Food Stuff on Monday

Tried a new recipe last night and it pleased all the peeps in this house.  The pickiest eater even asked if I would make it every Monday, which I won't, but still - Niiiice!  Especially given how many questions I got pestered with about what the lentils were and what the celery was and on and on.  You would have thought the children thought I was trying to trick them into eating poison.  It was pretty comical.  I tossed them some Ritz to bring out their bravery with new foods and we were golden after that.  They loved it.  Noah drained the bowl and went back for seconds.  Josh instructed Noah to pack him this for his lunch the next day.  And it made enough for us to have it again this week and likely another lunch or two for Josh.  We call all that a WIN in the cooking department for Kimmie. Happy to share this recipe with you.  And - bonus - it was super easy, just the way I like it.

Italian Lentil Soup with Sausage from South Your Mouth

1 15.5 oz. bag Hurst's Garlic and Herb Lentils
1.25-1.5 lbs of Italian sausage
2 T olive oil
2 cups diced onion (I used minced)
1.5 cups diced carrots
1.5 cups diced celery
3-4 cloves garlic, diced (I used minced)
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups water

Brown and crumble sausage over medium to medium-high heat in a large pot until cooked through.  Using a slotted spoon, remove sausage from pot and set aside.

Add olive oil, carrots, onion, and celery to pot and saute until onions become translucent (about 4-5 mins).  Add garlic and continue cooking for 2 mins.

Add chicken broth, water, lentils (with seasoning packet) and sausage to pot and bring to boil.  Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 40 minutes or until lentils are tender.  Turn off heat and let soup rest, covered, for 20 minutes before serving.

Kimmie notes - like I already said, I used minced onion and garlic.  Next time, I wanna try real onions.  South Your Mouth noted that you can use ground beef, pork, or turkey instead but that you'd need to season it liberally.  This was salty enough that I thought it could use lesssssss seasoning, so next time I might try beef and might decrease the broth by 2 cups and increase the water by two cups.  I will also add more carrots.  My people liked the carrots and wanted more.  Also, like I said, this paired well with Ritz crackers. :)  Enjoy!