Can I Make...

....Cream of mushroom soup so I don't have to buy the cans anymore? That was my learning quest this week. And I found that Yes, I can make it! And it's easy! I never really like using my cans of cream of mushroom soup because once I read the ingredient list and couldn't pronounce many items on there I got really grossed out. This is what is happening to me now that I am trying to educate myself on what is really in the things we buy. So, I am trying to learn how to make a few more things that I would normally buy at the store, see if it's easy and if it tastes alright. (Complete recipe at bottom of page; I doubled the recipe)

Can you believe, these are the only ingredients you need to make your OWN cream of mushroom soup!! Simple as pie! Milk, flour, olive oil, butter, salt, and fresh mushrooms.



Now you just chop up the mushrooms, make a roux with the butter, olive oil, flour, and salt. Add the chopped mushrooms and cook them for 1-2 minutes.

Then add your milk and stirring occasionally, let simmer until thickened. I let mine simmer about 15 minutes. Then just let it cool, and put it in ziploc baggies and put in the freezer. Is that easy or what! 
Today I'm also cooking a chicken and making broth from it. When I'm boiling my chicken I just add carrots, onion, celery, garlic cloves, basil, thyme, ground/whole cloves, pepper, rosemary, parsley, and bay leaves. I let is simmer until the chicken is done. Take the chicken out, pull all of the meat off, then put the bones back in. Let simmer for 5 or so more hours. Skim off the frothy/oily stuff that rises to the top once you're done. Then I put the broth into containers, freezer bags, and ice cube trays so I can pull out as much as I need later on for cooking purposes. It works great, tastes fabulous, isn't high in sodium like most store bought chicken broths, and makes your house smell wonderful all day!

 

Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup Recipe

2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 c whole wheat flour (or white, I use wheat to annoy Justin) :)
1 tsp. salt or more to taste
12 fresh mushrooms, chopped
2 cups of milk (less for a thicker soup)

Heat butter and oil then add flour and salt, stirring to make a roux. Add mushrooms and cook about a minute, just to soften. Add milk and stir until thickened. This is a substitute for two 10 oz. cans cream of mushroom soup. To make cream of chicken, simply omit mushrooms, add 1 tsp. chicken base (a paste, like bouillon but without the MSG) and substitute half the milk with chicken broth or stock. To make cream of celery, substitute celery for the mushrooms and proceed as listed above.
(Recipe courtesy of Passionate Homemaking)

Stay tuned for more "Can I Make This?" posts! Who knows what I'm going to try next. :) And if you have any suggestions I'll certainly try them as well.