Camp 2008 -- Soup from leftovers

Remember, one of my goals this year is to reduce the leftover load on breakfast Saturday morning. Instead of preparing Navy bean soup as planned, I made a cheesy potato soup with broccoli from leftover from the first two days. This helped reduce our leftovers by three dishes.

First, you must safely cool the leftover food. Cool leftover food through the danger zone (135 to 41 degrees F. ) by placing the pan in an ice water bath. Most state and local laws in the U.S. allow you to use the two-stage cooling method. You have two hours to cool the leftovers from 135 to 70 degrees and an additional four hours to cool the food from 70 down to 41 degrees or lower.


This pan of leftover pan of sausage gravy is in the second phase of cooling.

Once the leftovers have been properly cooled, store them in the refrigerator at 41 degrees or less. Use the leftovers as quickly as possible, but always within seven days.

To prepare the soup, I placed 5 quarts cheese sauce in a double boiler with 2 quarts fresh milk. I then added 2 quarts leftover cottage fried potatoes and 3 quarts leftover broccoli. I stirred. You then have (by law) two hours to heat the soup (or any leftover dish) to 165 degrees. It took 1-1/2 hours to heat the soup to the proper temperature.

I didn't measure the finished product. You should get about 25 (6-ounce) servings from this soup. Remember, the quantity you make will depend on the quantity of ingredients that you use for the soup.