Saturday Fun

Ernie has a theory about the mail.....a good mail day is a day with no bills in the mail box. I hate to disagree but a good mail day is a squishie mail day. Nothing makes me happier than a package in the mail.

Today was a fabulous mail day~~a squishie and no bills! These are my mug rugs from Marnie B from Virginia through the Quilting Gallery Mug Rug Swap. And she included this fabulous charm pack! I love them all. I don't think I want to use them!

Earlier today, I loaded up the crockpot with some hamburger soup. When it was finished cooking, I took out enough for dinner and canned the rest. Ernie likes to have soup in his lunch when it's cold out. He says it warms his bones. We figured this is over $25 worth of soup and it probably cost us $5-$6, and that includes the lids. Yield was dinner for 2 and 8 pints for the pantry. I love that everything for this soup was already in the house. I used to portion this up and freeze it but I have no room in my freezer. Thanks to Judy L for so much encouragement, I am no longer afraid of the pressure canner.

Hamburger Soup
2 pounds of hamburger (from the freezer) browned
1 chopped onion (from the freezer)
1 spoonful minced garlic (from the fridge)
1 bag of green beans (from the freezer)
1 bag of corn (from the freezer)
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
4 stalks of celery, sliced
4 red potatoes, chopped into hunks
1/2 cup dry lentils (from the pantry)
1 quart elk (or beef) stock (from the pantry)
Season with salt and pepper and anything else you want
(I did add a pint of green tomato pasta sauce and a not so fresh tomato that needed to be used)

Cook in crock pot until potatoes and carrots are cooked.