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It’s cold, cough, sore throat, and flu season – and the crud has made it to our home. The littles are both coughing all night long, and one is complaining of a sore throat. So, this evening I baked a delicious loaf of bread in our Dutch oven.

The recipe – Easy Crusty French Bread – comes from Life as a Strawberry. I don’t have the proofing basket, but the bread still turns out great. And honestly – you don’t have to wait 2 hours for it to rise, if you’re willing to turn the oven on and keep the bowl with the dough in it close by.

By the time the holidays roll around, we’re all pretty sick of chicken soup. And while chicken soup has healing properties, it can’t heal anything if nobody wants to eat it, so a change-up is in order. This cabbage roll soup has made it into our regular roster – and maybe it will make it into yours too.

The Cabbage Roll Soup is easy to prep – and make.

Tools you’ll need:

• Hamburger Meat Chopper
• 12 Quart Stainless Steel Stock Pot
• Garlic Press
• Wooden Spoon
• Wusthof Santoku
• Cutting board

Ingredients you’ll need:

• 2lbs of 96% lean ground beef
• 1 stick of butter (yup)
• 2 15 oz cans of diced tomatoes
• 2 32 oz containers of chicken broth
• 6 cloves of garlic, pressed
• ¼ cup of red pepper paste (alternatively, you can get a jar of grilled red peppers and puree them, OR 2 seeded fresh red peppers also pureed)
• 2 large onions, diced
• 1 cup short grain rice (CalRose or Egyptian Rice is what I use)
• 2 lemons, juiced
• One head of napa cabbage, washed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
• Allspice, White Pepper, Salt – to taste

Melt one stick of butter in the stainless steel stock pot on medium heat and add the ground beef. Cook the beef, stirring frequently and begin breaking the meat apart with the hamburger meat chopper as soon as the meat begins to turn color. This will take about 10 minutes.

Add the pressed garlic, and red pepper paste, and continue to chop the meat until all of the meat has crumbled. Add the onions and stir to combine with the meat. Add the diced tomatoes with the juice and stir to mix. When everything has melded together and looks stewy, add the two containers of chicken broth, lemon juice, allspice, white pepper, and salt. Cook this down for 30 minutes then taste the broth for flavor.

Add the rice and cook for 15 minutes. Then add the cabbage and cook for another 5 minutes. It’s ready to serve with that delicious bread – and butter of course.