My mother made vegetable soup and used corn meal to thicken the broth. It never thicken it stiff just enough so the broth was not watery. She canned vegetables at the end of garden season. When cold weather arrived she got a big pan and put a roast in the pan with water. When the roast was done she sliced the roast in bite size pieces and added 3 quarts of vegetables and about 1/2 cup of corn meal. That sounds good with all this cold weather. She put the left over soup in the quart jars and put in frig. It did not stay there long.