my go-to soups this winter!

we eat a lot of different soups in the winter.  A lot of soup in general.  I've figured out how to make them much more affordable over the past year and that's been a big blessing because this mama has a lot of mouths to feed. Thankfully our family just loves soup.  There are days when we open the fridge to make breakfast and just eat left-over soup instead then move on to have it for lunch as well.  Here are the ways I've made soup making affordable and some of my favorite recipes this winter.  Now that we are ever so slowly moving into spring I think our soup eating will start to diminish slowly as well.

Tips:

• Make your own broth.  I use a recipe similar to this one if I have time.  I freeze any left-overs but there usually aren't many.
• Use dried beans.  I used to hate using dried beans but now that I have an Instant Pot I don't mind it at all.  I make a big batch all at once and add them to soups and meals throughout the week.
• Always make rice or bread to go along with your soup.  I can stretch one batch of soup into two meals if I make four or five cups of rice to go along.  Occasionally I will broil up some garlic toast instead to keep things interesting!
• Soup Swap.  This isn't really a money saving tip but it sure is fun!  Have a bunch of ladies make their favorite soup and everyone can exchange.  Make sure to write down your recipe and make sure everyone makes a large batch!  I love this idea.  
• Use up whatever is in your fridge.  My mama used to call this Refrigerator Stew, I've heard it called Dump Stew and other things as well!  

Favorite Recipes:

• Minestrone 
• One Pot Chili Mac
• Crockpot Stuffed Pepper Soup  (everyone's favorite!)
• A version of Instant Pot Beef Stew
• Sausage and Kale

This Pumpkin Soup is amazing! They call for yogurt instead of sour cream though, and I don't roll like that.  I haven't made it yet this year but I guess there's still time, there's still a whole lotta snow on the ground after all.