$5 Dollar Challenge Vegetable Soup

I had heard about this challenge from a couple of different blogs, but decided to pass, given the busy weekend ahead of me.

I made a run to the CSA farm last night, and to the Welland Farmer's Market this morning, without even thinking about this challenge.

I ate a late breakfast of local eggs and toast made from bread bought at the market, without even thinking about the challenge.

I canned up some tomatoes today, and worked a bit in the garden, without even thinking about the challenge.

I ate a "lunch" of an apple and pear from the CSA basket, without even thinking about the challenge.

I decided that vegetable soup sounded like an excellent supper idea, without even thinking about the challenge.

Half-way through making the soup, I thought about the challenge.

$5 Challenge Vegetable Soup*

2 quarts canned tomatoes, from last year's garden
2 quarts of water (use the jars from the tomatoes to measure, thus also rinsing out the jars)
All the tiny potatoes found from digging the potato patch, from the garden plus a few from the CSA basket
4-5 carrots, from the garden
1-2 onions, from the garden
Green and yellow beans, from the CSA
Corn, cut from 2 cobs bought from the CSA farm
Salt, pepper and a dash of celery seed and some thyme
Vegetable Oil

Warm the oil in a large pot, add the chopped onions and carrots (and celery, if I had any, would be added here), stir and cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat.  Add the chopped potatoes, tomatoes, salt, pepper and any spices you are using, then simmer over medium-low heat until the carrots and potatoes soften.  Add the beans and corn, cook until tender, then serve with slices of local bread.

Of course, I'm not really following the rules of the challenge since I'm not sharing this meal with anyone but the dogs, who may get to lick my empty bowl, and the salt, pepper, spices and butter on the bread aren't local.

I also didn't keep track of costs - how much does home-grown produce cost?  How much for the stuff from the CSA share?  The corn was $6/dozen, so two cobs comes out to $1.00.  The bread was around $3, so two slices is... somewhere around $0.50 maybe?

So I didn't really do the challenge, but thinking about it made me realize something.

Almost everything I ate today come from local suppliers.

Without even thinking about it.

And that makes me happy.


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* of course I didn't follow a recipe.  It's vegetable soup.  Clean and chop some vegetables, toss in a pot with some liquid and some flavouring, cook then eat :)