recipe nervousness turns into a good meal! :)

i love staying at home with my sweet girl... i love that my "stress" now is getting dinner on the table... :)
being at home has moved me into a new phase of life...one that i find to be a little challenging but fun... :)
i'm trying to learn how to really REALLY budget...and in meal planning, i'm learning how to make a list, stick to it, and make some healthy meals for my husband and picky but sweet baby girl who rarely eats what i give her...(but that's for another post) :)

i really enjoy trying new recipes...

i really dislike when i try a new recipe and it's a total flop - like the meal is just not good or worth putting in a mouth to count as calories (yep, i food journal , too - i need to get some serious lbs. off of this body)...

recent flops...
some sort of mexican casserole...
some kind of chicken wrap things...

i admit that i was a little nervous to try a new recipe after these not-so-tasty meals...if i spend time in the kitchen making something, i want it to taste good! :)

i love soup...and even though Spring is knocking on our door, soup is a meal that lasts for another good meal...if not a little more. :) and it's so easy to have lots of veggies in soup... :) yum!

i found this recipe in my mom's very small hometown newspaper - the Sidell Journal... :) it's been a few years since i cut it out, but i'm also organizing my folders of recipes into a bindered photo album with sticky pages... :) so, i'm finding these little treasures along the way... :)

i took the new recipe plunge again and made this on Monday...
it was SO YUMMY! :) and it used a crockpot! :) ya gotta love those crock pot recipes... :)
with a little corn bread, this was a real belly pleaser... :) like we couldn't wait for leftover night :)

go ahead...try it :)

Hamburger Stoup <---not a typo like my husband thought on our meal board - it's a play on two words - soup+stew :)

3 large potatoes, sliced (i peeled mine too)
3 carrots, sliced
1 lb. frozen peas
1 onion, diced (i used a sweet onion)
2 ribs of celery, sliced thin
salt & pepper to taste
1 to 1 1/2 lbs. of ground beef browned and drained
10 3/4 oz can of tomato soup
1 soup can of water

1. put veggies in the crock pot in layers as listed. season each layer with salt and pepper (i just used seasoned salt)
2. layer beef on top of celery. mix together soup and water in a separate container and pour over the ground beef.
3. cover & cook on low for 6-8 hrs. or high for 2-4 hrs., stir occasionally.

(i cooked it on high b/c i forgot to make it until 3 that afternoon...turned out fine...and i didn't see the "stir occasionally" when i was making it...i didn't stir...it was fine... :))

really...it's so good! :)