BBQ pulled pork sandwiches and free soup

Have I mentioned that I love my crockpot? Cause I do. I made two great meals in it in three days. First off, I made barbeque pulled pork sandwiches. All you do is cook a pork roast in the crock pot while you are at work. Add a little water so it doesn't dry out in the beginning, but it will add its own juices to cook in. when you get home, save the juice (mason jar in the fridge is perfect) and shred the meat with a fork. If you are familiar with how soft and tender the crockpot makes meat, you will understand that this is really simple and quick. In fact, it was halfway done just getting the meat out of the crockpot. Return the meat to the crockpot with half to a whole bottle (depending on how much meat and how saucy you want it) of barbeque sauce. I use sweet baby ray's cause I can get it easy at costco. I am sure there are good homemade sauce recipes out there as well. cook it for 20-30 minutes on high if you are hungry, or about an hour on low. I enjoy it best when served on buns, but regular bread works too.

When the delicious leftovers are all gone, you still have a jar of broth to use as a soup base. On a cold day, I poured the juice in the crockpot and started adding things I had around.

-cream of (insert variety you have on hand here) soup
-potatoes (from the farm's garden)
-onions (always have those on hand!)
-can of black beans (I wanted some protein, and it seemed like a good alternate to meat)
-spices

When it was nearing the end, it still seemed a little boring to me, so I decided to add bisquick dumplings to it. I think that was the key to making it delicious. It was hearty, warm, and all stuff I had on hand. Next time I make it, I am sure it will taste completely different. But the nature of "free" soup is not the ingredients, its what I have available!