Soup in a Bag

Today I picked up my Bountiful (produce) Basket and decided to do some vegetable prep and freeze some of my soup ingredients to use at a later date. My kiddos helped me cut up and bag a good chunk of the produce. We spent two hours peeling, cutting, and bagging produce for soups, lunches, side dishes, snacks, and tonight's dessert.

Here is what we did. I used gallon size bags and filled them each with chopped veggies that included

• 1 med zucchini
• 4 carrots
• 1/4 cabbage
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 head broccoli

Other veggies I have used in a variety of combinations include

• onions
• kale
• spinach
• tomatoes (cut or pureed)
• cauliflower
• corn

Now, the next time I want to make hamburger stew I can pull a bag of veggies out of the freezer to toss in the crock pot instead of having to take the time to cut them the same day. To make hamburger stew I use these additional ingredients

• 1 lb hamburger (browned in a separate pan before adding, or crumbled in between veggies and cooked in crock pot)
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• water - enough to cover veggies

Combine all desired ingredients in crock pot and cook on low (6 to 8 hours) or high (3 to 4 hours).

I am so grateful my little ones were willing to be so helpful in the kitchen today! We were able to accomplish so much I can spend the rest of my day doing something else.