The Dregs Soup

This has been a challenging month. A very challenging month. I had one child in the hospital for two weeks, began homeschooling another child, had to do some traveling, had yet another child break her arm, as well as all the regular stuff of being mom to a large family. Our wonderful church family provided dinners for 10 days. Now everyone is home, regaining health, and settling back into routine. Today I took a couple of kids to therapy and doctor's appointments. I got Pepper's weekly lesson plan done. I ran a few loads of laundry. I made a meal plan and shopping list. I helped kids with homework. And I realized that the fridge is almost empty and the pantry is full of random stuff from meals I never made and lost the meal plan for. What to make for dinner? I went scrounging around, threw some stuff together, and came up with a fabulous soup that my entire family--including my picky eaters--loved and devoured. I'm still so surprised!

Here's the recipe...partly for you, but mostly for me because I don't want to forget how I made it.

The Dregs Soup

In a large saucepan, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Saute one diced onion, three cloves minced garlic, and two stalks of chopped celery until tender, about 5 minutes.

Add: 1 large can crushed tomatoes, four cans chicken broth, and 1 Tbsp. each dried basil, oregano, and marjoram, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. white pepper. Bring to a boil.

Add: 1/2 cup each dried lentils and 1/2 cup dried split peas.

Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add: 2 cups chopped cabbage and 2 sliced carrots.

Simmer for 15 minutes more.

Add: 1/2 package cheese tortellini (from the deli case at the store) and simmer 10 minutes.

Garnish with grated parmesan cheese and French bread.

YUMMY!