adventures in frugality: 1-2-3 Soup

Okay, I didn't think there was anything particularly special about this soup, but my family GOBBLED it up! They loved it. I enjoyed it as well, just didn't think it was anything to get all excited about. So the story of the bread bowl. Every Fall, our local grocer makes bread bowls in the color and shape of pumpkins. It is the cutest thing in the world, and something not only I look forward to, but the kids do as well. This was to be used for Halloween dinner, so I knew I needed a Halloweenish soup to go inside. I decided to make 1-2-3 Soup. So simple. So frugal. So comforting. So tasty. Ready for the ingredients? You'll see why it's called 1-2-3 Soup.

1 onion, chopped (I use yellow)
2 carrots, chopped
3 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 can (14 oz.) chicken broth
1 can water
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
salt, pepper, seasoning to taste

Boil gently the onion, carrots, and potatoes in a pot with the chicken broth and water. When soft (20-30 minutes), blend in small batches until smooth. Return to pot and add evaporated milk. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper and other seasonings if desired (I just used salt and pepper). If too thick, you can thin it with a little milk at a time. We like a thicker soup. It's easier for the kids too. Serve in bread bowls (or not) and shredded cheddar cheese on top. We didn't add cheese in ours, but we have before and it's yummy. Enjoy!

creamy chicken noodle soup

I know. It's too hot for soup. But it's been raining here, and I was craving it. For this recipe, I took a basic chicken noodle soup and made it creamy.

First, I bought a rotisserie chicken from Costco. When I brought it home, I took all the meat off the bones, and put it in the refrigerator. Next, I placed the bones, and whatever was left of the chicken and placed it in a stock pot. Then I covered it with about 6-8 cups of water or until the chicken was covered with water about an inch. You can also throw in carrots, celery, onions, parsley, and dill at this point. I brought it to a boil and boiled it on low for a few hours. Then I removed all the bones and even found more meat that I could use. I threw away the bones and pushed all the remaining bits through a sieve, including vegetables. I threw away the excess and then refrigerated the stock. The next day, I skimmed the fat layer off the top of the soup base and then brought my chicken stock to a boil. I added an extra bouillon to the stock. Once it was boiling, I added my onion, carrots, and noodles. I boiled until the carrots and noodles were soft. Then I added peas, the pulled chicken and a little dill and parsley. You can use whatever you have on hand. It's hard to ruin this soup.

To make it creamy: melt a cube of unsalted butter in a small saucepan on medium low heat. Once it is melted, add 1/2 cup of flour. Stir until thickened and starting to get bubbly then add 1/2 cup of milk. Stir until mixed thoroughly and then add to your pot of soup. This will make your soup creamy, and thicker. Everyone gobbled this up. HF said it tasted like a chicken pot pie without the crust. I guess that's good if you like chicken pot pie.

Serve with crusty bread.

frugal taco soup

The wonderful thing about this soup, is that you probably already have all the ingredients in your pantry. It also doesn't have to be precise. You can substitute pinto beans for black beans, leave out the corn, add chicken instead of ground beef, or leave the meat out all together, etc. It's very versatile.

Taco Soup

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes (I like to use petite diced-I'm not a tomato chunk fan)
1 (15 oz.) can corn
1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans
1 (15 oz.) can pinto beans
1 (15 oz.) can water

Brown ground beef and chopped onion in skillet; drain. Place beef mixture, taco seasoning, tomatoes, corn, kidney beans, pinto beans, and water in pot on stove. Simmer 30-40 minutes.

Serve with fritos or homemade cooked tortilla strips. I like to put a dollop of Daisy sour cream on top. I don't stir it in. I grab a portion with each spoonful. Cheese is also good sprinkled on top. You can freeze the soup in a large ziploc freezer bag for another meal. Like I said, very versatile, very cheap, and very delicious.

matzo ball soup

We like to get in touch with our Jewish (not really) roots and make Matzo Ball Soup every now and then. It's so simple, yet hearty, and the kids totally gobble it up. You should be able to find Matzo meal at your grocery store. You might have to go to a specialty or international store. The scans above are from a recent-ish Martha Stewart magazine, but I don't know which one. I just tore the pages out. These are great recipes. The first is how to make your own stock from scratch, and then there's a recipe for chicken noodle soup, chicken and rice soup, and lastly, chicken soup with matzo balls. You can add chicken, carrots, etc., to the recipe, but we just do broth and the matzo balls. We don't follow the above recipe exactly, like we use vegetable oil in place of the chicken fat. Here's the general recipe with my changes added in parentheses:

Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls (serves 10)

4 large eggs, separated (we don't separate)

1/4 cup chicken fat, melted (we use 4 Tbsp. vegetable oil)

12 1/2 cups chicken stock/broth (we do 12 cups)

1 1/4 tsp. coarse salt (we use the kosher brand in all our food. It works in baking too)

freshly ground pepper

1 cup matzo meal

1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley (you can use the dried to taste)

Coarsely chopped fresh dill, for garnish (also can use dried to taste)

1. Whisk yolks, fat, 1/2 cup stock, and the salt in a medium bowl; season with pepper. Stir in matzo meal and parsley. (we mix: 4 Tbsp. veg. oil, 4 whole eggs, 4 Tbsp. water, salt, matzo meal, and parsley)

2. Put egg whited into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Add to matzo mixture; whisk until smooth. Refreigerate until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. (when you skip the egg white process, you only need to refrigerate for 15 minutes or so).

3. Bring remaining stock to a boil in a large pot. Scoop out 1 1/2-inch balls of the matzo mixture, and add to stock. Reduce heat. Cover, and simmer until matzo balls are slightly firm and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Garnish with dill. (We cover and simmer for 40 minutes)

Of course, our version is less time consuming than Martha's, but whose wouldn't be? Here's how our's turned out. Delicious!

zuppa toscana

We made The Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana this last week. It was super delicious. Daisy calls it Dinosaur soup. I think that's what we'll call it from here on out. It was really easy to make. There are so many variations of this recipe online. Here is the one we followed. It makes a lot. We had leftovers for a couple of days. I would probably half the recipe next time. We didn't use garlic or bacon this time, but I probably would when I make it again.

too much orange

Halloween menu plan: Creamy Patato soup in a pumpkin shaped and colored bread bowl. Maybe I'll post a pic. of the bowl later. They were cute. I wanted to make a cool dessert like a Pumpkin cream cheese roll, but I didn't. That thing is so good and it's kind of fun to make. Of course I leave the nuts out of it. Sometimes I wonder why people have to go and ruin things with nuts. Like banana bread. So much better without nuts! I don't know how many people would agree with me there. Growing up, my parents put nuts in everything. I have a recipe for bread bowls, but luckily our local bakery makes nice soft bread bowls and every fall they make them orange with a little green stem. Very cute. The soup isn't anything fancy at all, but it's easy and it tastes good and I let it cook all day in the crockpot.

Creamy Potato Soup

8 cups diced potatoes

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/3 cup chopped onion

1 package (8oz.) cream cheese

3 cans (14 oz. each) chicken broth

1 can (10.75 oz.) cream of chicken soup

bacon or cheese to garnish

Combine all ingredients except for cream cheese in a crockpot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or until potatoes are tender. Add cream cheese and stir until blended. Garnish with bacon or cheese if desired. I added carrots and boiled them with potatoes and onions until they were tender. I processed them until they were smooth and then I put it in the crockpot with the other ingredients. Sometimes I just don't like lumps in my soup.