After a long tough work week, I am in no mood to cook. By alas, we must eat. So bleary eyed I started pulling leftovers from the fridge and staples from my pantry yesterday. I ended up with a (medium hot) spiced beef and veggie soup.
Roughly here is what I put together:
– leftover mashed sweet potatoes
– stew beef cubes
– canned green beans
– jar of homemade salsa
– leftover home grown frozen sweet corn
– canned hot chili beans
– beef bouillon cube
– fresh ground black pepper
– crushed red pepper flake from leftover pizza delivery packet
– garlic powder
– water
(I didn’t measure I just dumped and stirred)
Turned out pretty yummy and filling! The husband was neutral about it. I think he could taste the sweet potato (even though I didn’t tell him) and he doesn’t like them.
I’m calling this a win. It was hearty, delicious, and it cleaned out my fridge! It was even good for my packed lunch today…



Growing up, my mother-in-law frequently made “must-go stew.” It sounds similar to what you did–she would basically put any and all leftovers into one big pot, possibly at a meat if there were none leftover (this is when a stash of frozen meats comes in handy), and then add water or broth or stock to make a soup. I’m not a fan of it–prefer my leftovers eaten separately–but the husband wouldn’t mind if I made it. I do sometimes make leftovers soup, but prefer to use items I think go to together and supplement with canned or frozen staples.