Love Is Spelled Leftovers: My Mother's Kitchen Legacy

There are recipes we cook for dinner, and then there are recipes that carry our whole history in them.

My mom was the main cook in our house when I was growing up. Both of my parents worked, but my mom was the breadwinner, commuting downtown to Toronto, working long hours, and still somehow walking through the door late at night and pulling together a home-cooked meal for me and my older sister. My dad cooked too, but let’s just say his style of cooking leaned more toward Hamburger Helper than homemade, you know what I mean? 

Even exhausted, my mom somehow managed to create dinners so good that I still cook them today. When she passed away when I was 14, those recipes became something much bigger than dinner, they became pieces of her I could keep forever, a way of holding on and a way of sharing her with my kids. 

One of her favourite things to do was to make enough food for leftovers. I’m talking copious amounts of food that there was no way were going to be able to finish in one sitting. Now, ten-year-old Stacey thought leftovers were a crime against humanity. The gall. The audacity! Eating the same thing twice in a row? Unthinkable! Of course, tiny Stacey was a bit of a spoiled dum-dum, because as it turns out, leftovers are not only delicious, they’re an absolute life hack. They are the thing that gets me through week after week of “what’s for dinner?” That’s my least favourite question. 

You and I both know that life is busy, practices, rehearsals, appointments, and endless to-dos. These days, I live by the “cook once, eat twice” philosophy. My mom understood the power of this philosophy back then and thankfully, now that my frontal lobe has finished developing, I now understand it too.

I knew two things for sure growing up: 1) if my mom was cooking, there would be enough food to feed an army, and 2) even if she wasn’t physically there, the food was proof she was still taking care of me.

Now I do the same for my own kids, hoping they’ll grow up feeling that same love and security. Even if I’m not around, they know they can open the fridge or freezer, find something delicious I’ve made, and count on it, and on me. It may seem like a small thing but I find that all those small gestures add up to one big legacy of love. 

And now I’m sharing one of my mom’s signature recipes with all of you. It freezes beautifully making it perfect for leftovers, and maybe, just maybe, it’ll become one of your family favorites too, her legacy finding its way into your kitchen, one bite at a time.

Hamburger Soup

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 2 hours or longer Serving size: 8

What Goes In It 

1 lb of lean ground beef 

1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about 2 cups) 

1 796 ml can of diced tomatoes

 3 284 ml tins of beef consommé 

6 cups of beef stock

1 284 ml can of tomato soup 

2 cups of water 

4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped (about 2 cups) 

3 celery stalks, chopped (about 1 cup) 

1 dried bay leaf

8 tbsp pearl barley 

How You Make It 

In a large pot, fry the ground beef and onion on medium-high heat until the meat has browned and the onion is soft. Drain off fat and return meat to the pot. 

Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 2 hours or longer to really get those flavours popping. Literally, that’s all you do. I mean, give it a stir every once in a while because the barley tends to stick to the bottom if you don’t, and of course tell your family that you worked very, very hard to prepare this delicious meal for them, but there really isn’t anything else to do. Don’t worry, though, your secret is safe with me. We’re in this together, after all. Don't forget to remove the bay leaf before serving. No one wants to eat the bay leaf.