Autumn Soup

Brad asked me to take care of meals this week and last. This week I decided to make Autumn Soup, one of my childhood favorites. I know! It's not fall! What was I thinking! But really it's good any time of year. : )

Autumn Soup

1 lb beef
1 med yellow onion, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
4 potatoes, cut up
1 large can tomatoes (or you can cut your own; I’m too lazy)
Any other veggies that sound good (green beans, mushrooms, zucchini, etc)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1/8 tsp basil
(rosemary?)
2 bouillon cubes
4 cups water

Cook beef (with rosemary?)
Add onions and cook for another 5 min
Add water and bring to a boil, then drop to a simmer
Add potatoes, salt, pepper, basil, bouillon, and simmer for about 10 min.

Add carrots and simmer for another 10 min.
Add tomatoes, continue to simmer until veggies are tender

Parsley Pasta

I wasn't really sure what to call this one but it's super delicious. It's one of my favorite dishes and I have it freqently.

I'm going to write it out as a single serving so if you're feeding more than just yourself, be sure to double, triple, whatever the amounts so you're not starving anyone.

I start by putting a pot of water on to boil for the noodles and putting a fry pan on for the meat and vegetables. Then I get all the ingredients together. I use:

crushed red peppers, rosemary, basil, and salt. You could try other herbs as well such as oregano, thyme, sage, etc - whatever sounds good, really.

1 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic
1/3 to 1/2 cup chopped onions (I like lots of onions)
1/4 cup bell pepper
1 portabella mushroom
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1/4 lb extra lean ground beef (you can try any meat or no meat at all if prefered)
1 serving Trader Joe's multigrain w flax spaghetti noodles

Make sure the onions, garlic, bell peppers, and mushroom are chopped. You can chop the parsley or just cut off the stems.

I add the olive oil to the pre-heated pan then add the herbs and spices in whatever amounts I feel like using - about a 1/4 tsp of each. I let everything heat up and make that olive oil tasty. Then I add the garlic, onions, and bell pepper and let them saute for awhile. If the water's boiling, go ahead and add the noodles.

Once everything in the pan is hot I add the ground beef and salt and get it cooking. When it is cooked I add the chopped mushroom, mix it around with the meat and oil for awhile, drain the cooked noodles, dump them on top of the veggies and meat, then add the parsley. Once everything is hot, it's ready.

Enjoy!