Quick and Easy Chinese Hot and Sour Soup~It's What's for Dinner

Hello everyone!  I do realize my posts have been a bit spread out in recent months, but with good reason.  We have been enjoying time with family, mostly our oldest daughter and her competition cheerleading squad.

We could not be more proud of her and the girls.  This was their first year together as a team.  Not only did they take first place at their 3rd competition, they went on to place first at Regions and qualified for State. They finished 15th in the State at their level!  Pretty impressive, especially given all the naysayers, girls who quit (they started with 25 and ended with 18), injuries, routine changes, early morning practices (6:45 am) and the like.

We got to spend Homecoming weekend at the University of TN a couple weekends ago, where we got to spend time with our youngest and tour her department.  It was fun to meet the professors she talks so much about (not gonna say any more than that...we do want her to graduate after all).  Really, they are all truly wonderful.  It's hard to believe she will graduate in May with her Masters in Speech Pathology.  Didn't we just drop her off at Baylor?!!

Another reason for the silence is we are gearing up for the holidays a bit early.  Hubby and I have to make a trip to winterize my MIL's home in Michigan in early December, and the following week we will move baby girl home!  We are excited that she gets to do her externships here in Atlanta.  Busy times!!

I posted a pic of this super easy and yummy soup on IG, and many asked for the recipe.  Here ya go!

Quick and Easy Chinese Hot and Sour Soup

Ingredients:
4 C chicken broth or chicken stock or vegetable broth (we used chicken broth)
4 oz shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced (we omitted, hubby detests them and I can have due to dietary restrictions)
1 (8 oz) can bamboo shoots, drained and thinly sliced (I purchased them already sliced)
8 oz firm tofu, drained and sliced in 1/4 inch strips
2 cloves garlic, grated (I used minced we had on hand)
2 tsp ginger, grated
1 TBS balsamic vinegar
3 TBS rice vinegar or red wine vinegar (we used rice vinegar)
1 TBS chili sauce, such as sambal oelek or sriracha (we used sriracha)
3 TBS soy sauce or tamari for gluten-free (we used liquid aminos due to soy restrictions)
2 tsp brown sugar
2 TBS corn starch mixed into 2 TBS cold water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp toasted sesame seed oil (we omitted due to dietary restrictions)
1 tsp white pepper (or black pepper) (we used white due to dietary restrictions)
4 green onions, sliced

Directions:
1. Bring the broth, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, tofu, garlic, ginger, vinegars, chili sauce, soy sauce and sugar to a boil in a large sauce pan over medium-high heat, reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Mix in the cornstarch and water mixture and simmer until the soup thickens a bit, about 2 minutes.
3. Slowly pour in the eggs in a thin stream while stirring the soup.
4. Mix in the sesame oil, white  pepper and green onions, remove from heat and enjoy!

Original recipe can be found here.

I love sharing recipes with my readers.  I want them to know that dietary restrictions doesn't equate to bland boring meals.  You just need to get creative sometimes.