Soup Time

I am not heavily into Facebook, but for various reasons it is difficult to avoid completely. Since the Trumpian dustup about Canada's sovereignty, I find tons of adds for Canadian products there. Many of them are for tees and sweats, and I may indulge in a few tees in due course when the weather warms up. However, one intriguing ad that I have kept seeing is for the Mitchell Soup Company.

It all started with our matriarch, Donna.

In preparation for the impending Y2K apocalypse, Donna stocked up on dried goods for the Lockhart family. But when the clock struck midnight and the world kept turning, she had to do something with her emergency supplies. So, she started filling them in cellophane bags to sell as ready-to-cook soups at her local farmer’s market soap stand—yes, soap not soup!—in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada.

Fast forward to 2008: Donna’s son Jamie inherited her humble soap-turned-soup stand. But what started as a family project to teach Jamie’s four kids life skills turned into a passion project: Jamie loved crafting products that nourished the body and soul, and so Mitchell’s Soup Co. was officially born. Today, hearty, dried meals are more than our business—they’re our heart.

I checked the website several times and, eventually, convinced myself to purchase: the Lemon Chicken and Orzo Soup Mix pictured below. I also purchased the Classic Chicken & Herb Soup Mix and the Fog Pea Soup Mix. I have since cooked the former; the latter two can abide in the pantry for the nonce. 

I had to google orzo and discovered that it is pasta shaped like rice.

Each mix comes in a plastic sleeve with most of the ingredients. In addition, we were to add the ingredients pictured around the edge: zucchini, lemon,  and spinach. Of course we had to add the chicken as well. The other ingredient on the edge is the orzo, and that was in the package. As you will see in the directions, below, we were to pinch out the orzo and add it to the pot later, after using the other ingredients.

Directions:

1) In large pot, sauté 1 onion, and 1-2 lbs cubed chicken in 3 tbsp oil.

2) Pinch bag of soup directly below the orzo; pour out just the orzo and set aside.

3) Add 10 C water, the rest of package contents (not orzo), boil and simmer covered for 30 mins.

4) Add 3 tbsp lemon juice, orzo, 1 C large cubed zucchini, and 1 C spinach; cook for another 15 min.

Season with salt and pepper. Serve and garnish with parmesan cheese.

Sue surprised me by doing the chopping whilst I was endeavouring, without success,  to have an afternoon nap. When I went down to the kitchen, I did the cooking. It is good for us to split kitchen duties since fussing in the kitchen affects both of our backs like nothing else.

The Verdict

It was tasty and will supply us for quite a few meals. It was also a diversion: something different as we continue to live through this interminable winter. If the other two soups turn out to be as good as this one, I would consider ordering again. 

Mitchell’s may be the only soup that we will consume for the foreseeable future. Campbells dominates the market here, but they are American, even though they have tried to fool us by inserting a maple leaf on the packaging. We were also fooled by the Habitant brand. We thought it was Canadian but found that it was subsumed by Campbells some time ago.

. . .  meanwhile . . . 

It's March Break this week. Last March Break we met up at the sugar shack with extended family on a very pleasant morning with just a few remnants of snow lying about. There is a ton of snow this year, and not a similar warm day in the offing, so our maple sugar trip will happen a little later this year. Sadly. I don't see much decent weather being forecast for the next two weeks. What a difference from last year!.

Now, just before I press Publish, I see a popup from Shauna, who spotted her first robin on the way to work this morning. It won’t be consuming worms for awhile, I can tell you.