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Mom's Cabbage Soup



I wish the camera had captured the steam coming from it!  It was delicious!



Today is Day 2 of the Polar Vortex so I decided to make another batch of soup.  I bought a head of cabbage for the Vegetable Soup,  not knowing the Daryl had one in the fridge, so since I had an extra one I decided to make, of course, another type of veggie soup.  This one, however, is an old family recipe.  My mom has made it for as long as I can remember.  I loved it as a kid, and I still do!  It is pure and simple, using only vegetables and water.  I feel that there is a story behind every meal. Especially those that are passed down from generation to generation, or are based on your ethnicity.  That is really big reason why I wanted to start this blog.  My nieces and nephew have always loved my mom's, their grandma's, cooking.  As a wedding present for my oldest niece I gave her a recipe book of all of my mom's best recipes and new ones that Daryl and I have liked.  I thought this would be another way to document the food that we share.  In both of our families getting together always surrounds a meal.  Growing up Daryl and I ate with our families at the table every night.   I am amazed at my mom's ability to put together a 5 course meal every night, after she worked a full day at her job outside of the home!  Yes, you read that correctly, 5 course meal!  We always had: protein, starch, vegetable, salad and dessert. If you EVER had a meal out it was a very special occasion, and the only time I was ever able to have a frozen pizza, or my favorite pizza rolls was when they were going out and I was going to have a babysitter.  Man I loved those pizzas!

Sadly, Daryl has lost both of his parents, and my dad died several years ago.   My mom is 90, and she is a product of the depression so obviously she used whatever was around to make our meals because that's how she learned to cook.  We are Irish which means not only do we love potatoes, we LOVE cabbage.  I actually love the smell of cabbage in the house.  Daryl, although he will eat it, thinks it stinks!  Too bad for him!  A few years back I heard that this soup was actually some new fad diet.  Go figure.  I have been eating it my whole life just because it tastes great.

Daryl eats this soup occasionally.  He would prefer it to have some sort of protein in it so to make me happy we leave the basic soup intact, and when he wants a bowl he will add whatever protein we have in the fridge.  Usually it's some sort of sausage.

This is another soup that I make a big batch of so that I can freeze a few containers in order to have a quick, homemade week night meal. Also, I guess I have turned into my mother - in some ways - in that I don't really have extact amounts for the ingredients. When she gave it to me she didn't either so we all can make it our own.  I use whatever I have on hand.  My mom used to add a package of instant soup to it, such as Lipton or Knorr.  I prefer to keep it pure and simple; water and veggies.  Except, I have recently started adding a squirt of Sriracha in my bowl right before I eat it.  It gives it a nice spicy kick, which I love.  It sure makes your nose run - great it you have a cold!





Ingrediatns:
1 head of cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 or 2 yellow onions, quartered
2 or 3 carrots, cut
2 or 3 celery, chopped
1 can of tomatoes
Salt and pepper
water



(Does it get any simpler?)




Place all of the cut vegetables in a stock pot.  Cover with water.  Bring to a boil then add the can of tomatoes.  Stir and simmer until all of the vegetables are soft, about an hour.  Add more water if needed.  Serve and top with Sriracha.

Cut vegetables and water in the stock pot.


Once cooled you can put then in single serving container and store in your freezer.


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