Much as I prefer the warmth of summer, I do look forward to the frugal creativity of fall soup season. The best way I know to save money on lunches and quick dinners is to make soup from whatever deals I find at my local grocery discount store.
Tomatoes, whole, big cans for 0.99 each. Pay dirt! They were on sale apparently because they were flavored with basil which works fine but me because tomato soup is my childhood favorites.
Tomato soup is cheap and easy to make from scratch. Just sauté up a medium diced onion with a large, diced carrot until softened. Use a bit of olive oil for this. Once softened, add the cans of tomatoes and a couple of fists full of herbs. I just raided my herb garden and picked what was overflowing; basil, parsley, oregano the thyme. I let it all simmer for about 45 minutes and then seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. It needed a bite so I threw in a couple of hot peppers also from my garden. Once it had cooled down, I blitzed the mix in the blender until smooth and to serve, added a drizzle of heavy cream to smooth out the rampant acidity.
When paired with a grilled cheese sandwich, tomato soup is my favorite fall meal, harkening back to my childhood. It also freezes well so when I grow tired of it for lunch, I freeze the rest for next month when I defrost and enjoy my nostalgic treat again.
The soup is actually just a benefit of what I call “Can Hunting” which is simply the art of keeping track of the price of canned goods and taking advantage of the specials. I find I can nab a can or two of that quintessential cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving weeks or even months prior to the holiday itself. I prefer a homemade variety but my family is frankly divided on the matter; half of us prefer my homemade version, the other half (the family members who are wrong by the way), like the canned version. C’est la viv. I serve both to keep the peace. For holiday baking, I have found that buying a six pack of sweetened, condensed milk, to be the most frugal way to stock up. Depending on what I usually keep stocked, I simply keep an eye out and watch for the specials. It ends up saving me a lot of money in the long run. And when a canned good like the large cans of tomatoes go on sale for just 0.99, you can bet I’ll figure out a way to use them. I could have just as easily made pasta sauce but turns out, I already had plenty of that, my partner having taken advantage of a recent sale of his favorite brand.
And I am forever on the hunt for cheaply priced beef and chicken stock. I like to make my own but having a couple of cans handy is always a good idea. Plus, they do not take up room in my freezer the way my homemade stocks do.
So, as we head into fall, with that nip in the air and a crisp feeling to the shorter days, be sure and check out the canned food aisles of your favorite discount grocery store. You can save a lot of money.
the house behind 