Crock Pot Lentil Stew with Cabbage and Green Beans

For years, I have been trying to make a vegetarian lentil stew which I will actually like. This is finally it! Yum!

Crock Pot Lentil Stew with Cabbage and Green Beans

Servings: 4 or 5

I used a 4 quart crock pot. A 6 quart would probably work fine too.

Ingredients:
1 cup of lentils
½ white onion or 1 cup, diced
1 or 2 teaspoons oil (to use to sauté the onion)

1 can (14.5 oz.) petite diced tomatoes
2 cups vegetable stock or broth
4-6 ounces or 2 to 2 ½ cups green cabbage, chopped
1 can (14.5 oz.) of green beans, drained
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Soak lentils for about an hour.
Rinse lentils to remove any debris.
Put lentils in a pot (not the crock pot) on the stove, and cover with water (to about double or so).
Bring the water to a boil, then simmer about 10-20 minutes or until the lentils are tender.
Drain. Add the lentils to the crock pot.

In the meantime, put a teaspoon or two of oil in a small heavy pan.
Sauté the chopped onions until translucent.
When done, add the onions to the crockpot.

Add the other ingredients to the crock pot and stir.
Cook on Low for 6 hours.
Stir, taste, and serve.

 

 

Repairing Clothing without Sewing

Would you like to save money on clothes without actually sewing? Although I sew a lot, here are three of the things I do without sewing. 

 

1. I recently discovered a new-to-me trick: Using Pellon Fusible Knit Interfacing to mend a tear or a small hole. No sewing required. You just work on the underside, bring the edges together the way you want them, put a press cloth on it, and iron according to the instructions which come with the interfacing, just a matter of seconds. In the case of my husband's flannel shirt, the tear was not small, and the repair was not completely invisible, but it also is not very noticeable. Here's how it looks on the right side. Can you find the repaired tear? 

2. Do you or your family ever get oily stains on clothing, say a Chapstick went through the dryer in a pocket, or you spilled some cooking oil?  What I've often found works for this is soaking the item in  hot water (or the warmest water that is safe for the particular fabric) with Oxi-Clean powdered stain remover. Then I wash it normally and check it before putting in the dryer. If the stain is less but still there, I might want to try soaking it again. The dryer tends to set stains, so whenever possible, it's best to catch stains before they can go in the dryer.

3. Another way to keep clothing usable without sewing is to pay someone else to sew. Even though I love to sew, there are things I would rather have someone else do. I have found it quite reasonable to pay someone to replace a zipper on a jacket or replace a button on a more formal dress coat. I just go to our mom-and-pop-type neighborhood dry cleaners, and they are happy to help. I have used these services in different neighborhoods in different eras of my life. 

You can save a lot of money on keeping clothing usable and presentable without even threading a needle. 

Patching Jeans in Style

I love making things last as long as possible. Here's a pair of jeans which were past their prime. In other words, they had holes in them. Ripped jeans are not my style, so I went to work. 

First I patched them on the inside of the legs. Then I darned, thinking that would do the trick. But even with the inside patches to add some fabric to darn to, the darning didn't last. So...I cut out these brown and black patches which I had leftover from fabric quarters from when I was making masks several years ago. 

I cut out the patches and hemmed the edges of each patch, using the sewing machine. Then I sewed the patches on by hand, using a piece of cardboard inside the pants leg so I wouldn't sew the leg shut. 

This was a lot of work for something that is wearing thin in other places. But I did most of the work while talking on the phone or watching TV with hubby. So there wasn't much opportunity cost.