Fall is here!

Since today was the first day of autumn, I decided to make a chowder in my crock-pot. It doesn't really feel like fall right now because our weather is still really nice and warm. The leaves however, are starting to change, so it looks more like autumn than it feels. Anyway, the chowder turned out really good, so I thought I'd post the recipe here in case you're interested or want to give it a try.

FALL HARVEST CHOWDER

1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1 cup carrots, diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 cup corn

1 cup potatoes, peeled and cubed

4 cups water

diced tomatoes, 28oz can

tomato paste, 8oz can

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1-1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1-3 bay leaves

Combine all ingredients in a greased 4-1/2 to 6-qt crock-pot. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-6 hours. For a thicker chowder, cook on low heat 8-10 hours. Makes 8-10 servings. Optional: serve in a sourdough bread bowl and top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Note: The corn wasn't in the original recipe, but I added it because it seemed perfect for this recipe. I used frozen corn. Also, I cooked mine on low heat for about 4 hours and then another hour on high heat. It seems each crock-pot I've ever used was different, regardless of what times any recipes tell me to follow. I am thinking this recipe would also be really good with ground Italian sausage, or even ground turkey if you want to cut out some of the fat and calories. I didn't have fresh Parmesan, so I used the regular kind. Here's a picture before I put the cheese on.