Cream of Mushroom Soup

Healthier.  It's what we are all striving for.  Paleo, 21 Day, Cleansing, Clean Eating  These are the current buzz words for going on a diet. No matter what you call it, you are still counting calories, carbs and/or starches.  Who really had time for all that?  

The closer I get to 50 the harder it is to lose weight, so I decided am not going to fight that battle anymore.  I am not following any trend or diet.   I think that as long as I am moving more I am doing better.  

However I want to be able to live longer than 50, so I look for ways to cook that will be better for all 3 of us.  Convenience cooking is still a important because we have busy schedules.  A casserole in the oven will hold until after marching band practice if necessary. 

Most casseroles use cream of something soup as a base. Have you picked up a can of cream of mushroom soup and looked at the sodium content?  870 mg of sodium is very very high.   Yikes.  

Thanks to Pinterest, I found Once a Month Meals Cream of Something Soup.  Cream of Something or really anything you want.  She has a wonderful chart that lists options for traditional, diet, whole foods, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian and vegan options for mushroom, celery, chicken and asparagus soup.  If I make it myself, then I can cut down on the sodium in any dish that uses any cream of soup and it looked simple to make.   

I use cream of mushroom in a lot of recipes, even if it calls for another flavor.  So I didn't mind making a big batch of it and it freezes really well.   So I took Once A Month Meals basic recipe, omit the garlic (that is a whole other story), used my milk, quadrupled the ingredients and made my own big batch of cream of mushroom soup.

The first thing you need to do is chop your mushrooms and onions.

  

I put the onion in a big pot and sauteed them til transparent.  Then I added the mushrooms and cooked them down a bit (if you cook the mushrooms with the onions, the mushrooms will over cook and you don't want that). 

Next I added the 2 sticks of butter to melt with the onions and mushrooms.  Once it is melted I stirred in the flour to make the roux.  

I used my milk (yes I am lactose intolerant) and boxed unsalted chicken stock (if you use regular chicken stock, you are defeating the purpose of lowering the sodium).  You can use homemade stock if you have it, but I use it faster than I can make it. I put them together in a big bowl and slowly poured them into the roux.  

I accidentally dropped some of the milk/broth on the floor.  My instant drop cleaner showed up to help.  

I continued to cook the mixture until it reached the right consistency.  See how it clings to the spatula?  This is a good thickness.  

These are the perfect size container for the cream of mushroom soup.  One equals just about 15 oz and that is the size of a soup can.  

Once the soup cooled, I put it into the containers.  I quadrupled the recipe but got almost 5 containers out of it.  That is 5 recipes to make in the future.  Awesome!  

Now to get my drop cleaner to stop begging.  

Cream of Mushroom Soup for Recipes

Ingredients:

2 small onions, diced

2 cups diced mushrooms

1 cup butter (2 sticks)

1 cup flour

4 cups milk

3 cups chicken broth

Directions:

Saute the onion until transparent then add the mushroom and cook it down.  Add the butter and melt over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Cook for about 2 minutes or until slightly brown. Add milk and broth. Add sauteed garlic, onion and main ingredient. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring regularly, until it reaches desired consistency (about 10-15 minutes). Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Let is cool and store in 15 oz containers.  You can freeze it or store in in the fridge for 4 days. Use as you would a can of cream of mushroom soup in a recipe.