I have a Facebook friend I have never met in person. She is the kindest and most upbeat person. I became friends with her after seeing her on a local cooking show. She was known as The Cookie Lady, and I'm always fascinated with people who can flawlessly ice cookies. I don't have that kind of patience. She is retired from full time cookie making but still appears on the television show now and then with delicious recipes, she loves her family and has even written a cookbook. A few years ago I posted another one of her recipes. http://www.thecabincountess.com/2015/10/cranberry-wild-rice-bread.html Several times over the past few years, she has mentioned making a "whatcha got" soup. Thank you Christine because I started doing that too. I am not sure how she does it, but I make some variation of this basic soup almost every week with the intention of freezing some. I have CorningWare 20 oz. mugs with covers that are perfect for freezing a single serving portion. It's good in theory but I usually end up eating it up before it gets to the freezer.
This is the basic soup recipe.
In this batch I diced a small onion, two large carrots, two stalks of celery, two cloves of garlic, a cup of shredded cabbage and a bag of frozen green and yellow zucchini.
After sautéing add:
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon dried basil, oregano or Italian seasonings, salt and pepper
1 carton of any broth (vegetable, beef or chicken) or 4 cups of homemade broth
1 cup dry macaroni or (cooked) rice
Simmer for 15 min. or less until the macaroni is done but not mushy.
There is no meat in this recipe but you could add beans or meat for protein. If it’s too thick after adding the extras, add water or more broth.
This is the batch with sweet potatoes, peppers and rice. Making this soup doesn't take much more time than opening a can, and it is "real" food.
