Vegetable Soup

So I found that my dad really likes to have soup. I found this out when I kept seeing those Campbell’s soup labels in the recycling. So I’d decided to take it upon myself to make a soup every week for him. The first one I made was a potato corn chowder. The second week was a clam chowder. Then I said “NO CREAM BASE NEXT WEEK,” so I came up with this. A tomato-based vegetable soup!

So this is one of those times where I get creative. I don’t often take measurements for things like this. I only measure for baking. Here we go!

• 1 medium white onion, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 3 stalks (?) of celery, diced
• 5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup of white mushrooms, chopped
• 1x 540ml diced tomatoes
• 2c tomato sauce
• 2c water
• 1.5 c macaroni, cooked, drained
• 2 tsp chili flakes
• Salt, pepper, and Cajun spice to taste

Cook macaroni in separate pot. Drain.

Add oil to a big pot. Start with onion and let simmer until translucent. Then garlic and mushrooms. Let sit for a minute or so. Then celery and carrots. Another two minutes. Add diced tomatoes (all of it. Liquid and all). Add water and tomato sauce. Add cooked macaroni. Bring to boil. Then add spices to taste.

#noobcook #latenight #food #cookstagram

Honestly though, I don’t usually cook this late. It’s only because dad likes soup for lunch, and I didn’t get around to making it yesterday. I prefer him not eating that canned stuff anyway.

Note: I added quite a bit of spice, so it’s got a bit of a kick. Didn’t notice until I took a few spoons for myself. I asked my sister to draw three flames on a sticky note so I’ve left it up to dad to decide if he wants to add more water. Otherwise, someone might be pooping lava in the morning. >;]

Potato Beef Bean Tomato Soup

Okay, so it is a bit of a long name that I made for it, but it covers most of the items that I put in it. It is thick and delicious for sure, and can definitely feed more than 6 people. My family of 4 had a big bowl each and I also threw a frozen pizza in the oven as well because at the start, I was worried that the soup was going to be a lot thinner. I had eyeballed the chicken stock as well as every other liquid in it. It turned out great and can be eaten on its own with perhaps some bread on the side to mop up the last drops of soup.

I also wanted to say that my version was adapted from 365daysofcrockpot.com. I was originally going to use the slow cooker but turns out I procrastinated too much and opted just to use the stove instead.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 4 medium sized potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 cup carrots, diced
• 15 oz chicken stock
• 2 large red onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (28oz) can of diced tomatoes
• 1.5 jars of Ragu pasta sauce
• 1 can bean salad, with liquid
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• Cheddar cheese

Directions:

Brown the ground beef until thoroughly cooked. Lightly season with salt and pepper, and mix well. Drain the oil and set aside.

In a large pot, put in potatoes, carrots, chicken stock, pasta sauce, diced tomatoes, garlic, oregano, pepper, and garlic powder. Bring to boil and keep it at a gentle boil for about 30 minutes to get a head start on the softening of the hard vegetables. Then throw in the rest of the stuff: red onion, bean salad, zucchini, and some cheese. Just let it keep boiling. The main items that you want soft are the potatoes and carrots, so every so often, poke at a potato and see if it is the right softness.

I think this took me about an hour, but I can’t remember. I made this early this week and finally I have time to blog about it now.

Spoon the soup in to bowls, top them off with some cheese, and eat!