SURVIVAL - AT LEAST TO THE NEXT PAYCHECK - DAIRY-LESS, CREAMED SOUP BASE

Let’s be honest…there are times when, potentially or actually, the cupboard is almost bare. Or, more likely, in my case, there's nothing on the shelves that interests me at the moment or fits in with my need for a super quick lunch. Now, I'm not a person who keeps pre-prepared meals in the freezer. So, anytime, when I'm looking for a quick, light meal, I'll think about soup. And I'm not a fan of those salt-laden, canned or prepackaged varieties of soup. So, I either do a fair amount of work to produce  homemade soups or I learn to make my own shortcuts. I tend to choose the latter option, since fixing healthy meals and making life easier are things that I joyfully follow and highly recommend.

While I just love cooking, and mostly don’t mind making things from scratch, sometimes it just isn't going to happen that way. That's when having stand-in, dried ingredients in a jar makes all the difference. Having this in the cabinet gives me a sense of comfort and abundance. I know I can survive in all kinds of odd circumstances - such as a short food budget,  emergency food shortages, or just plain laziness - and come out smelling like a rose or, at least, like a savory-smelling bowl of my favorite cream of veggie soup.

The recipe that I'm sharing with you uses dried rice flour as a dairy substitute and fine ground polenta as a thickening. While, these products are industrial, at least I choose and highly recommend the organic brands. And by using these products as prime ingredients, I can make my own prepackaged mix and avoid paying bigger bucks for organic, processed soups from the store.

This dried soup mix really is super easy. Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl, whisk together, and store in an airtight container. So, it can be another of your survival staples sitting on the shelf. And it's a only an arm-length's grab from there - to which, of course, you'll need to add the cooked veggies with their broth, a bit of oil, and put these ingredients to a boil. You'll have a delicious, homemade soup in record time. The same can be done for casseroles when combined with less liquid and popped in the oven to bake. This same recipe, when dressed up with a square of bandana material like that shown in the drawing, makes a quick-to-put-together and easy-on-the-wallet gift for others.

Creamed Soup Base Mix
 
2 cups rice flour, organic is better
1 cup polenta, organic is better
1 tablespoon  brown sugar
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (This is not bread yeast.)
1 tablespoon  sea salt
2 tablespoon dehydrated onion flakes
½ teaspoon powdered garlic (not garlic salt)
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon of chilli powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Mix all dry ingredients together with a whisk. Store in an airtight container.

Combine about 3/4 cup of  mix to 4 cups of boiling water, depending on desired soup thickness, in a saucepan. On medium heat, bring to a boil. Cook and stir repeatedly for 10 to 20 minutes depending on the veggie, until thick. Cool.

For Cream of Red Lentil
Use water, 3/4 cup of dried red lentils, and a teaspoon or two of olive oil, and boil for 20 minutes or until tender.

For Cream-of Mushroom Soup
Use water; 1 cup diced mushrooms, and a teaspoon or two of butter to mixture and boil about 15 minutes or until soup thickens.

For Cream-of Celery or Carrot Soup
Use water, 1 cup thin-diced, celery or carrot and a teaspoon of two of olive oil. Boil for 20 minutes or until tender.

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