Italian Sausage Soup

This is super easy and perfect for fall. The best part is you can play around with the ingredients. Feel free to use whatever fresh or frozen veggies you have, beans or no beans, you get the picture. Taste before adding any salt. The beef broth is pretty salty and you can add some water if necessary.

I made this in the crockpot but you can also cook it in a large pot on the stovetop. Be sure to add the spinach and noodles towards the end of cooking or they will both become very mushy.

1 pound Italian sausage, removed from casing

1 clove garlic, minced

3(14 ounce) cans beef broth- 1 regular and 2 low sodium

1 cup of water- if necessary

1(14.5 ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained

2 cups of sliced carrots

1 (14.5 ounce) can great Northern beans, drained

2 cups of green beans, corn, broccoli, or zucchini

2 cups of baby spinach

1 cup of elbow macaroni or other small pasta

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt, if necessary

shredded Parmesan cheese, if desired

To make in the crockpot- Remove sausage from casing and brown with garlic in a pan. Place sausage in the crockpot with the remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 2-3 hours. Give the soup a taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Add noodles 30 min before serving and spinach a few minutes before serving. Top with Parmesan cheese if desired.

To make on the stovetop- In a stockpot, brown sausage with garlic. Stir in broth, tomatoes and carrots. Taste the soup before adding salt and pepper because the beef broth is quite salty. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in beans and zucchini and turn on low heat. Add noodles 15 min before serving and spinach 5 min before serving. Total cooking time on the stovetop is 45-60 min. Top with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Chicken and Dumplings with Bacon

Bacon makes everything better. This is more like a hearty soup than the chicken and dumplings grandma use to make. It's perfect for a cool fall day. This is the first time I have added rosemary and thyme but if you choose not to add it, the recipe will still taste great. Bacon and chicken broth tend to be salty so taste the broth before you add the dumplings and adjust the seasonings as necessary.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
4 strips of bacon
3 cups of half and half
3 cups of chicken broth
2 cups of carrots, diced
1 1/2 cups of frozen or canned corn
2 cups of Bisquick
3/4-1 cup of milk
salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme to taste

In a large pot, cook the bacon. Remove the bacon and cook the chicken and carrots in the bacon fat. Crumble the bacon. Add the chicken broth and corn and simmer for 10 minutes. Add crumbled bacon, half and half, and a pinch of salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme. Taste the broth and add more seasonings if necessary. Simmer for 10 more minutes. As the broth simmers, in a bowl combine the Bisquick with 3/4 cup of milk. The mixture should be thick and sticky. Add more milk if necessary. Make sure the broth mixture is at a low boil and drop tablespoon sized dough into the broth. Simmer for 10 minutes uncovered and then another 10 minutes covered. Do not stir or the dumplings will break apart.