italian wedding soup

We have my 88 year old mom living with us. She’s been here several years and we love having her. It’s not without adjustments of course, on both sides, but over all its been a good fit. For the most part she’s quite healthy and active for her age. Occasionally we’ve have some medical problems we needed help with. A few times in the last few years, she’s been in the hospital for issues that are not so minor when you’re 88. She has the beginnings of dementia, and though she can function in her normal day-to-day, when she’s sick of course, or when other things throw her equilibrium out, she becomes even more easily confused.

Gramma Great playing a game of Racko with great grandson Deacon

sourdough muffins with freeze dried blueberries

During one of her hospital visits, when she was there for a week or so, she was very confused and I didn’t want her to be alone. I sat with her every day and into the evening until she fell asleep, and was back every morning before she woke up. She’s hard of hearing and its difficult for her to understand what is going on, even though she’ll look right at the doctor when he’s talking, smile and nod as if she understood everything he tells her. It’s confusing for everyone else when she does that, because all her signals are that she heard you. You actually have to stop, and ask her “Did you understand what I said?” No one ever does that of course. She’ll easily give the wrong message simply because she didn’t understand the question. In an environment like a hospital, its easy to get confused—and that can be scary. This is very time consuming for me, so ‘things’ I would normally do get set aside for awhile.

There certainly wasn’t time for things like grocery shopping, but people still need to eat right? Dan was still packing a lunch to work, and I was still preparing meals for those who lived here and those who came by to visit Mom. Let’s face it—eating is something we all do. Every Single Day, whether it’s convenient or not. And if we’re not making our own meals, we’re buying them – because going without is not really an option.

Sour dough crepes made with freeze dried eggs. Served with freeze dried peaches and black berries

Several times I wondered about going to the grocery store, but honestly, I never really had a need to. I had everything I needed right here in my pantry, including freeze-dried fruits, veggies, dairy, and meat that were all healthy and nutritious – “fresher-than-fresh”. And meal prep gave me a distraction while still being present. Nevertheless, I found myself being quite amazed that I didn’t feel any compulsion to go to the grocery store, but there simply wasn’t anything we needed.

Why amazed? Because a few weeks before all this happened, Mom had gone to stay with my sister for a bit while Dan and I went on a pre-planned vacation. The week before we left, I cleared out the fridge—used up or gave away every last perishable item in there. When we got home, I considered grocery shopping . . . but I didn’t need anything, so – I didn’t. And now it had been several weeks of not going to the store. No fresh milk, no fresh eggs, no sour cream or ‘fresh’ produce in the fridge. No bread.

Mujadara with freeze dried onions, served with freeze dried green beans. and homemade tzatziki with freeze dried cucumbers.

Shortly after picking Mom up from my sisters is when she went into the hospital, and we started that unexpected routine. By the time I decided to go to the grocery store and pick up some fresh asparagus and a few other traditional things for Easter dinner, it had been 10 WEEKS since I had been shopping. I picked up some of the niceties – perishable vegetables, fruit, and a few dairy items. That was all I felt I needed.

So—what’s my point?

Sometimes life just happens. It doesn’t have to be some big emergency or crisis. Sometimes it can be as simple as you’re just busy, or your priorities temporarily shift, and the “everyday” stuff—like grocery shopping—just doesn’t fit in.

Fajitas with freeze dried peppers, served with rice n beans with ground beef and cheddar.

But what if you didn’t have to worry about that detail?

What if your pantry was stocked with whole, simple, healthy, shelf-stable food you could count on when life gets hectic? No stress. No scramble. Just open the cupboard and make a meal. What if much of those food items were freeze dried? so you had confidence in the high quality and level of nutrition? What if that included FRUIT, MILK, EGGS, VEGETABLES and yes, even MEAT?
What if it included things like SOUR CREAM and BUTTER? What if it included things like CHEESE and Complete MEALS? What if you didn’t have to wash, peel or chop any of that because it was already done? What if you didn’t have to brown the meat because it was already cooked.

Italian wedding soup made with freeze dried sausage crumbles, onions and spinach.

Whether you’re thrown a curveball and you spend several days in the hospital; or you find yourself caring for a loved one for long hours in each day; or perhaps you’re the one who’s sick and you are not well enough to tend to the normal errands like grocery shopping, or (heaven forbid), you find yourself stuck in the house isolating because of something unforeseen like say, . . . a pandemic; or the truckers go on strike and too many shelves at the grocery store are empty, or perhaps you find yourself without power for a few days; or you experience unemployment; or some unexpected expenses cut into your budget and you simply have nothing left at the end of the month; or any number of different scenarios – what if you didn’t have to worry about the detail of food?

Samosa pancakes made with freeze dried onions, peas, green beans, peppers, and potatoes; served with fresh applesauce.

Let’s face it—eating is something we all do. Every Single Day, whether it’s convenient or not. And if we’re not making our own meals, we’re buying them – because going without is not really an option.

What made the difference in my situation? Having a well stocked pantry was certainly one of the things that took the stress over meals out of the equation. But that on its own, is not enough. I adhere to the rule of “STORE WHAT YOU EAT, and EAT WHAT YOU STORE”. Simply put, this means I am familiar with what’s in my pantry, and I am comfortable preparing it. I know how to use it.

freeze dried shredded beef served with homemade stuffing, freeze dried mashed potatoes, freeze dried corn, fresh carrots and freeze dried green beans

Decades ago, when Dan and I were just starting our life together, and our kids were little, money was tight, with the only flexibility in our budget being ‘groceries’. If something had to give, it was always gonna be in the grocery department, as that was the only place there was flexibility. Perhaps you can relate. I considered possible scenarios and I worried how they might affect my children. I wanted to shield them from the hard things in life. I wanted them to be comfortable, and to have confidence that our family was doing okay. No matter what.

I didn’t want the worry of debt to hover over our heads. Life is full of worries as it is, I didn’t want preventable ones to crowd in. The solution to all of these things was ‘preparedness’. Dan and I saw eye to eye on this. Being prepared meant many things, but one of the simplest things was to STORE WHAT WE EAT, and to EAT WHAT WE STORE. I cannot begin to tell you of the peace of mind that comes from planning ahead and managing those PREVENTABLE worries.

That philosophy has made our life much more comfortable in every single way. Life is hard enough. It doesn’t make any sense to make it harder because of lack of planning.

yogurt bowl with freeze dried berries and freeze dried spinach. Don’t knock it till you try it. DElicoius and super nutritious.
Complete protein, fresher-than-fresh produce.

grilled cheese french toast, made with sourdough bread, freeze dried eggs and freeze dried shredded cheddar

In the situation that prompted me to reflect and write this post – before having my elderly mom live with us, I hadn’t had the experience of being at someone’s bedside day after day after day. There had been prior reasons that prevented regular grocery shopping, but this was a new one. I cannot express the comfort of not having to worry about it. The weightless peace of mind that attended us as we navigated those weeks. And yet, the comfort of outward things continuing on as ‘normal’.

Tabouli with freeze dried tomatoes, onions, peppers and cucumbers

Several years ago (2009 to be exact) I discovered a new line of freeze dried foods that became a game changer in the way I lived my life of preparedness. Yes, we had tried freeze dried food before, but we didn’t much like them. This was different. Yes, we had tried some of the longer shelf life food before, but they were horrible. Yes, food storage was important to us, but variety was an issue, and vegetable were pretty much non existent.

I was introduced to THRIVE LIFE freeze dried foods, and they became the game changer. Soon after, I decided I wanted to be the one to introduce others to the solutions I found here. I did that. And I’ve been doing it ever since.

Because life just happens, . . . . . but we still need to eat. Even if its inconvenient.
You could say “Peace of mind” is my big WHY.

If you’d like to learn more about it – go ahead and check out my link.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle

because in real life, ‘things’ happen . . .

First of all, let’s clarify the name – its always sorta bugged me.
It implies that this soup is traditionally served at Italian weddings, but its not. It is actually a poor translation of the Italian name – Minestra Maritata, which directly translates: Minestra – Soup, Maritata – Married. While this doesn’t roll off the English tongue as easily – it refers to the ‘marriage’ of the intense flavour combination of seasoned sausage, leafy green garden vegetables and of course garlic and basil. There! Now that we’ve got that cleared up, it makes a lot more sense and we can appreciate what we’re creating.

For my soup, my ingredients of choice generally come from my garden. Fresh garden spinach is ideal, but I generally have that only in the early part of the growing season. I do NOT buy the ‘not-as-fresh-as-you-think-it-is‘ spinach in the produce department. There is ZERO vitamin C left in spinach after the 4th day of harvest. Unless you know for sure that the ‘fresh’ spinach you’re eating has been picked within the last 96 hours, you are not getting what you previously assumed you were. When I am not using my own FRESH spinach, I prefer to use THRIVE LIFE freeze dried spinach. My reason is simple. It is picked at the peak of perfection – when all nutrients are the way nature intends, then it is washed, chopped and flash frozen within 2-4 hours! In that frozen state, it is shipped to one of their facilities where it goes through the second step of the two-step ‘freeze-drying’ process. In actual fact, it retains 95% (+) of its original food value! To me, that is a very big deal. I want the food on my table to be the best, most nourishing food I can possibly put there. Add to that the fact that it has a 25 year shelf life, and it is a total winner for me. Freeze Dried Spinach holds an honourable place in my food storage and in my pantry. It is a vegetable I use several times a week and would never be without.

The key to a beautiful Italian Wedding Soup is the combination of its intense flavours. Keep in mind that this is common food, I expect – kinda like cabbage rolls in a Ukranian household – where every family prefers it the way their gramma made it. So don’t be intimidated, but pay attention to some key ingredients.

pay attention to your ingredients

1. don’t add raw meat (yuck). Make sure the sausage or meatballs are cooked and browned. Otherwise they’ll be a yucky colour and squishy. bleh
2. garlic and Italian cooking are synonymous so be generous with it.
3. parmesan is also synonymous with Italian cooking. Just sayin’ . . . . . .
4. I think its preferable to use tiny pasta, but if you’re needing to go gluten free, or you don’t have any, use rice, and if you only have larger pasta, go for it, but be cautious about not cooking it too long.
5. Pesto. If you don’t have it, you can use lots of basil (you already have the garlic and parm in the soup). But pesto stands alone as a beautiful thing, and in my opinion – is important to the final outcome of your soup. link to my basil pesto recipe

Because I use so many freeze dried vegetables, it takes less than 20 for me to decide what I’m making, and have it on the table. Watch video here.

using the best ingredients gives you the best results

You’ll notice in this video that I added green onions (because I had them), and lemon juice (because I had it), and celery (because I like to). You can also substitute other greens for spinach if that’s what you have. I really prefer spinach, but I’d use kale in a pinch. I generally use freeze dried options from my pantry which simplifies everything, and keeps me up close and personal with the food I choose to include in my food storage.

Recipe: Cindy’s Italian Wedding Soup

6-8 cups chicken broth (add the remaining 2 cups later as needed)
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 cup orzo (or other type of small pasta)
1/2 cup Thrive FD chopped onions
1 cup Thrive FD sausage crumbles
2 T Thrive dehydrated carrots
2 heaping T Pesto (I mean HEAPING, but if you’re shy, add less)
2 cups Thrive spinach
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Bring 6 cups of broth to a boil. Add orzo, return to boil and reduce heat to a simmer.
Add garlic, onion, sausage crumbles and carrots.
Gently simmer till pasta and sausage are tender, stirring frequently (3-5 min).
Remove from heat. Add pesto and spinach. Stir to combine. Add additional broth if needed. Add parmesan.
Always taste test. Season with salt and pepper IF you feel it needs it, especially if you went light on the pesto.

Let soup sit 5 minutes for everything to get along beautifully together.
Serve and ENJOY.
+hint: I often serve with a dollop of fresh Tzatziki on top (mmmm)

Do you have any favourite tips you use for Italian Wedding Soup? I’d love to hear them.

Warmly,

Cindy Suelzle

*other favourite garden pesto recipes:
my nasturtium pesto or radish leaf pesto recipes