Hi There! 
Welcome to my site "HOME BASE".
Home Base was designed with the intention  of creating your desires  by using a practical  and simple base idea as the foundation . Everything we do has a starting point and that starting point is taken and built upon until the end  result is achieved.Without a base idea nothing  will be accomplished; thus began my quest for Home Base to be born  and flourish.

My idea grew out of a need to share what wonderful things I am experiencing as I make my way through life as I know it to be. In my home, any idea we have  begins  with a base element - thought-, and from there  once thought  out, it is tried and if it works it is a keeper, if it doesn't work , well,  we try to figure out  where the issue is and  create better or  if it isn't feasible then  it is  tossed and we go back to the home base to work on a new  solution. I am sure this is the way it is in your home as well.

 With that in mind, I hope you will touch base with me often and and bring to your home ideas you can use creating your own Home Based  ideas, sharing  and utilizing them here with us all in an effort to build solid, fun, simple, ways to make life easier  for ourselves as life propels us through our busy  complex daily lives.

  I have never taken on a project like this before and it is a new avenue I walk,so please bear with me as I learn and grow. Home Base will share what works  and what doesn't  and hopefully will encourage us all to strengthen our base elements - So, with that said ...let's get started!
I thought  about what my first base idea to bring home to you would be.I have discovered over the years that FOOD is always a nice ice breaker and is usually enjoyed best when shared. My first Home Base offering  will be a hearty soup base .  It is an easy , quick to make  base. and as you will see, will make a great base  to build upon creating your own personal recipes over and over. Keep in mind I am providing the base, you can change it up any way you want  and use what works for you. If you cannot find the items I use, feel free to improvise with what you think will work, and let us know if your attempt was a win or pass on how it turned out. 

Each of  my homemade recipes begin with a base of ingredients I normally have on hand at home.A well stocked pantry is a nice thing. My husband Bob likes to buy some items  as if they are going out of style so sometimes I have  many  containers of  one specific thing and have to  decide how to be creative in  providing meals  in what appears to be forever until the supply will run low. This isn't so much a concern for packaged or canned goods , however when he brings home  fresh foods in quantity then I  have to  figure  on  using them up or  freezing them for future use.
  A lot of my recipes are  altered  ones  when I  cannot  use the  ingredients from a recipe because I may not have  that item. I go to the next available  thing I think  might work in my  base.  The  soup base I am going to share with you today  was built out of  this  same  necessity. Once I have a  solid  home base I can use, I always change it up for variation sake and that is a nice thing because, this soup base can be worked with in so many ways.

      Homemade French Onion Soup Base.....

Quantity: about  a gallon or 8-12 servings.

4 - 6           Large sweet onions of your choice, chopped or sliced to your preference. 
                   (I like mine halved  and sliced thin)
6  cloves    garlic minced or chopped
4 TBSP      butter and (or) 1/4  cup olive oil
2 stalks      celery chopped small
2                 carrots chopped small
2 pkgs        Brown Gravy  mix (found by the gravies)
2 TBSP      Worcestershire sauce
2 TBSP      liquid steak seasoning sauce (found by the steak sauces)
6-8  cups   water

* Croutons and a melty cheese  are optional, just depends on if it is on hand at the time.

In a large soup pot  melt butter and olive oil , add onions and sweat and stir them until they begin to brown a little. This will take some time, so  you can cut up your other veggies  to put in. Once you add these  vegetables  stir and let them  incorporate  in the  mixture and get  to a tender crisp  state. Add your 2  pkgs of  brown gravy mix , the worcestershire sauce and steak seasoning sauce and then the water. Stir  until  everything is incorporated and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to  medium low and simmer for at least  half an hour., longer if you have the time and want a heartier richer flavor.

If you want the addition of  croutons and  a melted cheese broiled on top of it then go for it. We only do that  sometimes because the soup  is quite hearty and flavorful as it is. Some people do not like so much deviation from  the "norm" as they  know it to be, so go ahead  and enjoy! It is all about what  suits you!!
That is all it takes to make the base. I usually parce out a 2 two hour time slot from beginning to end, but it really doesn't  need to be that long. 
 This time  I did put a variation to this as you can see in the photo above I had a yummy  basmati rice with mushroom  mix that Bob had brought home and I added 1 1/4 cups to the soup base, I also added 1/4 cup of barley at the same time.I added  them when I added the water.  That is what all the  extra  stuff floating  with the  carrots and onions are in the bowl. There was no need for any spices either  because the gravy mix and the rice mix already had plenty of spices !    Believe me, after  every  spoonful of his first bowl Bob said "Mmmmmmm" ! 
 You can use this base as is or take it further with the additions like I did this time. Be creative and  use what you like and if you do please let us know  how it was...good, win or bad,pass.We'd love to know so we can give it a try too!   The additions I used this time around added another level of  flavor and a little more substance as well. This recipe is a WINNER in my home. Its base is simple, tasty, economical and more healthy than not.  Please try this recipe, let me know what you thought of it and if you found it to be a win or pass!!

Today's tip: Enjoy what you do and if you don't enjoy it...find a way to enjoy something about it so it will at least be easier in some way.

Be sure to check back soon, because next time i would like to share what must have's I like to stock my pantry with and what I use to make my own  seasoning mixes.

"For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness" Psalm 107:9 

Hope you enjoyed today's Home Base and have a beautiful day!