The slow cooker cooks all day while you're away
Soup is a great meal for adding fiber to your diet, especially vegetables. Soup helps you feel full more quickly, which aids weight control. Soup is simple to make, nearly foolproof, and inexpensive. It’s good for you!
There is no single, correct recipe for making soup. Almost any recipe turns out tasty. Today while shopping at my favorite supermarket, I found boxes of low-fat, reduced-sodium broths on a Buy-one-get-one-free table. I bought a couple and took the sale as a sign that I needed to make a pot of soup. Soups made with broths don’t require meat or long cooking times to develop taste.
I also bought a 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes, and picked up a nice zucchini and a head of cabbage. Back home, I poured the broth and the crushed tomatoes into my slow cooker, added diced onion, carrot, celery, chopped zucchini, ¼ head shredded cabbage, and a cup of frozen corn (but really whatever is in the produce drawer of your fridge is a potential soup ingredient). I seasoned with three minced cloves of garlic, 1 Tablespoon herbes de Provence, and a generous dash of Redneck Pepper® Italian Redneck seasoning. My vegetable soup is simmering now and will be ready for dinner whenever we are. I let the soup cook at 2 (or Low) for at least three hours.
How does slow cooking qualify as a “hasty tasty meal” ? It requires minimal time to prepare and minimal supervision. Then when the hungry family members show up to eat, you have little left to do. Don’t be afraid to try other combinations of soups in the slow cooker. Homemade soup is so much lower in sodium and other additives than canned, and more economical, too. I estimate my pot of soup is costing me $3.50, and will yield eight bowls of soup. That’s a lot of soup for the money.
One last money-saving tip: If you have leftover soup that isn’t quite enough for another meal, stretch it by adding a ½ cup of cooked rice or pasta.
Cheryl
HASTY TASTY MEALS BLOG 