Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Soup

Have you ever heard the phrase, "Everything but the kitchen sink?" Basically, it means that almost everything is included in whatever the topic is: the car, the suitcase, the pizza, the quesadillas, or, in this case, the soup.

I used to hate soup. I always ended up feeling hungry after eating it, and I was nervous to cook it. But, then, when we moved to Virginia, I met Christen. And, she LOVES soup. She pretty much would eat soup for all meals, and she convinced me that soup can be filling, tasty, healthy, and easy. I am now a soup convert!

Tonight, I threw together a quick and easy soup, and after we finished eating it, I asked my husband why on earth people don't cook at home more???! This soup was very inexpensive to make, was made out of items hanging out in my freezer and pantry, and required very little work.

Don't be like me and be afraid of making soups. They are healthy, easy, and filling when loaded with wholesome ingredients!

Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Soup:
Ingredients:
1 TBS olive oil
1/2 of a large organic yellow onion
several organic carrots
1 can of 14 ounce organic diced tomatoes
water
frozen organic vegetables (I used broccoli, green beans, and corn)
left-over veggies from the refrigerator (I had some more carrots and home fries)
any meat hanging out in your fridge (I had some slices of cooked London Broil and some meatballs)

Directions:
1. Heat your oil over medium high heat.
2. Small dice your onions and cook until they are soft, about 6 minutes
3. Dice your carrots and throw them in the pot to cook for a few minutes once the onions are soft, about 3 minutes
4. Pour in the can of tomatoes.
5. Pour in two of those cans of water.
6. Bring to a simmer on high heat, about 4 minutes.
7. Toss in your frozen veggies, refrigerator veggies, and meat.
8. Bring back to a simmer for about 5 minutes.
9. Salt and Pepper to your liking.

There are a few tips to making a soup like this:
1. You can use any veggies your family likes. If you want to throw in peppers, then cook them with the onions to get them soft before you add the liquid for the soup. You could alternately use a bag of frozen peppers and onions instead of prepping them yourself.

2. If you use green veggies, then don't cook them too long or they will turn to that yucky green color. Hence, the 5 minute simmer.

3. You do NOT need to defrost the frozen veggies first. Just toss them in the pot,

4. If you add in leftover meat, you're only adding it to the pot to re-heat it, not cook it. That's why you only need to simmer the soup for about 5 minutes after you've thrown everything in.

5. The best way to become efficient in the kitchen is to think ahead slightly. For example, while your oil heats, dice your onions. While your onions cook, dice your carrots. While your carrots and onions cook, open your tomato can and get out your veggies and meat.  While your soup simmers, set the table. Voila! You have a homemade soup that tastes garden fresh, is ridiculously healthy, and only took about 20 minutes from items already stocked in your house.