I’m about to share a super, top-secret recipe. Â A recipe that I have shared with no one before….Â
Actually the truth is if I were a foodie blogger I would forever be shunned for putting such a “recipe” on my blog. Â However, I’m going to share it anyway. Â I highly doubt I have any foodie bloggers reading my blog, at least none that are expecting foodie type recipes, but normal moms who are looking for easy, nutritious food to feed a crew that won’t cost a fortune.
Just about every Friday around lunch time I start what I call Leftover Soup. Â We haven’t always had soup on Friday, for a long time we used to order pizza. Â After Lent one year we decided to keep meatless Friday’s going throughout the year. Â Catholics used to fast from meat on Friday throughout the entire year, and then the change was made to just during Lent. Â
However, as Fridays are meant to be a where we are a bit more mindful of the crucifixion of Jesus it seemed like a good way to make a small sacrifice. Â So then we switched to meatless pizza. Â Which, at first, seemed so valiant of us, I mean we were “giving up” so much by not eating pepperoni!
But as we were being more mindful about our food choices in general eating a big, giant, cheesy pizza really didn’t seem like much of a sacrifice. Â So began our soup nights. Â
Not only are we making this little sacrifice each week, it’s better for our health and for our bank account. Â Considering I really do just use what we have on hand, it’s a great way to use up leftovers from the week.
The only ingredients that are my staple are veggie broth and a can of tomatoes. Â Although apparently tomatoes from the can aren’t the best choice, tomatoes from a glass jar or box are better? Â I didn’t realize this until just recently. Â Anyway, the rest of the ingredients just depends on what’s in the refrigerator. Â
This week I used a jar of sauerkraut, {this is optional but delicious} which adds a good flavor, a bit tangy. Â Leftover peas and carrots, a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, leftover mushrooms, and celery.
I almost always through in a can of beans, or rice, or maybe some pasta. Â My kids prefer the pasta. Â Add whatever works for your family. Â
I always saute the veggies in a bit of olive oil or broth first.
Then dump in the rest of the ingredients.
I start the soup while I’m making lunch and then I can clean up both lunch and dinner. Â The soup simmers on the stove all afternoon making for a very easy dinner time after a long and busy week. Â
I will usually serve some type of muffin or bread along side.
We tried Quinana Muffins {Quinoa Banana Muffins} – recipe to follow soon.
Pumpkin-Cranberry Muffins are also good option for fall and winter.
We often have enough leftover for lunch the next day, but not this week! Â This particular concoction was a hit.
What’s your favorite soup recipe?
Looks yummy and sounds yummy to me!! I’m cutting back to usually four meatless meals a week since the price of meat is sky rocketing. Thanks for sharing!
This is as about as inexpensive as you can get! Lots of bang for your buck 🙂
We love soup, we eat it several times a week. I make it in the crockpot most often… Minestrone, split pea, bean and corn chowder, taco soup, lentil soup… Yummy!
AT my house, my left over soup is made from left over meals… I begin with sauteed onions, celery, garlic and then add homemade chicken or beef stock. Then we add the left over beans (cooked from scratch, not from a can), rice, pasta, and the stews like roast with potatoes, or shredded chicken or roasted veggies. I don’t usually have a lot of left overs. My left overs are usually beans (that I cooked a lot on purpose) and a meat stew of some kind. I then add chopped sweet potatoes, and other veggies. Shredded greens are wonderful too and very nutritious. And don’t forget to add chopped cilantro or parsley just before serving.
At our house, we found that if we add tomatoes the soup tastes and smells like “sour vomit”. Sorry about that! We don’t really like tomato soup. Our tomato sauces are always loaded with cream or ricotta cheese to cut the acidity of the tomato.
I found that out because my husband grew up eating left over soups and he hated them, until he ate mine. And then talking to him, he told me that it was the tomato that was put into them. Something that in South America is really not used as much in soups.
Anyway, I think left over soup is a great secret to keep your fridge and pantry clean and feed your family in a tight budget. 🙂
I love my crockpot too!!
LOL, I have one son that would agree with your vomit comment. I have tried shredded greens before and the whole house rebelled. However, maybe I need to give it another try, its been a while! I have never done homemade beans before either, but I should give that a shot too.
Some of our favorite soups have been discovered this way…….
You can cook your dried beans in the crockpot. so easy. Soak your beans for 12-24 hours, then rinse and drain that water and put them into the crock pot. Add water to submerge them and turn your crock to high… check in 2-3 hours and adjust. check out the the healthy home economist dot com for more info on how to cook beans. Once the beans are cooked, I divide them into containers and freeze. When I want to make soup I just take one out and add to the soup.
Tonight we are having left overs soup and I am adding 2 cups of frozen lentil. 🙂
PS as for the greens… I have a son who hates greens BUT if I blend the soup in a blender and serve it to him, all creamy and yummy, he will eat it all up and ask for seconds. He has no clue that in the creamy soup he just gobbled down there were handfuls of greens in it. 🙂
Thanks for the tips, I will give it a try. Good idea to blend up the greens!!
Love that you do this! I just did a blog post about using a Soup Bucket as we call it where I basically do what you are talking about here. I discovered you when I did a Google search to see if anyone else does this and believe it or not, yours is the only blog post I could find. 🙂
Love how you simmer the soup all afternoon. That’s a great idea and gives it a great flavor I’m sure!
I’m so glad you found me 🙂 I like the name Soup Bucket!