Beans and Greens Soup

The weeks of the birthday parties continue...we had birthday parties to attend on Thursday, Saturday, and 2 on Sunday.

On Sunday, I didn't know if there would be much food at the second. I suspected. But I also knew we needed food for the week, and we'd not cooked on Saturday (birthday party, homemade tortillas...oh my goodness I WANT a tortilla press for my birthday).

So, what's a mom to do when she'll be out all day. Well, while my spouse did yoga for the first time (I dropped him off and introduced him), I did a little grocery shopping. Then I started some bread in the bread machine and cooked up some soup. In the crockpot. Yum. I was a little bit worried. I wanted it to have flavor. I decided to use Trader Joe's fire roasted tomatoes with green chiles. But that's a little tricky with my child. Even the slightest hint of hot pepper is too spicy. It's getting very hard for me to use up the chiles from the farm last summer. I will have to work on how to make that for me only.

My hubby and I had this for lunch. I thought it was great, not too spicy. Said hubby thought it was a bit too hot for our child. So, for dinner the second night (tonight), I diluted 6 cups of soup with 4 cups of water, a bouillon cube, and some pasta. We'll see how it goes. I did think that it was quite tasty. I added some salt when I served it but not during the cooking time.

Beans and Greens Soup

1 Tbsp canola oil: 0.04
1 can cannellini beans: 0.89
2 cups cooked small red beans: 0.33
4 c. homemade chicken stock: 0
2 c. water: 0
1/2 c. pearl barley: 0.50
1 bunch collard greens: 1.50
3 cloves garlic, pressed: 0.15
2 small onions, diced: 0.40
1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes with green chiles: 1.09
2 Tbsp tomato paste: 0.05
3 carrots, sliced/diced: 0.25
1 tsp thyme: 0.05
1 tsp oregano: 0.05
Total: $5.30 for about 14 cups, or about $0.38 per cup

Saute the onion and garlic in the oil until the onion softened. Add the diced carrots and cook until they begin to soften.

In the meantime, wash collard greens and remove from stems. Cut into 4 slices lengthwise, then slice crosswise into thin strips. Add these to the veggies in the pan and cook until wilted.

Add veggies and remaining ingredients to crockpot. Cook on low all day. The veggies do get a bit washed out this way, but you know, when you're a busy mom...it tastes good anyway.

This was the very very best when scooped up with sourdough bread. Oh, the sourdough bread...