Out with the Old and In with the New

Out with the old and in with the new! It’s such a cliché expression, but completely applicable to tonight’s dinner! You’ll see in a minute.

Tonight’s dinner featured my favorite easy dinner: 7 Bean and Barley Crock Pot Soup! The bean and barley mix I buy in bulk from Whole Foods, but I also recently found it in the bulk section of Ward’s, so check your local stores! (I think the beans are kidney beans, pinto beans, black beans, northern beans, lentils, split peas and…I don’t know the seventh one! Maybe the barley is just number seven?)

It takes less than five minutes to throw together (less if you aren’t taking pictures of ingredients! ).

I add two cups of the bean and barley mix to a crock pot and then add two cups of organic vegetable broth and five cups water.

Then I add a cup of salsa – spiciness up to you, but you know what they say….go big or go home!

I also added another cup of water that I swirled around the salsa container to get all the salsa “juice” out.

The line up of spices: chili powder (lots!), garlic powder (lots!), red chili pepper flakes (a few), oregano (more than shown!) and kosher salt (a sprinkle). Let’s just say with all the heat and garlic, I was apparently on a mission to clear out the sinuses and scare away the vampires tonight.

I also added a quarter-bag of frozen chopped spinach. I would’ve added a half a bag, except a quarter was all I had. I made it work!

Bubble away in the crock pot on high for seven to eight hours! (It may take less, but I don’t know because I was at work!). Walk in the door after work to your hubby serving up and photographing bowls of soup, and enjoy.

So, curious as to why this meal ushered out the old and brought in the new?

I won the Foodbuzz Weekly Tell a Friend Raffle and won a Cuisinart 4-Quart Slow Cooker!

Out with the old…

And in with the new!

I love how sleek and more compact the new crock pot is. I think it’s actually two quarts smaller than our old one, but maybe I’ll actually be able to fit it in a cabinet or pantry now! And no worries, our old crock pot (which was actually a mystery gift from our wedding a year and a half ago — we never got a nametag saying who it was from!) has already been adopted into it’s new home. When I called my mom to tell her of my winnings, she decided she could do us a favor and take the old crock pot off our hands.

Mom, I think I should make you come visit me to get it!! I also think  I should dub next week “crock pot week” to test out the new kitchen appliance. Can’t wait!

Time to go read and study, have a wonderful night!