Dawn's Baked Beans (Homemade, Slow Cooker)

Our youngest is on a bean kick.  He is loving loving LOVING beans.  As far as I know, I have only ever had beans from a can, which I do typically purchase...but now that I am on summer holidays, I figured it was time to come up with a homemade version so to try.  I also wanted the recipe to be a slow cooker recipe (thinking ahead to hockey season!).  After reading several recipes and thinking about the flavours that my family would like, this is the recipe that I have come up with:

Dawn's Baked Beans

2 cups navy beans
6 slices bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled
3/4 - 1 cup onion, diced
1/2 - 3/4 cup green pepper, diced
1 cup molasses
2/3 cup brown sugar
1 156 mL can tomato paste
6 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3 teaspoons ground mustard
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon chipotle spice
1-2 drops liquid smoke
Dash red pepper flakes

Rinse the navy beans and soak overnight in cold water.

In the morning, strain the beans and rinse them out.  Put the beans into a large saucepan, cover with water, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 45-50 minutes. After 45-50 minutes, drain off any excess water.

Meanwhile, cook the bacon.

In a small bowl, combine the molasses, brown sugar, tomato paste, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, ground mustard, garlic, paprika and red pepper flakes.  Mix well.  Set aside for a moment.

Cover the bottom of the slow cooker with beans.  Layer in some of the bacon, green pepper and onion.  Add the remaining beans, bacon, green paper and onion on top.  Top with the molasses mixture.  Cover, and heat on low for 5-6 hours.

VERDICT:
Big big BIG hit!  Our toddler ate these for lunch and dinner (and lunch and dinner again and again), and hubs had two giant helpings at dinner.  Keeper!

Chicken Vegetable Soup with Homemade Noodles

When I made or meal plan for this week I decided I wanted to try to make another soup from scratch.  Since my Hearty Ham & Split Pea Soup went over so well, I figured, let's try round 2 with a new one!  I've been wanting chicken noodle soup, so I thought about what I would put into it, researched how to make my own noodles, and here is what I came up with.  The egg noodle recipe I found at allrecipes.com, the rest of it, I made up as I went along.  Here is the recipe:

Chicken Vegetable Soup

Oil

2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into small pieces
3 slices of bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled
1/2 onion, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 stalk of celery, sliced
1/2 cup cauliflower, cut into small florettes
1/2 cup broccoli, cut into small florettes
1/2 cup green beans, cut in half (ends cut off)
4 cups chicken broth
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Fresh homemade egg noodles (recipe follows)

In a frying pan, coat with a small amount of oil.  Heat, and cook chicken until cooked through.  Remove chicken from frying pan and set aside.  Add bacon to the pan and cook until crispy.  Remove from pan and set on paper towel to remove excess grease.

While the chicken is cooking, in a large pot, coat witha small amount of oil, heat over medium, and add onions, carrots, celery.  Cook until they start to soften.  Add in cauliflower, broccoli and beans.  Continue to cook, around 5 minutes.  Add in chicken broth, chicken, garlic, parsley and pepper.  Simmer at medium-low for 10 minutes.  Add bacon and continue to simmer for 5 minutes.  Add fresh pasta and simmer until pasta is cooked to your liking (approximately 5 minutes).  Serve, and enjoy!

Homemade Egg Noodles

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter

In a large bowl, stir together flour and salt.  Add the eggs, milk and butter.  Knead together until a smooth dough is formed, about 5 minutes.  Sit in bowl, covered with a tea towel, for 10 minutes.

After the dough has rested, roll it out to your desired thickness.  Cut into lengths (or shapes).

Leave the noodles to air dry after you've cut them.

*Notes 
- I made my egg noodles around 10 am and left them to sit on the counter until I started making the soup at 12:30 pm.
- I found that this recipe made enough for 3 batches of noodles, so I have packaged up the other 2 batches and will freeze them until the next time I make soup.

VERDICT:
Of course the baby decided he was hungry just as I was about to serve the soup.  So I dished up bowls for my husband and our oldest, and they ate while I fed the baby.  My husband's first reaction was "This is SO good".  He ate his bowl of soup really quickly and went back for more.  Our oldest wasn't in the taste-testing mood, he was tired after a busy day yesterday (swimming lessons, birthday party, babysitters so that Mom & Dad could go out for a grown-up only dinner) - so he didn't actually try the soup, he went for a nap instead.  Finally, I got to try the soup, and it was declicious.  I really enjoyed it.  The variety of vegetables, the fresh noodles, oh my.  It was yummy!  This is a keeper in our books!  To top it off, we have two nice sized servings leftover, already packaged for lunch tomorrow...can't wait!

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