Soup. Good Soup!

This is real. I'm not much of a cook, but I can do this right:

Ocean State Job Lot sells Manischewitz 4 bean soup mix for a buck. If you do nothing but follow the directions on the bag, you'll end up with a vegan, better-than-canned soup, easily enough to feed four people. If you do the following, it will kick ass and feed more:

A packet of that 4 bean mix then add:

Water (duh)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 small can spinach or 1/2 packet frozen
1 smoked ham hock- now it's not kosher OR vegan, but by damn is it tasty
Frank's Xtra hot to taste
Plus some tabasco
Pepper to taste (we like things hot around here, wink wink)
Seasoning packet that came with the mix

Dump all that in a soup pot and get it simmering.

Then throw a piece of bacon or some bacon grease in a fry pan and add:

1 stick of celery
1 medium onion
Garlic to taste (lots if you have a cold)
3 carrots (more or less to taste)

Brown that stuff lightly, then throw it in the pan. Let it all simmer for a couple of hours et viola. Simple, wicked good. Since there's just the two of us, we end up with leftovers to freeze which is awesome for nights that we're too tired to do real cooking. We've been getting lots better about making enough stuff to freeze so we don't blow as much on frozen dinners from the grocery store. Real food is so much more comforting and healthy when you're tired. Oh and hey. This is a hearty soup, but it's still JUST soup. Betty Crocker cornbread mix is 33 cents. Make some of that or biscuits to go with it, or pick up a loaf of good bread.

PS: This is a fridge dump soup- check for leftovers that you can throw in. We threw in some fresh carrot greens.