Soup Season

Wow -has it really been almost a year since I put anything out on this blog? I guess home ownership really does suck up a lot of your time.

It's 20 degrees right now, and the high today MIGHT reach 32. It's SOUP weather for sure! I got home last night, put on some comfy clothes - leggings and a HUGE sweatshirt, and got to work in the kitchen. I love winter when the clothes are bigger, and you can fatten up a bit to keep out the cold. Yes, this is my excuse.

This is my first recipe post, and I'd like to start by saying that I am going to try to do a better job measuring my ingredients. I generally throw stuff together and hope it works. You can vary the meat and veggie amounts based on how chunky you want your soup.

As usual, Mom sent me home with a ton of leftovers from the holidays. Since it's usually just me at home, that's a lot of food to get through. I opened the fridge and pulled out some random stuff that might make a good soup. Here are the ingredients I ended up with:

Leftovers Soup
Makes 4 servings
1/2 of a Smoked sausage - cubed
1/2 cup of Leftover turkey meat - cubed
1/2 a zucchini cubed
1/4 of a large sweet onion - chopped
5 mushrooms sliced
8 baby carrots sliced
1 cup of quick cooking barley
4 cups of chicken stock
2 cups of water
dash of salt
1/4 tsp pepper - more if you like pepper
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning

In a large stockpot over medium heat, cook sausage, turning frequently to avoid burning. When almost cooked through, add the turkey meat. Get a tiny bit of browning on the turkey meat. This should take about 8 minutes total. Add salt, pepper, poultry seasoning to the meat. Stir to coat well. Add the carrots and keep stirring and tossing so nothing burns. After a few minutes, add the onion. The carrot and onion add great flavor to the soup, but you don't want them to overcook and get mushy. When the onions begin to soften, add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then settle to a simmer. Simmer for 30 minutes. check during the simmer to see if you need more water. Add up to a cup.

Add the last bit of the water, barley, zucchini and mushrooms. Bring to a light boil for 12 minutes. The barley will soak up some of the broth, so you can add more water if you like. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

Turn on the TV and curl up under a blanket, 'cause baby it's cold outside!