market on saturday, vegetable soup sunday

let me start with a warning: this post is at three fold post, two part random, one part recipe. ready...

so i think nannying is a wonderful thing, but sometimes... i get those silly kids songs stuck in my head all day long.  and then i think ah nanny life!! the worst part is that i then sing these tunes to chad who responds with a blank stare,  that i am pretty sure means wife you cannot sing and why do you constantly sing kid songs to me, i am not a baby. i bring this all up to say, in the process of putting this post together, i started to sing "this little piggie went to market..." which then lead to this beautiful tangent. and i now have "this little piggie" in my head and probably will sing it to chad for tonight's sing a long tune. 

any ways... market soup! vegetable soup! whatever you want to call it, its my favorite kind of soup. for some reason it never occurred to me to make my own. i would go spend, $5 on a bowl... when one day after going to the farmers market i thought, i should make my own (and now, i kick myself, why did i wait so long)

guys, soup is so easy to make. you really can't mess it up. so this post is for those who are veggie soup lovers but are intimated by the thought of making home made soup. the more i cook, the easier i learn that it is. and i hope that i can encourage other people to realize home-made cooking it not to be feared! in no ways am i a professional, actually very much an amateur ... but i am learning that the more you do it, the more you learn.. and you learn that everything that you make packaged-  really costs you more then if you were to make it from scratch, doesn't taste half as good, and is much healthier if you were just to learn a few basic techniques. 

with that, market soup. the perfect beginner cook food. my favorite kind of soup, and now your favorite soup ;)

what ya need: 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 large onion, chopped

2-3 carrots, sliced

1-3 stocks of celery, diced

2 cups mixed chopped vegetables ( this is where you get creative... zucchini, beans, cauliflower... really whatever you would like to put into your soup, or what you have in the fridge)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon oregano

1 bay leaf

6 cups water

1 can chicken broth (if you like to omit this, add 2 more cups of water)

what to do:

1. heat the oil in a large soup or stock pot, i used my cast iron stock pot and it worked amazingly well.

2. add onion, carrots and celery. stir around in the oil for 3-4 minutes until the onion is soft. then add all of the veggies and heat for a few minutes

3. add the salt, thyme, and oregano. try to coat the vegetables well. 

4. then add the bay leaf, water, broth, and bring to a simmer.

5. cook until the vegetables feel soft and the flavors have had time to marinade. the soup could technically be done in 30 minutes, but if you want a more robust flavor, wait around a bit and let those flavors really cook. 

6. remove the bay leaf and enjoy!

to make this extra tasty, sprinkle some parm cheese on there... or add some pesto. serve with crackers.