What to do with turnips and rutabagas

October 18, 2013

One year of this challenge is now behind us. Do we stop? No way. I'm addicted to seeing how much money I can save. I started today off right by going to pick up a prize. I won a contest to get some grass fed beef from a local farm. Can't go wrong with free! The kids are super excited to once again have some of their beef sticks (like jerky).

I had some semi wilted carrots and celery. That means it is time to make some vegetable broth. I was getting the veggies ready for it and that made me crave soup. I guess dinner has been decided.

I wanted to try something new. I put a little butter in the pot. I added some onion and a few tablespoons of leeks (I had some leftover from spaghetti night). After a couple of minutes, I added in celery, carrots, potatoes, turnips, and rutabagas. I let it sauté for a few more minutes. I added in about 4 1/2 cups of my homemade veggie broth along with a cup of small white beans. I brought it to a boil and added in some egg noodles. There wasn't a whole lot of them but I figured that the end of the bag would be fine. When the noodles were cooked, I stirred in a pint of my home canned tomatoes and about 3 cobs of corn (frozen from farmer's market). I just added a little salt. It didn't need much seasoning since my broth has so much flavor.

I've never added turnips to soup before. I don't think I've ever even cooked rutabagas period. I asked the kids if they wanted me to add a jar of tomatoes to the soup. They said a little. I told them that I would use a small jar (pint) and wouldn't add it all. Well, I had to sample the soup to see if it was cooked (wink wink, my dad taught me well; sampling is the best part of cooking). The tomatoes tasted so good that I could not stop myself from adding in the whole jar. Oops. How did we like the soup? I had to hold back my smile as my daughter lifted her bowl and drank it all right to the last drop. This coming from the girl who "doesn't like plain tomatoes". My son said it was great. Once again I had to hide my smile because the boy who "doesn't really like beans" ate every last one. Let me just say that great does not begin to cover this soup. I can't believe how delicious turnips and rutabagas are. They add so much flavor. I'm glad we ate early tonight so that in a little while I can go back for more! If you decide to try turnips or rutabagas and don't know what to do with them, do soup!