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Cream of anything soup

Have you ever noticed how many recipes call for Cream of this or Cream of that soup?

Have you read the ingredients on that soup? Here is a list of ingredients and Nutritional Facts from Cream of Mushroom soup from the Campbell's Website.

INGREDIENTS

WATER, MUSHROOMS, VEGETABLE OIL (CORN, COTTONSEED, CANOLA, AND/OR SOYBEAN), MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, WHEAT FLOUR, CONTAINS LESS THAN 2% OF: SALT, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, SOY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, DEHYDRATED CREAM (CREAM [MILK], SOY LECITHIN), YEAST EXTRACT, FLAVORING, DEHYDRATED GARLIC.

NUTRITIONAL FACTS

Serving Size1/2 CUP (120 ML) CONDENSED

Amount/Serving Calories  80 Calories From Fat : 40 % daily value Total Fat   4 g 6 % Saturated Fat  0.5 g 3 % Trans Fat  0 g Polyunsaturated Fat  2.5 g Monounsaturated Fat  1 g Cholesterol  5 mg 2 % Sodium  790 mg 33 % Potassium  25 mg 1 % Total Carbohydrate  9 g 3 % Dietary Fiber  2 g 8 % Sugars  1 g Protein  2 g Vitamin A 0 % Vitamin C 0 % Calcium 0 % Iron 0 % Magnesium 0 % Zinc 0 %

I used to use it ALL.THE.TIME.  When I started paying attention to labels, I saw what the ingredients were and decided I didn't want to feed this to my family or anymore.  Check out the sodium!! For a heart patient husband this is WAY too much!  Then I was using more than 1 can due to having a large family.  Something HAD to change... for our health.  I found an added bonus - it is cheaper than buying canned soup!

But, how do you make some of the recipes without it?

I looked up all sorts of recipes but finally created my own combining aspects from several different recipes I found.

Here is my recipe -


Cream of Anything Soup

1/2 cup of butter
1/2 cup of flour
2 cups of milk
1.5 cups of broth
I sprinkle a little granulated garlic in
I add a bit of minced onion  or onion powder

Directions:
melt butter in pan, whisk in flour, cook a little to ensure combined, add in milk and broth, sprinkle in garlic and onion (fresh or powder), bring to a boil stirring consistently until it reaches desired consistency. Season with a little salt and pepper. Use in recipe.

If you want to make a specific kind of soup like Cream of Mushroom, add some chopped mushrooms about 1 cup.  If you want to add chicken, celery, broccoli, etc... I would add about 1 cup for this recipe.

I often do not add a "main" ingredient and just use it as written above.  If I'm using it in a chicken recipe I already have chicken in it so why spend the extra money to add to the soup?  That's how I look at it anyway.


Servings: 2 cans worth which is ~ 3 cups.  
I have had success at freezing this in 1 "can" serving sizes in freezer safe sandwich size baggie.  Then I just pull it out and add to my recipe when needed. I will more than double my recipe based on how much I will need for my next 2 weeks recipes. That way I make it all at one time and don't need to worry about it for 2 weeks!