Soups
This first recipe calls for barley. For years I didn’t know what barley was until I had this soup. Don’t be afraid to try it. It is good for you and tastes good too, even to a picky eater like me. 
This soup is about as low-cal, healthy, and filling as they come. You can find it easily in any grocery store in with the rice. It’s a nice change to barley from rice and noodles.
Chicken Barley Soup
1/2 cup barley
1 stalk celery, sliced
1/2 carrot, diced
1/4 cup onion, chopped
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup chicken
1/4 tsp. turmeric (optional)
salt and pepper (to taste)
Rinse and cook barley in broth as instructed on package. Halfway through, add vegetables, chicken and seasonings. Makes 2 quarts.
Here’s a basic vegetable soup. You can add to it or take away according to what different vegetables you have on hand or what your family prefers. Certain vegtables take longer to cook than others so you will need to adjust the time when you throw them into the pot to cook. For example, potatoes and carrots will need to start cooking an hour or hour and half before serving while peas can go in 30 minutes before.
Don’t be afraid if you have to dump everything (except rice and noodles) in to simmer all day. I find that most stews and soups can handle it all going in together and simmering for several hours.
Vegetable Soup
You are basically making soup stock in this step. If you have canned or frozen stock, you can use that and skip this step.
1 beef soup bone
2 quarts water
2 Tbsp. salt
pepper, to taste
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp. allspice
Simmer 2 hours. Remove bone, cool and skim fat.
Add:
3-4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 stalks of celery, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 (16 oz.) cans whole peeled tomatoes*
Simmer 2 more hours. Remove bay leaves. You can throw in a handful or two of rice, noodles or barley that last hour of cooking and add any leftover veggies like corn, peas or green beans.
To "spice" up your life and this soup add:
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. hot pepper sauce
1/2 tsp. oregano, dried
1/2 tsp. basil, dried
1/4 tsp. chili powder
*If you are out of canned tomatoes add tomato juice or V-8 instead.
Egg Flower Soup
1 green onion, chopped (top included)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3 cups chicken broth
1/4 tsp. salt
dash pepper
Stir onion into eggs. Heat broth to boiling in a 3-quart saucepan. Add salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture slowly into broth, stirring constantly with a fork. Boil about 5 minutes until eggs are done. Serves 4-6.
Be sure to check out Dining On A Dime for some of our other great soups like Beef Barley,Tomato and Bacon-Bean.
Photo By: jeffreyw
I am anxiously awaiting the cookbook and in the meantime gathering ideas from your soup category to try. Thank You! I am 78 and still learning!
Keep watching Auda. Within the next couple of months (now that winter is here) we will be posting all kinds of things on soups from different recipes to how to make the basics. You make me feel better to know there is not something wrong with me. I have been cooking and doing house cleaning for over 40 years and I still find ways to do things differently. I couldn’t figure out if I was a slow learner or what. I guess it would be a dull world if we didn’t keep learning new things.
My 16 year old son likes to make a soup with a top ramen base. After the noodles are barely done he cracks and egg and quickly stirs it in. This is his version of “egg flower” soup. It smells good but I haven’t tried it as of yet. I asked him where he got the recipe and he said it just sounded good one day.
Baked Beans with Apples
Ingredients
4 apples
1 (28 oz/796 ml) can (28 oz/796 ml)crushed tomatoes
1 large onion, diced
2 2cloves garlic, minced
1 1cup cup(250 mL) (250 mL) apple cider
3 3tbsp tbsp(45 mL) (45 mL) fancy molasses
4 tsp(18 mL) cider vinegar
1tbsp (15 mL) dry mustard
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper
3 3cans (19 oz/540 ml) cans (19 oz/540 ml)pinto beans or navy beans, drained and rinsed
Preparation:
Peel and dice 2 of the apples; set aside.
In saucepan, bring tomatoes, onion, garlic, apple cider, molasses, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper to boil; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add beans and diced apples, stirring to coat. Scrape into 10-cup (2.5 L) casserole.
Peel and thinly slice remaining apples; overlap on beans. Bake, uncovered, in 300°F (150°C) oven until thickened, about 2 hours. (Make-ahead: Let cool for 30 minutes; refrigerate, uncovered, until cold. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days. Or freeze in airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Reheat over medium-low heat.)
Thanks; that chicken barley soup especially sounds terrific.
Oh Jill!
I am getting in the mood for hot soups on cold winter nights. They warm my soul as much as my tummy:) Thanks for the yummy recipes!
the other day I made Micheal Smith’s Maritime Chowder.
Never made a clam chowder before. But to say it was his recipe is sort of a fib. I had his recipe on the computer but as usual I changed a few things.
Anyway that being said it was wonderful.
His tips for it were you could add any firm fish as well as clams even a can of tuna fish. I added shrimp
He says use evaporated milk but I used half and half and water. I saw him make this recipe and he said he never used canned milk until he met his wife. She lived on a remote island off the shore of NFLD where canned milk was used for everything. So he added it to her specifications and decided that it was really good. So the canned milk is optional.
He says to perk it up a bit add some horse radish to it. I love horse radish so when I served myself a bowl I put a tsp into mine only. It was really good. I am sure if you put it into the soup directly nobody would know what it was they would just enjoy it and then ask your secret.
If anyone wants the recipe I can copy and paste it or you can do a search typing Michael Smith’s Maritime Chowder and it comes up with many other of his soup recipes.
I have read somewhere on here that you freeze all the “little bits” of leftovers and then when you have enough make a soup out of it. Is there anything in particular that you add to it to flesh it out? I have been saving leftovers here and there and have vegetables, beef and chicken, etc. I wanted to try this.
Thanks for all you guys do!!
Jacqui I’m sorry I’m not sure I understand what you me mean by flesh it out. Usually all you have to do is add all of your leftovers to beef, chicken or veggie broth, depending on what leftovers you are using and heat it up or you can let it simmer. If you want a thicker soup let the broth and meat simmer for several hours without a lid on it to help thicken then add your veggies. You can also add a couple of tablespoons of leftover mashed potatoes to it to thicken a soup. Not sure if this helped or not. Let me know.
Jacqui I think Sandi maybe answered your question on the soup by adding things like rice and noodles.
When I do the leftover soup, I will add leftover rice, or add some sort of noodles or pasta about 10 minutes before it’s done. If it seems a bit skimpy, I add canned or frozen vegetables. I’ve even occasionally done it as a cassarole with mashed potatoes or biscuits on top and baked in the oven. Leftover gravy is especially good in this.
Hi Jill:
I like to add instant mashed potato flakes to chowders to thicken and give some flavor. I get the pouches when they are on sale for $1 or less, for example “loaded” (sour cream, cheese, bacon flavor) works super in a corn or clam/fish chowder. It can help to “doctor” up a canned soup also, or help thicken up a sauce for a casserole.
Donna
Great idea Donna. I had heard of using the instant soup before but didn’t think about using all of the different flavored ones. Duhhhh!!!
how long is homemade chicken broth good in the fridge? .. i made some 3 days ago but i left it in the fridge to make chicken and rice vegi soup . i hope its ok ..
Rose they say it can be kept any where from 4-5 days to a week or two depending on the situation. Personally I keep mine for about 5 days if it has been sitting in the fridge that whole time. 3 days should be just fine and of course like with anything if it smells or taste funny then toss it. That still is a good way to know.
One more thing — after making BBQ beef stew saturday night, I had about 12 oz of the gravy/stock left over, so I froze it in a cup in the freezer. Next batch of broth/gravy over my stew beef is free!
Oh Rose,
I think only 3 days in frig it’s fine — I would stash in the freezer today, though or try to use today.
Jill, we are making good progress on taming the “take out monster”. Sat was BBQ beef stew, Sunday was a lasagna, with 1/2 going directly to freezer for aother day. tonight is a beef roast in crockpot.
(I admit we did go out last night for a special occassion, though) (Guess who turned 60! I told my son it’s “the new 40!)
So far the dishes have been keepers!
Way to go Donna and Happy Birthday. I’m glad to hear 60 is the new 40 because that is what I turned my last birthday too. You really are doing a good job on your meals it sounds like and you have such good ideas you sound like a good cook too. It will get easier and easier too for you. It’s like breaking any habit and starting a new one it may seem hard or awkward at first but if you keep at it there will come a time when you won’t even think about it.
You may already do this but keep a list of the meals you posted here and for the next week or so then on those days when you can’t figure out what to have just use something off of your list. For me and many others figuring out what to have that night is 3/4 of the battle.
A couple bits of info on the “freezer soup”. I add some hamburger than has been browned and drained and some shell noodles. My kids always loved the “squirt” from the juice inside the noodles. My son makes this and still uses the shell noodles. Also, if your veggies are a little skimpy, just add a can of mixed veggies or a can or bag of corn. This really seem to beef it up (no pun intended). As for left over pot roast. The first day, from the crockpot, roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy (used juices from pot plus a can of gravy) and mixed veggies. Two days later, hot roast beef sandwiches with a salad. Two days later, I shredded the rest of the roast and mixed it with my famous home-made barbeque sauce (equal parts cola soda and ketchup with a little bit of brown sugar and cook in a pot until it is the right consistency). You may like your sauce thicker – if so, just cook it slower and longer, then put meat into pan with sauce and cook on low until it is hot. I only had hot dog buns in the house, so used those with some cole slaw. With some fruit for a side, a very good dinner. I try to use every bit of my leftovers and since my husband doesn’t like the same thing several days in a row, I try to mix it up and use the same meat but fixed in a different way. Hope you try the Barbeque sauce. You will be surprised how good it is. My kids only wanted my sauce, never bottled. Any leftovers from the barbeque will make a nice lunch the next day.
Yes, thank you for all the suggestions! I wasn’t sure of I should add broth or tomato sauce…. sounds like anything goes! I may try both ways.
Thanks again ladies! :}
Jacqui, Thanks for the reminder. For the soup, I usually add a can of diced or whole tomatoes including the juice. I also add any liquid that has been frozen with your leftover veggies and then broth or plain water if you need more volume. Because you are using already seasoned veggies, plain water will cook down into a wonderful broth. I like the color of the tomato broth and even a small amount of tomato jazzes up the flavor. If you don’t have canned tomatoes and want that flavor, you can add tomato paste. I also add fresh tomatoes in the summer or ones I have frozen. Even half a fresh tomato gives a wonderful bright taste to the soup.
[...] any meat farther by using it in casseroles, soups or stews instead of serving it as its own individual serving. If you serve two casseroles and two soups or [...]