked up dry beans in the morning, and simmered until tender or you can soak overnight, then simmer til tender if you don't have canned beans on hand.

So now, it's your turn! Give me a good recipe, please! (Sharena, if you get on here, I want your White Chili recipe...)

Apple-Picking

Fall is Here! Our neighbors, Ron & Lanelle VanOrder have a couple of apple trees. They are so sweet (both the neighbors AND the apples!:) and let us pick them. It is one of the kids favorite things to do (the teenagers don't love it so much anymore--notice they are absent) but the little ones still love it.

Some Cute Fall Pictures of Zoe Brooke

My friend Sharena babysat Zoe. When I came and picked her up, she had fixed and curled Zoe's hair so cute! Zoe NEW she was adorable. She kept jabbering unintelligibly, then raising her eyebrows, and touching her hair, as if to say, "I'm a gorgeous babe!" I wonder if Sharena would come over on Sunday mornings to doctor up all my little girls...





The next time Sharena babysat Zoe, she came home with THIS hairdo!
Not really! Zoe was playing on the trampoline. Wow! I love static electricity. Super Cool, eh?
My little Zoe is such a sweetheart. You can't help but love this funny little girl.