My Wednesday Pantry-Savory Soups

     

     There's a lot of soup going on in my kitchen. Some, leftover from the freezer, like the bean and last portion of chicken tortellini made last month that I'll enjoy for lunch. There's a couple cartons of Trader Joe's, one that will go with grilled cheese tomorrow night. Then of course new homemade versions.

     I was tired of moving a ham bone around the freezer. With the two potatoes that didn't fall from my pocket, some frozen corn saved from summers corn on the cob, I decided no better time than Sunday to make potato corn chowder. I don't have soup recipes, I just usually bung things in pots, add seasonings to taste as I go along. I started with cooking the bone to get the broth, plus get the meat off. This ended up being a ham heavy soup- not complaining. I wanted the broth dense since I would be adding milk and cheese later. From there it was just a matter of sauteeing a little onion, carrot, and celery, the mire pois, then adding back the broth, the ham pieces corn, and diced potato and cooking until potatoes are tender. I did add a tsp of minced garlic, Better than Bullion, and black pepper to the broth for more flavor as it was bland, plus my new learned trick of a bit of lemon juice. With a heaping TBSP of corn starch to a cup of milk added, the soup became nice and creamy, though I wish it was thicker, but I only had the three potatoes. A handful of shredded cheddar completed the soup. It truly was a use it up meal, and was good for a day of reading and Olympic viewing. I also reserved more than a cup of ham bits to use in another crust less quiche. I made Dutch oven bread to go with the soup, and sliced a few pieces and froze for the grilled cheese for tomorrow's meal. That was also to prevent me from over indulging in the fresh bread. I wish I could capture smells.

This one was god, but a bit yeasty. 

     

Ham for soup, frozen corn, and ham for an omelet. 

Ham broth.

     My daughter has the ne stage of her two implants at the oral surgery in Thursday. For the first few days she has to be on a liquid diet. While she also has to back off working out, as an athlete, she needs good healthy and nourishing food. She doesn't do dairy anyway, but no dairy and no tomato products for the first week either. Of course, mom's brain went to soup, loaded with vegetables. I still had a grill pack of onions and peppers from DD2's food bank surplus in the freezer, and that was my starting place. Into the crockpot  went the equivalent of a whole onion, and likely 1- 1 1/2 of both a red and green pepper from the frozen pack, a cut up zucchini, a few carrots, four cups of water, 2 TBSP of vegetable Better than Bullion,  and a tsp of both black pepper and garlic. I just let the crockpot do it's thing. When I tasted it, the broth was too rich and salty, so added another cup of water. I cooled it all, then pureed, filling three freezer bags with about 2 cups each. 

     Y'all probably think I'm soup obsessed with how often it features in my blog. I really think it's a terrific budget stretcher that feels like pure comfort. I mean look at prices for a cup in a restaurant! $4 on the light end upwards to $6 or more. When I make even a smallish pot like the chowder was, it still pretty much always  yields extra portions for lunches later in the week or to put in the freezer. I get to save that hug in a bowl for later.