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| chicken, pasta, and vegetables one quart experiment |
I decided to see how far that little bit of vegetables would go in use. So, I took the left over half cup of broth and more broth to make a half cup of broth. Plus, I removed a bit of Delallo rigatoni pasta from the freezer, less than one cup. I used a bit of the chicken fat/broth and flour, cooked in small skillet to thicken the broth in the soup.
Then, I added a handful of dark and light chicken shreds to this and fed it to exbf. The cold chicken breast resisted being pulled apart. The few tastes I had were incredible. He took home a Miracle Whip jar more than half full after of soup. Knowing him, he will take out half, add something and have a lot of "soup" for two meals.
The whole point of making the soup was to try the dehydrated vegetables. They dehydrated easily. I put them in warm broth and put in the refrigerator overnight until I was ready to cook. The rigatoni was cooked in water. I used half cup of that water in the soup.
I basically took leftovers and made a meal--one quart of soup. I opened nothing new to make the soup. This is not the usual kind of soup I make, so this was an experiment. This is the first soup I have ever made with chicken. It is the first soup I have made without tomatoes or tomato sauce. To me, it reminded me of a Progresso soup, although I have never eaten Progresso. When I finished the soup, it just looked like the pictures on Progresso cans.
Adding another vegetable, a little more meat and it would have been more than a quart of soup. But, I found out what I wanted to know about the dehydrated vegetables. I used the leftover dehydrated vegetables from the pint I used to win. Since this was less than half a cut of mixed vegetables for soup, I will probably use a full half cup of the pint and have four meals from vegetables. Of course, I am not making large batches of soup. This is my first time using all dehydrated vegetables in cooking. YMMV.
Why did I not keep it for myself or at least part of the soup after he had lunch from it? He worked too hard to get my heater uncovered and into the den. So, he got it all to help him out in the cooking department, not that he ever really cooks. Besides, I told him it was just for him.
The results of my experiment: less than one half cup of these dehydrated vegetables would make enough for four small servings or two large servings. Of course, a sandwich alongside would fill the meal out nicely. If I were giving this to my children, I would give them a peanut butter and honey sandwich. But, we never ate soup and sandwich.
Your turn
So you ever dehydrate vegetables to cook later in soup or whatever? Do you make white soup or like me, always use tomatoes or tomato sauce? This was the smallest pot of soup I have ever made. Do you cook huge pots of soup or just small amounts?
I make a soup like yours without pasta and I pressure can it. I also make beef stew, potato soup with ham and onion soup to can. Healthy convenience foods are great to have around the house.
ReplyDeleteIf I were canning the soup, there would be no pasta.
DeletePatti,
ReplyDeleteYou put vegetables and chicken? There was so little pasta that I did not think it would be bad since my exbf who has diabetes would be expending lots of energy that day. Otherwise, I have never put pasta in a soup. This was all first for me. I need to get the seal for my canner replaced and can some soup. I absolute hate eating soup from a can because of the sodium, so canning my own soup would be best. Like you say, convenience foods. I would can in pints and quarts since a pint would be more than enough for me. Thanks for the nudge!
I do mostly pints, also, even though there are four of us. We all seem to want different soups on soup days!
DeleteI have not eaten commercially canned soup in a long time. Homemade is so much better and since I have so many food allergies, it is much safer, too.
I make chicken soup once a month - about 3 cups worth just enought for 2 - with celery, onions, green beans or spinach, some parsley and whatever herbs and spice sound good at the time. Broth is usually homemade and skimmed of most fat. And for hubby I add corn and rice. I'm diabetic and do not eat pasta or rice. To add to hubby's soup I just zap the corn and rice (precooked & frozen) in the microwave, put in the bowl and add the rest of the soup. I rarely make soup with tomatoes because I just don't like it. Haven't had canned soup, because of the sodium, in probably 25 years. And yes, your soup looks like the Progresso soup ads.
ReplyDeleteBellen,
DeleteI put peas in his soup last since I hate peas and he loves them. I eat very little soup from a can. I am not diabetic, but eat lots less salt than I would like to eat...lol. I thought it did look like the Progresso ads...lol...then I thought maybe that sounded egotistical or delusional.
That looks oh so yummy! It snowed here and I'm thinking that soup would make for a fine dinner!
ReplyDeleteSonya Ann,
DeleteI thought I answered this. Temps are going down to 19 here in Dixie. We probably won't get snow, but it's plenty cold for a batch of soup.
Like beef stew and chili, I thought it was impossible to make a batch of soup smaller than enough to feed a small army. Impossible.
ReplyDeleteRita.
ReplyDeleteYou and me both. I really had trouble with how much to use of what! But, I was testing the vegetables that I dehydrated. I still cook like I have a hungry family here. There are just leftovers from the pot of soup that would feed a small army.
gosh that looks soooooo yummy! my mom always has a pot of soup loaded with stuff on the stove. she does bog batches and freezes them in smaller sizes. she does a lot of lentils and veggies from the garden. this year she froze a lot of greens from the garden to try to get through the winter with some for the soups. i due more thick soupy rice and lentil kinda things....pots i call them....one pot meals..... a couple years back, i found a sale on some dehydrated veggies so i have a large can of dehydrated green onions and one of celery....which i thought i would absolutely love for winter soups and such but i haven't opened them because i am not sure what to do with that high can once its open. do they stay like dried herbs? or how do i need to store them once they are open? any suggestions?
ReplyDeletesorry about all the typos - I'm typing with cats on my lap and i think spell check is attempting to help me and it is creating words - like "high" should be "big" and my type-os "bog" should be "big" and "due" should be "do".
DeleteLuv,
DeletePut those dehydrated vegetables in canning jars to store. Put on a regular canning lid and ring, tighten. You could use a sealer, but I think they will be just fine unless you are storing them for 20 years. Just keep them in the dark. I can onions and celery to use in the winter. yeah, that "bog batch" would have confused me. lol.
We only just got our dehydrator, so I've not experimented with dehydrating or re-hydrating. That said, after 20 years in the military, I've eaten a lot of Ramen/Cup O'Noodle, etcetera. Many of them use dehydrated vegetables, not a lot, but definitely dehydrated. They always tasted good.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the egg post in my blog? I did indeed talk show it to the gentleman I bought it from. He'd never seen the like, either. He gave me two eggs to replace the one, when all I expected was a polite conversation on the strangeness of the egg. Many of my friends commented on it, and from what I can tell, it does happen occasionally and they all toss them.
Blessings. ♥