quick post: if you have {this}, then you can make {this}... ANOTHER soup recipe!

Okay, what is my problem? Can I just say that I am stretching every dang little bit of food we have these days as far as a I possibly can, and for some reason, the almighty soup is the solution to that problem. I am sure most of you know that once you reach beyond the planned meals into the recesses of your pantry you find yourself caught up in that blank stare moment... the moment when you MUST make a decision about dinner, yet all your good ideas have fallen to the floor for lack of this or that, and you're left staring at the backside of your cabinets, the bag of flour and rolled up bag of cereal that has merely a handful left in it, but that you could not bear to throw away because "someone just might eat that".

I have not had any meat of any kind to cook with this week, and I've been pulling from every which way I can to produce some kind of dinner for the family that is not only tasty but healthy. I've found that those walks down the freezer aisle to stock up on frozen vegetables and fruits have really saved me in the past few days. Do not underestimate the power of the frozen peas, people! Or the can of beans! Diversify your beans and rice selection and you will never be without a meal. Ha!

I plan to share with you some of what I do to properly stocking my pantry (fridge and freezer too) with versatile staples that with a little creativity you can work with to create a great meal. This helps to avoid impulse fast food buys or purchasing pre-made processed foods at the grocery store.

Okay, so here's the divine soup manifestation of the day... made for lunch with my dear friend - served with a green salad it was a seriously vegetable-y healthy meal :). Even if it is soup... AGAIN.

If you have...
...a can of beans or two (or two different kinds of beans, even better - for me it was garbanzos and black beans - make sure you drain and rinse them!!)
...one or two cartons of chicken or vegetable broth or bouillon (you want about 8 cups of broth)
...frozen peas, frozen corn, fresh carrots and tomato
...garlic, salt/pepper, rosemary and parsley to taste (don't skimp on the seasonings or it'll be boring - I had one Lipton Vegetable soup packet which really did the trick for me - though it did have MSG in it :( )

You can make this... not only is it vegetarian AND vegan (if you use vegetable broth), but it is gluten free as well if you don't use the soup packet! Made about 6 or so servings.

Just throw it all into the pot and simmer till the root vegetables are soft... and voila! I like vegetable soups topped with parmesan cheese, though this was great without it!

Hope that's just a little helpful. More later today! <3

Love y'all.

Brooke