It's Every Man for Himself!

It's Thursday night, I just got home from the gym, I'm tired, hungry and don't want to go out. I don't really want to cook. My husband had enough to eat during the day so he doesn't really want any dinner tonight. Good. It's every man for himself. He can find whatever is left in the refrigerator if he gets hungry. There should be a piece of two of the Shrimp and Sausage Quesadilla I made last night.

I feel like having mushroom soup.

When my late husband died, I lost my appetite for more than a month. Couldn't eat anything but mushroom soup. It went down easy and it was warm and comforting. Every afternoon I warmed a can of the low sodium, 98% fat free version of Campbell's Mushroom soup and sipped it with a few crackers. Eventually I could add a 1/2 sandwich of some kind, but the soup was always what I wanted.

For some reason, I wanted mushroom soup tonight. I opened two cans of the low sodium, 98% fat free. There's nothing wrong with my appetite now, so I wanted to make it a just a little more hearty.

Mushroom Soup with Green Beans

2 cans Campbell's Mushroom Soup low sodium, 98% fat free
1 can of water
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/2 t. dried thyme
1 10 oz. jar of sliced mushrooms (or 12 oz. of fresh mushrooms sliced and sauteed.)
1 c. of cooked green beans
1/2 t dried onion flakes

I put everything into a saucepan and let it warm slowly for about 15 minutes. This allowed the dried thyme and onion flakes to rebloom in the soup and the green beans to lend their flavor to the rest of the pot.

That's it! I ate it with some whole grain wheat crackers. It was delicious.

As much as I love to cook, it's also very nice to have a night where I can just throw something together that only takes a few minutes. Warming the soup actually took longer than assembling it. And like so many of the dishes I make, I already had everything in the pantry. I always keep several cans of mushroom soup to use for sauces, etc. I was in the Sav-A-Lot and saw sliced mushrooms in a jar for $.89. I bought two to keep in the pantry. The freezer always has frozen vegetables of all kinds to use whenever the urge strikes. Tonight I used some green beans I found on sale at Harris Teeter in a Steam in the Bag variety for $.75, regular price - more than $3.00.

Try this same soup recipe with Cream of Chicken, dried basil, and frozen peas or corn. Add the mushrooms if you like. Add a little garlic powder or Lawry's Season Salt.

Or try it with Cream of Celery, parsley, and corn or diced potatoes.

I'm full. I'm going to finish checking e-mail and turn in for the night.