Considering the cold, blustery weather we have had, it is no surprise that somebody christened January as National Soup Month. Restaurants will be running specials, Campbell’s will have extra commercials, and every good cook in the country will be firing up the stove to create family favorites.

In our home, soup is a constant. We love the old standbys like vegetable soup and chili. We enjoy more recent finds such as chicken alfredo soup, beefy mushroom, and even exotic foods like butter chicken, which at our house is served in a bowl with some naan.  I think it is safe to say that we have soup at least three times a week.

A 2007 study conducted at Penn State showed that people who eat a low-calorie soup at the beginning of their meal ate 20% less than their counterparts who dove right into the main entrée. So, if you don’t want your soup as a main course, then consider having a bowl of something simple to start your dinner.

Owning a Harvest Right makes soups into one of the easiest foods to prepare ahead and freeze dry for later use. We all know that there is no such thing as a small batch of soup. A can of this, and a few of that, and suddenly the soup pot overfloweth. Many people don’t make soup for just this reason. The thought of eating it for several meals is not every person’s cup of soup. Well, fear not. Make that soup. Then pour the leftovers onto your trays and freeze dry it! Next time you want soup, you can pull out a pouch and make a couple of quarts instead of a couple of gallons.

Many of my freeze-dried soups make their way to work, where I simply add hot water from the water dispenser, and have an inviting cup of hot deliciousness for lunch. The office smells wonderful, and I feel like I have treated myself to something homemade and healthy. Campbell’s, eat your heart out. I can pronounce every ingredient, and my doctor won’t have a fit when he checks my blood pressure.

Not only is the Harvest Right great for managing large quantities of food, but it is also an easy way to keep ingredients handy for whipping up a quick pot of something. Large scale preserving of onions, celery, carrots, and other vegetables at harvest make it easy to put together a soup. However, the savings that you can appreciate go far beyond that. When you clean the table after tonight’s meal, look at the foods still on the table. That small bit of corn, cup of rice, and the few bites of meat that you probably wouldn’t even bother with will now go on a tray in the freezer until you are ready to run a batch in your freeze dryer. Once freeze dried, put the small bits in a jar specifically for soup. You will be surprised how fast these small portions turn into something wonderful. In a few weeks, you will make a pot of rich, flavorful, (and fast) soup that literally was made with scraps that would have been tossed. We actually call this Scrap Soup!

Having a freeze dryer means you can enjoy your family favorites next week, next month, or next year!