Chicken and barley soup

Chicken and barley soup

• olive and avocado oil
• 1 1/2 c. celery, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2c. carrots, diced
• 1/2 c. onion, diced
• 1/2 lb. mushrooms, thinly sliced, then chopped
• handful of fresh thyme, destemmed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 Tbs. chicken better than bouillon
• chicken broth + water = 2 1/4 qts.
• 3/4 c. barley, uncooked and rinsed
• leftover cooked chicken, diced to bite size
• 1/2 cabbage, thinly sliced and chopped
• sea salt to taste
• sausage, cooked and diced (optional, in lieu of chicken)

Cook the celery, carrots, and onion over med-low heat in oil for ~5 to 10 min. Add the mushrooms, cook another 5 min. Add the thyme, bay leaves, broth, water, and barley. Bring to boil, then cover and simmer. Barley needs to simmer for 50 min. About 20 min. before serving, add the chicken and cabbage.

Sausage and sauerkraut in the slow cooker

Sausage and sauerkraut

• ~28 oz. sauerkraut
• 1/4 c. or less of brown sugar
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 apple, cored and sliced
• ~4 to 8 links of favorite sausage

Layer the ingredients in the crockpot, sauerkraut on bottom, then brown sugar sprinkled over the kraut, next onion, apple, and sausage.  Cook on low in the slow cooker for 6 to 8 hours.