Hildy says, more than a burger! (VEGETABLE HAMBERGER SOUP)

Well! We meet again!

I promised to talk about soup! We eat it year around at our house, but it is especially comforting in the winter months. My favorite for healthy eating is chicken vegetable, or hamburger vegetable. Loaded with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and goodwill, it ups your immune system response so during cold and flu season, it is sent from heaven.

With one pound of organic ground beef or six organic drumstix, you can make a good size pot of soup that will give you two meals for 4 people.Soup bones are great so if you ever see one, snap it up. They used to be so cheap they almost gave them away, now bones are as scarce as hen’s teeth. Speaking of hens, (well I am now) I use chicken drums because they are cheaper but have a lot of bang for the buck. You can use any part of the chicken, but dark meat is my favorite for flavor, texture and nutrition. I cook the chicken in filtered water until it falls off the bone.Adding a tablespoon of vinegar will leach out the minerals in the bones, whether it is chicken, beef, venison, elk or javalina. I’ve never made soup with javalina and if you have, I don’t want to hear about it!!

VEGETABLE HAMBERGER SOUP

Pictures below.

1# Organic Ground Beef2 Qts Filtered Water

1 Medium onion chopped1 Can V8 Juice

2 Med Potatoes Chopped1 Can Green Beans (drained)

2 tspns Salt2 stalks celery

1 tspn thyme (dried)2 Med Carrots Chopped

½ tspn pepper1 Can Great Northern Beans (drained)

½ tspn allspice1 Can Stewed Tomatoes

1 or 2 Bay leaves1 Can beans (Pinto, Kidney, any kind) (drained)

In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, add 1 TBLSPN Coconut oil.Brown beef, stirring to break up. Add water and V8 Juice, salt, thyme, pepper, allspice, bay leaves, chopped raw veggies, and tomatoes.(Sometimes, I add ¼ cup rice during last 20 minutes cooking.)Bring to boil, lower heat, cover, and simmer until raw veggies are almost tender. (about 25 minutes).Add green beans, Great Northern beans, and rice if using. Simmer another 20 minutes or until veggies and rice are tender.Go organic whenever possible. Sometimes, I add chopped cabbage, chick peas, kidney beans, vermicelli instead of rice.It’s vegetable soup so check your supplies of canned, frozen, and fresh vegetables and use whatever you have and like. You can add some beefbouillon, but if you do, cut back on the salt. Serve with crackers or French bread and butter.

You can’t beat this with a stick for healthy eating on a cold night, or a warm day. I have been known to have soup for breakfast. Think outside the box or the soup pot. Now taste it and adjust the salt or spices to your taste buds. Sometimes, I add a hot pepper to give it a little kick.Remove the pepper before serving the soup. Next time, We’ll talk about probiotics.We make our own sauerkraut!It’s easy to make (especially if you have a son who will shred the cabbage). See you later and remember God loves us!!