I keep meaning to type up a post about my new job - it’s on the ever-growing to do list! Suffice it to say that we are still trying to figure out a good schedule/system for making work, preschool, healthy dinners and an exercise routine work out. There are pieces of the puzzle that still need to be put together. So, I’m appreciating fast and easy meals more than ever. Anything that I can prep the night before by tossing in the crock pot, or that I can cook and reheat for dinner the next night – those are the recipes that are keeping our tummies happy and our bodies healthy.
Not that it’s cold here in Utah – but with the approach of fall I’ve started craving some of my favorite comfort foods. Enter cabbage soup. If the thought of cabbage is an immediate turn off for you (as it once was for me), trust me and at least give this soup a shot.
Cabbage Soup
Ingredients
1 head of cabbage – I used the leftover 3/4 from this meal
2.5 lbs ground beef or turkey (could be subbed out altogether if you prefer a vegetarian soup)
1/2 yellow (or mild) onion
2 tsp Better Than Buillion - Beef or 2 beef buillion cubes
2 cans petite diced tomatoes
2 cans kidney beans or black beans
4 stalks celery
Prep Time: 20 min. Cook Time: 30 min on stove, 3-4 hours in crock pot on “low” Serves: 8-10 (I freeze some in individual servings)
Method
Brown the beef or turkey along with chopped onion. Chop the cabbage into 1/4 inch chunks. Chop the celery into bite sizes. In either a crock pot or a stock pot for the stove top add in the beef/turkey, chopped cabbage, tomatoes (not drained), beans (drained and rinsed) and chopped celery. Add in 1-2 cups of water depending on how “brothy” you like your soup. The cabbage will cook down quite a bit and provide some broth too. Cover with a lid and let simmer until cabbage and celery are nice and soft. Enjoy!
Simmering in the Stock Pot
Perfect with Crusty Bread
Yeah, we’re still unpacking and in need of our real dishes 
What are your favorite comfort foods?
I’m also in the process of are trying to figure out a good schedule/system for making work, healthy dinners and an exercise routine work out and your cabbage soup recipe looked like a perfect recipe to start using my new small crock pot.
I cut the size of all of the ingredients in half except for the two cans of black beans (I like them and they are a great source of protein). I then started following the recipe leaving the cutting of the cabbage until the end. By the time I was done there wasn’t enough room in the crock pot for even half a head of cabbage so I just used an amount that fit.
Your prep times and cooking times are right on the mark for me. The soup came out great and I keep going back for refills. I’ve put the left overs in the refrigerator but I don’t think they’ll last long.
The soup is a real comfort food and a time saver.