Catching up!

Time for a Crockpot Sunday Update!

Last Sunday DH made his version of chili in the crockpot. Even though it was a bit warm for chili that day, we both knew it would be good for leftovers (freezer) plus it can be used in so many dishes! He went for the bowl of chili with saltine crackers route, I went for chili dogs...Yum!


I'm not going to post the recipe since everyone has their version and knows what they like. DH makes a beanless chili using diced stew meat and coarse ground chili meat along with this package mix.

DH stated earlier in the week he was ready for a break from a crockpot weekend so I decided to make something more for my tastes. Inspired by it being October and the promise of a cool rainy Saturday decided to go with a pumpkin soup. I pretty much followed this recipe for Pumpkin Sausage Soup.

My changes:

• I peeled/cubed a 3# pumpkin, tossed it in the crockpot on high for an hour with about 1 tablespoon of butter (coating the pumpkin pieces once the butter melted).
• I browned the spicy sausage and then onion/garlic and added it to the crockpot along with the chicken stock and Italian spices.
• Skipped the mushrooms.
• Cooked the above on high for about an hour, then switched it to low.
• Smashed the pumpkin pieces when they were soft enough. About 4 hours from the start.
  
• I did not add any water/cream to the crockpot since I wanted to freeze the majority of it.
• I did top a bowl with a dollop of sour cream along with a dash or two of hot sauce and some roasted pumpkin seeds with Italian seasoning.
  

I was surprised at how much I liked it and can hardly wait to pull it out of the freezer for a lunch on our rare cold days. Even DH thought it tasted pretty good! Not sure I liked wrestling with the pumpkin and might take the easy way out next time!

In other news....
I bought more art yarn. I love this stuff!