“As the days grow short, some faces grow long. But not mine.
When the wind turns cold, and darkness comes early,
I am suddenly happy. It’s time to start making soup again.”
It’s January and here in our part of the world, it’s in the middle of winter. Today, we are snowed in and enjoying a blissfully cozy day at home.
While the weather is crisp and cold, this means it is the perfect season for for soups and stews.
As a mother, I personally love soup as an option for dinner for my family. It contains everything you need for a healthy, balanced meal!
Recently, I was at a group luncheon and someone commented on their special soup; a cleansing soup, she called it. Curious about this recipe, I asked what was in it to make it cleansing … she listed the ingredients… organic broth, organic carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic, Himalayan salt, organic chicken … I smiled because I quietly realized that the soup I make every week, while my family may consider it routine, is actually a diet of Cleansing Nourishing Soup.
But … what other kind of soups are there, other than nourishing soups, I wondered to myself?
I grew up with homemade soup and have never really thought anything about making soup, other than that’s just what I do. I have always known it was healthy and have always been blessed with making homemade soup.
Yet, this had me questioning – how do other wives and mothers make soup?
Do they start with bone broth or are they using those little boullion cubes?
Do you make homemade soups?
[If you use a package broth base, you may want to do a little research; I’m sure what you will find out will deter you from using those ingredients in your homemade soup. I know it’s disappointing but, ladies, it’s time to do the hard things …]
…if you want healthy soup, it’s time make your own broth.
Actually, the method of making your own stock or broth is very simple.
You will begin with roasting a chicken for dinner the night before. Enjoy the dinner — and then save the bones.
Here is my roasted chicken in the faithful, old roasting pan. I do not have a tray for this roaster so I use canning rings to keep the chicken from burning on the bottom. I have flipped the chicken over so you can see how much the healthy gelatin is formed in the rings during the cooking – there’s your nutrients right there, ladies!
Now that you have attained chicken carcass or beef bones, it’s time to make broth!
{We raise our own chickens and beef so I never have a lack of chicken carcasses or bones; this is what you will need to begin your soup-making journey. I’m sure you can buy an organic chicken or beef soup bones from the store, local farm or butcher. Ask around!}
My favourite method of making soup stock is just a low simmer for a few hours – I prefer to use my crockpot over night so it it is all ready in the morning for soup making. I have heard good reports of using an Instapot, however I do not own one so I cannot give advice on this area. {Feel free to leave a comment if you use your Instapot for broth making!} Fill your pot with water (over top of the bones) and let it simmer on very low heat for quite a few hours or just leave the bones in your crockpot (filled with water) and leave it on low overnight. Add your scrap vegetables (if you have been saving them) for extra flavour, some bay leaves, salt and onions. This will all be discarded at the end of making the broth.
Once your water has turned a nice golden brown, it is turned to broth and is time to discard the bones. (Some people save the bones for a second broth – that is up to you.)
And that’s it -it truly is that easy to make homemade broth and homemade soup!
Now, the fun part – it is time to choose your type of soup – there are so many to choose from … but some of our favourites are:
Marry Me Chicken Soup (pictured and recipe below)
Taco Soup
Italian Wedding Soup
Classic Chicken Noodle soup
Poor Man’s Soup (this is basically peeled and cubed potatoes, cooked with broth, add milk and seasoning and mash together, add milk if too thick – serve with shredded cheese)
French Onion Soup
Beef Vegetable Soup
Turkey Sausage & Tomato Soup
I hope you have a beautiful, cozy week of making soup for your family.
P.S. Here is a list of more soups from the blog recipes.
And here is our recipe for Marry Me Chicken soup:
½ cup sun dried tomatoes (we used our homemade sun dried tomatoes)
1 ½ cups chopped yellow onion
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
your chicken broth
1 cup heavy whipping cream
4 teaspoons chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons salt
1 ½ teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper, plus more for garnish
8 ounces uncooked medium shell pasta (add in at the very end so they do not become overcooked)
3 cups packed roughly chopped fresh baby spinach
2 cups shredded cooked chicken
8 ounces cream cheese, cubed, at room temperature
1 ½ ounces Parmesan cheese for garnish
Happy Soup Making, ladies!
by Gigi
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