$3.00 for a can of noodle soup????
If you want to get serious about saving money on food consider making
more soups. And your own bread.
And more rice dishes...
CHEAP Some water, 15 cents worth of chicken
stock and 5 cents worth of noodles makes a dinner fit for a princess.
And it's one she'll EAT.
Take another look at concentrated soup bases. They come in
various formats; powdered, cubes or tetra pac. It's an affordable
way to make the water and noodles or rice taste a bit better.
Want something a bit beefier? The same 4
cups of water, 15 cents worth of beef broth, a carrot and a
dime's worth of barley makes you a nice beef barley soup.
Of
course if you add some meat chunks and onion, parsley and
seasoning salt it may taste better, but you get the idea.
Make it look real To get a more "professional" look to
your soups add a bit of cornstarch to add a nice gloss and a bit
of thickening. Not so watery..
Does your soup taste
bland? Add more salt. You would be surprised at the
amount of salt in most commercial grade soups; don't be shy in
adding a bit to the one you make at home.
We have 3 great cream soup recipes to present:
All of these soups taste great for a reason; they use
32% (whipping cream).
OH NO !!! 32 % CREAM !! IT'S SO RICH!
Yes, but the alternative is using 4 cups of milk; which is expensive in
itself and dilutes the flavor of the soup. A 1/2 pint of cream is only
about 2 dollars and is the same thing; milk fat with water; only more
concentrated. And it just tastes better
with 32% cream. Remember, you want it to taste
good....
All of these soups use the same formula. And
it's a simple one:
- Rough cut vegetables.
- In a separate bowl mix 2 tablespoons cornstarch
and 1/2 cup water, until dissolved.
- Cook vegetables in a large pot with enough
water to cover cut vegetables (add 2-4 tablespoons of vegetable or
chicken stock, optional but nice...) cooking until very soft.
- Puree vegetable mixture in blender.
- Clean pot and add blended mixture and 1/2 again
as much water, reheating rapidly.
- Optional step: add chopped parsley, corn
niblets, diced chicken, etc...
- Heat to a boil and then add 1 cup 32% cream.
- Stir constantly for 1 minute.
- Add cornstarch and water mixture.
- Heat at boiling point for one minute, stirring
constantly.
- Remove from heat and stir for 1 minute.
- Add salt to taste and serve.
These recipes are made to be prepared and then
reheated; this way during the cooking process you are simply heating
the soup, not boiling it for hours and hours. When reheated in the
microwave it is simply warming it a bit; preserving the flavor using the
principle of "carry over cooking. This this is what makes it a
nice baby food or sauce over pasta