Chop and tomatoes and cook until mushy for about 1-2 hours, season as you go.Caramelize onions and butter with salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste in your crock pot (set to high) for about 1-2 hours.6-8 garlic cloves (roasted or raw, dealerвЂ™s choice).Also, the cheese ended up looking like the Sydney Opera House which was not intentional but totally cool. Honestly the simplicity of this meal was what made it so great.ДЄnd last but not least I just had a little bit of soup left and also some spinach artichoke dip and I figured that they would probably go really well together. I stuck a couple of cheese straws in there and sprinkled some cheese on top and called it a day. I throw the remains of the soup into a bowl and microwaved until it started splattering. Le sigh.Д«y the end of the week I was truly ready for something easy peasy. Lloyd doesnвЂ™t usually stop to talk once food is in front of him but he put down his fork long enough to tell me it was good. It actually was pretty easy to eat this way and was a delicious treat after a long day at work because it was so quick yet surprisingly fancy and satisfying. I decided to be bold and serve my soup on a plate as it had gotten quite thick on the stove. I set my oven to 375 degrees and left everything in there for about 30 minutes. I baked everything together on the same sheet pan while I reheated some of the soup up on the stove. I added a little drizzle of balsamic vinegar because I love balsamic.

I ripped them up and stuffed them into the bell peppers. These little packets are actually meant as single size servings but I am amazed at how handy they are when I havenвЂ™t planned ahead. I set those aside to quickly marinade while I sliced open some small bell peppers and stuffed them with mozzarella I happened to have in my fridge.

I particularly like it with tomatoes so I decided to coat some cubed chicken in Herbs de Provence, along with salt, pepper, olive oil and a splash of red wine vinegar. ItвЂ™s a wonderfully savory spice mix that goes well with a variety of proteins and flavors. They did get a little melty when I put them on the hot soup.Дay 2: Roasted Chicken and Stuffed Bell Peppers I know they look a little soggy but I put them on a paper towel to cool and they crisped up beautifully. Next I took a 4 oz container of parmesan cheese and made twelve little piles on a silicone baking sheet and baked them at 400 degrees for 3 minutes to make amazingly easy and low carb parmesan crisps! This billowing cloud above my pan is steam, not smoke. It helps deglazes the pan and lets you steam rather than roast so they donвЂ™t dry out. My secret for cooking meat like this are a few splashes of low sodium chicken stock. This one was fairly straightforward, while the soup was finishing off in the crockpot I chopped up some smoked sausage I had in the fridge and cooked it in a pan on the stove. Now on to the three ways I decided to serve my soup! This was the fun part! Because you donвЂ™t want to get bored with all your hard work! Day 1: Sausage and Parmesan Crisps Because crockpots are tricky and always need more than you think they will. I also needed to add in a little more salt, garlic and pepper. Once I had blitzed the soup I added in some tomato paste, parmesan cheese, a dollop of heavy cream and a couple of splashes of low sodium chicken stock just to round out all the flavors. I wanted to make a nice little boomerang so you could see how cute my immersion blender is. Once that has stewed for some more time itвЂ™s time to blitz. And then you always need more salt and pepper. I also love the perfect fresh balance that basil and tomato make so I chopped up some of that. I get a whole container and just pull them out whenever I need a little extra oomph in my food. I love the roasted garlic you can find at most olive bars. I started by caramelizing a bunch of red onions with butter, salt, pepper and garlic powder. I went for the latter technique this time because I had a bunch of little things to do around the house and this allowed me to add things and go get a task done before coming back to check on it. But sometimes I use my crockpot as a less needy dutch oven and add things in slowly and really let the flavors marry and come together slowly. I use my crockpot two ways, I either dump a bunch of stuff in and go off to work so that I can come home to a mostly ready meal. Given the weather I went for a hearty tomato basil soup. I tend to get done early on Mondays so I like to make one thing in the crockpot that I can tweak and twist and use all week. I know crockpots are getting a bad rap right now because ofВ that episode of This is Us.В But they really do make life a lot easier. ItвЂ™s cold in Virginia right now, winter is clinging to the ground and the air and my bones need soup.

Parmesan crisp