DASH DIET Crockpot Beef Soup

We've always eaten a lot of soup and stews during the colder weather, so I needed to come up with a low-fat, low-sodium soup recipe to replace the old tried and true recipes. This soup had a ton of flavor, despite being low-salt and low-fat. This one is a "keeper"! DASH Diet Crockpot Beef Soup 3/4 pound lean beef, cut into 1.5 inch cubes 6 cups low sodium vegetable broth 2 carrots, cut into chunks 2 onions, chopped 2 stalks celery, chopped 1 can (15 oz) lentils*, drained and rinsed 1 slice turkey bacon, diced 1 cup low sodium tomato sauce 1 tsp rosemary 1/2 tsp cumin 1/2 tsp black pepper 1 tbsp. Mrs. Dash salt substitute 1 tsp worsteshire sauce 1 large potato, peeled, cut into chunks Put all ingredients except potato into crockpot, cook on high for 4-5 hours, or on low 7-8 hours. One hour before cooking is done, add potato. *Lentils - I just happened to have a can of pre-cooked lentils on hand, but you could use any canned bean (drain and rinse to remove sodium) or even dried lentils, if that's what you have. I had leftover couscous with a small amount of peas and carrots, so I reheated that, and served the soup in a bowl, over a spooonful of the couscous, and with a tablespoon of no-fat cheese on top.

Martha Stewart let me down

A friend, Lynne, stopped over for coffee and chit-chat yesterday (and a bit of quilting show and tell), and amongst the many subjects we discussed was the subject of whether or not our husbands were fussy eaters. Lynne's is semi-fussy, mine is not fussy at all. I told Lynne that in 31 years of marriage, Jeff has only disliked two meals -- a fish meal, and a very very burned meatloaf. Considering how rarely we go out to eat (especially in the earlier years of our marriage), that's a LOT of dinners he's eaten without complaining. In fact, even after all this time, every single night when I serve him dinner, he says, "Thanks, Honey" -- like I'm doing him a favor! You have to love it. However... I now have to say last night's dinner was the THIRD meal he didn't like in 31 years. Thank you Martha Stewart. I looked on the web for a honey-glazed chicken recipe. On this DASH diet, I am for as little sodium and fats as possible, so honey is quickly becoming a good way to add flavor without adding fats or salt. I had boneless chicken breasts and thought a honey glaze would be good with the chicken. Off I went to Google, and saw a recipe on the Martha Stewart web site for "Easy Honey-Glazed Chicken". And easy it was - 1/3 cup honey, 2 tsp tyme, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Brush it on the chicken, cook in the oven, brush a few times more while it's cooking... and poof! Honey Glazed Chicken. It was SO bad. The flavor of the tyme had no business in the honey glaze. It was overpowering and just plain not compatible. Even if it was compatible, there was too much of it. We both ended up scraping off the glaze as best we could. I'd also made couscous with peas and carrots, and brussel sprouts, and luckily those were good. For some reason, I hear the name "Martha Stewart" and I assume whatever is associated with the name - recipe, craft, helpful household hint - is going to be good. Does anyone have a honey glaze recipe they'd like to share? No, not you Martha. You had your chance.