Vegetable Soup Making
By carpenter5
@carpenter5 (6782)
United States
August 6, 2007 7:37pm CST
I was hunting for something to cook for dinner, and finding nothing. I had taken a package of ground beef out of the freezer to thaw, but then nothing looked good that I had in the pantry that would have gone with it.
Opening the refrigerator, I found a little of everything, but not much of anything!
I finally just browned the meat, added some spices, then began to open cans. Green beans, mixed veggies, corn, peas, carrots and tomatoes.
What I came up with a nice pot of Vegetable Soup when I added a half gallon of vegetable juice.
Do you have a special recipe for your vegetable soup, or do you just do as I did, and clean out the fridge and pantry and throw anything and everything in?
2 people like this
5 responses
@wiccania (3360)
• United States
7 Aug 07
I do both. More often than not, I just grab stuff at the grocery store that I would like to put into a vegetable soup and make it up as I go. Sometimes I add leftovers from the fridge or assorted things from the pantry as I go along.
The main recipe that I use is my mom's vegetable beef stew. It's the best I've ever had (and not just because it's my mom's recipe). It's one of those stews that gets better every time you heat it up, so you can cook a big batch and freeze most of it without worrying about how well it'll re-heat.
2 people like this
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
7 Aug 07
I make vegetable soup and then I make beef stew. At my house, they are two different recipes.
Soup, I throw in all kinds of veggies with hamburger meat with a veggie juice for a base.
My stew, I use big chunks of roast meat with lots of potatoes and carrots and some onion. I use rich tomato juice for this one.
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
29 Sep 07
I make it both ways. The kids have begun to call it different things when they ask me to cook it. lol
I guess so that I make sure I cook what they are hungry for!
@ElicBxn (63235)
• United States
7 Aug 07
Everything that goes in my veggie soup is fresh except the can of tomatos. Well, herbs are dried.
Start with a big pot, cut up cabbage, celery, onions & carrots. Put them in first - I tend to put the carrots, then the cabbage then the celery then the onions, but all pretty quick. Then I add other things like squash or turnips, brocolli - I prefer just the tops of those.
The herbs should include, bay leaves, basil, salt, rosemary, maybe orgino.
Toward the end you put in the more delecate veggies like cauliflower, fresh tomato, green beans. Then add a large can of tomatos - I like to use the crushed or diced, but the whole is also good if you break it up first.
YUMMY
2 people like this
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
7 Aug 07
My daughters would love it, but my son and husband wouldn't touch it if I put in cauliflower or cabbage either one! Those are two veggies that neither of them will eat. The girls aren't crazy about cabbage, but will eat it sometimes.
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
7 Aug 07
I sometimes use tomato juice if I have it as well. It depends on what i have on hand. It's never the same two pots in a row. Last night, I didn't have many potatoes to put in. It's kind of an end of the pay period meal!
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (157545)
• United States
8 Aug 07
I am like you, a seat of my pants cook. Right now it is so hot, though, that I do not want anything but salads and sandwiches. I like that kind of soup, because I love to use up things and not waste them. The spices more or less make the meal, in my opinion. I really need to stuff some peppers, because they are sitting in my fridge. Like I said, right now I do not want to cook but often the crockpot is my best friend.
1 person likes this
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
29 Sep 07
I will throw things into the freezer in the summertime and save them for later when the weather cools off and it's time to start making soups and stews all the time!
I found a bowl in the freezer this morning, and I think it may be left over cream cheese icing, but someone forgot to mark it, so I'm really not sure if it's that or potato soup base!
@revdauphinee (5703)
• United States
7 Aug 07
sounds a lot like my own veg soup i used to make when the girls were home id save all the left over vegies every day in a container in the freezer and abour once a month dump em in the crock pot with some stock and it came out good
@carpenter5 (6782)
• United States
7 Aug 07
My daughter said last night that the best thing about it was that it was never exactly the same from one time to the next. She took a big bowl to work with her, and so did hubby. They will eat on it today and maybe tomorrow and then it will be gone.
