Vegetable Soup w/ Ground Turkey

Today was a fantastic day. We went to Wal-mart, which is actually pretty rare for us and I was so excited to be moving forward into this new season of Thanksgiving and eventually Christmas that I couldn't help myself, and got some baking supplies. I am so looking forward to making people cookies and treats - and cooking Thanksgiving dinner. My favorite thing to do is to feed people, and well...'tis the season!

I was pretty amused to see this inflatable Turkey today, I know there's some sort of brand he is representing, but for me he was the very first Thanksgiving turkey I've seen, and I was really pleased to see him all larger than life and signifying second wing of fall and the last wing of this year. The holidays in general is the very best thing there is about the growing cold months and so I just can't help myself - I'm so excited!

He looks a bit angry doesn't he?

We've had some cooler weather the past few days, due to what is going on up in the New England area, and while the cool air and wind has been really refreshing for us, I want to take a minute and send my condolences to those up north who are experiencing hardships, have lost everything, or have lost their loved ones. My husband and I have been praying for their safety and an end to their discomfort and hope that you will join us in doing so.

It's amazing to imagine that Thanksgiving is going to be upon us in just three short weeks. I have a mind to make a carrot cake for the holiday, which is something I've never done. I've also got it in my heart to let my grandmother teach me how she makes her famous cornbread dressing. We've made it together a couple of times, which was so much fun, but I'd really like to see if I could accomplish that feat on my own. You know I'll let you know how it goes!

Anyway, starting last night, David really started talking about what we could do for dinner tonight and as he had taken down some ground turkey to thaw, we started brainstorming over what we could do with it. He immediately got vegetable soup in his mind and couldn't let go of it. Initially, I wasn't too excited about the idea, because we'd had meatless vegetable soup that very night at church for dinner. But he was adamant, and I was interested to see what I could do with it if I put my own spin on it. Of course, when we got downstairs, we had no tomato soup - hence the trip to Wal-mart (unrelated, but we also needed kitty litter).

So after both of us diligently resisting eating some fast food (we're trying desperately to remain on our established budget), we came home and I immediately got started on our soup. Our eating better regime is really struggling these days. I don't know what's the matter with us lately, but our willpower is really ridiculously susceptible to temptations left and right. It seems like once a week, we make a deal, shake hands on it, pinky swear with a kiss, and then all of a sudden it's like "oh! look I found a recipe for fudge on Pinterest" or "Oh! Look what Pioneer Woman made on Foodnetwork, lemme try to make my own version" or similar and we're back to promising tomorrow will be different.

This recipe, in my opinion, is pretty healthy. I made hubby cornbread to eat with his and cheesebread for me to eat with mine - which is not so healthy. But it's better than pumpkin rolls and calzones, which totally both went down last week. Pray for us, we are really trying in spite of what it looks like, we're just truly weak on the execution. I might very well have to resurrect my Weight Watchers membership. In any case, this soup was really good. Enough about me, here's the recipe:

Vegetable Soup w/ Ground Turkey

Ingredients
1 can of fat free Chicken broth
2 cans of Tomato soup
2 cans of water*
1 can of whole kernel corn, un-drained
1 can of green peas, un-drained
1 can of green beans, un-drained
4 Red potatoes washed and cubed
2 T of light Country crock margarine
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
dashes of sage, garlic powder, garlic pepper, cilantro, and parsley

For the ground turkey
1/2 pound of ground turkey, browned
1/2 tsp of worchestershire sauce
1 tsp of minced garlic
1 tsp of poultry seasoning
salt and pepper

*After emptying the can, fill with water and add it to the pot

Add all of the ingredients for the soup at once, and stir to incorporate. Put on medium heat. Brown ground turkey in a separate pan with the minced garlic. When the turkey is brown, add seasonings and stir. Add turkey to soup. Allow soup to simmer for about an hour and a half, periodically checking on it and reducing heat. (What I love about soup is that you literally can throw all of the ingredients into the pot and go do something else while it does its thing. I finished watching the season finale of 19 Kids and Counting; love that show.)

When you think the soup is done, reduce it to low and make some cornbread or some grilled cheese, or some cheese bread, or nothing, depending on how you enjoy eating soup and grab a bowl. We enjoyed it on this chilly evening!

Thanks, as always, for taking the time to tune in.

Blessings from my house to yours!