I always cook my chicken/turkey bones a second time after removing the meat and storing it away. I keep the first broth in the fridge in quart-sized freezer containers, but I only fill each half way because I want to mix the second stock into the first before I pack it for the freezer. People are always surprised to see what nice broth you can get from just the bones, skin and gristle. Sometimes I will add water to the bones again after draining them, and stir this around. If the water starts looking like chicken stock, I'll cook the bones again. When I'm finished with the bones, they are soft and will collapse to a sort of a paste when you pinch them between your fingertips. I smush this stuff and bury it in my garden. I have to do it when the dog isn't watching though, and set something on top of it for a few days. I love my crockpot, too! I've never looked into what it costs to run it. I also have one of those big electric roasters that I always cook my Thanksgiving turkey in (and later use it to simmer the bones for broth) and Dawn, if you want something that cooks up a huge amount, you need that! But it would be hard to carry to a fire, now that I think about it. And I do save bits and tads of things. I don't like mixing my meats together so I will usually put them in wide-mouthed tapered pint canning jars and label them as to whether they are poultry, beef or pork. Sometimes I will make up a "tv dinner" if we have maybe one serving left of something, and put it in the freezer for later. I collect the liquids from canned vegetables and bits and pieces of veggies like tomatoes, celery, asparagus and outer cabbage leaves, in a plastic coffee jug in the freezer. When it's full I thaw it out, add add whatever I think it needs more of. Usually this is chicken or beef, some broth, and maybe a jar of canned tomatoes. A chopped onion. Add a can of mixed veggies from the store or a part of a bag of frozen. Actually I prefer the canned as it has potatoes in it. Heat all this up, add enough cornstarch to give it a nice smooth consistency. DH has a sensitive stomach so I don't spice it up. Just salt and pepper. If I'm feeding kids I add a little sugar, unless there's lots of liquid from canned corn in that batch. Yum.

I have made cream of 'shroom & green onion before, and it was quite tasty. I just subbed the white and light green parts to the initial simmer and puree, and then sliced the green tops thinly to add just before serving instead of cooking them with the extra mushrooms & celery. The powdered, dried mushrooms make for a richer mushroom flavor than many cream of mushroom soups. Rachel's Cream o' 'Shroom Soup 1 oz dried mushrooms (any variety will do, I like a combination of button and shiitake) 8 T butter 1 medium onion-diced 1 1/2 stalks celery-diced 8 oz fresh button mushrooms, diced 2 t white pepper 2 cloves garlic, smashed 3 T long grain rice (uncooked) 2 Qt chicken stock 1 Qt + 1 C half and half 3 T flour 1/2 C white wine or dry sherry 1 stalk celery-slice 1/2 onion-diced 8 oz fresh button mushrooms, sliced Put the dried mushrooms in an electric coffee/spice grinder and grind to a very fine powder. Heat 2 T butter in a non-stick stock pot over a medium heat. Saute the one medium diced onion, 1 1/2 c diced celery, diced mushrooms, white pepper and garlic until the onions are translucent and the celery changes color. Add the powdered mushroom and saute briefly. Add stock and rice, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Puree the stock and vegetables, add half and half and bring to a simmer again. In a small saute pan, make a roux by melting 3 T butter and 3 T flour over a med-high heat, stirring constantly until the mixture bubbles and turns a light golden color. Whisk the roux into the soup, beating vigorously to prevent lumping. In a large saute pan, heat 3 T butter over a medium heat. Add the remaining 1/2 onion, stalk of celery and sliced mushrooms. Saute until onions are translucent and increase heat to med-high. Add the wine or sherry and cook for 3 minutes. Add the vegetables to the soup and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring from time to time to prevent scorching. This soup, like most, benefits from sitting for at least a couple of hours (overnight is better) before reheating to serve, so the flavors can develop.

It's similar but not quite. Mulligatawny Soup 1/2 stick of butter 1 medium onion, sliced 1 carrot, diced 2 stalks of celery, diced 1 green pepper, diced 1 granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and sliced 2 C. cooked chicken, shredded 2 whole cloves 1 tsp. curry pinch of nutmeg (I use freshly grated) 2 sprigs parsley, finely chopped 21 oz. chicken broth 1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes salt and pepper to taste Melt butter of medium heat. Saute sliced onion until soft. Add carrots, pepper, celery, apple and chicken. Saute for 10 minutes Until veggies are soft. Add broth, tomatoes, parsley and seasonings. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer, cover and cook 30 minutes. Remove cloves before serving. I double the recipe because I like to freeze soups for future use. When I double the recipe, I use one can of crushed tomatoes and one can of whole tomatoes, sieved or put through the food mill. It gives me the consistency I like. I suppose you could leave out the celery, I know you don't like celery but celery, carrots and onions are the base of most soups. I don't think there's a strong celery flavor with all these seasonings because the flavors all marry together. Try it, I think you will like it. It's not DH's fav but he doesn't like the apples. I think when I serve it to him, I will pick out the apples. They've already done their job and he'll never know.

Found this recipe that was posted recently. Not sure if it is the one that you are look for or not. Ann. Cheesy Cauliflower Soup Posted by: aka_Raeanne (My Page) on Tue, Oct 8, 02 at 13:17 Level 1 - Pro/Fat This recipe has been around a while and I don't know who to credit it to. But it is so tasty and it is great for the fall/winter months ahead. Cheesy Cauliflower Soup 1 medium head of cauliflower chopped 1 medium onion chopped 1 stalk celery chopped 4 cups chicken stock 1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce 1 cup cheddar cheese - grated S & P to taste chopped chives Put cauliflower, onion, celery & stock in crock pot, cover and cook on low 6-8 hours. Puree the cauliflower and return to crok, add cream, worcestershire and cheese, add salt and pepper to taste, stir to mix, turn to high and cook thoroughly, garnish with chives. ***The last time I made this I wanted enough to freeze some. So I did 2 large heads of cauliflower, 2 onions, 2 stalks of celery, 1 more cup of stock and I only used 1 cup of heavy cream. I find that it is creamy enough when you puree the cauliflower. I also puree using my hand blender, it is easy to use and clean-up. I also have McCormick's Hot Shot (black & red pepper blend) and sprinkle on top instead of chives. Adds a nice little zing to it. Note: The recipe above for the cauliflower soup should have 2 cups of heavy cream- but I always use one