Smooties

When available, I use fresh fruit, but frozen works too. I include 2 staples as the liquid base in all my smoothies: 1/2 C Almond milk (I use unsweetned Vanilla) and 1 C Kefir or Greek Yogurt with probiotic cultures.

My favorite:
To the liquid base, I add:
1 Banana
1/2 C Dark Bing Cherries
1/2 C Pineapple

Another good one is:
1 Banana
1 Pear
1/2 C Pineapple
1/2 C Blackberries

Crock Pot Muesli

This stuff is awesome! Having teeth/gum issues, I have long avoided it but thought I'd give it a try as a hot cereal. You can find it in health food stores or in the health food sections of many markets.
I put 1.5 cups Muesli and 3 cups water in my crock pot last week and put it on low for several hours. Once it was like a mush consistency, I added 6 whole strawberries and 3/4 cup of blueberries and a package of Stevia. Mixed this all together and let simmer for another 20 mintues.
I heat a cup up in the morning; about 30 minutes after my Essiac, add a tablespoon of half and half and dig in. It's completely gum friendly and yummy.

My Mom's Goulash

This is loosely based on a German dish that my mother learned from her mother-in-law. Another good crockpot recipe.

Sear stew meat in olive oil in a heavy pan; once browned, transfer to cooking pot. Brown an onion in pan drippings and add this to cooking pot; cover meat with beef broth. As this comes to temperature, place about 8 to 10 ginger snaps in large measuring cup; add hot water and dissolve cookies. Once dissolved, create a rue by adding this to the heated drippings; add beef broth to make a gravy. Pour this into cooking pot; add 1 T apple cider vinegar, 1 T honey or real maple syrup, onion powder and several bay leaves. Cover and simmer until meat is falling apart; 3 to 4 hours on stove top or 6 to 7 hours in a crock pot.
Serve with buttered egg noodles, red cabbage and cinnamon applesauce. Excellent comfort food for a cold Winter's day.

Harvest Stew

If I can find it, I buy a bone-in turkey breast otherwise a boneless breast will do just fine. You can use legs/thighs if you prefer dark meat. Brown this on both sides in a bit of olive oil in a heavy pan. Remove to a deep cooking pot, then sear 1 each of cubed onion, sweet potatoes, yams, carrots and rutabagas in the same pan. Transfer the veggies to the cook pot and fill pot with free range chicken broth; season with onion powder, Old Bay or another brand of poultry seasoning and parsley.
Bring the pan drippings to slowly up to temperature; once they begin to bubble, add enough flour to make a rue. Add chicken broth and thicken. Once thickened, add to stock pot and simmer stew for several hours. This is an excellent crockpot recipe.
Serve over split, freshly baked grand biscuits. Add cranberry sauce and you've got a hearty meal.

Roasted Chicken Soup

I roast a whole chicken, or buy one pre-cooked from the market. I put this in a soup/stock pot, then I add enough free range chicken broth and water to cover the whole chicken. Simmer this with onion and garlic powder and several bay leaves. Once the meat is falling off the bones, I take it out of the pot and while it's cooling, I add carrots, onions and lots of fresh garlic to the stock. Reseason with onion and garlic powder, parsely and hot pepper if you desire. Once the veggies have cooked, I add the meat to the stock, reseason again, omitting the bay leaf and bring it back to full heat. As with the meatball soup, I cook the pasta on the side; this soup is equally good with egg noodles or brown rice.
Sprinkle with grated cheese and serve with grilled cheese sandwiches.

Creamy Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Place chopped broccoli into stock pot, cover with chicken broth, add a dash of nutmeg and simmer until broccoli is mushy. Let cool a bit before mashing. While soup is cooling, make a light white cream sauce with a dash of nutmeg. Once broccoli is mashed, add white sauce to pot, slowly bring back to temperature. When soup is hot again, add coarsely grated white cheddar, melt cheese and serve.

Cheesy Potato Soup

Saute diced onions, carrots and celery in butter until onions become transparent. Place this mixture in a stock pot with cubed potatoes (I use new red potatoes with skin on for this recipe). Spice liberally with garlic and onion powder and bay leaves. Cover veggies with water, cover pot and simmer for about 1 hour, or until veggies become mushy. Let cool for 1/2 hour; remove bay leaves and mash the mixture to mush consistency. At this point, add milk to make a thick soup and slowly bring back to temperature; add coarsely grated white cheddar cheese, melt cheese and serve with a sprig of parsley and sprinkling of grated cheddar.

Joyce's French Onion Soup

Saute Texas Sweet or Vidalia onions in butter until they are golden brown. Add beef or mushroom broth, onion powder and paprika. Cover and let simmer for 1 hour.
Serve in crocks topped with toasted crusty bread with melted swiss cheese.

Meatball Soup

I make my meatballs using eggs, Italian flavored breadcrumbs, adding extra parm cheese. Make smaller meatballs than you would for pasta sauce, brown them in a pan then set aside while you assemble the rest of the soup.
The soup is basically carrots and yellow onions browned in the pan you cooked the meat in; these go into a broth of crushed tomatoes, beef stock and water. Add the carrots, onion and pan drippings to the stock, then add lots of whole fresh garlic along with garlic & onion powder, parsely, basil and bay leaves. Add the meatballs, cover and simmer for a few hours. About 1 hour before serving you can add yellow squash and zucchini to the soup; add more seasoning at tis point too, just omit bay.
Cook pasta on the side and add to soup at serving time (I like the sprial rigatoni kind). Sprinkle with grated cheese; serve with crusty bread.