Soup's On

With all the cold weather we have been having, a bowl of steaming soup brings us back to our mother's and grandmother's kitchens. Soup is a labor of love. Even if you don't like to cook, most of us can heat a can of soup and magically be brought back to that time and place. Even better, when you make your own soup, you can make a pot and freeze the leftovers. Now when you need a quick and fast dinner, all you have to do is reheat the soup, make a salad or a sandwich and dinner's on!

Heat some and take it in a thermos to work and you have a good hot lunch. Most medical professionals are also encouraging us to eat more "real foods", not processed foods. Homemade soup is real food, so it has health benefits too. Most people are encouraged to eat at least one vegetarian meal a week and soup fits the bill here also. Chunky vegetable soups can be very satisfying.

Summer and fall, when fresh vegetables are plentiful and cheap, are the best times to make your soups. Any one of these, even the ones using your leftovers, can be frozen to eat later in the winter. Soup will last frozen for anywhere from 3-6 months.

Making soup is quite easy and it is not time consuming either. Crock pots can be a great way to make soup while you are away at work. On the weekends, soup made on the stove fill your house with wonderful smells. A good Dutch oven or small stock pot is really the only equipment you will need. Making soup is quite economical too. Here you will find recipes for fresh vegetable soups, from that stash you just got at the farmer's market.

You can make a pot of soup from what is in your pantry, when you don't want to go to the store and the fridge is empty. And you can make soup when you have lots of leftovers that need using up. Soup is a great way to stretch your food budget dollar. It is also great when you have unexpected company, just add some more vegetables or noodles to stretch it to feed however many you need to feed.

Making Stocks

First we are going to talk about stock. Stock is the base to a lot of soups. You can make stock and keep it frozen in your freezer for up to three months. Most soups can be made from three kinds of stock, chicken, beef, or vegetable. Once you have stock frozen in your freezer, it is then just a matter of throwing in some vegetables or meat and you have a hardy bowl of soup. Chicken stock, or turkey for that matter, can be made the next time you have a roasted chicken.

Save some of the meat and the bones, throw them in your stock pot with about 4 cups of water. Add chopped onion, carrots, and celery. Let this cook for several hours. Remove bones. Freeze your stock. Now, some people remove the cooked vegetables but I don't because I usually add these same vegetables to the soups I am making so why waste them?

Beef broth can be made from soup bones, these are very cheap at the market, and I can get huge bones for around $2.00. I also buy short ribs and other cheap cuts of beef. Whatever is on sale and dirt cheap. You could even cut up tough pieces of beef to add to the flavor. Just make sure you brown them first. To make a good rich brown stock, I bake or roast the soup bones for about one hour in a 350 degree F oven. Then you can refrigerate the bones or put them in your stock pot with onion, carrots and celery.

Cook down until meat is tender. Remove the bone and fatty pieces. I chop up any non-fatty meat and put back in my broth, just to give it a little head start. I also leave the vegetables in it and freeze. Or you can take out all the vegetables and meat and just have plain beef stock. I sometimes do this when I know I will be adding hamburger or taco meat to a soup. I usually have some with meat and some without. I just strain out the vegetables and meat and add to the containers with meat and then freeze.

Vegetable stock is the easiest broth to make. Save all those little bits of leftover veggies, with the exception of broccoli, cabbage, or cauliflower. These can make your stock bitter. When you have collected enough vegetables for your stock, open one large can of whole or stewed tomatoes. Put these in your stock pot and add your leftover vegetables. Add onion, carrots, and celery. Let simmer for half an hour then freeze.

All of these can also be made in a crock pot, with the exception of the vegetable stock, which you don't want to over cook. For a non tomato stock, just add your leftovers or fresh vegetables, using potatoes, carrots, onion, leeks, and any vegetables that you like.Ok, now you have stock in the freezer, what are you going to do with it? This is where your pantry or leftovers come in. Here you will find a list of all the add-ins you can use to make great soup.

Chicken Stock Add-Ins

• Add in noodles and you have instant chicken noodle soup. Just gently boil the noodles in the broth. This is great for when you are tired and don't feel well.


• Leftover rice can be added to make chicken and rice soup.


• Add a small can of tomatoes and green chilies and some tortilla chips and some chili powder and you have tortilla soup. Always add the tortilla chips toward the end so they don't get really soggy.
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• Mix some flour and milk in a small bowl and slowly add to your soup. It will thicken and you will have cream of chicken soup. It is best to do this when the soup is first heated so you don't curdle the milk.


• Add one package of macaroni and cheese, the sauce mix first and then the macaroni and you have cheesy chicken mac soup.


• Throw in a can of biscuits and you have chicken and dumplings. Just make sure to put the lid on your pot so that the biscuits will cook on the top.


• Add a couple of dashes of soy sauce and beat up an egg and swirl it in your boiling soup and you will have egg drop soup.


• From your freezer, add frozen mixed vegetables like a California Blend with broccoli and cauliflower and you have chicken vegetable soup, or just add more leftover vegetables.


• Mix some flour and milk in a small bowl and slowly add to your soup and it will thicken to make cream of chicken soup. Then add some tomatoes and green chilies and you will have Santa Fe chicken soup. You can also add rice to your Santa Fe soup.


• Add that leftover plain fried rice, a couple of dashes of soy sauce and some fresh or canned mushrooms, you will have oriental chicken soup.


• You can also add a package of Top Ramen noodles and the sauce package to your stock and have an oriental noodle soup.

Beef Broth Add-Ins

• Chop up a lot of onions and saute in butter. Add to your beef broth. Add a couple dashes of Worcestershire sauce and you have French onion soup. Top with a piece of French or rye bread and a piece of cheese, broil for 1 minute until cheese melts.


• Add potatoes and that leftover steak or roast, a can of mixed vegetables and some barley, you have vegetable beef barley soup.


• Add some leftover hamburger meat and a box of macaroni and cheese and you have cheesy beef mac soup.


• Add a can of enchilada sauce, leftover taco meat and some tortilla chips and you have beef enchilada soup. Always add the tortilla chips toward the end so they don't get really soggy.


• With large chunks of potatoes, carrots, onions, and celery and you have beef stew. Be sure to use old potatoes so this will thicken. If not, add some leftover mashed potatoes to thicken.


• Add a Top Ramen beef seasoning pack and some hamburger along with the noodles and a couple of dashes of soy sauce and you will have oriental beef soup.


• Add noodles, a brown gravy mix and leftover beef, you will have beef noodle soup.


• Add big chunks of potatoes and carrots and celery and onion and add some biscuits to the top. Cover and cook until biscuits are done. You will have beef and biscuits soup.


• Add spaghetti sauce with beef and leftover noodles and you have Italian beef soup.


• Add one can of tomatoes and green chilies, some left over taco meat and some canned beans (pinto, kidney, or black beans) and you have instant chili.


• Add some chopped onion and fresh or canned mushrooms and you will have beefy mushroom soup.

Vegetable Stock Add-Ins

Tomato Based Stock

• Add green beans, summer or zucchini squash or both, onion, macaroni, and Italian seasonings and you have vegetarian minestrone soup.


• Add navy beans and a ham hock, a dash of smoke seasoning and you have navy bean soup.


• Pour heated stock in blender and puree until smooth. Add 1/4 cup milk or cream and you have cream of vegetable soup.


• Add a can of clams and Italian seasoning you will have Manhattan style clam chowder.


• Add kidney, pinto or black beans and a taco seasoning pack and you have vegetarian chili.


• Add mushrooms and potatoes and squash to make a thick vegetable stew.


• Add a package of spinach, some macaroni and Greek seasonings and you have a hardy Greek soup you will love.

Non-tomato based stock

• Add mushrooms and Top Ramen oriental flavor sauce pack and noodles and you have an oriental vegetable noodle soup.


• Add potatoes and canned clams, stir in flour and milk that have been whisked together and you will have New England clam chowder.
• Add leftover mashed potatoes and you will have cream of potato soup, add some cheese and it becomes cream of cheddar potato soup or whatever kind of cheese you add. I love Velveeta in this.


• Add broccoli or cauliflower and blend in your blender, add a quarter cup of milk and you have cream of broccoli or cream of cauliflower soup.

Made From Scratch Soups

Now on to made from scratch soups. There are lots of made from scratch soup recipes on the internet that you can find and use so I am just going to give you a few of my favorites. These are great to use when you find a great buy at the farmers market or when your garden grows way too many veggies.

Cream of Tomato Soup

There is nothing like fresh from the garden tomato soup

Ingredients

• 8 ripe tomatoes chopped
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 small bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp. basil
• 1/2 tsp. powdered cloves
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 3 Tbsp. flour
• 2 cups of milk

Directions

In stock pot over high heat, cook tomatoes, onion, celery, and seasonings for about 10 minutes. Puree in blender and then stir in baking soda. Set aside. Melt butter in skillet with flour Add the milk, stirring constantly. Simmer until thickened. Add thickened sauce slowly to tomatoes in stock pot. Heat for about 1 minute and serve.

Split Pea and Ham Soup

Ingredients

• one package of green split peas
• one ham hock
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. cloves
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 4 cups water

Directions

Put split peas, carrots, onion, and celery in stock pot and cook slowly on medium heat. Add cloves and nutmeg. When split peas start to soften, add the ham hock. Turn heat down to low and cook slowly all day until peas have dissolved and then remove ham hock. Remove any fat and put meat back in stock pot. Watch your liquid level and add water when necessary. The peas will absorb water. Serve hot with cornbread.

Cream of Summer Squash Soup

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 lb. of summer squash or zucchini squash chopped
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 cups chicken bouillon 2 cubes mixed with 2 cups water
• 1 carrot chopped
• 1 stalk of celery chopped
• 1/2 cup of milk
• salt and pepper to taste
• pinch of nutmeg

Directions

Cook summer squash, carrot, celery, and onion in olive oil until the squash is cooked and falling apart. Puree in blender until smooth. Return to pan and add chicken bouillon. Right before serving, add milk and heat soup until warm. Serve.