Soup

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Kevin86

Senior Cook
Joined
Dec 2, 2014
Messages
399
Location
Ontario
Maybe it’s here and I’ve missed it but a big pot of soup can last a week and be crazy cheap and filling to make. I like to use seasonal veggies I think that helps and I keep some in the freezer for the winter so I don’t have to buy less quality at higher priced later.

A beef soup bone or shank is a cheap cut and vegis but what’s on sale maybe even on reduced shelf if you make it pronto.
 
I used left over Christmas dinner mashed potatoes and made a potato soup from that. It was delicious and spread the potatoes into meals for days.
 
We'll be having homemade chicken vegetable soup with egg noodles on New Year's Day. It is just about perfect to serve during this very cold weather and Dx makes the best chicken broth. She freezes it and it's good to use in many dishes, not just soup.
 
We'll be having homemade chicken vegetable soup with egg noodles on New Year's Day. It is just about perfect to serve during this very cold weather and Dx makes the best chicken broth. She freezes it and it's good to use in many dishes, not just soup.

Mmmm
 
I've been craving escarole and bean soup lately.

It's super simple to make, and yes, crazy cheap.

Just a head or two of escarole, an onion, garlic, a can of white beans, and stock. And some shaved parmesan cheese to top it off.
 
Remember Peg Bracken's "I Hate to Cook" book? I liked her recipe for Hammond Beans (I've lost the book). I took the bone from the Christmas ham, some white beans, and an extra measure of chicken broth simmered together for a dandy soup. Would have stirred in some spinach greens at the end if I had them.

Those boxed broths & stocks from the grocery store are great for making soup with different vegetables; stick blenders to use right in the soup pot make cleanup faster.
 
Remember Peg Bracken's "I Hate to Cook" book? I liked her recipe for Hammond Beans (I've lost the book). I took the bone from the Christmas ham, some white beans, and an extra measure of chicken broth simmered together for a dandy soup. Would have stirred in some spinach greens at the end if I had them.

Those boxed broths & stocks from the grocery store are great for making soup with different vegetables; stick blenders to use right in the soup pot make cleanup faster.

I did the same thing a couple of days ago with the xmas ham bone. No spinach greens, I used the cajun trinity. I did use Kitchen Basics chicken broth in addition to water to cover. A few dashes of Louisiana Hot Sauce before eating.

CD
 

Attachments

  • BeanSoup2017.jpg
    BeanSoup2017.jpg
    164.7 KB · Views: 274
I've been craving escarole and bean soup lately.

It's super simple to make, and yes, crazy cheap.

Just a head or two of escarole, an onion, garlic, a can of white beans, and stock. And some shaved parmesan cheese to top it off.

Me too!

I toss in some hot sausage crumbles or bits of ham!

or a plate of Pasta e Fagioli!

or a plate of macaroni and peas!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuMkW35BwK8
 
Every year I look forward to making southern "good luck" soup on Jan 1st.

Hambone, black eye peas (I like the frozen) and southern greens. I like mustard greens the best.
It just wouldn't be New Year's Day without it, and I think of my sweet southern Mama every year.
 
Me too!

I toss in some hot sausage crumbles or bits of ham!

or a plate of Pasta e Fagioli!

or a plate of macaroni and peas!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuMkW35BwK8


I've had pasta with peas before, but never red-ish with the bit of tomato sauce. It was usually served white, with either ricotta or cottage cheese mixed in.

Now you've got me craving pasta, lol. :pig:
 
In some of the markets around the two places that we've lived in here in the middle of the desert, I can find in the freezer case, a big-o-bag of Beef Bones marked "Dog Bones".
HEH!
There's loads of meat still on the bone and marrow to boot!
Makes wonderful soup!
Cheap and friendly is what I say, ask your meat counter manager for a bag!
Some dried-re hydrated beans, maybe some grains (also inexpensive), a bag of veggies that the produce manager is throwing out... you know, the produce clerk goes around and throws out the "old stuff", ask him/her if you can have it for free!! You can't beat free stuff!
 
Kgirl, there's been so much hoopla lately about the health benefits of bone broth! Just google for a big eye opener on the subject. I have friends who swear by it, and if you can still get free bones I guess Arizona doesn't know about it. Bones for bone broth are no longer free in this neck of the woods.
 
Right K-L?!
I can find beef bones for a price, but no longer free as they once were ;)
But I can still wiggle free produce that's about to thrown out :chef:

This is gonna kill ya Kgirl.
SC came home from the store and said he watched a produce guy trimming the tops of celery with all the leaves being thrown out. I almost made him go back to rescue such a prize. I often let celery go to waste to get to the leaves and tender hearts. Geeze, that produce guy needs some lessons from this greengrocer's daughter.
 
K-girl and KL, this is why I always check the Manager's Special section in the meat department. That is where they put the stuff for the small group of regular customers who always check the Manager's Specials. I'd bet you that the people who work in the store buy their meats from the same place, and they talk among themselves to grab the best stuff when it gets marked down.

CD
 
When I was a kid, I remember going with my mom to the butcher every week. Behind the counter was a sign that said "Beef bones: 5 cents, with meat $100"

I had no idea it was supposed to be a joke.

So, I scrounged around for as many nickels as I could find. I had read in a Boy Scout manual that a good project was carving the image of an animal into a holow bones. It was a good way to make a neckerchief slide.

The next week I dumped my nickels on the counter as my mom picked up her usual order, and asked the butcher for his thickest bones for my project.

The butcher and my mother burst out laughing, then explained that the sign wasn't a real offer.

I was heartbroken. I had such great plans for hand carved beef bone neckerchief slides.


Now back to soup...
 
Last edited:
When I was a kid, I remember going with my mom to the butcher every week. Behind the counter was a sign that said "Beef bones: 5 cents, with meat $100"

I had no idea it was supposed to be a joke.

So, I scrounged around for as many nickels as I could find. I had read in a Boy Scout manual that a good project was carving the image of an animal into a holow bones. It was a good way to make a neckerchief slide.

The next week I dumped my nickels on the counter as my mom picked up her usual order, and asked the butcher for his thickest bones for my project.

The butcher and my mother burst out laughing, then explained that the sign wasn't a real offer.

I was heartbroken. I had such great plans for hand carved beef bone neckerchief slides.


Now back to soup...

I learned a lot about cooking in the wild (budget friendly) as a Boy Scout, but I belonged to a very un-orthidox troop. We didn't wear uniforms, and the members were more likely to earn Order of the Arrow honors than Eagle Scout.

We did a lot of camping, not not car camping, we hiked with backpacks to places where there were no kitchens or bathrooms.

That is how I learned how to make a foil pack to pack in and cook on coals from a fire. How to cook an egg on hot coals with the shell of an orange that I ate for breakfast. It's where I learned how to catch a fish with some string and a hook, and cook it for dinner.

That kind of camping really teaches you how to eat a hearty meal without much to work with.

Years later, I took a part-time job with REI, and I taught a camp-cooking class once a month. Some of the more open-minded attendees came back and told me they loved that kind of cooking -- but I'm sure a lot of others just car-camped, and drove into the nearest town for McDonalds.

CD
 
I keep a zipper topped plastic bag in my freezer to stow away veggies that are about to go way south on me from my crisper drawer.
Those go into the deep freeze for poaching liquids, soup stocks, etc... you know the drill ;) waste not, want not :chef:
I've got a big bag of Parsley stems, onions skins and butt ends, carrot peels and butts, celery trimmings, shoot all trimmings, you name the veg, it's in there, for sure!
 
... but back to soup ...

Maybe it’s here and I’ve missed it but a big pot of soup can last a week and be crazy cheap and filling to make. I like to use seasonal veggies I think that helps and I keep some in the freezer for the winter so I don’t have to buy less quality at higher priced later.

A beef soup bone or shank is a cheap cut and vegis but what’s on sale maybe even on reduced shelf if you make it pronto.

Kevin, you're so right about freezing those veggies that aren't around for long during the year!
I've still got 3 gallon sized zip-topped plastic bags full of cleaned and sliced Sweet Red Bell Peppers for soups, as well as other dishes that I use them in through the year.
As soon as they go on sale for like 50¢ USD per pound (they use to be 25¢/lb a few years ago, dang it!), I buy dozens of them! I place them in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and do my own IQF; bag `em and tag `em!
 
When I was a kid, I remember going with my mom to the butcher every week. Behind the counter was a sign that said "Beef bones: 5 cents, with meat $100"

I had no idea it was supposed to be a joke.

So, I scrounged around for as many nickels as I could find. I had read in a Boy Scout manual that a good project was carving the image of an animal into a holow bones. It was a good way to make a neckerchief slide.

The next week I dumped my nickels on the counter as my mom picked up her usual order, and asked the butcher for his thickest bones for my project.

The butcher and my mother burst out laughing, then explained that the sign wasn't a real offer.

I was heartbroken. I had such great plans for hand carved beef bone neckerchief slides.


Now back to soup...

Awww, I loved your story Bucky. :wub:
 

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom