Super Soup

 I love soup. It's probably one of my favorite things to make. First because it's a one pot wonder, second because it's an inexpensive meal, and third because they fill you up with good nutrition. Let's walk down memory lane and take a look back at some of my super soups.

Italian Meat & Veggie Soup

This first soup was supposed to be a stuffed pepper soup that I had seen the recipe for. I ended up not having all the ingredients so I made it a hybrid. It had spinach and green beans and tomatoes and Italian sausage. It was marvelous.

Panera Copy Cat Creamy Chicken Soup

Next we have a favorite of mine, albeit not the healthiest option. This is a copy cat recipe of Panera Bread's creamy chicken soup. The first time I made it was about 6 years ago. Frank was feeling under the weather and I thought some soup would make him perk up a little. He loved it and it's stayed in my recipe box ever since. I switched up the recipe a bit by using chicken thighs and sweet potatoes. The thighs are always on sale and much less expensive than the breasts. Plus I think they taste better. I also used sweet potatoes. I found (totally by accident) that because they break down more than regular potatoes, they actually help to make the soup a little thicker.  I've also used roasted butternut squash in the same way. In fact, I just did that with some chicken & rice soup that I made.

New Bedford Kale Soup

I can't make a blog post about soup without including kale soup! Kale is one of my all-time favorite veggies. I used to have an issue with bruising on my legs. You could just look at me cross-eyed and I'd bruise. It was awful. I started eating more kale and the bruises didn't happen nearly as much. Not scientific evidence by any means, but good enough for me. If I don't want to bruise, I eat kale. It's that simple. This soup is a great way to get in a lot of the veggie!

Italian Everything Soup

Similar to the Italian meat and veggie soup above, this one is kind of like a minestrone, I guess. There's every veggie known to man and some hamburger thrown in. This is a great soup to make when you need to clean out the vegetable drawer in the fridge because it's OK if the vegetables are a little past their peak. Just trim off any blemishes or weird bits and throw the rest into the pot. 

Lentil Soup

Packed with protein and fiber Lentils are a health power-house! You can't get much easier than lentils, stock, onions and carrots. Hell, some people don't even use the carrots! Pea soup is along the same lines - loads of protein and fiber. Have ham? Add it in! Both soups are easy and also very inexpensive. There's no excuse to not add this into your diet.

Turkey Soup

Thanksgiving to me is not only the roasted turkey on Thursday, it's also the turkey soup on Saturday. Using every bit of that bird is a major win for the budget. Here's a secret I use with both my turkey soup and chicken soup - I use the leftover stuffing (if there is any) when I boil the bones for the stock, and then in the soup itself, I add some of the leftover gravy. Flavor added everywhere!

So there you have it. By no means every soup possible, but some of my usual suspects. And it's so easy to change soups up to fit what you have on hand. You can use whatever veggies you have, basically any meat and some stock. Throw in some rice or noodles to make it different. I'm a stickler, in general, for using recipes to cook meals for fear of screwing it up and wasting good food. But even I throw caution to the wind when I make soup. Anything goes - it's craziness in the kitchen when it's soup day! 

Now I'll bid you adieu because I'm hungry and need to eat breakfast. I kid you not, I'm having chicken and rice soup.