Aww, Crap We Got Snowed in Soup

Given the snow, well, I'm thinking inside my pantry and freezer! Here's the latest experiment I'm cooking up. I'll edit later if this turns out to be good.

Aww, Crap We Got Snowed in Soup

Dutch Oven, lid, stove-- check
Lots of homemade chicken broth-- check
Some frozen veggies (Normandy mix, from Costco)-- check
A can of black beans-- check
A can of corn-- check, but only use a half can
A gee-we-still-have-that? potato-- check
Many, many spices-- check and check

Pour previously prepared chicken broth into dutch oven and turn on the stove, start getting it going. Add fresh garlic, because everything is better with garlic! Add various spices. Let me see, I've got paprika, cayenne, chili powder, garlic powder, dried basil, red pepper flakes, a touch of curry, a few dashes of lemon juice, a touch of apple cider vinegar, some more basil, salt and pepper...hmmm....

Chop potato into small pieces and add it first (takes a bit to cook it).
Add full can of black beans. Add half can of corn. Add a bit of that frozen mixed veggies. Put lid on it and cook at appropriate temperature to accommodate growling stomachs.

Check freezer again... how old is that bag of spinach? Um, nope, trash-can that! Oooo, cook's compensation, a Reese's cup! Do NOT add that to the soup, but eat it while the soup cooks.

Hmmm... to add chicken? No, running low on chicken and we still have 7+ inches of snow.

Ahh, some wacky mac noodles... okay, if there's enough broth left after the potatoes soak up their portion I'll add some wacky mac.

This is smelling good! Did I forget anything. Check fridge, recheck pantry. Decide if anything other than the noodles are added the food will probably be ruined.

Smell hands from having rubbed the dried basil into the pot, and having hand "minced" the garlic... yummy.

Repeatedly smell soup while cooking. Check pantry for crackers. Ponder making baking powder biscuits. Decide that's too much work. Smell soup again.

Well, that's it for now, other than comments from Boy-- "That smells good, when is it going to be ready?"

I'll edit later after dinner to let you know if this is a repeatable 'recipe' or not.

:)

~Cedeham~

EDIT:

I forgot to mention I added like, a partial pinch of nutmeg and cumin originally. And before the cooking was done, I found the skeletal remains of an onion and used the good part in the soup.

The soup is a hit! Very warming and comforting and satisfying! My Boy ate 3 bowls already, and is waiting to have more. There is the wacky mac in it, so I'm making Boy wait so that he won't get over-full because of gobbling it up so fast. Even Girl ate all her serving. I served the soup with romaine heart salad, homemade croutons, and homemade dressing.

The croutons are really easy: use some slices of bread sprinkled with salt, garlic powder, and "Italian" seasoning mix (dried) and broil in the oven so it's toasty on both sides. Cut to crouton size and shape-- use after has cooled slightly.

The homemade dressing I make is from fresh squeezed lemons (when I have them), honey, dried basil, fresh garlic, garlic powder (I wasn't kidding about garlic in this house!), and red pepper flakes.

Yummy! I hope this soup will taste good as a left-over, because the dutch oven was nearly full and is about half gone now.

~Cedeham~