With cool days and cold nights ahead the perfect thing to warm you up during the winter months is soup. Valerie Phillips, a very good friend of mine, has put her creative juices together and now put out a wonderful book entitled, Soup’s On!
We’ve all heard how important family mealtime is. Soups are one of the easiest items to make for dinner. Also with varied schedules it is something that you can keep warm on the back burner or in the crockpot.
Here are my favorite 10 tips for soup!
- Organize your cupboards and pantry so you know where ingredients are. I just finished this and it makes such a big difference. I also like to date mark an item on the side of it if there is an expiration date. I like to put the date in a place where it is easy to see when I glance through the pantry.
- Stock up on timesaving convenience items when they’re on sale, such as canned beans, jarred salsa, or dried minced onions.
- Invest in a good, sharp chef’s knife, and a cutting board, big enough to hold the food, but small enough to fit in the dishwasher. They make the chore of chopping so much easier.
- Use leftovers as “planned-over’s.” If there are meat or veggies at the end of a meal that can be used in tomorrow’s soup, dice them up before you store them in the fridge so they are ready to go.
- Grow your favorite herbs year-round in your kitchen window. It’s convenient to be able to cut a few sprigs as needed, and packets of fresh herbs can be costly at the store.
- Dried beans, per cooked serving, are often less than half the price of canned beans, but they do take time to cook. Soak a batch overnight in your slow cooker on low heat, then portion and freeze for later use. One fifteen-ounce can of rinsed and drained beans is about one and one-third cups.
- Post a “must use” list on the fridge of leftover items like cooked chicken, or the half can of beans or tomato paste so you can incorporate them into meals.
- Pack leftover soups for lunch the next day instead of eating out.
- Serve soups in smaller bowls. Studies show that when people are served on larger plates, they take larger helpings, whether they’re really hungry or not. If the first bowl didn’t satisfy, they can always go back for seconds.
- Every time you make a batch of soup, freeze one portion in the single-serve, microwavable container and label it clearly. Great for lunches or when you do not have time to fix a meal.
The book’s huge variety of recipes includes Quick Tailgate Chili, Roasted Garlic Bisque, Minestrone, Root Beer Braised Beef Stew, Quick Tortilla Soup with Avocado, Turkey Pot Pie Soup, Lobster Bisque, Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup, Rosemary Potato & Corn Chowder, Thai-Style Peanut and Noodle Soup, and many more. Most of the ingredients are commonly found in any pantry.
Look for Valerie’s Book at all LDS Stores or on Amazon.
