The Ultimate Budget Stretcher

Day 20.

Want an easy way to

a.) stretch your food dollar

and

b.) knock out a few days' worth of dinners

in one fell swoop? Make soup! Soup can be as thick, hearty, and filling, or thin and belly-warming as you'd like. You control the ingredients, so you can accommodate any budget with your recipe. Here is a simple recipe for making soup, followed by my Hamburger Soup recipe.

Simple Recipe for Make-Your-Own Soup

8 cups broth

1 lb protein (meat, beans, tofu)

2 lb vegetables

2 cups of starch (cooked rice, cooked pasta, or diced raw potatoes)

an onion and a clove of garlic

spices to taste

fat of some sort (oil, butter)

Simply saute the meat, onion and garlic in your oil or butter. Add the broth and vegetables and starch (pasta should not be added until the last few minutes of cooking time), as well as seasonings to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer at least 30 minutes.

*****

Easy Budget-Friendly Hamburger Soup

makes a big pot of soup

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 8 cups beef broth
• 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 4 carrots, bias cut
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 can tomato soup
• 1 cup each frozen peas and frozen corn
• handful fresh parsley, chopped

How it's Done:

1. Brown the ground beef in a large soup pot with the onion and garlic. Drain and return to pot.
2. Add broth, soup, and vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add parsley. Serve.