Autumnal Soup

The emails, they have been coming in! I've got to keep things straight for everybody's collective sanity, and will be using a tag system for organization, unless it becomes Too Out of Control. Also! Before I forget! When you send me an email with an idea/recipe/whatever, could you please let me know if you want to be linked or have your name up or if you want to be mysteriously anonymous? I want to be all appropriate, you know?

Also, I'd love to have photos, so if you have photos go ahead and send them in!

And, if you have New Year's or Christmas things to share now, feel free to go ahead. You certainly don't have to wait until December. Always be prepared, right?

Okay, now that that is all over with, I think I'll start this blog off with a soup recipe. It's still technically September, but it's definitely starting to feel fall-ish and we're going to drag out Halloween decorations this weekend. This is Swistle's Autumnal Soup Recipe, and for me, one of the best things about the change to cool weather is a yummy, cozy, warm bowl of soup. It's the kick-off! Soup!

Swistle's Autumnal Soup

• 1 pound or so of ground beef or ground turkey (I use ground turkey, which at our store comes in 1.3 pound packages, and I use the whole package)
• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (I like Contadina)
• 15 oz can tomato sauce (I like Contadina)
• 4 c. water
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 16 oz package frozen mixed vegetables (I like Birdseye classic blend: carrots, beans, peas, corn)
• 8 oz frozen broccoli (I like to thaw it a little and then snip it with kitchen scissors into smaller pieces)
• 1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup mix
• 2 t. salt (or to taste--I love love love salt so maybe start with less than I use)
• 1 t. crushed red pepper (optional, for spicier soup)

Swistle says, "Fry up the ground meat and drain off as much grease as you can. Put the meat into a big pan--at least 6 quart or you'll be a sorry, sorry cook later on. Add everything else and stir it. Heat to boiling, then reduce it to a simmer and cover it. Let it simmer for half an hour, stirring it occasionally if you feel like it. It's okay to eat right away, but I think it's better reheated the next day.

Delicious accompaniment: garlic toast.

One thing I like about this recipe is that it's flexible. You don't have to use broccoli and classic-blend vegetables, you can instead use up the little half packages of vegetables nobody liked as side dishes, or fresh vegetables that are in danger of going bad in the fridge, or a bag of Italian blend vegetables if you're feeling really wild and crazy. One summer William grew some green bean vines but didn't want to eat the green beans, so I snipped some up into my soup every time I made it. Oooh, and lima beans are good.

It freezes GREAT.

Incidentally, if you do Weight Watchers Core Plan, this soup is a freebie. Well, unless you get all tight about how many grains of that 1 tsp. of sugar are in each portion."

I hope you have a lovely, fallish, soup-licious weekend!

Edit: I made the soup tonight (with slightly different vegetables) and it was really good! Here's a photo: