I am the queen of sales, BOGO (buy one get one free), coupons ... I'm an all around frugal gal. While being thrifty is not a bad thing, especially with a family to take care of, I can go overboard with veggies when they are on sale because let's face it, buying fresh produce is not cheap.
That's when I make "Mama Doesn't Waste Vegetables" soup. I literally pile up all of the vegetables on my counter and prepare them for soup. The fun part is that the soup is different every time I make it because you never know what veggies are in the fridge.
This is what I have today.
I wash the veggies, cut them up, and then saute them in olive oil for a few minutes.
I normally make my soup with homemade broth but today I am using a store bought broth because guess what? I had a great coupon for them & I have 3 boxes in my pantry. Let's do this.
The only helpful thing Heath does in the kitchen is help himself to the food. I don't complain because I have a 2-year-old chomping & enjoying raw veggies, yay!
Finally, I add the delicious smellin' veggies into the slow cooker, along with the broth, pepper, and some parsley to taste. I let the soup cook for 6-8 hours on the low setting. Usually on the last hour I will add more broth if need be. We like our soup chunky though.
If I still have vegetables left over then I use them for homemade vegetable broth. It is a simple process! While my stock pot is heating up with a little olive oil, I wash and chop the veggies I am going to use. I toss them into the stock pot to saute and if I have some cloves of garlic on hand, I add a few, too. Basil, pepper, rosemary, and thyme are great to include in the broth mixture. After a few minutes, I add 8-9 cups of water, bring everything to a boil, and then let it simmer for an hour.
I strain the broth into plastic containers to keep in my fridge for the next week and I also add some of the homemade broth into ice cube trays to freeze. These come in handy and will stay good in the freezer for around 2 months.
6 comments:
Fantastic post Sage! I definitely want to try this out. I have a slow cooker and my daughter will be 2 in July so I want her to snack on raw veggies instead of junk! Thanks for the inspiration :)
Aw, thanks so much for reading it! I love making the homemade soup with all of the different vegetables & the kids enjoy it, too.
I recently bought Heath some veggie cutters in shapes (stars, hearts, etc) and I have been cutting his fruit & veggies with them & he loves it! Plus, it is helping him learn his shapes :)
I make a killer potato soup, but have never made veggie soup. I need to do this! Thanks for the how-to!
It's such a great way to use vegetables that are going to go bad. I absolutely hate wasting food. Thanks for reading, Amanda :)
I love a woman who's frugal in the kitchen and actually cook's the food she feeds her family HOMEMADE. I so believe it is becoming a lost art. (And to me it IS art) Love that broth recipe. I too make homemade broth when I can. So much better. I like to grow my own veggies and them make a huge bunch of soup with them and then, Sage I can it in jars the old fashioned way. I was taught by my mother-in-law and I believe all should know how to can. It lasts for years!
I am definitely cooking more from scratch and it tastes so much better. I would love to start canning! I am growing some veggies this year & if all goes well I'll be canning for the fall :)
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