Clean Out the Freezer Vegetable Soup

Ever start cleaning up your dishes after dinner, only to realize you only have a spoon or two of green beans left?  Ever wonder what to do with that one last bit of roast when the whole family is sick and tired of leftovers?  If you're like me, you can't stand the thought of tossing those leftovers, but you don't want to stuff yourself eating food "just to finish it".  Well, I have the perfect solution for you:  Homemade Vegetable Soup!  And, as I wrap up a month of tasty soup recipes, this seemed souper appropriate!

At the end of every meal, save those extra spoonfuls of veggies with their juices.  Start layering leftovers in two large tupperwares: one for veggies and one for meats.  Include broths, stocks, and leftover soups in either container.  I've used leftover tomato soup, French onion soup, vegetable stock, grilled chicken with mushroom salsa, Italian sausage from homemade pizza, roasted asparagus, and more!  Honestly, everything is fair game (well, I don't recommend cream-based dishes)!  Put it all the in tupperwares and store them in the freezer!

Once you have at least one container of veggies and one of meats, place the frozen blocks of food in a large pot over low heat.

As it dissolves, add the following:

1 large can tomatoes with juice (I use whole tomatoes and cut them into large chunks once they're in the pot)

1 potato, peeled and chopped

1 onion, peeled and chopped

2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon parsley

1/4 cup cooking wine (whatever you have open or on-hand)

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
Obviously, if your leftovers include an abundance of any of the above, you may omit those items, as I did with the extra onion since leftover French Onion Soup made its way into my pot!

If you need "fillers" to add to your soup, also add:

1 can green beans with juice

frozen corn

frozen peas

1 can pinto beans with juice

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

Once your frozen food has defrosted and everything is incorporated, add enough stock, broth, or water to raise level of soup to 2 inches from the top of the pot.  Simmer all day (the longer, the better), stirring every so often and adding liquid if soup becomes to "stewy".  Season according to taste (but you probably won't need it, since everything was seasoned the first time you cooked it).

Serve with hot biscuits and honey...or crusty bread and a block of artisan cheese!  A great rustic and healthy meal for a cool autumn evening!

Just to give you an idea, the pot of soup pictured above was all leftovers!  The only things I added to the soup were a can of tomatoes, garlic, bay leaf, oregano, parsley, wine, and Worcestershire!  Since I had leftover soups and stocks incorporated in my frozen leftovers, I didn't need to add any additional liquids!

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