My great blessing this week was to bring soup to our special friends. Even more, was seeing them, their family, saying goodbye to our friend, as this undoubtedly is the last time the family will be represented this way. Soon, our friend will in a better place. Oh, how I await and will rejoice with all the family found in Christ at the feast of Isaiah 25.
Tonight, I made some of the soup for us. My son just finished some for his nighttime snack… “Mmmm! This is SO good!” He likes it. I do, too. I dubbed the turkey wild rice soup, “Mr. Tumnus Soup,” as Narnia the movie had just come out. I was basically doing one of my tricks to jazz my finicky eaters to eat their soup. It worked, and remains Mr. Tumnus Soup.
This is always a great one to make with leftover Thanksgiving turkey. On several occasions I had post-Christmas gatherings at my mom’s party room… how I miss that! We really did have fun; me bringing my “party in a box”… It was fun to see everyone and party hearty with friends and family (sitting, visiting and eating good food)… All I seemed to need for a good time. Everyone always liked the hot soup, too.
PREP: a day or two in advance, cook your wild rice. This part my husband always does for me. Store in fridge or freezer. I have an ice cream bucket in my freezer right now. And truly, it’s the biggest pain for me, I just don’t like to ‘do’ rice. I have a rice cooker for white rice that was a wedding gift from my father-in-law. My husband is part-Asian and grew up eating rice nearly every day. It is a staple for him. I prefer getting extra from restaurants rather than making it for myself; I tend toward blood-sugar imbalances and don’t eat much rice anyway. I also like to eat wild rice because it’s healthier. If you have the extra in the freezer (it’s better to freeze in smaller containers or ziplocs since it all clumps together in my ice cream bucket and then I have to nearly thaw it all, refreeze…) you can pull some for say, salmon. Toast almonds, add craisins add to the wild rice and there!– you have a quick bed to serve the salmon filet on! It’s a good thing as Martha Stewart would say…
It’s simple: turkey -or- as I’ve been doing, boil a fryer chicken with veggies &/or seasonings you like… reserve the stock for the soup
saute in canola oil: onion (add salt – this draws the liquid out of the onion so more oil needn’t be added along the way; do this with each added veg., but not too much salt, if you are sensitive or getting OLD! Smile. I can say that, because I am getting old. Smile again.)
celery – add salt
carrot – optional (my girl is allergic to raw carrots, so sometimes she’s not happy to pick them out)- orange pepper – add salt (use green, yellow, red, whatever pepper you like) – add salt
portabello mushrooms… again, just a trace of salt
I like to get a tad brown with my veggies… add wheat flour, stir it well. The veggies should be rather tender by now. Adding flour makes a sort of roux with the oil and juices from the veggies, but sometimes it’s rather thick… I add an organic veggie stock; add as you go now. Then add the chicken stock if you’ve boiled a chicken.
melt in a hunk of cream cheese… Philadelphia, at least, don’t chince on cheese it’s waxy and gross– don’t chince on any ingredient for that matter.
You’ll simply have to discern the portions yourself as I don’t go by measurements when I cook from scratch. I rarely follow someone else’s recipe to a T, either. But, a lot of people don’t venture to cook that way. Try it, I’m sure this soup will ‘turn out’ one way or another, give it a whirl.
Then, tear (don’t chop, please!) the chicken or turkey in big clumps.
Add cream (yikes!) if you are doing great on your lbs. and not packing it on your ribs 
Now, I love to serve this with garlic croutons or toast atop the bowl. It is hearty and good. And a total meal in itself. Enjoy!
My sis treated me to lunch today. It was my choice, so I introduced her to an Indian buffet I like. Thank goodness someone in my family likes Indian food! I didn’t eat much, but I keep bloating up like a blowfish! I don’t know what it is but lack of exercise and my ritual Starbucks’ iced-mocha. Today, I capped at home. With old beans and a sample I picked up at Starbucks yesterday. It was awesome, but I confess I put a trace of heavy whipping cream in my cup. What else can I do with it, it’s leftover from the soup and just stares at me everytime I open the fridge. I know some of you understand entirely. At any rate, it was good.
I think I’ll wind up the day by suggesting you look into the benefits of incorporating some nuts into your food chain this week. Brazil nuts are high in selenium, a disease-fighting mineral.
Eat your orange and have a great night!
