Have I mentioned how much I love soup? I could eat soup every day. And this week, I intend to do just that!

For the past two weeks, I have been in the Midwest for work. I have a unique (and totally awesome) job that requires I travel, a lot. I typically am gone 10 to 14 days per month. I love my job with every ounce of me, but by the time I get home from deployment, I need a few days to decompress. I usually have a day or two of overwhelming energy, I’ll clean and do laundry and grocery shop, then I crash.  Today I am crashing. All the work and stress and lack of sleep catches up to me and I just need a break.

So today I will work on the blog (hello!) put the finishing touches on my planner for 2018, and probably do a little more house cleaning. In between those things, I’ll rest. I will cuddle the dogs, snuggle the cat, do some dishes, and catch up on my sanity. I’ll read my favorite blogs and maybe finish the book I started on the plane.

And I have no intention of cooking all week. (I don’t plan on takeout either, as I just spent two weeks eating entirely, out. I’ll get reimbursed for those expenses, but it still takes a toll on my wallet in the meantime).  Saturday, as soon as I got home, I put (frozen) chicken bones in the crock pot to make stock. I added some celery and carrots that were on their way out and set it for 12 hours. About as easy as it gets. The chicken was frozen from the last time I bought a whole chicken. Sometimes I’ll make stock right away, and sometimes I put it in the freezer for future use. Then yesterday I went to Costco and got a whole rotisserie chicken (for all of $5!) and made a giant pot of soup! Fresh stock, fresh rotisserie chicken, the house smelled AMAZING! I added some veggies that we had on hand and wam bam, a literal ton of soup is ready! I put it in individual mason jars for storage, that way it’s an individual serving, and thus no measuring/spilling! 4 of the jars made their way into the freezer after they cooled, and 4 more are in the fridge.

I LOVE soup. And could literally eat it all day every day. So that’s kind of the plan. I have 3 kinds of soup currently in the freezer, so that’ll easily get me through the week. I also have (now 3) jars that are fresh in the fridge. I wanted easy and quick and cheap this week, so that’s exactly what I’m doing!

On a similar note, what is your opinion on chest freezers? Our freezer (attached to the fridge) is so small and is a wacky size, so it makes freezing anything in bulk rather difficult. Upon doing some research, Rachel (roommate) and I decided it would in fact save us money in the long run to have a chest freezer. I had been price comparing for a few months, and took the opportunity this weekend (excellent sales) to finally scoop one up. It will be arriving in about 5 days and we are so excited. Though dropping $170 is never enjoyable, I am confident that it’ll save us money on food. I always want to make a double batch of things like lasagne, soup, and casseroles, but as it stands right now we have nowhere to put them! So, in five days, we will! (I’m kind of a dork about these things so I am over the moon excited about our new chest freezer! My roommate just smiles and supports me. She isn’t big on cooking, but the idea of a place to store all those berries for smoothies is appealing to her!)

I’m excited about the prospect of a freezer full of soup. It’s cheap, filling, healthy, a total win/win/win situation in my book! Do you bulk freeze? What is your favorite soup?