Soup’s on!

January usually means coolish (read frigid!) temperatures and a slightly-more-empty-than-usual wallet thanks to the recent holidays.

Sounds like it’s time to get the homemade soup simmering to help combat the cold and to help save some costs from your food budget! Side note for parents of picky eaters: soup is your super sneaky way of getting veggies in those kids- and they won’t even know.

Chicken noodle

Yes, you could certainly pop open a can of this staple, but this one’s better! Chop four cups combined of onions, celery and carrots. Sauté in a saucepan or Dutch oven with a tbsp. of butter until translucent. Season with a tsp each of sage and thyme and salt and pepper to taste. Add two cartons of low sodium chicken broth and two cups of chopped, cooked chicken. Add a cup of your favourite short pasta and simmer until pasta is cooked. In last five minutes of cooking time, add a ½ cup of peas and tbsp. chopped fresh parsley.

Tomato soup with orzo

Chop four cups combined of onion, celery and carrots. Sauté in a large saucepan in olive oil for about five minutes. Add 2 tsp of minced garlic. Sauté for another couple of minutes. Add 2 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes and 3tbsp Italian seasoning. Add a carton of vegetable stock and bring to boil.  Add a cup of orzo pasta and simmer until orzo is cooked. Gently add a cup of cream over medium heat, stirring the whole time. Sprinkle with fresh chopped basil and serve.

Black bean soup

Rinse two cans of black beans. Chop one each of red and green pepper and onion. Sauté in large saucepan in 1tbsp of butter. Add 1 tsp of cumin, chili powder coriander. Stir to coat veggies. Add beans and two cartons of chicken broth. Bring to boil. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Put half of soup mixture in blender and puree. Return to pot. Bring back to boil and serve with a dollop of sour cream, chopped cilantro and diced jalapenos (if you like spice).