If I can't eat it out of a can...

Wednesday we had off, so I went to Walmart. I wanted more, safe, vegetable soup. I've mentioned how much I love vegetable soup.

Well, no matter the brand, they all pretty much have MSG. Forget that.

But I love vegetable soup. Virtually everything I eat is processed food, I need my veggies.

How-ev-er.... I noticed Walmart stocked the Kitchen Basics stock. It is the best stock ever. I've made my own stock. Generally I used 1 pound of bony meat cuts per quart of water, chopped veggies, simmer forever, strain. Deal with yucky mess in the garbage can. Wash yucky stockpot. Carefully ladle up the bowls of stock. Freeze. Now I have virtually no freezer space. When I want stock, take it out and thaw. Not fun.

Kitchen Basics is better than my homemade stock. It's available in 1 quart tetra-pack bricks. I can stick it on a shelf in the cupboard until I want it, then rip off the tab and use it. And it has no additives. It's just meat and vegetable stock. No MSG. I got a couple of boxes.

Walmart has a decent selection of organic produce. I got some vegetable soup fixin's, paid up, and left.

I wanted something more though, so when Ron went to Starbucks later I tagged along. His Starbucks is within walking distance of a Randall's, arguably the "nicest" grocery story I've shopped in Houston. They had Jonagold apples (drool), delicious organic yogurt (no additives), and some other delicious organic tetra-pack stocks.

I won't lie. The first batch of vegetable soup was a major disappointment. I used too much seasoning blend (onions, celery, and a small amount of peppers, it's chopped and frozen). Too much pepper, too. I grimly ate the first bowl but I didn't like it.

Thursday I got smart. Why keep it around and make myself miserable? I threw it out and made a second batch. Here goes:
Heather's Vegetable Soup
Try to use as many organic ingredients as you can.
1/2 cup seasoning blend (a blend of chopped onions, celery and peppers)
1 quart organic stock (it doesn't matter if it's vegetable, chicken, or beef)
1/2 T salt
1/8 t pepper
1/4 t chopped garlic
3/8 or 1/4 cup pearled barley (I like a lot of barley in my soup)
1/4 c lentils
1/4 small potato, diced (you can skip the potato if you want)
1/2 celery stalk, sliced
1/2 large carrot, sliced

Combine stock and spices in a 2+ quart stockpan. Bring to a simmer, add everything and stir. Cover and simmer 30 minutes, then add:
1 handful chopped green beans (grab a handful fresh green beans, then chop and add)
1/2 cup cabbage, chopped
(You could also add a cup or so of chopped organic greens, which I plan to do next time)
1/3 can diced tomatoes
I love salty food, so I'd add another 1/4 t salt but that's me.

Simmer 20 additional minutes, stir and serve!

I had one bowl to eat then, plus over 4 additional servings. It's got lots of good things and I look forward to eating it every day.