If you saw my last post, you saw that the first meal on the Meal Plan this week was Mom's veggie soup with ground beef. I don't know if I've ever blogged about it before. But I figured I'd do a post. Maybe I'll remember to get pics and do one for each of the meals on the meal plan. I'll try!
It's not a terribly attractive photo in the world of Instagram foodie photos, but it'll do.
The process is pretty simple. I take a huge stock pot that used to be Mom's, and brown 1 lb of ground meat . We usually use ground pork, but they didn't have any this week, and they did have packs of ground beef on clearance. I also chop up one onion and add that while I'm browning the meat. Once it's brown, it's just a matter of opening a ton of cans haha! It's only homemade as far as I'm putting it together at home. The ingredients are all canned other than the meat and onion. I add in 2 cans of sweet peas, 2 cans of corn, 2 cans of sliced carrots, 2 cans of green beans (SavMor had all of these veggies and Italian cut Green beans 2/$1 so I got those), then 1 can of diced potatoes and 1 can of stewed tomatoes (those were also 2/$1). Sometimes I'll add a can of beans, but I decided not to this time. Then I added the rest of a carton of chicken stock that was left over from Thanksgiving dinner. It was probably 2/3 full still. Then I added about another cup of water. I usually will just use a no-salt chicken stock packet mixed with 2 cups of water and then add more water until I feel like it looks right. I want it to be soup, but not too watery, if that makes sense.
Then I add a ton of Italian seasoning and dried thyme. Those are my go-to seasonings for this soup. You could use whatever you like better. Sage, rosemary, basil, whatever you prefer. I sprinkle them until they basically cover the top layer of the pot, add a little salt and pepper, then mix it all with a big wooden spoon. Turn it up to boil, then turn it down to simmer until it reduces some and the flavors have had time to meld, making sure not to let it stick and scorch. The longer it sits, the better it tastes. Day-old veggie soup is amazing! We serve it up while it's hot, usually with corn bread, but tonight, my husband decided he wanted to bake a bunch of potatoes to have for lunches, so we had it with baked potatoes. Once it cooled, I put the whole pot in the fridge. Tomorrow, I can take it out and heat the whole pot back up (careful not to scorch it!), or people can ladle out a serving and microwave it. I can pack it in jars for my husband to take to work to eat there. He can heat it up in the jar or take a separate bowl to pour it into, probably over a baked potato.
This is probably one of the more expensive dishes I make simply due to how much all the cans come to, and the meat, but we get a lot of servings out of it, so it's worth it.
I think all in all, it cost about $7 because the cans were all 2/$1, and I didn't buy the chicken stock, which was probably about $3.50-ish. Also, I already had the seasonings. I can get a huge jar of Italian Seasoning for $1, but the thyme is expensive if I can't find a store that has it with their cheap spices. Thankfully I'm not about to run out anytime soon.
So, that's it for the not-totally veggie soup. It's super yummy, and I can't wait to get back to eating this big bowl of it. I hope you have a great day!
Thanks for reading!
Patty
It's not a terribly attractive photo in the world of Instagram foodie photos, but it'll do.
The process is pretty simple. I take a huge stock pot that used to be Mom's, and brown 1 lb of ground meat . We usually use ground pork, but they didn't have any this week, and they did have packs of ground beef on clearance. I also chop up one onion and add that while I'm browning the meat. Once it's brown, it's just a matter of opening a ton of cans haha! It's only homemade as far as I'm putting it together at home. The ingredients are all canned other than the meat and onion. I add in 2 cans of sweet peas, 2 cans of corn, 2 cans of sliced carrots, 2 cans of green beans (SavMor had all of these veggies and Italian cut Green beans 2/$1 so I got those), then 1 can of diced potatoes and 1 can of stewed tomatoes (those were also 2/$1). Sometimes I'll add a can of beans, but I decided not to this time. Then I added the rest of a carton of chicken stock that was left over from Thanksgiving dinner. It was probably 2/3 full still. Then I added about another cup of water. I usually will just use a no-salt chicken stock packet mixed with 2 cups of water and then add more water until I feel like it looks right. I want it to be soup, but not too watery, if that makes sense.
Then I add a ton of Italian seasoning and dried thyme. Those are my go-to seasonings for this soup. You could use whatever you like better. Sage, rosemary, basil, whatever you prefer. I sprinkle them until they basically cover the top layer of the pot, add a little salt and pepper, then mix it all with a big wooden spoon. Turn it up to boil, then turn it down to simmer until it reduces some and the flavors have had time to meld, making sure not to let it stick and scorch. The longer it sits, the better it tastes. Day-old veggie soup is amazing! We serve it up while it's hot, usually with corn bread, but tonight, my husband decided he wanted to bake a bunch of potatoes to have for lunches, so we had it with baked potatoes. Once it cooled, I put the whole pot in the fridge. Tomorrow, I can take it out and heat the whole pot back up (careful not to scorch it!), or people can ladle out a serving and microwave it. I can pack it in jars for my husband to take to work to eat there. He can heat it up in the jar or take a separate bowl to pour it into, probably over a baked potato.
This is probably one of the more expensive dishes I make simply due to how much all the cans come to, and the meat, but we get a lot of servings out of it, so it's worth it.
I think all in all, it cost about $7 because the cans were all 2/$1, and I didn't buy the chicken stock, which was probably about $3.50-ish. Also, I already had the seasonings. I can get a huge jar of Italian Seasoning for $1, but the thyme is expensive if I can't find a store that has it with their cheap spices. Thankfully I'm not about to run out anytime soon.
So, that's it for the not-totally veggie soup. It's super yummy, and I can't wait to get back to eating this big bowl of it. I hope you have a great day!
Thanks for reading!
Patty
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I love getting comments, and I read every one. Thanks for coming by my site and reading my ramblings. I hope you have a wonderful day! -Patty