Must Go Soup

This recipe is never the same because it is based on the ingredients that MUST GO out of the refrigerator or freezer. Basically it's made from leftovers, which I prefer to call *planned-overs* and even though it's 93 degrees outside, my DH was thrilled to find out that he'd be coming home to a bowl of freshly made soup.

In a very large (8-10qt) stock pot, combine the following ingredients.

3 quarts stock (either canned, or bouillon cubes, or in this case three leftover packets of Lipton Onion Soup mix, inherited from a great aunt who closed her kitchen)

28 oz canned, diced tomatoes (you agrarians out there probably have these freshly frozen in your chest freezer in the basement)

24 oz veggie juice (or in my case, leftover bloody mary mix)

32 oz frozen veggies (I used corn and gumbo mix cuz that's what had to be cleaned out of the freezer)

16 oz other veggies I had frozen, like green beans and carrots, which are in ziplock baggies in a special basket in the freezer just for this purpose. See Amy's comment on making smoothies with leftover fruit.

1 lb browned ground beef (found it in a tupperware container in the back of the freezer)

1/2 C dry alphabet pasta (put in last and just let sit covered for 30 mins)

Cool some and then refrigerate.

As far as my method goes, I usually bring the stock to a boil and dump in the frozen items and stir. If most of your items come from a weeks worth of refrigerator leftovers (not frozen ones), just heat the liquid and veggies at the same time. I delay adding leftover rice or noodles because they will get mushy, so add those pretty close to serving time, even if it means the next day. I have been known to freeze the entire amount in a large Tupperware container. But it also does well in small individual serving containers.