I wish to make my own soups/casseroles

Miroslav

I hope i'm posting in the right place...:o

I've had a look around and i've seen similar posts in this section before.....I think!

Basically, like alot of people I have little money but added to that my body rejects alot of foods, so it can be quite expensive to eat, but the bonus is I don't eat junk.

I've started making my own dishes after many years of being scared of the kitchen, but i'm struggling a bit.

What I wish to do is make my own soup and/or casseroles so I can freeze and not only save money from buying the overpriced supermarket soups but also avoid all the nasty ingredients.

I'm just having one problem - not knowing what stock to add or how to make it (or can I just buy some and add some ready made?)

I know what vegetables to use and what meats I can eat and i've even made some soup with someone, but she added loads of water, some Knorr stock and even milk.

I'm having problems not knowing how much water, milk and stock to put in and how long to cook it all for - that's quite alot right? All the websites I go to are confusing me and asking me to add things I don't want to add - I just wish to use basic vegetable and meat and learn how to use stock and herbs for flavouring - mainly.

Can anybody please point me in the right direction with any links or hints and tips?

I've done well so far making Quorn and Turkey based dishes such as pies, but want to expand my repertoire but i'm struggling and getting frustrated. I don't want to cook in a slow cooker for hours on end. I don't mind 2-3 hours but some recipes are telling me 7+ hours!

Thanks for any help and apologies in advance for any silly questions I can come up with

gibson123

making soup is very easy but you need to know the different techniques.

Meat stock

Stock is only concentrated flavouring, boil up any meat or chicken bones with some bay leaves and some vegetables and let it concentrate down, it can then be frozen in ice cube trays and bags to be used at a later date. You can also make stock using a stock cube but they can be salty. If you are boiling meat such as a ham, you should keep the liquid and use it as the basis of a soup, such as pea and ham.

Instead of stock you can just use plain water, juices or fruit juices e.g orange juice for carrot and orange, tomato for cream of tomato.

Once you have a good stock you can just use it with any vegetables to make a meat and vegetable soup e.g chicken and leek.

soup using dried peas, lentils and beans

These soups are very easy to make although some of the beans and peas require soaking. split red lentils do not, you just need to boil these up with a stock and add any vegetables you like to complement this. You can also spice up by adding chilli or curry paste to finish. Soups using these include scotch broth, pea and ham, chilli bean soup.

Cream of Soups

there are two techniques the first is making up a roux with butter or oil and flour and then add half stock and half milk and any vegetables and meat, so you can have cream of chicken, cream of cauliflower, cream of carrot etc.

the second technique is to cook your vegetables and then simply finish with cream. This works well with tomato soups.

Lexxi

Maybe you could give us an idea of what doesn't agree with you as someone else may be in the same situation and have some meal suggestions.
My soups are very lazy and not adventurous, I stick to onion, mushroom and a never fail veg mostly.
If you like/can eat turkey there is a lovely recipe for turkey meatballs with tomato and red pepper sauce somewhere on here but I can't search from my phone, I'll try and find it when I get chance. Its a bit time consuming but its straightforward and it makes loads

squeaky

Hi

Our main thread on soups is this one: Soup recipes

Others of interest... Lentil soup, Slow Cooker - Soup, Chicken stock to soup

You might like to start here: Easy soup recipe please....

And if things go wrong: Save my soup! Soup problems thread.


There are lots of threads you might like to browse: soup threads here on MoneySaving Old Style

Miroslav

Hi, thanks for your responses.

gibson123 - Thanks for all of that. I didn't realise most of that, so will print this off for use.

Lexxi - It may be easier to say what I can eat. Virtually any vegetable is fine, minus mushrooms and peppers. Meat is usually Turkey or Chicken, but a very lean cut of red meat is fine. Must avoid spices. I kind of know what I want in the soups, it's basically knowing the amounts of water/milk/stock to add, when and how long to cook for. Thanks for the reply.

squeaky - Thanks for those links. Some good reading to be had it seems and some 'fun' in the kitchen....maybe!

Thanks again everyone.

Stephen_Leak

My many simple soup recipes should be on the threads Squeaky has posted. And I always specify any water in the ingredients. OK, the amount may not be critical, but you still have to give a figure.

From what you've posted above, I can immediately think of only the mushroom and chilli bean soups as being unsuitable.

If you need any help with any of them, please send me a Private Message (PM). Now, you don't get that kind of service from Delia or Jamie!

squeaky

Forgot to say...

There's a brilliant site by a real enthusiast:- https://www.soupsong.com

Miroslav

Thanks Stephen - i'll give some a go over the weekend and contact you if I come into any bother (quite possible )

Thanks Squeaky - that's quite a site!

Another question or three.....which may be covered in the links given, but long day so i'll ask anyway.....

When freezing soup, i'm guessing it's best to freeze into portion sized containers so as not to have to cook it all again in one go?

Can I re-heat from frozen or do I need to defrost?

How long do I need to re-heat for after soup has been frozen.

Thanks

Stephen_Leak

You can freeze almost all soups. However, with some, for example broccoli & cheese or celery & cheese, you make just broccoli or celery soup, freeze it and add the cheese when you reheat it.

My usual portion is 250ml per person.

Strictly speaking, you should defrost first, but I have blasted stuff straight from frozen, when I was in a hurry or just impatient.

As with any frozen and reheated food, make sure it's piping hot, so that any bugs that might be in it are cooked as well.

lally666young

Most soups are not that spicey anyway. And I agree they are quick easy and simple to do. I can put some veggies in the slow cooker with a veg stock cube a pint of water and I can leave it on low whilst I am doing other things. If you are feeling a bit more adventrous before you go to bed soak some lentils in a bit of stock and then mix with veg, seasonings and slow cook. You can blend this and it makes a yummy and simple soup.

Miroslav

Just reporting back.

I've been making my own Chicken and Vegetable soup and it's gone down very well.

Been cheating a little and using stock cubes, but that aside I think i've done pretty well.