Homemade Soups

With winter approaching, a homemaker's mind tends to start running toward hearty, hot meals for her family. Homemade soups are often at the top of the list of family favorites. And with a little planning, they can be made with minimal time and trouble.

Spend an afternoon frying hamburger meat, and divide it into family size Ziploc freezer bags. Include the things you usually like to use to spice your meat when you fry it, like salt, pepper, garlic and onions. With this already cooked and ready in the freezer when you need it, plus the things you usually have in your fridge and pantry, you are ready to make several kinds of soups.

Hamburger soup: this one is really easy, and very, very good tasting. Put your already cooked hamburger meat in a pot, and add a couple of cans of tomato sauce. Then add whatever you have on hand. Corn, potatoes, carrots, celery, any one, some or all of these, plus whatever else your family enjoys can be added into the soup. You can use canned or frozen mixed vegetables. If you are out of potatoes, or if you just prefer it, add rice instead. Sample the soup, and add spices as needed. This soup is ready quickly, but is much better if you let it simmer for a while to mix the flavors. Add a good loaf of fresh bread or crackers to eat with it. Cornbread is also good to eat with this soup.

Taco soup: this is another favorite and a quick soup. Once again, put your already cooked hamburger meat in a pot, but this time add a can or two of rotel tomatoes. Mix in some corn, and when it's hot, melt a big chunk of Velveeta cheese in the soup. Serve this with tortilla chips.

Pizza soup: this is an unusual soup, but very good. Put cooked hamburger meat, sausage, and/or pepperoni into your soup pot. Add canned spaghetti sauce and some tomato sauce or diced tomatoes, and just enough water to make it the consistency you like. This soup will be a little thick. Add sliced olives and some mixed vegetables if you want. You can add some cheese directly into the soup, or have shredded cheese on the table to add when you serve the soup. Have a lot of hot crusty bread to dip into the soup to eat it. Children love this!

Another good meat to have on hand already cooked is chicken. Roast or put into your crock pot several at a time. You can also stew them. Add salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary, onion or whatever else you like to have on your chicken. Once it's cooked and cooled, debone it, and place it in family size freezer bags in the freezer. Be sure and save the broth in either the bag with the chicken, or in another freezer bag separate from the chicken.

When you are ready to make soup, take the chicken and broth out of the freezer, thaw, and add to your pot.

Chicken and dumplings: Put the chicken and broth in your soup pot, and add water. You can also add some chicken bouillon to make the broth stronger. Put some diced potatoes in, and once they are done, you can drop homemade dumplings into the hot, boiling soup, or use chunks of canned biscuits or crescent rolls. Cover for a few minutes, then take the cover off, and continue to boil until the dumplings are done. Serve with hot cornbread.

Chicken noodle or rice soup: Put the cooked chicken, broth and water into the soup pot. Add mixed vegetables and spices. When the vegetables are done, add instant rice or noodles, and cook until soft. Serve with crackers or hot bread.

Creamy chicken soup: This is also a good soup to make out of left over chicken and gravy. Otherwise, put the broth into the pot, and make gravy. Then add the chicken, a little water and some mixed vegetables and/or rice. Cook until thick and creamy. Serve with bread or crackers.

Soup on your stove is a comforting feeling for your family. They will begin to enjoy it as soon as the smell wafts through your house, and they will look forward to mealtime!