Wednesday, October 1, 2008

A Calculated Supper

Sunday night's supper was one of the best! It was simple, delicious, and extremely calculated. Anita came over for supper and I served soup from a mix. Watkins Chicken Soup and Watkins Mushroom Soup. The directions on the package are very simple: Add 3 tablespoons (45ml) of Soup Base to 1 quart (1L) boiling water. How much more simple can you get? Well, when you put a curious Watkins Associate together with a detail-oriented pharmacist, even the simplest of instructions can become complicated!

Anita and I wanted to see if the Watkins soup bases really were worth the money, both flavor-wise and financially. You should have seen us! We had measuring cups, spoons, calculators, sharpened pencils, pads of paper, everything that you would need to make a simple pot of instant soup! Anita, using her skills as a pharmacist, was measuring and calculating and changing all the measurements to volume equivelants so that we could figure out exactly how much a can of Watkins Chicken Soup Base was compared to a tetra package of Campbell's (or No Name) brand of liquid chicken broth.

After calculating, checking, rechecking and doing it all again, we came to the conclusion that the contents of one can of Watkins Chicken Soup Base is equal to 15 one liter boxes of chicken broth! If each one liter box is approximately $1.99, and the soup base here in Canada sells for $10.49, you have a savings of $19.36! AND you don't have to store all those boxes of broth! AND you have a significantly lower sodium content (only 430mg per serving)! AND 0 grams of fat! AND no added MSG! AND each container gives you over 57 cups of soup (.18 a cup)!

Well, Anita and I are sold on this soup mix now! I've been using it for all kinds of things: soups, gravies, anything where a recipe calls for chicken broth or bouillon. I knew I liked it before, but after Sunday's experiments, I am definitely sold! This is one of the best soup mixes I've ever had and I don't know that I could go back to buying the other stuff anymore.

If anyone else wants to try some, come on over for a bowl of chicken noodle soup! You'll be sold, too. The soup is on sale this month for $1.00 off as well. Check it out online at www.watkinsonline.com/mjweinhardt, and if you are in the US, make sure you choose the US catalog option because it automatically shows the Canadian version.

(We did the same calculations for the mushroom soup, and although it's not as cost effective as a can of generic mushroom soup, it definitely surpasses the quality of that processed, condensed soup! There are real chunks of dehydrated mushrooms, only 540mg of sodium, and 2g of fat per serving. Sometimes it's worth the money to have the quality. This mushroom soup is now the requested mushroom soup by our family, no question about it!)

Anita, when do you want to come over to try the Beef or the Onion Soups?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

you knew I was going to jump in here, didn't you? When you try the onion soups, note that the Onion Soup has a beef base and for the vegetarians out there (or those who prefer not to have the beef base), the 6 onion is veggie based with no meat flavorings!

Love you....your Watkins manager

Karen said...

Is there any in Paraguay? Can it be shipped in? Do you know how? I love those spices you gave Oscar for me.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I'm up for it anytime you are for another Sunday Afternoon Soup Social! It really was fun and the soup did taste delicious! Thanks again for having me over.
Anita

Anonymous said...

Try the baked potato soup! It's fantastic. I added some Hung. sausage, grated a small carrot, added some broccoli and cauliflower and took it to church for a meal. WOW! the compliments just kept coming! And I love the chicken soup, and beef soup also. (Watkins, that is)

LindaSue said...

Karen, you can have someone ship the items to you, but you cannot have them shipped from Watkins to Paraguay...they only ship within the US and Canada. Bummer, because my SILs in Rome and the Philippines love 'em! My BIL in Guatemala wants the soup bases in bulk because he's tired of his cook using MSG.... good stuff (Watkins, that is!) And you GOTTA try the dessert mixes!