It’s definitely winter now. Cold fronts have come in full force, the wind is whipping around, and snow is now a weekly possibility. What does that mean for your kitchen? I’d venture a guess that you are making (or at least eating) soups every now and then, if not all the time.

My meal plan for the 30 Days to Fit revolves around keeping ingredients on hand that can be used in various recipes, so that I can easily whip up something new and healthy, without getting sick of leftovers or being daunted by an extensive recipe. When my brother and sister-in-law suddenly decided to come visit for a weekend, and we arranged to have some of our other relatives over (two more adults and three kids), I needed to make something that would feed a lot of people while still using ingredients I already had, and it would be a bonus to not have to spend a lot of time working on it. Enter: soup.

Never having made soup from scratch before without a recipe, I made sure to call my dad for advice before starting. When he didn’t pick up right away, I had to wing it. I was worried that it wouldn’t turn out, but with a few adjustments, my plan worked and we had a delicious-tasting, healthy soup! Here’s the recipe if you want to try it. I’d recommend prepping some ingredients, and then if it snows two or three feet this weekend, as predicted, you can just put a pot on the stove!

Sydni’s Fail-Proof “Leftovers” Soup

Tip: When chopping veggies for your other meals this week, go ahead and chop the leftovers and put them in your fridge. When you have run out of meals and don’t know what to make, throw everything together for this soup. It’s fail-proof! Alter the amount of ingredients based on how big of a batch you want. You can also change up the veggies and meat depending on what you have on hand (chicken or ground turkey or beef would be great!). Tonight I’m using onions, celery, and lima beans.

1/2 cup chopped or diced onions

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped or sliced carrots

1 can diced tomatoes (not drained)*

1 can cream-style corn (not drained)* (These will help thicken the base so you don’t have to add much stock, if any)

1 box chicken or vegetable stock

1 cup cooked sausage (in chunks or diced or whatever you want to call ground sausage)

1-2 large handfuls of pasta

Spices (ex. Oregano, Parsley, Basil)

Bring a large pot, filled halfway with water, to a rolling boil. Add the onions, celery, carrots, and any other veggies that you want to be soft. You can saute the veggies before you put them in, but I found that they softened just fine by leaving them in the boiling water for about 30 minutes. Boil until soft. Add spices to taste (I recommend a few shakes of parsley, oregano, and black pepper – about 1 teaspoon each).

Add canned veggies and stock. (I didn’t have stock until my cousin brought some over, and I think it would’ve turned out just fine without it.)

Add pasta, and continue boiling until soft.

Bring heat down to a simmer. Add sausage. Cook until you are ready to eat!

Serve with grilled cheese, toast, or a warm muffin – preferably snuggled up on the couch watching Friends! 🙂