Vegetable Soup on the Cheap

Tonight, I needed to throw together something before I left for work (I am working 2-6pm on Mondays, and two of the kids have dance classes at 6:30 that evening, so I need to make sure dinner is squared away and will be ready and waiting when we get home). I decided to see if I could come up with something healthy and nutritious for my family using only ingredients from the 99-cents store and a few herbs and spices I had on hand. Most of the family has been nursing a nasty cold/cough, so soup seemed like a no-brainer.

Here's what I did (I am posting the cost of ingredients, too, which I figured based on the total cost of the product. So, for instance, if I got 8 potatoes for a dollar, but only used two, my potatoes in this recipe cost $0.25. Got it?):

1 TBS olive oil -- 10¢
1/2 large onion-- 25¢
3 stalks celery -- 25¢
1/2 bag baby carrots -- 50¢
4 cloves garlic -- 10¢
1/2 of a 16oz bag frozen mixed vegetables -- 50¢
1 14-15oz can diced tomatoes -- 79¢
6 cans water -- nc (no charge)
2 potatoes (pkg. of 8) -- 25¢
1/2 small head cabbage -- 50¢
herbs (sage, oregano, thyme, parsley, rosemary)
optional - 1 spoonful bouillon (not sure of cost ~ was already in my cupboard)

So, without accounting for the few ingredients of whose cost I am uncertain, that comes up to a whopping $3.24 for the family meal this evening. If you estimate another dollar for the seasonings, it's still under five bucks. A couple of us had dinner rolls with our soup. Since there are 12 in a package, they cost us all of a little over eight cents apiece. Even if we each had one, that adds only another $0.41. So, let's add that and our dollar for seasonings. Wow. That's a grand total of $4.65 for the entire meal.

Want to know how to make it? It is so easy.

In a large souppot, heat 1 TBS olive oil. Add onion, celery, carrot and garlic, all roughly chopped. Sprinkle with a little salt and cook, stirring, over low heat until onions are just starting to soften. Add a good sprinkle each of sage, oregano and thyme, and just a couple of pinches of rosemary. Stir in about 1 TBS dried parsley and a bit of black pepper. (Sorry, I didn't measure the seasonings. Just start small and adjust later to suit your taste.) Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for 4-6 minutes. Add tomatoes and water (and, if using it, the bouillon). Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer. While it is simmering, peel and dice your potatoes and roughly chop the cabbage. Add potatoes, cabbage and mixed veggies to the pot and bring up to a boil once more. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until all veggies are cooked through. Add more water as needed to achieve desired consistency. Taste, and adjust seasonings.

That's it! You're done. Really.

Now, for us, this was perfect tonight, because we all just needed a kind of light soup. If you need something a bit more substantial, I recommend adding a handful of cooked beans and/or cooked pasta (or rice). That might drive up your cost to a whopping...what? Six bucks? I think that would still be good for a family meal.

There were four of us eating this tonight (the little one doesn't eat vegetable soup. She had ramen. *sigh*), and I have leftovers enough for at least two lunches tomorrow, even after some of us had seconds, so it really did make a good-sized pot of soup.

For the record, this recipe isn't all that different from others I have posted here. However, this is the first time I have bothered to sit down and figure the cost. I was impressed. Might have to include that info with more of my recipes. I know we are not the only ones striving to be frugal these days.