Vegetable Soup, Biscuits, and Skillet Apples

I thought some homemade vegetable soup, homemade biscuits, and fried apples would make a perfect meal for this cold and snowy March day (I am SO looking forward to Spring weather...anybody else?). 

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Crock-Pot Vegetable Soup

by: Pinterest

Ingredients:
1 - pound of lean ground beef
Salt and Pepper
1 - onion, chopped
1 - can of carrots
1 - can of peas
1 - can of green beans
1 - can of corn
1 - can of potatoes
2 - cups of beef broth
1 - quart (4 cups) of tomato juice

Directions:​ 

1. Brown beef in skillet. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add in chopped onion.
2. Add in veggies, beef broth, and tomato juice
3. Cover. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

*I always like to rinse the veggies really well, even when they are in the cans. It helps to rinse off some of the extra salt and preservatives...or I like to think that at least.*
*I coarsely chopped the onion as I like bigger chunks of onion in my meals...plus, the bigger the chunks are, the less I have to "cry" about it-get it??*
*I had pre-cooked meat in the freezer, which made this meal SO much easier and less time consuming!-pat on the back for me!*

I don't always like to use canned veggies, but when you have to sacrifice in order to help make ends meet when only one parent brings home an income, you learn to appreciate the cost of canned veggies. Plus, it makes the veggies much softer for soups-thumbs up! This was a very easy, quick, cheap, and delicious meal! BONUS! - I can freeze what we don't eat which will give us a way to savor this quick, simple, cheap, and delicious meal for another day :) 

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Stir-N-Roll Biscuits

​by: Doris Walker

Ingredients:
2 - cups of all-purpose flour
3 - teaspoons of baking powder
1 - teaspoon of salt
1/3 - cups of oil
2/3 - cups of milk

Directions:​

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl.
3. Pour oil and milk into a measuring cup first (don't stir), then pour the liquid substance into the flour mixture.
4. Stir with fork until the sides of the bowl are clean and it forms a dough-like substance. 
5. Smooth by kneading approximately 10 times while in the bowl.
6. Press dough on waxed paper (or aluminum foil works if you don't have wax paper) until about 1/4 inches thick. 
   
7. Cut with un-floured biscuit cutter (or a circular object if you don't have a biscuit cutter).
   
8. Place on un-greased cookie sheet.
   
9. Bake about 10-12 minutes. 

*Different ovens may vary. I did mine for about 10 minutes, but they still came out a little dry. Next time, I might even try 8 minutes and see how they come out with that time frame.*
*I also wonder if using the cup instead of a biscuit cutter since I don't own one made a difference, too.*
*Maybe I didn't make my dough thick enough.*

*That's they beauty of learning, you win some and you loose some, but you can always improve some.*
*Speaking of which, for those who are more experts on baking bread, how do you make the tops of breads brown looking? And how do you brown them without making them too dry or burnt?  

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Country-Style Skillet Apples

by: Joanne Nagle

Ingredients:
1/3 - cups (5 and 1/3 Tablespoons) of butter
1/2 - cups of sugar
1/2 -  teaspoon of cinnamon
2 - Tablespoons of cornstarch
1 - cup of water
4 - Golden Delicious apples, cored and diced

Directions:​ 

1. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.
2. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, and cornstarch. Mix well.
3. Stir in water.
4. Add the apples.
5. Cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

*I used a cast iron skillet, which gave it an extra boost of flavor.*
*As a personal preference, I kept the skin on the apples because I like to see the pop of color in my dish.*

I had some frozen diced apples in the freezer that needed to be eaten, so when I found this recipe while scamming through my cookbooks, I just had to try this one. Boy, am I glad I did!