One of my favorite things about growing food and canning different things, is the versatility of a jar of soup. For example, I made 14 pints of vegetable soup last week. I used a combination of vegetables we had grown in our garden, some store bought cans of veg and beans, and some frozen vegetables, along with potatoes and onions.  I combined it all together and added a couple of our jars of stewed tomatoes and some water and it made an amazing soup.

8 cups tomato: combination of home canned/grocery store cans
6 cups of baby potatoes diced
6 cups of carrots – thickly sliced
1 cup frozen lima beans
3 cups frozen peas (home grown)
2 cups of canned corn
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
2 cups green beans (from garden)
6 cups of filtered water
2 cups celery (omitted)

Combine all ingredients together – cook for 15 minutes.
Prepare pressure canner and follow instructions for your canner.
Fill hot jars with soup, cover with lids and rings, and put into canner.
55 minutes for canning. (follow instructions for your altitude)
let canner cool, remove jars and leave for 24 hours.
Remove rings, wipe down jars, and label.

The versatility of this recipe occurred to me last night. So I challenged myself to come up with 14 ways to use this soup:

1. Bowl of soup: as is – just heat and eat  (vegan)
2. Bowl of soup: with added chicken, turkey, or beef
3. Veggie drink: use Blend-tec or immersion blender (vegan)
4. Spaghetti sauce: use as is or blended over pasta (vegan)
5. Chili base: add tomato sauce & refried beans, over rice (vegan)
6. Chili base: add tomato sauce, beans, and ground beef, over rice
7. Stew base: cook stew meat completely and add 2+ jars of soup, thicken with refried beans or instant potatoes
8. Pizza sauce: use blender until soup is a smooth sauce – use like any other pizza sauce – with added veg and protein.
9. Baked potato: heat soup up, drain liquid and save for drinking or use in another recipe – spoon vegetables over baked potato and top with cheese or other favorite toppings.
10. Burrito: heat up soup, strain veg and beans and fill flour tortilla with mixture as well as any other add-ins you want. Thicken soup broth (reduce) for dipping sauce. (vegan)
11. Burrito: same as above, with added ground beef or chicken.
12. Omelette: strain broth from soup, in saucepan cook until reduced and thickened, heat up veggies in a frying pan and add 2-3 eggs (scrambled). Cook and serve with the sauce reduction instead of ketchup.
13. Pot pie: use 2+ jars of soup, heat and thicken with flour in saucepan, add chicken or beef following pot pie recipe.
14. Veggie drink: blend until smooth and add vodka for unique Bloody Mary cocktail.

We don’t have a lot of meals in our pantry that are ready to eat, mainly because we both love to cook, but this soup is one that saves a ton of time and we are able to use it in so many ways! Having it prepared gives us the opportunity to be creative with our recipes.

I hope this is an encouragement to consider cooking more meals for yourself! Cooking is like crafting, and it’s so much fun to take a second look at an ordinary meal that can be everything from soup to a cocktail.