Amazingly Simple Soup
Soup is such a wonderful, lenient, all-encompassing, and simple meal to make. I just adore making soup and throwing whatever I can find into it.
You can’t do that with a casserole. When you start throwing too much into a casserole, it can turn pretty gross quickly. That’s why I used the word lenient for soup. Maybe forgiving would be even better. I almost called this post “Whatever Soup” because that is what I made last night — soup with “whatever I could find” in it.
When I was a kid, sometimes when we asked “What’s for Dinner?”, mom would answer, “A little bit of everything but not much of anything.” I have always liked that phrase and find that it suits the situation about once a week around here. That’s when I lay out all of the leftovers, call it a buffet, and tell the kids that they have to eat at least two of the items. A good method of using up food that I don’t want to throw out. Another good method is making soup.
You know the drill — you should have gone to the grocery two days ago but you have either had no time or no money and now the situation in the kitchen is getting desperate. You are out of peanut butter, for heaven’s sake! This was my situation yesterday. I planned to go shopping in the evening, and I almost always stick to my plan. That meant I had to feed my kids breakfast, lunch, and supper before restocking my cupboards. I wasn’t quite as bad off as old Mother Hubbard, but getting there. (I truly was out of peanut butter yesterday. 
)
So this is what went into the crock pot last night:
Whatever Soup
the last two stalks of celery
a few chopped baby carrots
the last of an onion, about one-third
1 1/2 cans of beef broth
1 can diced tomatoes
I let this stew for half the day while I considered what else was lurking in the back of the fridge and pantry. Eventually I added:
1 can of navy beans
salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder
4 slices of bacon, crisped and crumbled
some frozen peas
frozen corn
2 Tablespoons of powdered gravy mix
By golly, it was smelling pretty good, then! We made some baking powder biscuits. (I am very rarely out of flour and shortening.)
This turned out to be a pretty decent meal. I left the kids at home to clean up the table and I went out and bought groceries.
Add comment March 21st, 2007