Tomato Soup

I made homemade tomato soup with my crushed tomatoes.  One year, I lost all my tomato starts due to a late freeze and having been busy and not putting the wall-o-water up yet.  So we bought plants at the local Walmart, and they were ALL grape tomatoes.  Go figure.

Obviously they were not useful or practical to can whole tomatoes, so that year all we made was crushed tomatoes (blended with skins on) and salsa (also with skins on).  Crushed tomatoes are easy to use, but I do not like them as much as whole tomatoes.  I usually dice my whole tomatoes before adding them to any recipe, but whole tomatoes can be cut in half, thirds or fourths (useful in hearty soups or bean and pasta salads) or smashed (for soup bases or sauces or 'fresh' salsa).  Crushed tomatoes are just smashed...no options.  Period.

Back to tomato soup.  This is the BEST EVER soup.  It is thick and hearty with a texture you can almost sink your teeth into.  It makes a meal, not a broth to go with a sandwich like the canned soups.  Unfortunately, since it was an experiment, I did not take pictures.  I figured I would have to make it a few times to get it just right.  I figured wrong.  By the time I realized it, everyone had gobbled it all up.  There was barely one bowl left over for the hubby to take for lunch the next day along with the baked on ring you get in the pot you make it in.  Not very picture worthy. 

I promise to make it again soon and add pictures at that time.  Until then, the recipe is too good to make you wait.

Tomato Soup

2 pints (4 c.) crushed tomatoes

1 c. Gravy Mix

6 c. Water

1 Tbs Celery, dry

2 Tbs Onion, dry

1 tsp Parsley

1/8 tsp Lemon Pepper

1/8 tsp Pepper

1 tsp Sugar

1 tsp Basil

1/4 c. Tomato Powder

Mix together in pot and cook until warmed through and thickened to desired texture.

(I prepped in advance and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for 3 hours.  I of course had to add a little extra water because of the length of time.)

This would make a GREAT crock pot soup.  If you like your soup a little less tomato with a little more cream..... remove the 1/4 c. tomato powder.

A Chicken Rice-A-Roni Knock Off

I love rice a roni, but not so much the price.  It is just pasta, rice and seasoning after all and I do buy all my spices in bulk, so I searched far and wide and after much trial and error in different recipes, I came up with this.

Chicken Rice a Roni

2/3 c. White Rice

1/3 c. Pasta

(pasta can be broken spaghetti, vermicelli or acini de pepe)*

2 Tbs butter

4 Tbs Seasoning

2 1/4 c. Water

Saute Rice and Pasta in Butter until pasta darkens.  Add seasoning and water.  Stir to mix, then cover and simmer until rice is tender.  Equals about 1 box.

I do not recommend brown rice unless is is parboiled or something.  The brown rice always seems to never quite cook all the way and be very hard or at best chewy.  You can play with this and see what you come up with, but I've not made it work yet.

* Spaghetti will darken, vermicelli or acini de pepe will brown.  Basically you want the pasta to absorb the browned butter flavor.  It really adds to the finished product.

Chicken Rice A Roni Seasoning

1/4 c. Parsley

6 Tbs Chicken Bouillon**

2 tsp Onion Powder

1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

1/4 tsp Thyme

Mix and keep in airtight container.

**Be careful to use a high quality, low sodium bouillon or else this will be very very disgustingly salty!

Dressed for Canning Success

When starting a canning project, the best way to make it a productive and pleasant experience is to be ready for it.  Like making dinner is harder in a dirty kitchen with no clean pots and pans ....  canning will be as easy as you prepare for it to be.

I can outside most of the time.  It is much more pleasant, I can watch the kids play and I don't heat up the house.  When I blanch, tomatoes and peaches, I set up like an assembly line.

I set up my camp chef and my table so I can stand or sit in one spot and easily reach the produce to put in the hot water, remove the produce to the cold water, peel into the bucket on the ground and place blanched, peeled produce in my clean pot.

Once this is done, I leave the table up and process my jars of produce.  I then set them to cool on a towel on the table.  I know people say the wind can break your jars ...  and I live in a very windy place ... but in four years of canning this way, I have never broken a jar from the wind.  I would say it never hurts to try and if the wind is a problem for you, then simply walk the jars into the house rather than letting them cool outside.

Sorry for the glare ...  can't control the sun!

The camp chef can also handle two canners at a time.  There's not quite enough room for three, but the middle burner is a good place to put a pot of canning liquid (water or syrup) to stay warm without heating the house!