Cheap Eats :: Tomato Soup

 

Tomato Soup is one of the backup meals on every meal plan I have. I only end up making it about once a month, but the ingredients are all shelf stable and will last if we decide to eat out one night, spur of the moment.

This recipe was taught to me by my friend Heidi. She made me this soup and some fresh bread for a lunch play-date at her house one day. I was so enamored with it that she told me how to make it and I've been making it often ever since. (the bread too!)

This is not only shelf stable...but truly cheap eats.
All you really need is a can of whole tomatoes, an onion and some chicken or veggie bullion or stock.

On ingredients...
I normally go for Trader Joe's Canned Whole Tomatoes with Basil...but this time I opted for Winco's Hytop brand without added basil. The cost was about $1 a can.

I also use bouillon. It's not the healthiest option...it's high in sodium (msg too). But, it's really cheap if you go to the ethnic section of the market. You get this 16 oz jar for around $4 and it will last you forever. I go easy on it. It's 1 tsp for a cup of water. I have been known to half that, depending on the recipe. Generally, for 3 cups of water, I usually use 2 tsp.

Tomato Soup
serves 3-4 (can easily be doubled)

Ingredients
1/2 medium onion (diced)
1 (28oz) can of Whole Peeled Tomatoes
1 cup water + 1 tsp chicken or veggie bouillon or 1 cup chicken stock/broth
1 tsp dried basil (or use some fresh)
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
optional - pinch red pepper flakes

Directions

1. Heat oil in pot and med-high heat, add onion and saute for 5 mins or until onion is translucent and getting brown around the edges.

2. Add can of tomatoes with their juice, water, bouillon, and spices. Stir
3. With a potato masher, squish all those tomatoes a bit.
4. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20-30 mins. (the longer the better)

5. With an immersion blender, blend the soup to a smooth consistency. Check for lumps and don't be afraid to over-blend...the texture will only improve.

*if you don't have an immersion(or stick) blender, carefully pour the soup in batches into a regular blender and puree.
6. Serve with bread or grilled cheese.
 
Dinner is served!

Cheap Eats :: Sausage and Tortellini Soup

I love tortellini and have seen around the cybershpere a few recipes for tortellini soup and I have always been intrigued.
At both Trader Joe's and Winco, I have seen dried tortellini and been very curious about how dried cheese pasta would taste.
Last week, while doing my routine recipe browsing I ran across this recipe. I liked that dried tortellini was used and decided to give this one a go, with some minor changes based on what I had in the house and whatnot. 

And here is what I did:

Sausage and Tortellini Soup 

1a. Boil according to directions in a small saucepan
4 oz of dried tortellini [drain and set aside]  
1b. Brown in soup pot/dutch oven
1 pound sweet Italian turkey sausage [pull it out of the pot and set aside]

2. Saute with a bit of olive oil or butter
1 cup chopped sweet onion [for 5 mins]
1 clove garlic, minced [throw in for the last minute or two]


2. Add, and simmer 30 minutes:
5 cups beef broth (use homemade, canned, or reconstituted bouillon) [I used bouillon because it's more cost effective, we're on a budget here!]
1 14oz can of diced tomatoes [next time I'd used crushed, but that's just me]
8 oz. tomato sauce [Left out, because I forgot it...ha!]
1 cup sliced carrots
1 medium pepper, chopped [I used a healthy pinch of red pepper flake...not the same, but I like a bit of heat.]
½ teaspoon basil
½ teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon rosemary (I omit this) I also left this out

3. Add and boil for 1 minute:
½ cup red wine or sherry no booze, too expensive...so I omitted it.
4 oz. dry tortellini, cooked according to package directions
Browned Sausage

The soup was good! I think dried tortellini is pretty good! It's not fresh, by any means...but not a bad inexpensive substitute. Way better than no tortellini at all!! HA!

I served mine with fresh baked bread made with the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day method.

This recipe for bread is my favorite and super simple to have fresh bread whenever you want. Delicious!