Warm me up! Winter soup.

One of my favorite things about winter is all the homemade soups.  There's nothing better on a bitter cold day than to walk in the front door and smell the aroma of warm simmering soup.  What a wonderful way of saying "Welcome home".  Whoever invented the crock pot deserves a bowl.

Every week I buy a bunch of fresh veggies and whatever is left over goes into the soup at the end of the week.  The kids enjoy the soup and I enjoy the thought of how many vegetables they're are consuming. I try to always make some biscuits or whole grain bread of some sort, just to sneak in the extra grains.  I'll post some of the bread recipes another day.

On the weeks that I roast a whole chicken for dinner, the family looks forward to later in the week. I simmer the chicken carcass for about 3-4 hours or until the meat falls off the bone.  You'll be surprised by how much meat you will have.  Separate the meat and toss the other stuff.

Chicken broth
1 can of diced tomatoes with garlic, basil, and oregano.
1 onion diced
1 clove of garlic or more
1 summer squash and zucchini sliced
 2 carrots chopped or more
green beans
celery
carrots
about 1/4 cup of brown rice
Cook until vegetables are tender.

This one is my personal favorite.  Use the same base as before.  Chicken broth and Diced tomatoes with garlic, basil, and oregano.  Dump the whole can in, juice and all.

sliced summer squash and zucchini
carrots
onion and garlic
kale, chopped into bite size pieces
1/4 pearled barley

I never measure I just throw stuff in and it always comes out great.  Enjoy!