Crock Pot Chicken Barley Soup

Can't wait for dinner time

crock pot chicken barley soup from marc piane on Vimeo.

beef stew

I put this stew together from a few different recipes and a few personal twists. Enjoy.

It's good.

here's a little grill adventure. enjoy.

hearty up your sauce

So when I make any kind of pasta sauce that I intend to freeze I intentionally keep it simple so I can hearty it up later. This is just one variation of that. There are millions. You can even use a premade jarred sauce. Keep it simple and natural though. The thing I aim for is favors that go together and also to cut everything into fork friendly pieces. Quick and easy. Enjoy.

name change

So I changed the name of this blog. Originally I had named it "It(cooking) Is Not That Hard". I got comments from many friends in the food industry and I felt the name was being taken the wrong way. I was not trying to imply that the ACT of cooking was 'not hard' but rather the WILLINGNESS to cook. In my observation there are lots of people that don't cook because they are either overwhelmed or uninspired. They are sick of cooking the 5 rotating meals they make. They then resort to either premade meals or take out. Certainly there can be a time and place for these but it is easy (and expensive) to fall into a pattern of doing that more nights than not.

So really my goal with this blog was to share my love of cooking and eating by passing along some easy recipes that I like to make. These are not fancy or complicated. They are just good, healthy, hearty, inexpensive meals that my family likes to eat.

I hope this gives you some ideas for things to make in your house.

lentil soup

My little twist on a classic recipe. The recipe made a BIG pot of soup but I wanted to freeze some for future meals. It freezes very well. Enjoy.





olive oil
2 onions chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
mushrooms sliced
8 cups veggie broth
red wine
2 cups lentils
28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 cup arborio rice
1 bag fresh spinach chopped
rosemary
2 bay leaves
pepper
salt

sautee garlic and onion until onion is translucent
add mushroom and cook for a few more minutes
add broth
red wine
and lentils
simmer 30 min
add can of tomatoes and spices
remove 2 cups of broth and it. return to soup.
add arborio rice and simmer 20 min
remove from heat and add spinach
top with parmesan and eat