Grateful for "Whatchagot" Soup!

"The unthankful heart...
discovers no mercies;
but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings"
~Henry Ward Beecher

My Heart has been full of Gratitude
this week as I read a "Letter to the Editor" that was in this month's National Geographic.
This is a little snippet from her letter...
Linda from Durham, North Carolina (whose husband had recently lost his job a few months prior to her writing this article) writes:
"This morning I was mired in self pity and grumbling about the state of our finances. Four out of five meals consist of beans and rice and I was sick of it. I headed upstairs to nurse the baby. As I settled down with my son in my arms, I turned to the picture on page 36 depicting a starving baby in Ethiopia. My eyes filled with tears of shame. I couldn't help but compare that withered little boy with the chubby infant on my lap. That boy is no less cherished than my child. I bet if his mother were plunked down in my life, she wouldn't know what to make of her good fortune. She wouldn't have time to complain. She'd be too busy cooking the beans and rice I disdain, planting vegetables in our yard and feeding her child" (end of quote)
This time of year it seems like there is an abundance of garden produce and zucchini gets added to about every meal and there are LOTS of soups and stews made with the abundance of garden veggies as well. I have heard quite a few people complain that they are sick of eating zucchini for every meal, or tired of eating soups for every meal, etc....

Every pot of soup we make up I feel SO grateful and feel rich as we are eating things that nourish our bodies. My children devour the bowls of soup they are served for dinner. I think of children in other countries and Haiti comes to mind as I read an article of moms taking a certain edible dirt and making it into cookies to feed to their children because they couldn't afford basic staple ingredients to feed their children and they were trying to ward off hunger pangs in their children's little tummy's...that is SO sad to me.
(click here to see the article)

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We are SO blessed have such an abundance of food in our lives and it is sometimes easy to take things for granted. So many people don't feel like they are eating a good meal unless it is lasagna, roast beef or pork chops with potatoes and gravy and all the fixings, etc...
If you think through history how many people would have LOVED to have had some onions and garlic and a variety of spices to throw in their soups to add flavor and a cornucopia of veggies...they would have felt rich to have such an array of things to put in a pot of soup.

For some odd reason we really do LOVE the thrift and health of a pot of soup.
(Tracy took this photo with his iPhone at Sam's Club)
On our Friday night date a few weeks ago we purchased a yummy Rotisserie chicken from Sam's Club for $4.97.

We enjoyed making sandwiches with it on the weekend, made a yummy Chicken Parmesan Pasta with part of it...

Then we took the ugly carcass and broke it apart and boiled it all afternoon and made up a pot of "Whatchagot" soup!!
I just love coming home on the one Saturday afternoon that I have to work each month and having the yummy smell of this soup filling up my kitchen as Tracy usually has this to eat when I get home!

Whatchagot Soup (my hubby's creation)
1 to 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 large or 2 small onions chopped
2 to 4 cloves of garlic minced
Saute these 3 ingredients together for 5-10 minutes until they are tender

Then add in:
6 to 8 cups chicken broth (OR 8 cups water with 3 or 4 tsp. boullion)
Whatever chicken or meat you would like
1/2 cup pearl barley
3 carrots sliced
Red potatoes diced (however many you would like)
Whatever other veggies you would like to add in (this is the reason it's called "Whatchagot soup"...you just put in what you have on hand at the moment). (We have added in broccoli, zucchini, fresh corn, peas, cabbage, etc... We have even added in leftover pasta from a previous meal...this is really an "anything goes" soup!)

Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
Then add in:
3 stalks celery chopped
Simmer for 10 more minutes

Then add in:
1/2 to 1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 Tbsp. dried chives
1/2 Tbsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Boil for 5 minutes and then enjoy with a slice of homemade bread, breadsticks, or toast. (yummy with a little Cayenne pepper sprinkled on it after you dish it up).

If you don't have much meat in your soup this is great served with a bowl of cottage cheese on the side, OR, it is yummy with cottage cheese put in your bowl of soup.

Enjoy!

SO grateful to have a hubby who helps out in the kitchen and my kids just love and look forward to the yummy things he makes!

I'm sure lucky and life is just wonderful!