The Everlasting Soup/Stew/Broth. Theoretically A Good Idea.

Tonight I was going to tell you about the pot of soup/stew/broth I made 10 days ago. I intended to try and keep it going. I had even named it the 'everlasting' meal. During the last ten days it has been replenished several times. It took on a nice consistency, and.... oh what the heck I'll tell you about it anyway.

What happened was, that I had got it in my mind to go on an economy drive. Normally I am quite profligate in my ways, but suddenly decided to be more parsimonious. Profligate and parsimonious eh. Two long words in the same sentence. Not bad, though I do say so myself. Excuse me a moment please. Got to hurry!
Where was I? Oh yes, my economy drive.

It started with lots of different vegetables, carrots, onions, leeks, sprouts, swedes, broccoli, that sort of stuff, oh, and potatoes. I added something called broth mix, dried peas, lentils, and pearl barley. Covered it with water. Sorry I forgot to mention the stewing beef, 1lb. Actually it was less than 1lb but I don't know how to write fractions on here. Anyway it was a quarter less than 1lb. It was all put in the slow cooker, on minimum heat, although to be honest, occasionally I would turn the knob to maximum heat, just to get some reaction out of it. Here is a photo of the soup/stew/broth before the water was added, and another photo after the water was added. Doesn't look much different really, does it? Maybe a bit more floaty. Sorry got to dash off again, won't be long.

I waited patiently all day -apart from switching the heat settings - for it to be ready. After about 8 hours the meat was still a bit chewy, and the swede was still hard, but I was very hungry, so decided to eat some for my dinner. It was at this stage that Tricia, my lovely ex partner, the Mother of my extremely handsome son George phoned, inviting me to dinner. The soup/stew/broth was left on a low heat to cook some more. I would have it the next day.

What happened next day was, that just before I served myself a bowl of my by now cooked to perfection soup/stew/broth - I say would you mind awfully if I refer to it as just broth, I'm fed up searching for the / every time I mention it - Yola, my next door neighbour phoned, inviting me to dinner. She is a brilliant cook, so needless to say, the broth was not eaten that night either. Oh dear excuse me again. Urgent call to attend to. Back soon.

Nobody invited me to dinner the next night so finally I was able to start on my broth. It was delicious! I had some more the night after that, at which stage I added some more water, potatoes, broth mix, and an Oxo stock cube.

The next night I had some more broth for my dinner, and added some more stewing beef, ready for next time. So far my economy drive was going well.

Next night for dinner I again had some of my broth, by this time it was thickening nicely, so I had it with mashed potato on the side. Very tasty.

Must just leave you again for a moment. So sorry about this. The next night I put some in a bowl and added a little chilli powder, and ate it with rice. I then put in some more chopped potatoes and some sphaghetti, and left it once again to cook on a slow heat.

I had a break from broth the next night, it was becoming a bit boring, so I cooked some sausages, with chips and beans instead. A nice change indeed.

The night after that I again had some of my broth, although by this time it was more of a thick, really thick, stew. In preparation for the next meal I again added plenty of water, thereby changing it into more of a soup. Whoops here I go again! Back in a minute!

At the next mealtime it lacked character, so I made some dumplings and added them to the pot. They did make a difference. Quite delicious, so I had two helpings!

Today I woke up with food poisoning! I feel terrible. My poor tummy. I can't for the life of me figure out why.

I have gone off broth. I have given what's left, to Sadie the German Shepherd. Hope she'll be OK.

Maybe everlasting meals aren't such a good idea after all.

Hope I haven't bored you too much. Sorry have to rush off again. Must dash! Toilet! Bye.