Lentil Soup

This is less of a recipe and more of a how-to.  I make a ton of this at a time, because it freezes well and then I don't have to make more for awhile.

You saute an onion, cut up carrots, cut up celery, and sliced mushrooms in a little bit of oil then add a tablespoon or two of flour (I did 2 heaping tablespoons of wheat flour), and then I added 5 cans of beef broth or veggie broth. Then I diced up as many potatoes as I wanted in and added it and 2 cups of lentils and let it boil/simmer until the lentils and potatoes are soft.  

The original recipe came from an Inn in Portland and you add a sliced up keilbasa type sausage in the saute stuff before.  I just made it without and I thought it was yummy.  It is good the first day, but as it sits in the fridge, it gets better and better, but you do have to add more liquid to keep it a soup.

I actually just made this this week in the slow cooker and it was super easy and I ended up with 4 meals worth out of it, because I packed that slow cooker as full as it could go!  To make it for slow cookers, just put the carrots and potatoes in first so they're touching the bottom and sides of the pot because they take the longest to cook.  Then put the rest of the veggies in on top.  Sprinkle the flour in, add the lentils, and then add enough liquid to cover the veggies plus an extra little bit (maybe up to an inch above the veggies).  I cooked it on high for 4-6 hours.  Just until the potatoes and carrots were totally done.  

I put the leftovers in bread pans and freeze them and then you can transfer the soup to food saver bags (or just regular freezer ziploc bags) once they are frozen solid.  Then just pull out a brick of soup later and heat up and you have instant dinners!