Egg Drop Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups filtered water
• 1 cup desired fresh vegetables washed and prepared
• 2 cubes or 2 teaspoons vegetable bouillon
• 2 eggs, cage free brown eggs preferred

1) Combine water and vegetables in blender and pulse a few times until vegetables are as small as you desire (or you can skip this part and leave the vegetables in large chunks)

2)Pour the vegetables and water into a saucepan and bring to a boil.

3) Beat the eggs in a small bowl

4) When the water is boiling, add the bouillon and stir to dissolve.

5) Finally, continue to boil as you slowly and gradually add in beaten eggs while stirring.  Turn off heat and allow to sit 2-3 minutes to completely cook the eggs.

Makes about 3 servings (1 cup)

Halloween Goo (Split Pea Soup)

I usually buy a bag of split peas and then follow the recipe on the back of the bag with my own alterations as I feel that day:) This time I did:

1) 2 T oil in bottom of very large pot and then add following ingredients and cook and stir a few minutes (can add a little water to the bottom of the pan to help steam the vegetables if desired):
-3 stalks celery chopped
-3 large carrots chopped
-2 medium potatoes chopped
-1 package of bacon cooked in microwave and cut into pieces
-1 medium chopped onion (or 1/4 cup dehydrated onion)
-4 cloves garlic smashed and peeled

2) next add
-49 oz of chicken broth (can make your own with water and chicken bouillon)
-1 tsp thyme
-the whole bag of split peas (sorted through first to make sure there are no little rocks or anything else that got mixed into them during packaging)

3) bring to a boil and then turn down heat to medium-low and simmer for about 60 minutes frequently stirring and adding a little more water or broth whenever it begins to get low.

4) when peas are soft and mushy, it is finished. You can blend up half of the mixture to make a creamier texture if desired.

Note: This makes a very large pot of soup which can easily be split into freezer containers for later or you can make only half a batch at a time.

serving suggestion: you can make little bat wing shaped pieces of toast and put them on top of each bowl of soup when serving. Also tastes really great with cornbread.

Cheese Soup

It was so fun to get together with one of my friends to make several freezer meals.
I hadn't had cheese soup in a while so I was especially excited to make this recipe from my friend's family cookbook. This is how we made it:

1) in large (at least 4-quart) pot combine the following ingredients and boil until vegetables are cooked through:
2 quarts water
4 potatoes washed and diced or shredded(peels are fine if you like them)
4 stalks celery diced or shredded
4 carrots sliced or shredded (peels are fine if you like them)
8 chicken bouillon cubes
1 medium diced onion (optional)
a pinch of garlic powder (optional)
3/4 tsp Accent (optional)

2) in separate pan melt 2 cubes of butter and then slowly add 1 and 1/2 cups of flour a little at a time and stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Then add 4 cups of water and cook and stir over medium heat for several minutes (using a wire whisk really helps prevent lumps) until it thickens. Then remove from the heat. (This has created a thick white sauce)

3) When the vegetables are soft, then puree half of them in a blender and pour it out into a bowl. Then puree the rest of the vegetables and return them all to the pan. (Or for chunky soup just skip this step)

4) Cut 16 oz of Velveeta cheese into small squares and add it and the white sauce into the large pot with the puree veggies and cook and stir over medium-low heat until the cheese melts. (other shredded cheeses will work well too but will take longer to melt in than the Velveeta)

5) If Desired, add up to one quart more water to make the soup the consistency you like.

6) If you want to freeze for later, wait for the soup to cool down and then ladle it into the desired size plastic freezer containers.

Yield: 3-4 quarts of really yummy soup.

Tip: If you cut the amount of water in half when you cook the vegetables and don't add the extra water at the end, this soup can make a really good and healthier (because of the puree veggies) cheese sauce for pasta.

Homemade Chicken Broth

To make this taste REALLY good it takes at least an hour, but it is well worth it!

Chicken pieces (whatever you like to use. I used a whole chicken including the back, cut in pieces. Frozen chicken is just fine)
2 bay leaves
salt
1 medium or large onion (yellow or white) chopped
4-7 cloves of garlic mashed and peeled
carrots ( I used a few baby carrots)
celery (use the pieces you normally throw away including the leaves and stocks. Don't chop these up just leave them whole since you remove them later)

1) Put the chicken in a large pot. 2) Cover with water (at least fill the pot half-way, or more if you want more broth). 3) Add in the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil then cover the pot and turn down to low for one hour. 4) Then remove the chicken and carefully separate the chicken from the bones to use for whatever you like. 5) Drain the broth through a collander (Just remember you are saving the broth so don't forget and drain it into the sink! I have started to do that before :) If you are going to use the broth to make soup, you can remove the cooked carrots and return them to the soup. But make sure you don't return any bones or the bay leaves. 6) Now you use your own creativity: Taste the broth and add more salt, garlic powder, pepper, orggano or thyme . . . the possibilities are endless. I like to look at soup recipes and choose which spices I want to try. If it still tastes too thin, chicken bouillon can be added but try only one tsp. at a time so it won't get too salty.

Enjoy this broth in your favorite recipes! Remember to refrigerate and use within three days or freeze it for longer storage.