Soup Cheat

I hesitated before posting this as I have a reputation as a "gourmet cook" or whatever to preserve, but I will anyway. I work at home a lot between traveling gigs and at some point have to have some lunch. One of my favorite things is soup, especially on cold and rainy days like this, and I have a "cheat" that lets me have a nice hot cup of soup without opening a can (blech!) in just about 3 minutes from start to finish and as a bonus it is only 65 calories.

I always have a few boxes of broth on hand (I prefer the Swanson's Organic) beef, chicken or vegetable and I always have V-8 or tomato juice in the fridge. In a two cup measuring cup or other microwave safe container put a cup of juice and a cup of broth. Add a dash of onion powder and a dash of garlic powder and a shake or two of Worcestershire Sauce and maybe a teaspoon of dried basil and/or oregano along with a grind of black pepper. Microwave on high for about 2 minutes(depends on the microwave) until it is nice a hot. Voila! Hot soup that is pretty good and with only 65 calories total for the two cups of soup you have some slack for a few crackers as well. You aren't restricted as to seasoning either...if you like chili powder then go for it.

I know it sounds a little like the old "ketchup and hot water" gag but it is actually tasty and best of all warming. Ok, there is your "white trash" recipe for the day. I don't know if you realize it(well if you are a southerner like me you do) but there is a whole "school" of Southern cooking that is classed as "white trash" and I actually have several cookbooks that cover the whole genre.

Here a couple of "white trash" sandwich ideas:

Spread 2 slices if white bread spread with lots of mayo then pile potato chips on one slice as high as you can. Put the other slice of bread on top and then mash down until the chips are crushed. Great with a cold Pepsi. If you are adventurous it try BBQ chips.

How about a "Kiss Me Not"
Spread 2 slices of white bread with peanut butter then put on a couple of slices of Bermuda onion. You'll need to wash this one down with some sweet tea.

I know this sounds funny but I still remember my mother eating pork&bean and onion sandwiches and yes, I consider my upbringing as somewhat "white trash".

Enjoy!