Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

This soup is hearty and healthy.  It satisfies a craving for a cheeseburger, and it is a hit with kids.  It even uses up leftover mashed potatoes!

Ingredients:

1lb ground beef

3 rashers bacon

1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 mushrooms, halved then sliced

1 tbsp each mustard and ketchup

1 tbsp flour

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

1 litre chicken stock

1 cup leftover mashed potatoes

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

6 dill pickles, chopped

1. In a large pot or dutch oven, cook the bacon slowly until the fat is rendered and it is becoming crispy on the edges.  Remove to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.  Drain the bacon fat from the pot. and add the ground beef, breaking it up and cooking it until it is very brown and caramelized.  Meanwhile, chop up the cooked bacon and set aside again, 

2.  Add the onions, celery, carrots, garlic and mushrooms to the pot and allow to cook sweat, cooking slowly.  When all the vegetables have released their water and become soft, stir in the mustard and ketchup, then the flour.  Cook for a further 3-4 minutes, then add the canned tomatoes and chicken broth.

3.  Simmer 15-20 minutes, then stir in the mashed potatoes to thicken the soup.  Allow the soup to heat through, then stir in half of the cheese.

4.  Serve hot, with the remaining cheese and the chopped bacon and pickles to sprinkle on top as garnish.

Grocery Store Beauty: Honey

This week I remembered the healing powers of honey.  With twin (almost) three year olds in the house, there are quite a few booboos that require minor first aid.  Not to mention some pretty ugly burns from the Nume curling wand I got for Christmas (I love that thing but damn! It's hot!).  As my husband and I had our third argument of the week over whether polysporin was helpful or hurtful, I had an epiphany.  Honey!  After my cesarean section, my doctor advised me to try applying honey to the incision scar to prevent infection (as a sidenote, I love that my doctor is knowledgable about and recommends natural remedies).  I applied it to the nasty burn on my thumb, and to the paper cut on my daughters finger.  It releived itching and helped heal these minor ouchies while also preventing infection.

A few days later, I woke up a mouth-breathing monster.  My throat was sore, I couldn't breath, I was weak and tired ... Ugh, I hate having a cold.  I acted like a baby and drank a lot of peppermint tea spiked with a lot of honey, and in less than 48 hours (a miserable 48 hours mind you ... Mostly for Suneil lol), I was almost back to myself!  My doctor, incidentally, has also recommended using honey instead of cough syrup, and for the kids I definitely prefer this delicious and naturally soothing antibiotic syrup to the potion of processed sugar, alcohol and artificial colour/flavour that is cough syrup.

Granted, this post is more about a grocery store pharmacy product than a grocery store beauty product, but honey has many uses as a beauty product as well.  Try using it for one of the following things:

-Apply about a tablespoon to your face as a face mask.  It will help kill bacteria and tighten your pores, while also providing a wonderful natural moisture and glow to your face.

-Stir about 2 tablespoons of honey with 2 tablespoons of coconut oil and 3 tablespoons of sugar, then use it as a scrub on your body and hands.  It will exfoliate, prevent body acne, and moisturize all at once!

-Stir a few tablespoons of honey with a few tablespoons of avocado or coconut oil and a splash of orange blossom water, then pour it into a warm bath before you get it.  It will moisturize and sooth your winter-dried skin, smell great, and cost next to nothing!

As a final counsel, make sure that you are using all natural, unpasteurized honey.  Get it unfiltered too if you can find it.  Otherwise all of the wonderful natural benefits will already be processed out of it.

My Favourite New Years Resolution Breakfast

Like the rest of the world, I am making attempts to be healthier in 2015.  My favourite hearty breakfast is quick and super simple to make, and it's a hit with the whole family.  I've made two batches already this week!

Meusli is new to me this year.  Previously, I had never tried making it because it seemed too simple to be truly delicious.  Also, something about the word "meusli" is a real turn off to me.  Strange, but true.
 

Now that I've tried it though, my breakfast rotation is forever changed.  Now I can serve oats for breakfast even if I don't have time to spend slowly cooking my father-in-laws amazing porridge (check out the recipe here: Creamy Cinnamon Porridge)

Now, I just need 5 minutes the night before, and a hearty, healthy and yummy breakfast is ready in the morning! What could be better?!?

Here's the link to the recipe: Hearty Overnight Oatmeal