Got up early, and by 6am had my freezer cleaned and reorganized and got a good bead on where I stood with some fish and meat, whole meals, vegetable and potato staples. I had a LOT of meat I had cut into meal portions: ground beef, cooked chicken and turkey, pork chops, salmon, tilapia, ground pork sausage (I really like making meals out Jimmy Dean or whatever spiced sausage is on sale). I had quite a lot of vegetables, a number of frozen meals and the reason for that is our age and for the times we simply aren’t feeling well enough to cook from scratch (doesn’t happen often anymore, but recently, it was such a blessing to have a few frozen meals). We always buy on sale, BOGO etc. We have our favorites, which we think give the best bang for the buck nutritionally, paying attention to amount of protein and volume. In looking at what I have stocked in freezer, it seems to be approximately 3 months of meals for the two of us, which is pretty good. I had bacon, ham, soups, two bags of Wontons(!), lg bag of frozen french fries, yes, some ice cream, fish sticks (my husband loves them, so he gets them), bread, which I sometimes home make, but right now we have about 4 loaves and we keep them in freezer, using them when needed, setting toaster on light to just unthaw them etc. We have little to no wastage.
Here is what I cleaned out of fridge and freezer to make this fabulous and hearty soup:
3 half ears of corn – cooked and cleaned off cob, add to soup base.
I found 1/3 of Ore Ida O’brien Potatoes with peppers and onions cooked in small amount of oil , but not completely cooked. Add to soup base.
1 1/2 cups of cooked ground Jimmy Dean Sausage.
2 cups of chicken broth
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
3 cups of Kale
1 small onion
1/2 medium sweet potato
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
2 tsp onion flakes
2 cups water
Mix, bring to boil, take down to simmer and thoroughly enjoy!
