Monday, February 26, 2018

Souper Blog Hop! Mmm Mmm Good.






Good Monday Morning, Everyone! Today, the amazing Chrys Fey is hosting a very special blog hop to introduce her mom's book, Pea Soup Disaster, A Gregory Green Adventure. In honor of this debut, we are celebrating our favorite soups. 

I don't know about you, but I love soup, especially in the winter. Here is the soup I've been chowing down on this winter:




It is sooo good, especially with crumbles of Tostitos corn chips thrown in. It's spicy, but not enough to cause one to breath fire, full of beans and rice to keep you full, plus nice, huge cubes of chicken. (The rectangular cubes are a little odd. I'm not sure what kind of chicken they're using. Must be some special breed of geometrically perfect bird. ;)

I do make several soups from scratch. My favorite is probably a variety of chicken vegetable soup. (No cubed chicken needed.)




First I saute 3 or so heaping tablespoons of minced garlic in a large soup pot. Then I toss in chopped celery and carrots (about a cup each). I like my vegetables a little crunchy, so I don't saute them too long before adding chicken broth (two 14.5 ounce cans of Swanson's reduced salt or one 32 ounce box).

Now for the yummy part. For spices, I like to add basil, thyme, and dill. Since I sprinkle from the spice containers directly, I'm not 100% sure of the amounts, but if you held a hot soup ladle to my head, I'd guess around a 1/2 teaspoon of basil, and maybe a 1/4 teaspoon each of thyme and dill. Basil you can go overboard with and nothing bad will happen. Thyme and dill make the soup something special, but you don't want to go crazy. 


Spice rack
Image: trollhare



I let this simmer for at least thirty minutes. Before serving, I add chopped beefsteak tomatoes (1 and a half cups) and 1/4 cup of chopped green onion-also known as chives. You don't want these two to simmer with the other ingredients because they'll turn to mush. 

I'll admit, vegetables and broth alone don't make the most hearty of soups. I used to add leftover pieces of chicken from whenever we had a roast chicken, but since the soup amount is large, if you don't eat it or freeze it, the chicken would go bad after a week. Eventually I realized I wasn't a huge fan of the chicken anyway and left it out. I tried adding pasta instead, but it gets mushy and kinda gross after a few days. A better option is a can of great northern (white) beans. No mush and they won't spoil. 

And now, here's Elaine Kaye's new book:





BLURB: Gregory Green loves his mom’s pea soup, but when he eats it at school, all of his friends make fun of how it looks. He doesn’t think it looks like bugs, and it tastes good! Then at recess, his friends run from him, screaming, “He’s a monster!” Gregory doesn’t know why his friends are being mean until he sees his skin is green. The teasing gets worse until an unlikely friend comes to the rescue—his teddy bear, Sammy. Sammy usually only comes to life for Gregory and his family, but Sammy has an important lesson to teach Gregory and his classmates.

Available in Print:




ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Elaine Kaye got the idea for Pea Soup Disaster from her son who loved to eat her homemade pea soup. Pea Soup Disaster is the first of many fun stories featuring Gregory Green and his teddy bear, Sammy, as part of the Gregory Green Adventure series.

Kaye has worked as a library assistant and teacher's assistant in elementary schools in the Sunshine State. She currently lives in Florida, but she has called Michigan; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Okinawa, Japan home. She is a grandmother of three boys.

Find Elaine:
Website / Instagram / Litsy - @ElaineKaye
Goodreads / Amazon


Do you eat a lot of soup? Have a favorite?

27 comments:

  1. I love to add great northern beans to my homemade soups, too. Since I don't eat meat, they help to fill me up. :) The dill and green onions you add to your soup would really provide yummy flavor. I'll have to try that next time. Thanks for sharing! And thank you so much for participating!

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  2. We don't want mushy soup!
    Congratulations to Elaine.

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  3. I rarely measure anything so I couldn't tell someone how much spice to add. We're fortunate with our herb garden and dehydrator that we have a lot of fresh spices.

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  4. When I have it, I love to add chopped green onions to my bowl of chicken soup. A piece or two with each spoonful is good.

    Thanks for the recipe. And thank you for joining us today. It's great to meet you, Tamara.

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  5. Yes one of my favorite soups. You should try the Bear Creek Brand mix version, delicious and easy to make.

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  6. I love a basic veggie soup as a base for adding different meats. Mmmm.

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  7. I love soup, so there's always a pot brewing on my stove. Congrats to Elaine on her book!

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  8. Chicken tortilla soup is delicious! A good vegetable soup is simple to make, tastes wonderful, and is a great way to get your dose of vegetables for the day.

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  9. Summertime is my favorite time for making veggie soup, because there are sooooo many fresh vegetables available. Fresh green beans and corn scraped from the cob add a nice sweetness, and chopped cabbage adds a nice heartiness. The steamed crab halves are what reeeeally make it good, though. (Okay, so it isn't JUST veggie soup...)

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  10. All these soup recipes are making me so hungry. This was another great sounding one!

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  11. As a retired haphazard-cook, I liked your approach to getting ingredients right for this perfect soup - or souper soup.

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  12. Congratulations to Elaine! I like pea soup.

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  13. Congrats to Elaine! I used to make ministrone, lentil, and Mexican chicken soup.

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  14. Measuring is for amateurs ;) One should spice to taste, anyway.

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  15. I'm going to try that Mexican tortilla soup, weird chicken or not. LOL Best wishes to Elaine.

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  16. I love Chicken Noodle Soup for an easy dinner. I usually just throw everything in a pot and simmer until the veggies are almost soft.

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  17. Sounds like a cute book. I love soup too. My favourites are homemade baked potato soup, homemade leek and potato, and homemade clam chowder.

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  18. I haven't tried Campbell's version of the soup. Maybe I will!

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  19. This sounds like amazing soup! Thanks for sharing!


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  20. I love Tortilla soup, but not sure if I'm brave enough to try Campbell's (too much salt).

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  21. Chicken tortilla soup is always good. The beans do keep you full and going until the next meal.

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