creamy potato soup

as i mentioned in my last post, i'm a sucker for crock-pot cooking in the winter. i think it's because i'm home more, and have time for all-day-cooking recipes. this next recipe is the first time i have ever made homemade soup (besides cabbage). gasp, i know! i worked out quite nicely, though - creamy and flavourful.

• 8 cups water
• 2 veggie bouillon cubes
• 5 cups potatoes, cubed
• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-3 tablespoons hickory bacon salt
• 2 tablespoons bragg's aminos
• 14 oz soy milk
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon corn starch

wash and cube potatoes into bite sized pieces. dissolve the bouillon cubes in 8 cups of boiling water. put all ingredients except milk/flour/corn starch into a crock pot. stew on high for 8 hours or more. about 45 minutes before serving, put milk, flour and corn starch in a contained and shake vigorously. add to the soup and cook for 45 mins-1 hour.

i served with imitation bacon bits on top.

smokey white bean chili

winter definitely gets me in the mood for crock pot cooking. this year i decided to switch up my typical chili recipe, and went for a smokey white bean flavour. it turned out rather good, i thought, for an ad-libbed recipe.

• 2 ½ cups cooked great northern beans
• 3 cans (14 oz/ea) stewed tomatoes
• 1 cup green bell peppers, chopped
• 1 cup yellow carrots, chopped
• 1/2 small yellow onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons hickory bacon salt
  
• 2 tablespoons red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons liquid smoke
• 1 tablespoon vegan worcestershire sauce
• salt & pepper to taste

cook white beans according to directions on bag. put everything in a large crock pot. turn temperature to high and let stew for 6-8 hours. be sure to stir every once in a while so nothing burns, especially when you are closer to the 6 hour mark.

serve with cornbread. yum!

kraut potato medley

i'm going to hermann, missouri at the end of this month for octoberfest, and it has been putting me in mind of my favourite german food: sauerkraut. i made this the other morning when i was craving some sort of breakfast scramble, and the leftover sauerkraut from my pizza was calling my name.

• 1 can whole potatoes, drained
  
• 1/2 cup (or more!) sauerkraut, drained well
• 1½ tablespoons onion powder
• salt & pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegan bacon bits

slice up the potatoes into round coins about 1/4 inch thick. cook on high in a non-stick skillet until they start to brown a little on the edges. i don't use oil or butter as i try to keep things healthy when i can, but that might speed up the browning process if you don't care about that stuff.
add everything else to the skillet and continue to cook - about 5-10 minutes until everything starts to get crispy. in this picture, i used tastefully simple's bacon bacon... but i've also grown quite fond of j&d's hickory bacon salt (be careful - the original and natural flavours aren't vegan). it's 0 calories - woot!