"Soup's On" Saturday

Thanks to my blogger-friend Tiffany for this wonderful idea! It has solved two problems for me this morning: first, what to post about today, and also, what to prepare for our home-church lunch tomorrow!

Tis indeed the season for soup. It's like a rite of passage into Fall! During the cooler months, our family eats soup for dinner at least one night a week. I like to make a big pot, so that the kids and I can also get several lunches out of it. We just never get tired of soup!

I "got it honest", as the saying goes. My mom and my grandmother are big "soup people", and so I grew up eating soup. My grandmother and I have had the conversation more than once about how we could literally eat soup three meals a day. I vividly remember in elementary school my mom would pack for me a thermos of soup with a bag of crackers to take for lunch . I'll never forget the looks on my friends' faces when I poured myself a scrumptious cup of Cambell's Cream of Asparagus!

Several years back, my friend Jen asked us over for dinner on a rainy Saturday night, promising "just soup and cornbread" (gotta love the South). It was delicious! I asked for the recipe, which she gave me on the spot. But I gotta tell ya, when she got to the part about "a can of chili", I totally checked out. No offense, but there was no way was I putting a can of chili in any recipe with my name on it. Call me a food snob, but seriously...

The trouble was, I wanted that soup! So, as I tend to do, I made up my own! It has become our most-made soup recipe. It's really such a staple in our home, that I simply had to start out this Soup Series with it. So without further adieu, on to the recipe!

SPICY VEGGIE BEEF SOUP
-an adaptation of Jenny's
(I know, I know, vegetable beef soup??? It truly has the potential to be dreadfully dull, but I promise this version is NOT!)

1 lb. ground beef
1 small onion, diced
1 can Rotel tomatoes
16 oz. tomato sauce
1 bag of frozen mixed veggies (or use your own - I'm going for easy, here)
1/2 tsp. garlic powder (or use fresh garlic)
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 c. chicken broth (Use water in a pinch - it really won't matter)

Brown ground beef with diced onion in dutch oven. Drain and return to pot. Add all other ingredients and simmer for at least an hour . Serve with cornbread.**

*This is my skeleton recipe. It's the one I do most often; the one I can do without thinking. However, it can be "tweaked". For example, there are times when the bag of veggies I buy doesn't have potatoes in it. Since that's a cardinal sin in my husband's book, I'll dice up a potato, skins and all, and throw it in. Or maybe I have some leftover peas (or whatever) that need to be eaten. I'll chunk them in, too. You seriously can't mess it up.

**Homemade Cornbread

1 c. cornmeal
1 c. whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup (+,-) buttermilk
1 TB honey
1/2 stick butter

Preheat oven to 375. While oven is heating, put the 1/2 stick butter into cast iron skillet or 8" square pan. Place the pan in the oven to allow butter to melt while you mix up the batter.

Blend dry ingredients. Add in wet ingredients, and mix till just blended. When the butter from the oven is melted, take it out of the oven and pour the butter into your batter. It makes a great sizzling noise - so fun! Anyway, stir the butter in and then pour the batter into your pan and return it to the oven. Bake for oh, about 20-25 minutes, give or take a few; you'll know when it's really golden brown & crispy around the edges.
For both cornmeal & flour, stoneground is preffered; I use my Nutrimill, but they can both be found easily, sometimes even at Walmart.

Have a great "Soup's On" Saturday!
Em