Soup and homemade bread! What can be tastier on a cold winter's day? Until a few years ago that may have presented a problem to the busy mom, but not any more.

The fresh homemade bread can be taken care of by a Zojirushi BB-HAC10 breadmaker. This breadmaker is programmable and you can have the bread ready when you need it without having to be there to get it started. It makes the perfect 1 pound loaf, just enough for one meal.

Of course, as we all know the soup can be taken care of by a slow cooker and a look at the West Bend Slow Cooker and more specific the West Bend 84716 Versatility 6 Quart Oval Slo Cooker that is very versatile and can be used on the stove and in the oven.

To give you an idea of a tasty soup here is the recipe:

Thickened Meatball Soup

What You Need:

• 1 pkg. fresh baby carrots

• 1 lb small red potatoes, quartered

• 1 (4.5 oz) jar sliced mushrooms, drained

• 1 onion, cut into wedges

• 1 (18 oz) pkg. frozen cooked meatballs

• 1 (12 oz) jar beef gravy

• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

• 1/4 t pepper

How to Make It:

1. Lay the carrots into the crock pot.

2. Place the potatoes on top of the carrots.

3. Add the mushrooms over the top of the carrots.

4. Layer the onion wedges over the mushrooms.

5. Add the meatballs.

6. Pour the jar of gravy over the top.

7. Add in the tomatoes including the juice.

8. Sprinkle in the pepper.

9. Be sure not to stir the soup and disturb the ingredients.

10. Cover the crock pot and cook on the low heat setting for 9 hours being sure the carrots are tender.

11. Stir to combine the ingredients just before serving.

Serving Size: 8

It is important to layer the ingredients as indicated in the recipe and to not stir until you are ready to serve the soup.  By doing this the vegetables remain at the bottom of the crock pot where they can heat quickly and cook completely in the allotted amount of time.