Homemade soups

Google "healthy soups" then go to allrecipes.com and enjoy

My soups are always different when I make them, depending on what I have on hand. We eat some meat in our house, so when I roast a chicken, bake pork chops, etc, I always save the juices that come out of the meat while it's cooking. I put that into a container in my fridge and let the fat float to the top and harden. I remove that before using those juices for adding to my soup base.

Busy days can be aided by using your crockpot.

vegetable soup: Toss in chopped onion, minced garlic, celery, diced carrots, potatoes, and either a few cans of beans, or beans that you soaked overnight, and a can of tomatoes (can be seasoned or not, your choice). Cover the ingredients with water, and add some Better Than Bouillon soup base, or use chicken, beef, or vegetable broth. Add your desired seasonings, turn it to low and put the lid on.

chicken noodle (chicken rice): put 1 large or 2 small boneless skinless chicken breasts in the bottom of your crockpot, add a diced onion, a few stalks of sliced celery, a few chopped carrots, and several minced cloves of garlic. Cover the chicken and veggies with water or chicken broth, filling the crockpot to about 3/4 full, add 1 tablespoon of poultry seasoning, 1 tablespoon of dried parsley, stir just enough to get the spices into the water, then put the lid on the crockpot and set to low.

When you return home in the evening, put a pot of 6 to 12 oz of noodles on to cook on the stove while you remove the chicken breasts from the crockpot and either dice or shred them. Noodles should be done by the time you finish with the chicken. When the noodles are done, drain them and add them and the diced or shredded chicken back to the crockpot, stir and taste, then season with salt and pepper or your preferred spices, and enjoy. (I like to use egg noodles, but you can use whichever kind you like in your soup.) An alternative would be to toss in leftover rice when you are ready to eat the soup, rather than use noodles.

I raised 5 kids, 4 of whom are boys, so I learned to make large amounts of soup. If you have the time on the weekends, you can double these recipes and make them in a stock pot on your stove, then freeze in meal sized containers for the week.