JOYFULLY COOKING AND EXPERIMENTING WITH MOM'S HOMEMADE VEGETABLE SOUP

This is my mom's homemade vegetable soup - with a few alterations.

Darlene (my sister) and I grew up with a mother who made nearly everything from scratch. She came from a family of 18 so everything was just thrown together without any measuring. If more people popped in for dinner, more ingredients were added. The sad part was that mom would never measure anything.

Whenever one of us would ask her for a recipe she would invite us over to watch her make it. With 5 sisters as well as myself, I can bet we each have a different recipe. That is how versatile this recipe is. Mom changed it whenever it suit her mood and we learned to do likewise.

My daughters wanted the recipe so I decided to make it as mom taught me, but after I prepared each ingredient, I measured the amounts and put them down on paper so I could give it to them.

I heard about this 'miracle diet' soup that worked like magic. Being a soup lover (and needing to lose weight) I did a search on the internet and found it. They claim you can eat as much of this soup as you want and you will not gain a pound, in fact you would probably lose weight. (like magic)  (I wouldn’t guarantee this but it is worth a try.) It is all made of vegetables so it is very healthy.
I started to read the ingredients. I was so surprised to read a very similar version of my Mother's Homemade Vegetable soup. (No wonder I was so skinny as a kid.)

Mom's Basic Home Made Vegetable Soup
(serves 8 or more people depending on your prefrences.)

2 large diced carrots
3 C. Diced cabbage
1 diced medium onion
2 diced celery sticks
1 large can of tomatoe juice (or) 1 large can of tomatoes,
1 large bay leaf
Aprx. 3 heaping tblsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a large pot. Cover vegetables with tomatoe juice and add about another can full of water. Bring to boil on high heat. When it begins to boil, lower the heat to about medium and let it simmer for at least an hour.

The can sizes I use are about equal to a litre (or a little over a quart). You can vary the amount of liquid depending on how thick or thin you want the soup. (The same with the vegetables. Add more veg. or other ingredients for thicker soup, cut large or small.)

Variations:
My mother made this soup by simmering a soup bone for hours and then adding the vegetables. I never use the soup bone.
I have also made this soup by adding about 1/4 cup of any/or all of the following: barley, lentils, peas, corn, green or yellow beans.

• I like to add leftover cooked rice, noodles, macaroni, or spaghetti, and eat it as soup.
• If you aren't that fond of soups, try a thicker version of the soup, using less liquid, and serve it over your favorite food like a stir fry.
• Add chunks of leftover beef or chopped beef for a vegetable beef type variation.
• Leave out the tomato juice and add barley for a vegetable barley type soup.
• Add beets for a type of red borscht.

Experiment! Have fun with it! Make it your own!

See what kind of MAGIC you can make, and who knows, depending on how you make it, you might just lose a few pounds to boot.