Natural Family Recipes Blog

What You Need:

3 C cooked ham cut into cubes

2 C water

1 C dried navy beans

1 C celery, sliced

1 small onion, chopped

2 carrots, sliced

1/4 t dried thyme

1/4 t liquid smoke

1/4 C parsley, chopped

How to Make It:

Place the ham into the crock pot and pour the water over the top.

Add in the beans, celery, onion and carrots.

Sprinkle the thyme into the crock pot.

Pour in the liquid smoke and stir the ingredients to combine well.

Cover and cook on the low temperature setting for 10 hours.

Sprinkle the parsley over the top just before serving.

Serving Size:  4

Any type of dry bean will work with this recipe.  Liquid smoke gives foods a great hickory smoked taste.  It can be found in the condiment section of your local grocery store.

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What You Need:

1/2 lb Italian pork sausage

1 C fresh carrots, sliced

1 large baking potato, peeled and cubed

1 garlic clove, minced

2 (14 oz) cans beef broth

1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained

1 (14.5 oz) can tomatoes

1 1/2 C water

1/2 t Italian seasoning

1 bay leaf

1 C zucchini cut julienne style

1/2 C Parmesan cheese, grated

How to Make It:

Place the sausage in a skillet over medium heat.

Brown the sausage about 7 minutes or until no longer pink stirring often for even browning.

Drain the sausage well in a colander and pat excess grease off with a paper towel.

Place the drained sausage into the bottom of the crock pot.

Add in the carrots, potatoes and garlic.

Pour the beef broth into the crock pot and stir to mix with the meat and vegetables.

Add in the chickpeas, tomatoes with the juice and the water.

Sprinkle in the Italian seasoning and add the bay leaf.

Stir again to be sure all the ingredients are combined together well.

Cover and cook on low heat for 8 1/2 hours.

Remove the bay leaf and stir in the zucchini.

Cover and continue cooking 25 minutes or until the zucchini is tender.

Sprinkle the top with the Parmesan cheese just before serving.

Serving Size:  6

Baking potatoes have low moister and high starch content.  Due to this they work well when cooking for longer periods of time. 

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What You Need:

1 T canola oil

1 (1 1/2 lb) pork shoulder roast, boneless and cut into pieces

1/8 t salt

1/8 t+ 1/4 t pepper, divided

8 small red potatoes, unpeeled and quartered

2 C baby carrots cut in half

1 (12 oz) jar pork gravy

2 T ketchup

1/2 t dried rosemary

1/8 t ground sage

1 1/2 C frozen cut green beans, thawed

How to Make It:

Place the oil in a skillet over high heat.

Heat the oil until hot but not smoking.

Sprinkle the pork pieces with the salt and 1/8 t of pepper and place them in the hot oil.

Cook 7 minutes or until brown on both side and no longer pink in the middle, being sure to stir them often to ensure even browning.

Place the pork into a crock pot.

Add the quartered potatoes and the carrots.

Pour in the gravy mix and the ketchup.

Sprinkle in the rosemary, sage and the remaining pepper.

Stir until all the ingredients are incorporated together well.

Cover and cook on low 7 hours.

Add the green beans to the soup and stir to combine.

Cover and place the heat on high.

Continue cooking 20 to 30 minutes or until the green beans are fork tender.

Serving Size: 6

The ketchup in this soup gives it not only a rich color but a slightly sweet taste.  In a hurry and don’t have time to brown the pork you don’t have too.  Just put it in the crock pot as is and allow it to brown on its own.  It will give you a little less flavor and color but will save you time with both cooking and clean up. 

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What You Need:

4 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled

1 lb cooked ground beef, crumbled

1 onion, chopped

3 white potatoes, cubed

4 C cabbage shredded

3 C vegetable broth

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 t salt

1/2 t pepper

How to Make It:

Place the cooked bacon and ground beef into the crock pot and stir slightly to incorporate the ingredients together.

Add the onion, potatoes and cabbage.

Stir in the vegetable broth until all the ingredients are completely combined.

Gently stir in the diced tomatoes.

Sprinkle in the salt and pepper and stir to incorporate.

Cover and cook on the low temperature setting 8 hours.

Serving Size:  8

Beef or chicken broth can be used in place of the vegetable broth.  Adjust the amount of salt to 1/2 t if you use a meat based broth.  These types of broth can sometimes be a little salty.

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A complete and healthy way to start daily
 
Old country style Muesli is considered one of the world’s favorite cereals but it was first developed at the end of 19th century by a Swiss nutritionist and remains the preferred one among many till today. This cereal is not only tasty and liked by many people but is very high in nutritional value also. Muesli is in fact a blend of wheat, barley, rolled oats, rye, sunflower seeds, triticale, date crumbles, almonds, walnuts and raisins. This cereal can be eaten hot or served chilled, can be mixed with yogurt or with other cereals for a change or used in baking snacks and eat as a nutritious snack too. The creamy and crunchy texture of the cereal is incomparable and it takes only 15 minutes time to get cooked. Such a fast to cook and good to eat tasty cereal with so many nutritious values is just great for breakfast and that keeps my family and me full for a long time.
 
I like this cereal cold and prepare it after soaking for 10-15 minutes but my husband likes it hot. My son prefers to have it with yogurt and banana slices, which is perfect for his growing age. This cereal has no saturated and trans fat and ‘Bob’s red mill old country style Muesli’ is just great in flavor and texture. It comes in a case of four 40-ounce packages and is an excellent source of protein and fiber because ¾ cup of cooked serving of this organic cereal gives you 4 g of fiber and 6 g of protein. It is a perfect, delicious and healthy way to begin your day. It will become all the more delicious if you soak ¼ cup of cereal in ½ cup of yogurt for 5 to 10 minutes and then eat it or try it with milk or fruit juice. You can even make hot serving by boiling equal amount of water or milk and cereal and simmer it for 3 to 5 minutes.
 
Besides so many nutritional values, it is good for heart and above all the ingredients are all natural and no artificial flavors is being added in the Bob’s Red Mill old country Muesli. Bob’ Red Mill is in fact Oregon based company and manufactures all natural products in natural way. The bran, endosperm and nutritious germ oil are grinded with the help of slow turning millstones that convert them into flour in a natural way and that helps in good assimilation of food. The mills are 100-years-old and all the different types of flours are made here under strict supervision keeping in the natural ingredients to its maximum. 
 

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What You Need:

1 lb beef chuck, boneless and cut into cubes

2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano

2 (14 oz) can beef broth

1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1 C carrots, sliced thin

1 small onion chopped

1/4 t salt

1/4 t pepper

1 C bow tie pasta, uncooked

How to Make It:

Place the cubed beef into the crock pot.

Add the tomatoes, with the juice, to the crock pot.

Pour both cans of broth into the crock pot.

Stir in both types of beans.

Add in the sliced carrots and chopped onions.

Sprinkle in the salt and pepper and stir to incorporate the ingredients together.

Cover and cook on the low temperature setting 8 hours.

Stir in the uncooked pasta.

Recover, set the heat to high and continue cooking 40 minutes or until the pasta is tender.

Serving Size:  8

In a hurry then cook this soup on the high setting for 4 hours.  Remember the additional time for the pasta cook.  When ready to serve sprinkle the top of each bowl with a little grated Parmesan cheese. 

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What You Need:

1 T olive oil

1 1/2 lb beef flank steak cut into cubes

1 onion, chopped

5 small carrots, sliced thin

4 C cabbage, shredded

4 red potatoes, diced

2 stalks of celery, diced

2 (14.5 oz) cans tomatoes, diced

2 (14.5 oz) cans beef broth

1 (10 3/4 oz) can tomato soup

1 T sugar

2 t Italian seasoning

1 t parsley flakes

How to Make It:

Place the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and allow it to heat to hot but not smoking.

Place the steak cubes and onion into the hot oil.

Brown the steak 8 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle being sure to stir occasionally.

Drain the steak and onions well.

Transfer to the crock pot.

Add the carrots, cabbage, potatoes and celery to the crock pot.

Stir the tomatoes along with juice into the crock pot.

Pour the beef broth and the tomato soup into the crock pot.

Sprinkle in the sugar, Italian seasoning and parsley flakes.

Stir until all the ingredients are combined together well.

Cover and cook on the low setting for 8 to 9 hours making sure the meat and vegetables are tender before serving.

Serving Size:  8

Any steak can work in this wonderful soup.  Leftover roast will also work well.  Canned or frozen vegetables can be used in place of fresh vegetables if you prefer. 

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What You Need:

1 pkg. fresh baby carrots

1 lb small red potatoes, quartered

1 (4.5 oz) jar sliced mushrooms, drained

1 onion, cut into wedges

1 (18 oz) pkg. frozen cooked meatballs

1 (12 oz) jar beef gravy

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

1/4 t pepper

How to Make It:

Lay the carrots into the crock pot.

Place the potatoes on top of the carrots.

Add the mushrooms over the top of the carrots.

Layer the onion wedges over the mushrooms.

Add the meatballs.

Pour the jar of gravy over the top.

Add in the tomatoes including the juice.

Sprinkle in the pepper.

Be sure not to stir the soup and disturb the ingredients.

Cover the crock pot and cook on the low heat setting for 9 hours being sure the carrots are tender.

Stir to combine the ingredients just before serving.

Serving Size: 8

It is important to layer the ingredients as indicated in the recipe and to not stir until you are ready to serve the soup.  By doing this the vegetables remain at the bottom of the crock pot where they can heat quickly and cook completely in the allotted amount of time.

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We all know the nutritional value of oats and in recent years steel cut oats are becoming quite popular as they are good in taste and fast to cook too. Oatmeal is full of good stuffs like protein, iron, vitamin E, copper, magnesium, zinc, selenium and may be some more to add. They are not only good for kids but adults also benefit from them if they have oatmeal in their daily breakfast. It helps reduce cholesterol and helps fend off cancer too. Here we are talking about organic steel cut oats that are completely free of any harmful chemicals and undoubtedly they are natural and healthy. Surprisingly the steel cut oats are delicious and your kids would love to have them daily.
McCANN’S Steel Cut Oatmeal comes with a set of 4 packs of 28-ounce tins and they are Irish oatmeal grown under strict supervision of quality assurance department and are harvested specifically for McCANN’S. This Oatmeal is high in fiber and include all B-vitamins, protein, calcium and other necessary elements for growth and development of kids. You can add a little bit of sugar and cinnamon, which will make it yummy or sometime some berries to get a change. They are very easy to cook too and take quite less time. Steel cut Oatmeal has one extra benefit that nothing is taken out from it while processing and nothing is added and so it is completely natural.

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What You Need:

1 1/2 lb beef stew meat

1 (16 oz) pkg. frozen stew vegetables

2 (10 3/4 oz) cans beefy mushroom soup

1/2 C sweet and sour sauce

1/2 C water

How to Make It:

Trim the stew meat and cut into 1 1/2 in pieces.

Place the meat into the bottom of the crock pot.

Place the vegetables in the crock pot with the meat.

Stir in the soup and sweet and sour sauce.

Pour in the water and mix together to combine.

Cover and cook on low 10 hours or high 5 hours.

Serving Size:  6

Use 1 can of golden mushroom soup in place of 1 can of the beefy mushroom soup.  If you like your soup with a little more liquid add 1/2 C of beef broth with the water.

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