Blueberry Lemonade: Leftover Soup

Just for fun, I decided to do a search on the history of soup.  I have this idea in my mind about the origins of soup, and a preliminary search did not reveal anything of value.  I had to do a bit of digging, changing up my search terms to find something close to what I was looking for.

In my mind, soup originated from poverty.  One small rabbit and a few almost rotten vegetables thrown into a pot with some roots and herbs would go much farther than the rabbit and vegetables cooked like a roast.  According to one article I found, soup originated to serve invalids.  I hadn't thought about that.  Regardless of its origins, soup continues to be popular in all socio-economic circles.  In our family, it provides a way to use every small piece of food.  We live on a very tight budget, and waste cannot exist.

Some items naturally make great soup.  Others do not.  Similarly, finding the combination of items that work best takes some practice.  I make various types of soup from leftovers, and over the years through trial and error, I have established a standard 3 recipes that I only slightly vary.

Fish
Vegetable (chicken, pork, beef)
Taco

Today, in the crockpot, is the vegetable soup.  I had the ingredients in the fridge and had not moved them to the freezer soup bowl.  The freezer soup bowl is a plastic container I put all leftover vegetables into and then use to make soup once the bowl is full.

In the crockpot is:  a few potatoes and carrots from a roast, a small piece of grilled pork chop, leftover green beans, a small amount of leftover au gratin potatoes, 1/2 chopped onion and a cup of frozen mixed vegetables.

Warm a tablespoon of butter in a skillet and add chopped onion.  Stir and cook until onion just becomes tender.  Add the leftover vegetables from the roast and heat slightly.  Add 1 cup of water and stir well, allowing the ingredients to mix well.  Pour into the crock pot.  Add a tablespoon of butter to the skillet and melt.  Add 2 tablespoons flour and mix well.  Heat through.  Add 2 cups of water to the flout mixture and stir to make sure no lumps exist.  Add to crock pot.

Add the other ingredients.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  I like to add some rosemary and thyme. Turn the crockpot to low and cook for about 1 - 2 hours.

I hope you can find some tips and techniques to help expand your food use.  Check back often as I will post more frugal chef recipes.