4 Bean Crock Pot Soup mix
This recipe is for one jar (I modified the original recipe down from 4 jars, so hence the weird measurements). I changed the original recipe a bit, which is why I’m not putting it back up to the 4 jars in the original recipe, if that makes sense. And with it being for one jar, it goes better with my assembly line process of preparing the jars!
¼ + 1/8 cups dried pinto beans
¼ + 1/8 cups dried navy beans
¼ + 1/8 cups dried light red kidney beans
¼ + 1/8 cups dried black beans
Pick through the beans to make sure there aren’t any rocks, etc., but do not wash them. If you wash them first and then put them in the jar, they could develop mold if the person doesn’t use it soon.
Seasoning mix:
1/8 cup dried minced onion
¼ Tbsp paprika
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp mustard powder
1/8 tsp granulated garlic
½ Tbsp chicken bouillon powder
1 cube beef bouillon
¼ Tbsp dried parsley
1 Tbsp bacon bits (make sure to get the kind that don’t have to be refrigerated after opening)
1 Tbsp mixed vegetable flakes*
Barley Packet:
Barley is just half a cup of pearled quick barley. Make sure it’s the Quick kind that cooks in 10 minutes. I found that in my grocery store by the beans, or in another grocery store, it was by the dried soup mixes.
* Note about vegetable flakes. I couldn’t find vegetable flakes around where I lived. They would have them at a bulk food spice type store, but we didn't have anything like that. So what I did was buy Knorr’s Vegetable soup mix in a box. Then I ran it through a fine mesh strainer and got rid of all the powder stuff and was left with all the dried vegetables! It worked perfectly. I needed approximately 2-3 packets for my 8 jars.
What I’m doing is mixing 4 kinds of beans (was supposed to be 5, but in my taste tests, I determined that the chick peas don’t cook soft enough in that amount of time), then I make up the seasoning packet. I’m putting the beans in a quart-sized canning jar (in layers but you could mix them up too) then adding the seasoning mix in a little tied baggie and the barley in a little tied baggie on top of the beans, with the recipe card (which I’m backing with red cardstock to make it stronger) tied to the lid with a ribbon. Oh and a little square of xmas fabric covering the lid for looks.
I had a nice assembly line going. Had four bowls of the dried beans. Picked through them for rocks. Had all the jars in a row in front of me. Dumped in the correct amount of pinto beans in all the jars…moved on to black beans, etc. I liked my assembly line process for the seasoning packets. I put out 8 short glasses and then took a sandwich bag and put it inside the glass and up over the sides. That kept the baggie open and easy to fill with all the ingredients. Then once again assembly line fashion – measured all the onion into each baggie, did all the paprika, etc.
RECIPE CARD
I did the recipe in my digital scrapbooking program with a Christmas pic of the boys. Turned out very very cute, if I do say so myself.
:
Here's the card:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...ard-shared.jpg
And the recipe:
Four Bean Slow Cooker Soup, serves six.
1. Soak beans overnight.
2. Combine the following in the slow cooker:
* Soaked beans
* Six cups of water
* Seasoning packet
* One 14.5 oz. can of diced tomatoes
* 1 Tbsp. oil
3. Cook on Low for 8-10 hours.
4. Half an hour prior to serving, add the barley.
5. Serve and enjoy! Tastes even better the next day!
Several people asked for the recipe after I gave them the gift, so I take that to be a good sign! Sorry I'm so wordy - I'm a bit OCD with details, LOL.
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