Happy Friday! Soup of the Day

YES!  It's Friday!  I have leftovers from the night before and I'll make enough for me, plus another person, plus dinner for the other job.  The spices I use are always the same, the ones that are in the cupboard.  The taste changes with what I add such as ham or flavored stewed tomatoes instead of diced tomatoes.  

Leftover soup from Thursday
1 small bag of mixed vegetables
Water
Spices

Same routine for taking out the stoneware from the fridge, adding the frozen vegetables and adding enough water until I see the water line appear.  I add the spices from the cupboard little by little while cooking until I like the taste.  You can change up the spices if you want, I just keep a simple set at work.  Same routine for cooling down the stoneware after eating.  This time I just put the stoneware in a large "lunch bag" and take it to my 2nd job, put the soup in a microwavable bowl and heat for dinner.  The leftovers from that I take home and finish on Saturday.

Thursday Soup of the Week

Today I get to start a new soup.  I usually call these soups "Clean Out the Cupboard and or Fridge Soup".  I looked in the cupboard to see what I had left and I had a few more cans.  The posts get shorter as the week goes on since I use the same spices, same types of cans for the week and it's getting to the end of the week.  This is a more simple soup.  Basic.    

1 can of black beans, not drained
1 can of kidney beans, not drained
1 can of diced tomatoes, not drained
spices

I poured the contents of the cans into the stoneware, added the same spices from the week, set the crockpot on high since it was not in the fridge during the night.  There were leftovers, same routine for cooling down and putting in the fridge.  

Wednesday Continuation of the Week of Soups

Since I wasn't the only one that ate the soup yesterday, I didn't have as much leftover.  I looked in the mini fridge and there was some ham and I looked in the cupboard and there were a few cans left.

Diced ham
1 can of corn, drained
1 can of black beans, not drained
1/2 can of water

I added the ham and the cans of corn and beans and some seasonings.  The seasonings were just part of a chicken bouillon cube, salt, pepper, garlic powder.  This one didn't have as much liquid so I added a little bit of water.  After the stoneware warmed up a little, or rather wasn't as cold, I added it to the base, turned the slow cooker on low for about 30 minutes then on high until it was time to eat.  No leftovers today!  I wasn't the only one eating the soup today and I took the rest to my 2nd job for dinner.  :)  

Slow Cooker Soup - Tuesday

Soups that sit in the fridge overnight seem to taste better sometimes.  I had leftover soup from Monday (see Monday's post) so I took the stoneware out of the fridge and added a can of stewed tomatoes and diced ham.  I bought the $8 ham for $3.  It had to be sold by the next day and was marked down!  BONUS!  I forgot to mention in my last post that this is a great, inexpensive way to eat during the week.

Leftover soup from Monday
1 can of stewed tomatoes
Diced ham - whatever fits in the slow cooker

After I got to work I took the stone ware out of the fridge and set it on a towel.  I added 1 can of stewed tomatoes which I do not bother dicing up, too messy for the office.  I chopped up ham and added little by little until the stoneware was almost full.  I didn't add anymore spices since the ham added flavor.  I let the stoneware sit for a bit until it wasn't really cold then added it to the slow cooker base.  Turned it on low until the stoneware warmed up then turned it on high.  No real timing to it.  It's usually on low until I take a break and walk over to turn it on high.  Timing on things varies in the office.  The soup turned out really good with the addition of the ham.  Of course, there were leftovers after I finished eating so I let the stoneware cool down before putting it in the fridge.

Soup in a 2 Quart Slow Cooker - Monday

Since I decided to go back to school and I'm still working a full time plus another part time job, I am testing new ways to make quick and easy meals in a slow cooker.  I bought a 2 quart slow cooker awhile ago and decided to keep it in my office.  I take a variety of canned goods to work as well as keep some spices on hand.  Now that I think about it, I need to remember to replace those spices at my home.  Monday's lunch usually ends up being dinner sometimes or Tuesday's lunch or lunch for a couple people.  Sometimes it's probably not really soup but rather heated vegetables and beans with a little bit of liquid.  The cans are usually around 15 oz depending on the brand.  I start this soup in the morning around 7 or 7:30 am depending on when I get to work.  These recipes are written as basic outlines, they are not detailed.  Usually by the end of the week I get tired and the posts will get shorter.  Just an idea, print this post since it will be referenced throughout the week.

1 can of black beans, not drained
1 can of kidney beans, not drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can of corn, drained
1 chicken bouillon cube
Thyme
Rosemary
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Truffle Salt

Add the canned goods, I do not drain the beans but I do drain the corn.  Add spices to taste.  I usually add a little in the beginning, let it cook for awhile then add more later.  I only add a little bit of truffle salt.  I set this on high until I'm ready to eat a snack or lunch which is anywhere between 10:30am and 1pm.  After around 4 hours I turn the soup to low if I'm working later and want another snack otherwise I just turn the slow cooker off.  On Mondays there is always leftover soup so after the slow cooker and contents cool down I take the stoneware out of the base and put it in the refrigerator.

Plum, Apple, Yam Soup/Sauce/Something-or-Other

Looking at the produce I received and trying to figure out how to use it up before it goes bad.  Decided it's not a day to go out shopping but I'm in the mood to throw something together-happens often which is when soup happens.  I bought yams after Thanksgiving last year on clearance for 25 cents a can-bonus!  

4 - 15 oz cans yams in syrup (don’t drain) on clearance for 25 cents per can.

4 – 5 honey crisp apples

30 plums

1 TBSP minced (dried) onions  

1 cup chicken broth  (can't lie, packet from one of those ramen noodle packages)

1 large shallot (wooohoooo found one-leftover from last weekend's soup recipe)

1 13.5 oz can Coconut Cream 

Ground Allspice to taste

Stick everything EXCEPT Coconut cream and Allspice (except in all caps because I don't notice the except in recipes until after I added everything) in slow cooker on low for 8 hours.  Kept on warm for 1 ½ hours.  Used the emersion blender in the morning to blend it up.  Turned out tart.  Found a can of coconut cream and some ground Allspice and added those.  Tasted pretty good cold or hot.  

Butternut Squash, Kabocha Squash, Apple Soup

The weather is getting a little bit chilly, time for some soup.  I was given quite a few honey crisp apples and needed to do something with them.  Squash soup has been sounding good.  I made a squash soup last year and figured I would just add apples.  Turned out pretty good.  

24 oz cut butternut squash (bought the bags with cut up squash)

1 three-lb-ish Kabocha squash

3 honey crisp apples cut up (various size pieces)

2 large shallots, chopped fairly finely, or as finely as your eyes can handle without tearing to where you can’t see anything. 

1 32 fl oz organic free range carton chicken broth (Trader Joe’s)

1-13.5 oz can organic coconut milk (Trader Joe’s)

nutmeg to taste

I do not have the strength to cut squash, so I rinsed the squash and put it on a toaster oven tray lined with tin foil (the tray lined with tin foil, not the squash).  Baked it at 400 for 20 minutes until soft enough to cut, clean out seeds, cut into quarters and stick in the crockpot. 

While the Kabocha squash is cooking, I put the butternut squash, the apples, chicken broth in a crockpot.  Takes me awhile to get things organized and chopped and cleaned so by now the kabocha squash is done enough for me to cut.  I cut the top 1/3-ish of the squash off.  Scooped out the seeds.  Chop the top and the bottom portions into a few pieces.  I stick skin of squash and all in the crockpot.  Cook on low for 8 hours (after 8 hours my crockpot goes to “warm” mode).  The crockpot was on “warm” mode for probably 1 ½ hours before I shut it off.  I scooped out the kabocha squash, removed the skin (so much easier to remove the skin after it cooks) and put the “meat” of the squash back in the crockpot.  I used an emersion blender to blend it all together.  I then added the coconut milk and some nutmeg, blended again.