Green Split Pea Soup...Frugal Deliciousness!

 St. Patrick's Day... 

such a fun time of the year where everyone wears green 

and makes sure to add green things to eat to their menu plan!

I'm not someone who likes to dye things green 

and so I like to make things up to eat that incorporates green using natural things.

Green Smoothie and eggs for breakfast,

Mint Chocolate Cookies for a treat

and for dinner a bowl of Green Split Pea Soup 

with either French Bread, or Cornbread!!

If I were to think of my very favorite soup, 

it would be a tie between 

Green Split Pea, OR, Ham & Bean Chowder (here)

 I love the thrift of taking a handful of dried beans, peas, or, legumes and making a big pot of healthy soup for my family!  

It's amazing how just a few simple things added to a pot of soup and left to simmer for awhile, can be so flavorful and keep you coming back for more! 

Such is the case for Split Pea Soup!

Green Split Pea Soup

1-1/4 cups green split peas
Ham hock (OR 1/2 cup chopped ham...I usually pull a bag of ham out of my freezer that I freeze from the ham we cook up at Christmas or Easter)
8 cups water
2 large onions chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
2 cups diced carrots
1 cup chopped celery
2 large potatoes diced
2 more cups water
(salt and pepper to taste) 
Combine 8 cups water, peas and hamhock in a large pot and bring to a boil and gently simmer for 1 hour.
Add in onions, garlic, carrots, celery, potatoes 2 more cups water and salt and pepper to taste. 
Simmer gently for 1 more hour until veggies are tender and soup is really thick.

YUMMY! 

Great with a dollop of cottage cheese, 

a sprinkle of hot pepper sauce 

and not to forget homemade bread of some kind!

Enjoy a frugal, yummy pot of soup today 

and if it happens to be a holiday that has 

GREEN as part of it, you can be festive as well!

Healthy, Frugal New Year!

I can't believe "Twenty-twelve" is here.  

 It seems like just yesterday that we were decking the house with Christmas decor!
While I love all of the yummy, decadent food that comes with the holidays, there comes a point where you are finally craving to be back to normal life and eating simple, nourishing meals.

Although I didn't plan it this way, our New Year started out not only being frugal, but healthy.

 As I was cleaning out our pantry I came across some random bags of black beans and white beans and so I soaked them overnight and cooked them until tender.

 I also pulled out the UGLY, gross looking ham bone from my freezer that was leftover from my mom's Christmas party dinner and made up a delicious pot of Ham and Bean Chowder. 

 WOW, such a delicious pot of bean soup, that left my hubby and kids begging
to dish up some of the leftovers
so they could take a bowl of these in their lunch for the first day back to work/school after the holidays.

We also enjoyed a simple treat 

of homemade Gingersnaps.  

I decided to post the recipes again...(original posts here and here)

Ginger Snaps (one of Jade's favorite cookies)
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup REAL butter
2 eggs
1/4 cup molasses
1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1-1/2 teaspoons ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons soda
3-1/2 cups flour

Cream together sugar and butter.  
Add eggs.
Next add molasses, salt and soda and mix well.
Then add flour, and spices.
Refrigerate at least one hour.

Roll into balls and then roll balls in sugar.
Bake 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes until crackly on the top.
Remove from cookie sheet and cool on wire baking rack.

Enjoy!

Ham and Bean Chowder

2 cups dried Great Northern beans (OR, whatever dried beans you have)
1 meaty ham bone (OR, 1 cup chopped ham)
2 Tbsp melted butter
2 chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
3 cloves minced garlic
2 cups water
2 cups chicken broth (OR 2 bouillon cubes in 2 cups water)
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 whole clove
salt/pepper

Soak 2 cups of beans overnight—
drain off water and add fresh water and cook until tender. Drain off water.

Then melt 2 Tbsp. butter in sauce pan and add:
Onion, celery and garlic and sautée until tender…
Then add cooked beans, ham bone, water, broth, tomatoes, bay leaf, clove and salt/pepper. 

Bring to a boil, Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours (stirring occasionally).
Remove ham bone, bay leaf and clove. (also remove meat from ham bone, cut into small pieces and add back to soup).

  
This is very frugal soup that is absolutely delicious!
It is yummy served with homemade bread 

and garnished with a dollop of 
our family's favorite...COTTAGE CHEESE.

Enjoy a healthy, frugal 2012, 

putting your dried beans to use to make 

a nourishing pot of soup for your family!
 
I hope you find out as well, 

that this is absolutely delicious!

(and don't forget about the cookies...

they are yummo for the tummo delicious)

Here's what's cookin' at our house!

 My sweet little Ethan Kip
has after school activities each Monday and Tuesday and my work has been extremely busy, and so I offered to work extra to help out.
SO, Monday's and Tuesdays for the past month and half have consisted of leaving the house at 6:30 each morning, working until 2:30 and then staying in town until 3:45 where I pick up Jade from track practice (since we live 10 miles out of town)
Needless to say, on these days I get home between 4:15 and 4:30 (and if I haven't planned ahead) I feel overwhelmed trying to throw something together for dinner that is yummy and goes together quickly.
While I am very much a Chili lover and would much rather make Chili if I have time, I have fallen in love again with one of my tried and true recipes of Taco Soup!

This uses ingredients I always have on hand,
goes together quickly and
while you're cooking it you can also
make batch of Corn Bread and by the time 6:00 comes, dinner can be gracing your table top that's delicious, nutritious and a hit with almost anyone!

I also whip up a batch of Refreshing Lime Drink as well...

for recipe click here

Taco Soup
1 pound ground beef
1 onion chopped
1 (16 oz.) can diced tomatoes (with liquid)
1 (16 oz.) can kidney beans (with liquid)
1 (17 oz.) can corn (with liquid)
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1/4 cup taco seasoning

In a large soup pot brown ground beef and saute onions; drain well.
Add tomatoes, kidney beans, corn, tomato sauce and taco seasoning.
Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
(the longer it simmers the better).
Put soup in bowls and garnish as desired with shredded cheese, sour cream and corn chips. This also goes GREAT with corn bread!


Sweet Corn Bread 
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp. salt
1-¾ cup flour
1-½ cups milk

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and stir.
Add in cornmeal, baking powder and salt and stir until just combined
Add flour alternatively with milk. Put in greased 9x9 pan.
Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

This is WONDERFUL and tasty
and kids and dads don’t seem to mind eating soup or a “bean” dish if they have yummy cornbread to eat.

**Helpful tip**

I mix 1/4 cup dried milk powder with 1-1/2 cups water
in a pint jar and shake well to use in place of regular milk...
you can't tell a difference and it uses food storage powdered milk.

Yummy...Delicious...Enjoy!

Versatile, yummy beans!

Tracy and I learned early on

how economical it was to buy dried pinto beans to make up delicious, nourishing meals in the early days of our marriage.

In fact, there wasn't a week that went by that I didn't have a container of cooked beans in my tiny little apartment fridge. Meat was quite expensive,
also, our tiny 1960's style refrigerator had a small icebox inside the fridge that always iced up to the point of not being able to open it up and so even if we could afford a lot of meat, we just didn't have room for it.
So, beans/legumes made into soup, or, served on top of tostadas or in burritos, or, along side rice or with corn chips/corn bread was the most economical way to make sure we got plenty of protein. (we also enjoyed canned tuna and salmon as well eggs and some chicken)
YES, we eventually moved into an apartment with a real freezer in the fridge and then into a house with a LARGE freezer and as you can see from the recipes I post, we eat quite an array of meals with a variety of meat options.

As good and yummy as meat is, I always go back to beans/legumes as some of my favorite meals.

Right now...
dried Pinto Beans are 54 cents a pound

and Split Peas are 51 cents a pound.

There were five things
that were a constant in our early marriage:

cooking up pinto beans or split peas weekly,

cooking up a large stock pot of chicken/veggie soup, OR, Brown Rice with Chicken and Broccoli (aka "Cream a doo") that we would pretty much eat all week long (including taking it in thermoses to work)
Making up homemade bread and some sort of homemade cookie or dessert treat.
AND there was always an abundance of fresh fruit/veggies to eat

I still remember going on a picnic with our friends, the Archibald's the first summer of our marriage and I pulled out a Rubbermaid container of pureed pinto beans (that I had mixed with salsa) and tortilla chips. We also pulled out tuna fish sandwiches on homemade whole wheat bread, cut up broccoli and carrot sticks and Honey Cookies. They looked at us like we were a bunch of "Old Fogey's", because, who would eat that way? It was definitely different then how they ate.

Picnics in the Park, drives to the foot hills in our Land Cruiser, weekend getaways, lunches at work...we were always bringing our pureed beans and homemade treats to enjoy. Buying store bought was never an option.

HELPFUL TIP...

don't let your Rotisserie Chicken, or your turkey carcass go to waste, .

I always boil up all of the bones from these and freeze up the broth to have to pull out for future meals. It is SO much more yummy to have real chicken broth too add to soups/beans, rather than bouillon, or canned broth.

I love making sure nothing goes to waste.
I connect greatly with our grandparent's era, where bones were carefully saved and put to good use to make a pot of soup for their families!

SO many yummy possibilities for these...

SO easy
to make up bean burritos for a week of quick lunches for your family.

Having a container of pureed beans in your fridge,

means you always have fixin's to...

make burritos,

yummy beans to put in a containers to take along
with veggie sticks for lunch or an afternoon snack,

(this is my favorite...

cut up veggies + bean dip= heaven)

beans to heat up and enjoy dipping chips in,

beans to spread on tortilla chips, top with cheese and broil
until the cheese melts to make DELICIOUS nachos!!

Delicious Pinto Beans

Soak 2 cups pinto beans overnight in 4 cups water.

After soaking keep just enough water to barely cover beans and

add in 2 cups chicken broth. (I just pulled a 2 cup bag of chicken broth from my freezer and added in)

Then add in:

1 finely chopped onion

2 cloves chopped garlic (OR, 1 tsp granulated garlic powder)

1 tsp. cumin

Bring to boil and then simmer for 3-4 hours until really tender.

(may need to add some salt after they’re cooked)

Puree some of beans and add back into bean mixture and

add in 1 to 2cups shredded cheese and stir until melted. Store in an airtight container in the fridge (will keep for a week)

Enjoy...
the possibilities to the use of these are endless!

54 cents for 2 cups of dried pinto beans...

wow!

what a bargain, great source of protein,
and what a wonderful, nourishing, healthy way to feed your family!

LOVE the thrift of Dried Beans!

Delicious Ham and Bean Chowder

Beans...
For some crazy reason I have always loved and been intrigued with the thrift of beans.

Even when I was a little girl I loved beans and when my mom asked me what kind of Campbell's soup she should cook up for lunch, I always chose "Bean with Bacon".

I love taking something that can keep in your storage room for 10-15 years, soaking them overnight and then
cooking them until tender and having a
yummy, economical and nutritious meal to feed my family.
This makes me happy every time!


This yummy meal is one of Tracy's favorites and if I might add...mine too.
Tracy just quoted on Facebook a few weeks ago the following after we had this for lunch.

"Homemade ham & bean chowder with cornbread... at this moment, all is right with the world"!

Ham and Bean Chowder

1 pound dried great northern beans (2 cups)
1 meaty ham bone (OR, 1 cup chopped ham)
2 tbsp melted butter
1 or 2 chopped onions (depending upon how much onion flavor you like)
1 cup chopped celery
2 cloves minced garlic
2 cups water
2 cups chicken broth (OR 2 bouillon cubes in 2 cups water)
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1 whole clove
salt/pepper

Soak 2 cups of great northern beans overnight—
drain off water and add fresh water and
cook until tender. Drain off water.

Then melt 2 Tbsp. Butter in Sauce pan and add: Onion, celery and garlic---
Sauté until tender…..
Then add beans, ham bone, water, broth, tomatoes, bay leaf, clove and salt/pepper. Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours (stirring occasionally).
Remove ham bone, bay leaf and clove. (also remove meat from ham bone, cut into small pieces and add back to soup).

This is a yummy soup
and is great served with corn bread.
You can also garnish with grated cheese, OR,
my family's favorite...COTTAGE CHEESE.

How Frugal is this meal?
Dried beans--.68
Tomatoes--.79
Celery/onions and garlic--1.00
ham--.25
broth, bay leaf, clove--.25
........................................
Total--$2.97

We fed 4 people 1 dinner and 3 people 1 lunch for this price.

Versatile recipe for Beans and Rice!

If I were to think of one of my favorite meals,
this recipe would have to be my favorite. One of my favorite beans is Black Beans, I love chicken and rice and tacos and so this recipe fits all of that criteria.

Great to top with sour cream and salsa and dip tortilla chips in.

Also great to put in flour tortillas and make burritos that you can grab and go for lunch.

This is perfect to use as filling for Tacos. Put filling in taco shells, top with lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. Yummy!

This recipe freezes well and since it makes such a large pot, it is great to freeze some to enjoy later when you need a quick meal to fix and don't have time to make anything!

I have made this quite often when we have company over, because it's so quick and easy and versatile and is SUPER served with corn bread and a Spinach Salad.

The possibilities to the uses for this recipe are probably endless!

1, 2, 3
burritos!

Southwestern Chicken and Rice

2-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
(I only use 2 chicken breasts when I make this)
1 cup salsa
1/4 cup taco seasoning
2 cups water
3 to 4 cups cooked BROWN RICE
(brown rice makes the texture great---white rice makes it gloppy)
2 cans black beans (drained) (4 cups of beans total)
I always have cooked black beans in my freezer that I pull out and use when I make this--the day I made this batch I used mixed beans that I had leftover from another bean dish I made).
2 cups shredded cheese
(garnish with sour cream and tortilla chips)

Bring chicken, salsa, taco seasoning and water to boil in large skillet.
Cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove chicken and cut into small pieces and then return chicken back to skillet. Return to boil. Stir in rice and beans. Sprinkle with cheese.
Cover on low heat for 5 minutes. Stir together so cheese is all mixed in.

Enjoy!

How Frugal is this meal?
Chicken--$1.50
Cheese--$1.25
Black Beans--.68 (1 pound dried black beans soaked and cooked)
Rice--.69
Taco Seasoning--.25
Salsa--.50
.........................................
Total--$4.87 (Total with Tortilla shells--$8.25)
(Tortilla shells--$3.38 However, it we would have just served it plain we wouldn't have had this expense)

(We made up 20 burritos for this price so each burrito cost .41)

They taste as yummy
as something you would get at Taco Time and a fraction of the price!

Beans bring Sunshine!

Okay, so, hopefully after today I won't lose any followers (BIG WINK!)

Anyone who know me,
knows that I am an adventurous spirit
and I love to venture out and try new things.

One of the biggest fascinations I have had is thinking back to simpler times and how our forefathers survived and cooked without many of the modern conveniences that most of us can't live without.

I'm grateful I have a husband who is 100% supportive of my adventurous endeavors and most of the time he is coming up with adventurous things for us to try as well.

Even though most of the time I appreciate all of the modern conveniences in my life, I do enjoy honing my primitive skills as well...thus the reason for my post today.

Tracy got an interesting gift from his parents
for his birthday last year. They got him an antique (made circa 1920) keystone meat grinder. They purchased it at the old Graff Mercantile in Hurricane, Utah while visiting relatives there.

This may surprise some of you but ground meat hasn't always been available conveniently wrapped on a styro-foam tray at the grocery store . We've had fun watching old reruns of Little House on the Prairie lately. Who knows, maybe the real Caroline Ingalls had a keystone grinder like ours...purchased from none other than the Oleson's Mercantile!
******************************

At Christmas time we got a great deal on some chicken breasts. We got 44 pounds of chicken breasts for $56.00. I spent a little over an hour cutting them apart and packaging them up to put in our freezer. Even though it was more work then I intended on, it gives me peace of mind to have some quality meat in our freezer.

SO, I called Tracy a few weeks ago and said
"Guess what I just did?"
He said he had no clue. I told him I just got done cleaning our meat grinder because I had just ground some fresh chicken for our Sunshine Bean Casserole we were having that night.
He was surprised at my industriousness!

I think I am going to enjoy doing this
in the future to make our ground beef stretch. People use ground turkey all of the time, so why not ground chicken?

I have to say the Sunshine Bean Casserole was absolutely delicious and you couldn't really tell the difference. I found this recipe my first year of marriage and that was the name of it
"Sunshine Bean Casserole".
I thought it was such a happy sounding name, so that is what I continue to call it.

Sunshine Bean Casserole

Soak 1/2 cup of each bean (Lima beans, Red beans, Garbanzo beans) (you will have 1-1/2 cups total beans) in water overnight.
Drain off water and refill pan with clean water.
Cook until tender.

(If your family is not fond of Garbanzo beans, I would just do 3/4 cups Lima beans and 3/4 cup Red beans--as long as you have 1-1/2 cups of dry beans you are fine with whatever choice you choose---VERY versatile recipe).

1 pound ground turkey or beef
1 large onion chopped
1 clove minced garlic
1/3 cup brown sugar
½ Tablespoon mustard
2/3 cup catsup
1 teaspoon cumin
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
(salt and pepper to taste).

Put cooked and drained beans in casserole dish.
Mix lightly, set aside.
Cook ground turkey/beef, onion and garlic til meat is lightly browned.
Stir in remaining ingredients. Mix with beans.
Cover and bake for 1-1/2 hours in a 325 degree oven.
(Mixture can also be cooked in crock pot on low for 3 to 4 hours).

Great served with
French Bread or Sweet Corn Bread

Enjoy!

How Frugal is this meal?

ground chicken--$1.50
dried beans--.51
onion/garlic--.25
catsup, sugar, vinegar--.50
spices/mustard--.15
...............................................
Total--$2.91
(We fed 4 people 2 dinners and
2 people 1 lunch for this price)

Warm up with a bowl of Chili!

BRRR....it's been a "Chilly" past few days.
It always makes me chuckle when people act like it's a BIG deal when we get snow in October!
I can't count how many years we have had snow the first part of October and we have been worried that our trees branches are going to break off because they are so heavy with snow and the leaves are still on the trees.
HOWEVER, we have also had many a year that it has been warm all through October and into November and we are still mowing our lawn and watering our plants/lawn until Thanksgiving.
I am waiting on baited breath to see how our Autumn turns out...
will this cold spell pass and we will enjoy a little bit more warmth through October and November,
OR,
will the cold spell stay and we will have to make sure our kids are bundled up like Eskimos for Halloween?!?
Stay tuned!
(this is Tracy's photo he took while driving to work yesterday)
I awoke at 5:15 on October 5th, 2009 and looked out my bedroom window and made a statement to Tracy...
"It SNOWED last night".
Everything was covered in white and when I pulled out of the driveway the roads and all of our yard looked like a Winter Wonderland. The kids just thought it was GREAT and were SO excited to see the snow!!
(I just LOVE the optimism of kids...
they truly enjoy and celebrate everything that comes their way!)

My favorite Fall time meal
is a pot of homemade Chili.
I can't think of a better way to enjoy a CHILLY Autumn day
than a bowl-full of CHILI!!

So easy to make up and if you haven't had time to soak and cook up beans you can use your canned beans and if you don't have any garden tomatoes you can use your diced canned tomatoes!

PERFECT meal to use your food storage
and so YUMMY and tasty as well. I usually double this recipe and then freeze Chili in quart sized bags to be able to pull out and enjoy on evenings when we haven't had time to make dinner.

Great pulled out of the freezer and warmed up and served over baked potatoes!!

Of course any bowl of Chili is always YUMMIER if you serve it with either
BREAD STICKS <---click here
or
CORN BREAD <----click here

CHILI
(If you like WENDY's Chili you will LOVE this Chili...
really similar in taste and always a HIT every time you make it!)

1 pound ground beef
1- 14.5 oz. can tomato sauce
1- 14.5 oz. can kidney beans (with liquid)
1- 14.5 oz can pinto OR great northern beans (with liquid)
1- small can diced green chilies
1 large onion chopped
2 stalks diced celery
3 medium tomatoes chopped (OR 1 can diced tomatoes)
1 teaspoon cumin
2 Tablespoons chili power
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water

Brown the ground beef in a skillet...drain of the fat.
Using a fork crumble cooked beef into pea-sized pieces.
Add all of the remaining ingredients to the cooked beef and bring to a simmer over low heat.
Cook, stirring every 15 minutes for 2 to 3 hours.
NOTE...the longer it simmers the better the flavor.

Serve topped with your choice of toppings...
cheese, olives, sour cream, cottage cheese, corn chips, onions, tomatoes, lettuce, etc....

Enjoy!

*******************

How Frugal is this meal?
ground beef--FREE (if I would have bought it would have been $1.99)
2 cans beans-- $1.10 (dried beans would have been about .50)
1 onion--.19
celery--.20
tomato sauce--.54
tomatoes--FREE (from our garden) (canned tomatoes would have been .69)
green chilies--.47
misc. spices.--.20
------------------------------
Total--$2.70
(Total if I would have bought the meat and used canned tomatoes and dried beans---$4.78)

We fed 4 people 2 dinners and 3 people 1 lunch for this price!

Wonderfully Delicious Lentils!

What's for Dinner...Lentils?
What is that?!?

THIS IS MUST READ ARTICLE...
and a very informative link to click on to
see the wonderful health benefits AND nutritional values of lentils:
click here


It's been over 15 years since I was introduced to Lentils.
(although, Tracy has been eating these since he was a kid as his mom cooked up many legumes for her family)
While I was pregnant with Jade "Folate" was a hot topic for pregnant moms to make sure the you got enough folic acid to prevent "Spinalbifida" and so I read LOTS of books on health and nutrition and came across great information on eating plenty of lentils to add folic acid to your diet.

Tracy and I have always been frugal, but nutritious and healthy with our eating habits and so while I was pregnant with Jade is when I first started "sprouting" lentils to provide some LIVE food in our diet and at that time I also came across this great Lentil Stew recipe
(recipe shown below after the sprout information).

Sprouts have been a wonderful thing to make up in the winter time as sometimes we don't have as much "fresh" produce" as we would like to have and this adds "LIVE" food to your diet.
I have sprouted many different seeds/beans, and I always come back to sprouting LENTILS because they are just SO easy and you don't have to let them sit in the sun to get chlorophyll...
in less than 3 days you can have sprouts to enjoy and the only supplies you need are
a wide mouth mason jar ** cheese cloth ** rubber band.
How easy could they be to make...as easy as
---soaking overnight
---rinsing 3 times a day
---and at the end of day 3 you can enjoy them!!

At the first of the summer when we got so much rain, I was seriously thinking our garden may not grow and we would be grateful we had could at least make up sprouts!!

So, here is some helpful information to show you how easy these sprouts are to make up. I made these up weekly when we lived in a 1 bedroom apartment with the tiniest little kitchen ever and so if I could do that then... then ANYONE can do it!!

BTW...1 cup of lentils costs .48
and so since you only use 1/2 cup of lentils
to make sprouts,
it costs .24 for a mason jar of sprouts...
very thrifty, healthy, nutritious and a
wonderful way to use your food storage in times of need!!

IF YOU CAN'T read the writing
on the photos they are ALL clickable so you can see the wording better!

As far as the taste of sprouted LENTILS....
they remind me of the taste of "fresh peas".
They are crunchy and oh so yummy
and great to put on sandwiches, to eat plain,
to add to salads, or to throw in a pot of soup.

What do you get when you combine the above ingredients...
Delicious, Hearty Lentil Stew

Delicious Lentil Stew

1 cup dried lentils
4 cups beef OR chicken broth
1 chopped onion
2 cloves garlic
2 large stalks celery
4 carrots
4 medium potatoes
1 can “Mexican” stewed tomatoes
1 can “Italian” stewed tomatoes
(cooked brown rice AND chow mein noodles)

Combine lentils, broth, carrots, onions, garlic, potatoes and tomatoes.
Cook til veggies are “crisp-tender”.
When “crisp-tender” add celery.
Cook til celery is tender.
Serve over brown rice AND chow mein noodles.

GREAT low calorie,
but make you feel full kind of meal!
(You will never know it’s meatless)

How frugal is this meal?
lentils--- .48
broth--- .25
onion/garlic--- .20
carrots, celery, potatoes---.50
stewed tomatoes--- $1.38
Rice/chow mein noodles---$1.00
................................................
Total---$3.81

We fed 4 people 2 dinners and
2 people 1 lunch for this price!!

Gotta love the thrift of cooking from scratch with legumes.