Tasty Tuesday

{Better Than} Campbell's Cream of Whatever You Want Soup

submitted by Patty at Mrs. John in Ghana

When we first went to the field I knew a little bit of basic cooking. I had a tiny

collection of recipes I'd gotten from my mother. Unfortunately, my mother hardly used

recipes; I hadn't paid much attention to what went on in the kitchen; I just figured

cooking from scratch couldn't be that hard. Let's just say....that there wasn't a lot

of variety or very good stuff for John and I to eat our first year or so on the field.

On top of that, we had minimal internet access. Very minimal. So......no recipe sites to save

the day.

When we came back to the States for our first furlough, I knew my cooking needed help.

I began searching for meal ideas in magazines, but most of them required 'cans of this' or 'boxes

of that'. What could I do with those? Then one day, I was given a gift....a cookbook written by a

missionary! Thus began my adventure in cooking real food, good food, from scratch!

Today I present you with a basic condensed cream soup. It can be made into so many

delicious dishes!

Now maybe you already have a recipe like this. But maybe there is somebody out there

like I was. Somebody who needs just such a recipe.....

{Better Than} Campbell's Cream of Whatever You Want Soup

3 Tbsp. butter

3 Tbsp. flour

dash of garlic powder or 1 clove garlic, minced

dash of onion powder or 1 small onion, minced

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1 c. milk

Melt butter in medium pan. Stir in flour and seasonings. Stir until blended and bubbly. Add milk.

Stir constantly until very thick. This is as condensed soup would come from the can. Makes about

1 1/2 cups or the equivalent of one 10-oz. can.

If you'd like to eat it as a soup, stir in milk until it is the consistency you desire (app. 2 cups).

Variations:

CREAM OF MUSHROOM: Saute 1/4 c. chopped mushrooms in butter before adding flour.

CREAM OF CELERY: Saute 1/4 c. chopped celery in butter before adding flour.

CREAM OF ONION: Saute 3 Tbsp. chopped onion in butter before adding flour.

CREAM OF CHICKEN: Add one chicken bouillion cube with the flour and seasonings.

CHEESE SOUP: Add 1/2 c. grated cheese after the milk.

Slightly adapted from Missionary Manna by Rosey Dow