Some soup for the colder weather

When you live in Texas, and you survive the summer, you long for cooler weather. Your moms probably taught you not to go out in the cold without a coat on, or to just stay inside and stay warm period, but what about the heat? There are only so many clothes you can take off and still go outside, and then you worry about a sunburn. You never think about staying in from the heat. That is, until it’s 105 for days on end. The heat is so oppressive you just want to stay inside and if you didn’t get the mail before 10 am, it will just have to wait another day. This summer, I would get all my errands run by 10. You know it’s bad when the car is so hot by the time you get out of the grocery store by 9:30 am, the you sweat before putting on your seatbelt.
Enough of me complaining about the heat…… It’s fall! We are no longer under house arrest, and I can make SOUP!!!! I love soup!

First up is my “HOLY CRAP TASTY” lentil soup

I know, you think lentils and IMMEDIATELY you think tasty, delicious, and a must eat.
After a bite of this, my two year old proclaimed, “Holy Crap, that tasty!!!”
It starts out like most things; onion and garlic in olive oil.

Once the onions are translucent, I added a small butternut squash that I had laying around, and sautéed it.

Next up, add the red lentils and either water, or chicken stock (about 32 ounces) and water. Total about 40 ounces of liquid.

Let this cook until the lentils have burst and thickened the soup, then with an immersion blender or blender blend until smooth. Serve with a dollop of Greek yogurt or a splash of cream.

Next up is tomato soup.
It starts the same way, with onions and garlic in olive oil, then I add two cans of diced tomatoes (it’s winter, trust me it’s better than fresh tomatoes from the Southern Hemisphere) and a can of tomato sauce. Then add the same amount of liquid as before, water, stock, whatever, and then blend up. I added the milk or cream in here at this point. Add this to taste.

This soup could not be easier. Either one of them really, and you get to control what goes in, plus there are TONS of leftovers that you can freeze and pull out on a busy night when you want instant soup. I doesn’t get more instant that that.

I hope you try these, and if you do, I want to hear about it, or any other recipe you have tried!