Lentil, Sausage, and Bean Soup

Most of the time my three girls tend to be pretty picky eaters, and so I can count on one hand the number of meals all five members of our family like to eat. Today I decided to let my three-year-old twins, Piper and Riley, create their own recipe for dinner. I took them to Target with the instructions to pick ingredients they would like to eat in a soup. What they created turned out to be delicious!

Lentil, Sausage, and Bean Soup

8 oz. dry lentils (cook according to directions)
32 oz. chicken broth (we use fat free, 33% less sodium)
2 large carrots, shredded
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can light red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 pound ground turkey sausage
1 Tablespoon processed garlic

In large pot, brown turkey sausage with shredded carrots and garlic. In another pot, cook lentils according to directions. When sausage is thoroughly cooked, add all of the ingredients, including the cooked lentils, to the pot. Stir and simmer until ready to eat.

We topped off our soup with Parmesan cheese and enjoyed it with hearty artisan fresh-baked bread.

I snagged this picture off google images because it looks somewhat similar to our soup and I'm taking the lazy way out.

I think I'll let the girls be in charge of our menu from now on!

Jennifer's Berry & Green Protein Shake

This is the recipe I use for my daily protein shake. I know it's good for my body and I enjoy drinking it. I often bring the ingredients and my blender with me even when I travel.

3/4 C. Water
3/4 C. Crushed Ice
3/4 C. Almond Milk - (Silk brand unsweetened 30 calories per cup, found at Target) - 23 calories
1/3 frozen banana - 25 calories
1/2 C. Mixed Berries (I use Target's Market Pantry Frozen Triple Berry Blend) - 40 calories
1 large handful of fresh spinach, collard greens, or kale - 5 calories
2 teaspoons Flax Meal- 40 calories (aka "ground flaxseed meal" – grocery baking aisle)
2 teaspoons Smucker’s Natural Peanut Butter - 66 calories
1 scoop Designer Whey Protein French Vanilla – 100 calories



Put all the ingredients in a blender, berries last, and blend. Drink right away. This makes a very large shake. I try to talk one of my kids into drinking some of it. It will NOT be good to save for later.

299 calories



This shake has it all -- greens, berries, fiber, protein, good carbs, and good fat. I use Smucker’s Natural Peanut Butter because it’s the only one I can find with only peanuts and salt for the ingredients. I buy it at Target or Reasor’s. Other peanut butters include oils, like palm oil, that I don’t want. I try to keep ingredients as natural and as raw/unprocessed as possible. I use Designer Whey protein because it is one of the “cleanest” protein powders available in that it doesn’t have harmful chemicals many cheaper products have. The French Vanilla tastes great. I bought it at Akins for years, but just found a 4 lb. container on Amazon for $49 (which is only $8 more than Akin’s 2 lb. container). I buy a large container of organic baby spinach at Sam’s. It’s so much cheaper than buying spinach at the grocery store.

There you go. I drink this shake every single day and just switch up which fresh greens I use (spinach, kale, or collard greens). I’ll be honest, the kale is horrible, but the spinach and collard greens are great.

Sweet Potato Lentil Stew in the Slow Cooker

With an overcast day, light drizzle, and the coolest temperature we've had all summer, I opted to try a new slow cooker recipe. It did not disappoint. I cannot overstate how delicious and simple this sweet potato-lentil stew was. We ate it with fresh baked artisan rustic bread picked up from the bakery today.

Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Lentil Stew

Ingredients:
32 oz. soup stock of your choice (I used Swanson reduced sodium chicken broth)
1 16oz. package of brown lentils (rinsed and drained)
2 large or 3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon fennel (ground or seed -- I used seed)
1 teaspoon cumin

Directions:
Spray crock with nonstick spray or lightly coat with olive oil. Add all ingredients to the slow cooker. Give them a little stir. Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 4 hours. Use pieces of crusty bread to scoop up the hearty goodness.

Muffins So Good You'll Eat the Paper

I like using recipes from Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook Deceptively Delicious. Today I tried one of her muffin recipes and it was a big hit for all 5 of my family members. Never before have I had this kind of success. Usually, one or two of my kids won't like the recipe, but today we all wolfed these down . Sophie begged for a second muffin. While I was in another room Riley scooted a chair over to the counter and stole a second muffin. When I came back into the room, Piper was walking around chewing her muffin. I noticed she only had 1/3 of her paper liner in her hand. Upon inspecting her mouth, I saw she was chewing on the rest of her muffin paper! Now that's a girl who enjoys this recipe. This is a pretty healthful recipe with less sugar, oil, or butter than most recipes. One thing to note -- due to less oil or butter the muffins do tend to stick to paper liners. Next time I won't use them.



Applesauce Muffins (makes 12 - 16 muffins)

Topping
2/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup firmaly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter

Batter
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup carrot or butternut squash puree
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 large egg

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a muffin pan with cooking spray.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the ingredients for topping.
3. In a large bowl stir together batter ingredients
4. Spoon batter evenly into muffin tin and sprinkle with topping. Bake until done 18-20 minutes.

Secretly Sneaking in the Veggies

I have three toddlers. Riley is an excellent eater, Sophie is a good eater, and Piper...ugh (said with a heavy sigh)...not so much. Piper doesn't like anything with pasta or spaghetti sauce, no beans of any kind, anything with tortillas, and most things with rice. She refuses to eat green beans, peas, carrots, corn...and on and on. We've cut out her snacks and tried the "Well, she'll eat when she's good and hungry" theory to no avail. It's ridiculous. But, if I were to give her a muffin, goldfish crackers, cheese, or chocolate milk she'd down it in twenty seconds and want more. Piper is skinny. She's healthy and average in height, but she's certainly slimmer than both her sisters because she's just too picky.

A year ago I bought the book Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld (Jerry's wife and mom to three little ones). I tried and liked several of the recipes, but then fell off the wagon and haven't made any in a long time.

Jessica Seinfeld is absolutely adorable - not that we're close or anything; I've just seen her on several interviews and think we'd make great friends in real life. Her cookbook is cute, clever, and full of great tips and recipes for secretly sneaking pureed vegetables into meals. The Today Show's nutrition guru, Joy Bauer, gave the book her stamp of approval and has nutritional advice throughout the cookbook too.

Look how cute Jessica is with her littlest boy. (I like the bag too.)

So, I'm going to start using these recipes again so I can make sure my kids, especially Piper, eat more vegetables. Today I'm stocking up my freezer to have the purees on hand. I'm making butternut squash, cauliflower, and carrot purees. They'll last us two weeks or more because you only add about 1/2 cup of one or two purees to each meal. Though it's not much, it certainly beets (pun intended) not adding any vegetables at all. Plus, it's simple.

A few of her recipe ideas are to add 1/2 cup cauliflower puree the next time you make mashed potatoes. The butter, milk (or buttermilk), and salt completely cover any cauliflower taste. Since both the potatoes and the cauliflower are white, you're the only one who knows they're in there. You can smile while your kids gobble up their taters and you don't have to battle over eating other veggies. I love it! You can also add sweet potato or squash puree to French toast, pancakes, muffins and so forth. I've added sweet potato puree to the coating I use on homemade chicken strips too. Though not in her book, I do add Low Sodium V8 to most of my soups.

I'm excited to start using Jessica's recipes again to help me get out of the dietary rut we've been in lately. Have you ever used vegetable purees in foods? Just this past week I heard Jessica released a new cookbook. I'll have to see what that one is all about.

Happy sneaky cooking!
Jen

Cupcakes for my Birthday Girls

My twin girls, Piper and Riley, turn two today. Sophie wanted to help me make their cupcakes. In the past I poured over various recipes and tried three or four different kinds in an effort to find the perfect one. This year I decided just to use a boxed cake mix and just doctor it up a bit. To a yellow cake mix I added 1 teaspoon vanilla, half of a teaspoon lemon juice and 2 tablespoons sour cream (to make it moist) along with the ingredients it already called for. I bought buttercream frosting and mixed in a few drops of red food coloring to make it pink.

Sophie's favorite part was putting the rainbow candy sprinkles on top of the icing. Her idea of "enough sprinkles" and mine were quite different.

Sophie's Cupcake                                                         My Cupcake

After hundreds of little candy sprinkles rolled all over the counter and floor, I decided we should switch to only using pink sugar glitter.

I'm sure Piper and Riley won't really care which type of cupcake they end up with - they all taste delicious.

Homemade Kale Chips Recipe

I enjoy eating crispy, salty, crunchy, flavorful chips. That's exactly why chips are not allowed in my house. I show no restraint when eating them. Now I have a nutritious alternative which gives me the crunch and flavor I like in a chip, but is actually good for my body. Introducing... Kale Chips. Before you roll your eyes and think "Not gonna happen" consider just giving it a try. It only costs about $1.

Kale Chips

1 bunch kale (stems discarded and leaves torn into chip-size pieces)
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon sea salt or 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix oil and salt in a bowl. Toss kale pieces in the oil mixture. Rub the oil mixture into each individual piece of kale. Place kale on two cookie sheets making sure no pieces overlap. If they do overlap they won't get crispy and will just steam. Bake in oven for about 9 minutes. Ovens vary and those variances show up with this recipe. Some people only bake their kale for 6 minutes or it burns. Others' ovens require the kale to bake for 20 minutes in order to get it crispy. In my oven it only took 9 minutes. You have to watch it closely. Mine didn't look crispy to me, but when I touched the kale with a spatula, it crumbled.

Kale is a nutritious vegetable high in vitamins A, C, K, manganese, and B6. Kale is rich in anti-oxidants, detoxifying enzymes, carotinoids, and high in fiber.

Awesome - I Mean Really Awesome Homemade Chocolate Chip Granola Bars & Bites

I finally, FINALLY, finally found a homemade granola recipe that is incredibly delicious. I've tried making various breakfast bars and granola bars numerous times with no success. Judd would eat them, but none of the rest of us would touch them. That all ended when I found this recipe from Another Lunch blog. I included the flax seed meal she recommended and the mini chocolate chips made for a better consistency than regular chocolate chips. I hope you enjoy making these for your family as much as I did. They are fabulous!

Just link over to her blog here to make these delicious Chocolate Chip Granola Bars and Bites! Where she used six mini silicone cups for her Granola Bites, I just filled six of my regular cupcake pan cups 1/3 full and baked those for 12 minutes. They turned out perfectly. The pan of granola I baked for 18 minutes. It too turned out perfectly. This recipe is going to be a family favorite around here. I may add the optional peanut butter in our next batch. I can't wait!

Back to School Silly Face Bento Style Lunch

Sophie heads back to preschool tomorrow. After stumbling upon Another Lunch blog and Just Bento website, I've decided to make Sophie some Bento style lunches this year. Here is her lunch for tomorrow.

Silly Face

The silly face consists of turkey and cheese mini sandwiches cut out using a cookie cutter with two cranberries for the eyes, a plastic medicine cup filled with cranberries for the nose, and an extra piece of turkey for the mouth. 

The right side has mini chocolate chip cookies and plenty of blueberries held in muffin papers.

Sophie thinks her lunch is adorable. She's usually a good eater, but this extra touch will ensure a enjoyable lunch on her first day back to preschool.

Broccoli-Chicken Cups

When I was a kid I hated broccoli. But, after devouring these delicious biscuit-based cups up like there was no tomorrow, my parents informed me that I had just eaten - and loved - broccoli. I was hooked and couldn't wait to eat them again and again. 

I'm making these tonight and will be interested to see if my girls like them. I know Judd and I will really enjoy them. They are great the next day. You can throw two in a container and heat them up in seconds in the microwave. This recipe makes 20 chicken-broccoli biscuit cups.

Broccoli-Chicken Biscuit Cups

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

• 1 cup crisp rice cereal

• 1-1/2 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken

• 2 tubes (10 ounces each) refrigerated biscuits (Pillsbury now makes "Simply Buttermilk Biscuits" with 0 trans fat, no high fructose corn syrup, no artificial flavors, no artificial colors).

• 1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

• 10 ounces or 2 cups frozen chopped broccoli, cooked and drained

Directions

• Place biscuits in greased muffin cups, pressing dough onto the bottom and up the sides. Add 1 teaspoon cheese and cereal to each cup.

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, soup and broccoli; spoon into each muffin cup. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until bubbly


Enjoy!

To Share or Not to Share - Two Pans of World's Best Lasagna

Two years ago I came across a recipe called World's Best Lasagna at allrecipes.com. Since then I have repeatedly tweaked the recipe. Since a little extra effort is required to make homemade lasagna, I decided to always double the batch to have an extra pan of lasagna to freeze. Having an extra lasagna in the freezer comes in handy when going to pot-lucks or visiting a friend who just had a baby. It's also nice just to keep it for yourself in your freezer for a future no-hassle dinner. It's great with garlic bread and salad.

Here's the recipe for two pans of World's Best Lasagna. It freezes well. If you made this recipe, would you keep both batches or give one pan of it away? It was a tough call since tonight's lasagna tasted so good, but I've decided to give my second lasagna to a friend - this time.

My friend will want to thaw this frozen lasagna in her refrigerator a day ahead, remove the freezer paper and bake in a preheated oven 375 degrees for 25 minutes, remove the foil and bake another 20 minutes. Then, let it cool for 15 minutes to help the lasagna set up and not fall apart so easily.

Double Batch of World's Best Lasagna

• 2 pounds sweet Italian sausage

• 3/4 pound lean ground beef

• 3/4 cup minced onion

• 4-6 cloves garlic, crushed or 2 teaspoons processed garlic

• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

• 2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste

• 1 (28 ounce) can canned tomato sauce

• 1/2 cup water

• 2 teaspoons dried basil leaves

• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds

• 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

• 1 cup chopped fresh parsley

• 12 lasagna noodles (6 per pan)

• 32 ounces ricotta cheese

• 2 eggs

• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

• 1 cup Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for a minimum of thirty minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese, 2-1/2 cups mozzarella, 3/4 cup Parmesan, eggs, and remaining parsley.

3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

4. For each 9 x 13 inch baking dish (or disposable foil pan): spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce on the bottom of the pan. Arrange 3 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one fourth of the ricotta cheese mixture. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Crock Pot Cowboy Beans

Because of its convencience I use my crock pot about three times a week - especially in the summer when I don't want to turn on my oven. The members of my family like beans, tomato products, Mexican spices and herbs, potatoes, and ground beef. I've combined these items into my version of Crock Pot Cowboy Beans

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 small onion, diced
1 teaspoon processed garlic
1 can Rotel
1 small can chopped green chilis (fire roasted and peeled)
2 potatoes, cooked, peeled and cubed (this is an optional ingredient. I had leftover potatoes from last night's meal)
1 can Dark Red Kidney Beans
1 can Pinto Beans
1 teaspoon Cumin
2 Tablespoon Dried Cilantro (I'd add fresh cilantro in at the end if I had it, but today I'll just use dry Cilantro)

Brown ground beef, onion, and garlic together in a pan. Drain and rinse off grease. Pour browned meat mixture into the bottom of crock pot. In a large bowl, stir together remaining ingredients. Pour mixture over meat in crock pot ingredience. Cook on low about six hours.

Best Black Bean Burgers - Ever!

I really enjoy eating a juicy cheeseburger with my favorite toppings on a toasted bun. Nevertheless, in an effort to add more meatless meals to our dining repertoire, I've tested several veggie or bean burger recipes with some success. But, tonight I combined part Weelicious veg-wee burger with part La Bonne Cuisine black been burger and created the best meatless burger - ever!

Black Bean Bulgur Burgers


2 cans (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 egg
1/2 cup Bulgur Wheat
1 C water
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup salsa
Few shakes of garlic powder
Pepper to taste
1/4 cup shredded cheese of your choice
2 Tablespoons oil

Bring one cup of water and 1/2 cup bulgur wheat to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce and simmer 13 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, mash black beans with fork or potato masher. Add cooked bulgur wheat, onion, egg, salsa, garlic powder, pepper, and cheese; mix well. Using a 1/3 C. measuring cup, drop mixture into preheated skillet containing oil. I use a cast iron skillet which turns out beautifully browned burgers. Flatten the burgers slightly for better cooking and turning results. Cook on medium heat for 3 minutes. Carefully flip burger. Cook on second side until firm and brown - approx. 4 minutes. The secret is to only flip the burger one time or it may fall apart.

Top your burger with all your usual fixings and enjoy the best meatless burger you've ever had.

This recipe makes eleven mini burgers which are great for leftovers and freeze well too.

Apple Banana Muffins

I tried Catherine McCord's Apple Banana Muffins recipe from Weelicious this week and they were a hit.

If you haven't visited Catherine's site, you are in for a treat. She's a busy mom of two who loves to cook nutritious foods her whole family enjoys. She posts lots of videos with her kids "helping" her out in the kitchen. Isn't she just too cute!

Catherine needs our votes to win her own TV show (perhaps you saw her on Oprah). Check out her site and give her a vote if you like what you see. My family gave these muffins 4.5 stars out of 5 because four of us devoured them while Sophie finished her muffin with reluctance.

Apple Banana Muffins (Makes 15 Standard Muffins or 28 Mini Muffins)

1 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour

1/2 Cup Old Fashioned Oats

2 Tsp Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

1/2 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp Cinnamon

3 Tbsp Vegetable or Canola Oil

1/2 Cup Agave OR Honey

1 Egg

1/2 Cup Milk

2 Bananas, mashed

1 Medium Apple, peeled and grated (Gala, Pink Lady, Fuji or Golden Delicious are good choices)



1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl and mix.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients together.

4. Slowly add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

5. Grease a muffin tin or line it with muffin cups and fill each cup 3/4 full with the batter.

6. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

7. Serve.

Enjoy! - Jennifer

Plan B - Let's Make Snickerdoodle Cookies

Storms rolled through our city around 5 a.m. this morning knocking out power to several area schools. Sophie's Mommy's Day Out preschool is closed today, so, we went with Plan B - making snickerdoodle cookies!

I like using tried and true recipes from http://www.allrecipes.com/ because you can see ratings and reviews from people who have already tested out the recipes. This snickerdoodle recipe was their hightest ranking - 4.5 stars reviewed by over 2,500 people.

Sophie and I had a great time baking these together. She's such a sweetie pie and loves to help out in the kitchen.

Mrs. Sigg's Snickerdoodles

Ingredients
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

2. Cream together butter, shortening, 1 1/2 cups sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Blend in the flour, cream of tartar, soda and salt. Shape dough by rounded spoonfuls into balls.

3. Mix the 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls of dough in mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set but not too hard. Remove immediately from baking sheets.

I already called my dad and told him we'd be bringing a few of these yummies over (that way Sophie and I won't eat them all!).

Baby Food

Having fifteen month old twins means buying a lot of baby food. The checker at Walmart asked us if we were storing up on the baby food. Nope. This is one week's worth of food for the twins.



I used to make most of Sophie's baby food when she was little. That was before I had twins.

I do make baby food for Piper and Riley every once in awhile. Last week I made them poached then pureed pairs



pureed butternut squash


Blended green beans and peas.



Yes, I know it looks a bit gross, but my girls are looking rather orange with all the beta carotene in their other foods. They resemble little oompa loompas right now. I've got to balance that out with more greens and blues.



I also made smoothed sweet potatoes, and a pumpkin pair puree which didn't go over well. They didn't care for the steamed diced beats either, but Judd and I ate those right up - Yum! I get an 'A' for effort, but buying the pre-made stuff is so much easier. Fortunately, the twins are really starting to enjoy table food more and more each day. They've been off bottles for awhile now, and soon all of the mouths in my house will consistently be fed with table food, not little jars. Hooray!

Corn, Black Bean & Avacado Salad

I serve this corn, black bean & avacado salad with my crock pot chicken fajitas and homemade restaurant style salsa.



Corn, Black Bean & Avacado Salad

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and diced
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 cup (or more) cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, diced
Pinch of salt
Juice from 1/2 a lime
Drizzle of olive oil

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Homemade Restaurant Style Salsa

1/2 of an onion, diced
1 can whole tomatoes
1 can mild Rotel
1/2 teaspoon prepared garlic or 1 clove garlic, diced
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 cup cilantro chopped
Juice from 1/2 a lime

Throw everything in a food processor and pulse about
15 times - that's it. Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving.

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas

My family could eat Mexican food seven days a week. In an effort to try something new I made chicken fajitas in the crock pot. They were delicious! The chicken was moist, not dry, and full of flavor. I served it with homemade restaurant style salsa and corn & black bean avacado salad.

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas
3 to 4 chicken breasts, thawed, trimmed and cut into strips
1 onion, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 can green chilis
1 small can sliced black olives
1 cup salsa
1 teaspoon cumin

Add all ingredients to crock pot and cook on low for six hours.

We added shredded cheese, sour cream and black olives to our fajitas.

Black Bean Soup

1/2 teaspoon prepared garlic (or 1 clove garlic, minced)
1/2 onion, diced
1 can Rotel
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can beef broth
2 cups water
1 teaspoon cumin

In a saucepan, sauté garlic and onion in 1 teaspoon olive oil. Add remaining ingredients. Stir. Simmer 20 minutes. Using your method of choice (masher, submersible hand blender or regular blender) mash or puree approximately half of the soup. I stick my submersible hand blender into the pot of soup and blend in little pulses until I like the soup's thicker consistency. I leave plenty of beans intact for texture.




Garnish individual servings with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of shredded cheese.

This recipe can easily become a vegetarian meal by exchanging vegetable broth for the beef broth and leaving off the cheese and sour cream toppings.