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Hi.

Welcome to This Awful/Awesome Life! My name is Frances Joyce. I am the publisher and editor of this magazine. We'll be exploring different topics each month to inform, entertain and inspire you. Meet new authors, sharpen your brain and pick up a few tips on life, love, entertaining and business. Enjoy and please share!

Looking Back at the Twelve Months of Soups in 2021 by Fran Joyce

Soup has always been one of my favorite meals; however, I’m not overly fond of salt. This can make enjoying canned soups or restaurant soups more difficult. I wanted to feature “The Twelve Months of Soup,” in 2021 for people who love soup, but not the hidden sodium.

Soup pairs well with either a salad or a sandwich to make a hearty meal. I tried to also pair each soup with an appropriate month. Chicken noodle soup was a natural choice for the icy month of January which is in the middle of cold and flu season. To add a bit of sunshine to the meal, I paired it with a mandarin orange salad.

Valentine’s Day brings a touch of romance to the otherwise frigid month of February. I wanted a more elegant soup, so I chose Seafood Bisque paired with strawberry spinach salad with champagne vinaigrette dressing.

For March I wanted something for St. Patrick’s Day that wasn’t corned beef and cabbage, so I chose a potato and leek soup paired with a delicious beet salad.

Moving to April, I wanted something fun and colorful. I decided to make vegetarian vegetable soup and serve it with a vegetable panini. It was a colorful way to welcome the spring.

In May, I turned my turned my thoughts to Cinco de Mayo making a spicy black bean soup paired with Mexican Kale salad.

What would the month of June be without a bowl of Italian Wedding Soup? I paired it with a spicy chicken wrap to make a hearty meal.

For July, I wanted something colorful and packed with flavor. What could be better than Minestrone soup and a hoagie?

For August I wanted a change from the typical backyard barbeque menu, so I chose a broccoli cheddar soup and paired it with a light and refreshing quinoa salad.

September is back to school and often ushers in a few rainy days on its way to fall. For that, I wanted an ultimate comfort food from my childhood. Tomato Basil soup paired with a grilled cheese sandwich was the perfect choice.

October brings the cooler weather and thoughts turn to football and hockey. It’s Chili weather, but I didn’t want to make your basic chili. I chose slow cooker black bean chili. You put all the ingredients into a slow cooker, stir and come back in about six hours to a hearty meal. I could have chosen corn bread – jalapeno cornbread would have been excellent, but I went for something less traditional, Pomegranate and Wild Rice salad.

November had to give a nod to the traditional Thanksgiving menu. I selected a butternut squash soup paired with a turkey sandwich. I posted a link for a variety of sandwich ideas to help you say a delicious goodbye to those turkey leftovers.

For the final soup of the year, I went with a personal favorite, Spit pea soup. It’s hearty, colorful, and pairs perfectly with ham sandwiches from those Christmas dinner leftovers.

I offered several Vegan options for recipes during the year. Many of the recipes I selected allow you to vary the ingredients depending on what you have in your kitchen. You can adjust the spices you use to suit your taste. To reduce sodium, I made my own vegetable broth from vegetable peels and end pieces I save in the freezer in freezer bags. It’s economical and reduces kitchen waste.

I enjoyed making these soups so much that I may consider making twelve different soups in an upcoming year. I hope you enjoy our next series which begins this month, “The Twelve Months of Vegetables.” It will be a slightly different format, but I predict it will be delicious!

The Twelve Months of Soup

January – Chicken Noodle Soup and Mandarin Orange Salad

February – Seafood Bisque and Strawberry Spinach Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette Dressing

March – Potato and Leek Soup and Beet Salad

April – Vegetarian Vegetable Soup with a Vegetable Panini

May – Black Bean Soup and Mexican Kale Salad

August – Broccoli Cheddar Soup with Quinoa Salad

September – Tomato Basil Soup with a grilled Cheese Sandwich

October – Slow Cooker Black Bean Chili and Pomegranate and Wild Rice Salad

November – Butternut Squash Soup with a turkey sandwich

December – Split Pea Soup with a Ham Sandwich

 

January 2022 in the Twelve Months of Vegetables by Fran Joyce

January 2022 What's for Dinner? Ask Linda by Linda Cahill with recipes courtesy of Pampered Chef