The Deep Pantry and Why, Third Page in the Series. Soup

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Guest Article by NRP & Blue, February 16, 2022

Good Morning from Lightning Point.
Ole Blue says “Hi-Ya-All”

Let’s continue with a short Series with some very simple Recipes and Ideas for one of the basic and most common stored items you should have in your Deep Pantry.

“Soup”

Holy Cow, how many hundreds of different kinds of Soup (and recipes) are there?
I mean really. Do a quick look-up on the Net and set to Images, you will get thousands of Photos of different Soups.
I mean there is everything from Alphabet Soup to Zucchini Soup and everything between.

IMHO (In My Honest Opinion) Soups are one of the Staples of food. Why you ask?
Simple, one can make a Soup from about anything under the Sun.
They can be the “Catch All” from all those leftovers you have.
And honestly making a GREAT Soup is easy and very rewarding.

Soups can be, and most are, very nutritious and healthy.
Think about that, how many times when we were young (a few decades ago for me) we had a cold or were just ‘sick’ and Mom would bring a bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup, and everything would seem ‘Better”.Honestly, my Grandma’s cure for a cold…. Good old Chicken Soup, worked every time.

So why this Article you ask?
Well I want to discuss the advantages of the Deep Pantry and a few items you might consider storing for Soups.

“Canned Soups”

Ok, here you thought I was going to just yack about Homemade Soups, Right?
Not so fast there, I do believe in stockpiling an array of good old Store Bought Soups. Why?

First of all; Most Canned Soups are very easy to get and store, most with a Shelf Life (Best By Date) of several years, and ‘Probably’ could be used after that BB Date (you be the judge of using past the BB Date).

Second: one can store a large variety of different soups. I could not imagine eating good old Tomato Soup 7 days a week for 3 months. So get several different types to store remembering that High Acid foods don’t store as long as Low Acid Foods.

Third point: Buy in Cases from a Big Box Store, they are usually cheaper and come in a Box that’s easier to stack 10 high. Also if you need to relocate (Bug Out) you can grab a couple of cases and be-gone.

I seriously urge you to store Canned Soups.
One last thing, If TSHTF you can always pop open a Can-O-Soup and eat it cold, hence not needing to take the time from traveling to stop and build a fire (or whatever) to heat some food.

“Dried Soups”

Ok, a few words on Pre-made Dried Soups.
I like Em, a LOT!! These puppies will store for a very VERY long time, and are simple to use, most just add a little water (you ARE storing Water right?) and cook.
There are quite a selection of these on the market, so do a little research and get some samples to try.
Also, look up “Meals in a Jar” these are usually home-assembled Soup Mixes that you can make yourself, saving a LOT of money and modify as you like.
Again, I’m not going to try and list a bunch of ways, do a little Net Search and chose what you like.

“Homemade Soup”

Ok, let’s get to the Heart of the Article….. About time huh?? HAHAHAH
A good old Homemade Soup and some stored “Stuff” to use in them.

Ok, let’s talk about the basics of Soup and that Deep Pantry ‘Stuff’ you might consider having.

Meat, Vegetables, Pasta-Rice-Beans-Potatoes, Spices.
Yep, you got them, you got a Soup that will fill the Belly.
So let’s look that these.

Meat:
Beef, Chicken, Pork, Seafood, Rabbit, Bambi, Fish, maybe a little Elk, just about anything can be used as a Meat Based Soup.
I would suggest you stockpile a few #10 Cans or Jars of Freeze Dried Meat.
Personally, I Like Augason Farms, but there are a lot of suppliers out there, BUT I will caution you, this stuff is NOT cheap. So plan ahead, and store a few cans or Mylar Pouches of this to start with. You may even consider storing up some Jerky or things like Spam, Canned Beef- Bacon-Ham-Poultry, mainly stuff that will keep for a long time.
Also you may preserve your own at a HUGE price reduction.
And don’t forget that Freezer Meat, go ahead and store up a little, remembering that Frozen “stuff” will not last as long as Canned.

Vegetables:
Ohhh, would it not be nice to have a yearlong Garden for only Fresh Vegies?
Ahhh well, Again Frozen is ok, but will not store long, and remember ‘if’ the power goes out …… Enough Said.
Get a bunch of Freeze Dried Vegies, these will last forever, 25 years or more, I also Dehydrate Vegetables and Vac-Seal them, good for years and years. Yes ya can also store Canned Store-Bought Vegies, but remember, those are mostly water, so plan for a LOT of Cans.

Pasta-Rice-Beans-Potatoes:
Simple; no need to repeat myself. All but the Potatoes are easy to store for the long term, AND they are cheap. Get some, Store Some, BE Prepared and ready.

Spices:
NOW we’re hitting the heart of a GREAT Soup for sure.
Experiment with your Soups, DON’T use too much Salt, just a pinch.
Remember “Varity is the Spice of Life”, Learn to use different Spices to flavor that Good Ole Chicken Soup just a little differently each time.

Ok, let’s wrap this up:
I know there are a million things to do IF you are concerned about the future of the world and your Family.

Personally;
I see right NOW we are in the tail end (Maybe) of a Pandemic that was bad, but not as nearly as bad as it could have been.
Do you remember the summer of 2020? Lockdowns, Empty Stores, Panic, Job-Losses, So-On.
Do you remember the stores running out of food and TP?
Did you have Necessities Stored so you could feed your Family, keep them warm and safe?
Can you just imagine what would/could have happened?
Are you prepared to feed your Family if/when something worse happens?

I also see we are right in the middle (Beginning) of a non-ending Inflation period. Many are predicting a doubling of Food Prices within 2 years, DOUBLE THE PRICE OF FOOD!!!! Fuel will hit $5 per gallon of Gas by the end of this year. Electricity, Water, Taxes, You name it; it WILL go up in price, are you ready?

War? Are we on the brink of WWIII? I don’t think so, but with what’s going on in the World, I would not count it out by any means.

So what’s all this got to do with Soups?
There is a photo of the Great Depression that I refer to quite often, and honestly, it scares the hell out of me.
“Soup Kitchens” were the norm and folks were living on a Bowl of Soup, Cup of watered-down Coffee, and a slice of Bread each day….. Is that where you want your Family?
Think it cannot happen here, AGAIN, ask Venezuela about what happened (15 years ago they were the 4th richest Country in the World) now my Toilet Paper is worth more per sheet than their Dollar.

Folks, Please be safe out there, and get yourselves ready/prepared for “If/When”, whatever that may be.